The state has produced new evidence relating to the origins of a notorious encrypted fax recording an alleged arms deal bribe to Deputy President Jacob Zuma. The fax first emerged in the early stages of businessman Schabir Shaik’s fraud and corruption trial in the Durban High Court.

Popular Palestinian militant Marwan Barghouti has backed away from challenging for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority after days of speculation that he would run for the post left open by the death of Yasser Arafat. The decision leaves the former Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas as the clear frontrunner.

The two sides in Ukraine’s bitter election crisis failed to reach agreement on Friday night, amid growing signs the country was slipping into chaos. After nearly three hours of emergency talks, both parties said negotiations would continue, but had reached no further agreement on how to resolve the impasse.

Iran agreed to freeze all its nuclear programme on Friday night, dropping its insistence that some uranium enrichment activities be exempted from a deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The deal however is unlikely to end the controversy over Iran’s nuclear programme.

African Union chairperson, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, will meet in the coming days with the presidents of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) seeking to end a feud between their two countries, his spokesperson said on Friday.

The Obiang regime in Equatorial Guinea on Friday jailed 11 foreign mercenaries for up to 34 years, as documents surfaced further implicating the former British prime minister’s son, Mark Thatcher, in a British-led coup attempt which has caused international embarrassment.
<li><a class="standardtextsmall" href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=126212">SA mercenary gets 34 years</a>
<li><a class="standardtextsmall" href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=126082">’I feel like a corpse in a river'</a>

South Africa have endured a tough time on their current tour but coach Jake White believes the experience gained by his young squad could pay dividends come the time of the 2007 World Cup in France. Back-to-back defeats by Ireland and England have shattered the Tri-Nations champions.

England Captain Michael Vaughan did not have to wait long for a reminder of why they hesitated so long before travelling to Zimbabwe. Just around the corner from their five-star downtown hotel, on a wall on Robert Mugabe Avenue, someone has scrawled ”England go home, shame on England.” And ”England go back”.