Up to 30 000 Iraqi police officers are to be sacked for being incompetent and unreliable and given a -million payoff before the United States hands over to an Iraqi government, senior British military sources said on Wednesday. Many officers either deserted to the insurgents or simply stayed at home during the recent uprisings in Falluja and across the south.
A software engineer working for America Online was on Wednesday night charged with stealing the internet service provider’s entire subscriber list and selling it to spammers, the senders of unsolicited junk e-mails. Jason Smathers (24) was arrested on conspiracy charges at his home in West Virginia, close to AOL’s headquarters, where he had worked since 1999.
A nurse at a Polokwane hospital was dismissed and her two colleagues were suspended following an incident where two babies were swapped in April, the Limpopo health department said on Wednesday. The baby swapping discovery was made by one of the mothers when she went home and found two name tags on a baby.
Journalists from three banned newspapers would not be able to find work under a government proposal to tighten a section of Zimbabwe’s sweeping media laws, warns the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition. The coalition says that such a move would be another blow to press freedom in the troubled southern African country.
Yamaha has launched a fresh attack on the adventure bike market with their all-new XT660R.
Honda has launched a brand-new version of their big adventure twin, the Varadero. The 996cc V-twin engine – derived from the VTR 1000F – has shed its two big-bore flat-side carburettors in favour of Honda’s PGM-F1 programmed fuel-injection system
The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa was roaring ahead just after noon on Thursday, fuelled by stronger world markets and a weaker rand. Softer-than-expected producer inflation (PPI) numbers added to the positive picture. By 12h16, the all share index had strengthened 1,72%.
Impulse publishing has become a trend in the magazine sector, and more titles are focusing on advertising revenue at the expense of the reader. Gordon Patterson, managing director of leading media agency Starcom, explains the problem.
The SABC estimates that the two new regional television channels will cost R221-million apiece to operate in the first year. Mike Aldridge looks at the viability of a public television model that won’t take ads and won’t broadcast in English.
The ANC’s election strategy pulled the rug from under the media, argues Professor Tawana Kupe. Why was their communications plan, which centred around President Mbeki, so successful?