President Thabo Mbeki has caused a race row by making a scathing attack on white people who link HIV/Aids to the alleged promiscuous and predatory behaviour of black Africans. Mbeki turned a parliamentary debate on HIV and rape into a broadside against ”bigots” who he said regarded black people as ”sub-human disease-carriers”.

The publication of ThisDay newspaper has been suspended until Monday, major stakeholder Nduka Obaigbena said on Tuesday. ”A comprehensive plan to deal with all the debt is being put in place and all debt to staff and others will be cleared over the next few weeks,” Obaigbena said at a press conference in Johannesburg.

Bill Clinton, the perennial Comeback Kid of American politics, returned from his sick bed to centre stage on Monday, proving that his ailing, quadruply bypassed heart is still in the fight. But it was a much thinner, frailer man who took the stage alongside John Kerry in Philadelphia’s Love Park than the vigorous leader who dominated the past American decade.

Ariel Sharon opened a bitter debate in Parliament on Monday over his plan to remove Jewish settlers from Gaza by saying it paves the way towards a Palestinian state while strengthening Israel’s grip over its West Bank colonies. Sharon was repeatedly interrupted and heckled as he defended the ”disengagement plan” ahead of a vote on Tuesday.

Sitting on a stool in one of Berlin’s most expensive Italian restaurants, Peter Liddell recalled the moment when he had been asked whether he would like an all-expenses paid trip to Germany. Liddell, a comprehensive schoolteacher in Burgess Hill, west Sussex, gave the offer a brief thought.