New evidence has emerged linking Jeffrey Archer to the alleged conspirators behind the attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea. A lawyer for the Equatorial Guinea government said in London on Monday that telephone records showed four calls between the homes of one of the alleged financiers behind the plot and Archer in the run-up to the coup attempt in March.

His glory days are behind him. At 75, he is frail, his hands shaky, his lapels covered with a score of badges from organisations as diverse as Peace Now and the Samaritans. Yasser Arafat was once a regular visitor at the White House: the Palestinians say he saw Bill Clinton when he was president 28 times.

Between Oil City, Pennsylvania and Canton, Ohio, a hilly, leafy terrain gives way to a landscape as flat and appealing as warm Pepsi. Arriving in Canton on Interstate 77 you pass a Hoover plant, which has laid off more than 800 workers in the past seven months, and then a huge religious billboard asking: "Saved?" and offering a number to call.

"Last week the South African Police Service issued the annual crime statistics. What these show is that, overall, the incidence of reported crime in the country is declining, indicating a reduction in the number of actual crimes committed." This is an edited version of President Thabo Mbeki’s controversial online letter, recently flighted by the ANC.