In a consumer era that allows you to do almost everything by telephone except find a human being to help you, at least one brave man has decided he is not going to take it any more. Paul English’s moment of clarity came in March when he was being bounced around the automated ”customer service” system of a cellphone company.

A confidential British Foreign Office document accuses Israel of rushing to annex the Arab area of Jerusalem, using illegal Jewish settlement construction and the vast West Bank barrier, in a move to prevent it becoming a Palestinian capital. In an unusually frank insight into British assessments of Israeli intentions, the document says that Ariel Sharon’s government is jeopardising the prospect of a peace agreement.

The Bush administration decided not to charge Jose Padilla with planning to detonate a radioactive ”dirty bomb” in a United States city because the evidence against him was extracted using torture on members of al-Qaeda, it was claimed on Thursday. The administration had used his case as evidence of the continued threat posed by al-Qaeda inside the United States.

The Congress of South African Trade Union has qualified its support for African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma pending the outcome of the rape allegations against him. Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has said that they would review their support for Zuma if the rape matter went to court.

About 85% of the companies licensed to longline fish for tuna in local waters have question marks against their fishing rights. They include nine Korean ships operating in South Africa with local joint-venture partners, despite apparent evidence that they were granted quotas by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism’s Marine and Coastal Management.