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/ 7 December 2002

News in brief

* A hacker left top management at Independent Newspapers with egg on their faces after he distributed a confidential e-mail that discussed the incompetence of some reporters and editors. The hacker broke into the e-mail accounts on Tuesday and then mailed the letter to all the staff, as well as some outside recipients. Peter Davis, editor of the Sunday Tribune and The Independent on Saturday, sent the e-mail to Graeme King, MD. Davis has since gone on indefinite leave. "It was clear that it was never intended that this e-mail should become public and it is very regrettable that this occurred," King said. Debbie Reynolds was appointed acting editor of the Sunday Tribune for three weeks, until deputy editor Shami Harichunder returns from overseas. In the e-mail Davis said that "for the good of the organisation, we ought, if possible, to get rid of the following who are either destructive or useless". He said he compiled the list after consulting with Bruce Colly, the chief of staff at Independent Newspapers KZN.

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/ 7 December 2002

Neutralise this pungent smell

The most perturbing aspects of the reaction from those in authority to revelations that Deputy President Jacob Zuma is being investigated by the Scorpions unit have been the contrived silence and egg-dancing. Zuma has glibly declared his innocence and proclaimed his right to remain silent until he is called to stand before a court of law. The National Directorate of Public Prosecutions, under whose wing the Scorpions unit falls, conveniently says it does not comment on investigations into specific individuals and refuses to confirm what is already public knowledge –that it has put written questions to certain individuals about Zuma’s conduct and movements.

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/ 6 December 2002

Archangels by Guy Willoughby: Chapter 1

Thursday, November 9, 2000: 8.23 AM With a vague sense of having left something behind, Howard Sheerness shut the front door firmly after him and clattered down the scrubbed Thursday morning steps. He adjusted the ghastly Elvis-impersonator sunglasses on his nose, winced, and hit the outside sunlight, his briefcase swinging beside him. Preparing a face […]

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/ 6 December 2002

Wind them up

By the standards of most Pakistan touring teams, the commotion caused by Wasim Akram’s announcement that he had no intention of playing in the Test matches against South Africa came earlier than usual (within 24 hours of the tourists’ arrival, give or take an hour or so), but amounted to a mere hiccup in relative […]

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/ 6 December 2002

Nigeria electoral body registers 22 new parties

Nigeria?s electoral body said on Tuesday it had registered 22 new political parties, bringing to 28 the number to contest next year?s general elections. Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), Abel Guobadia, told a news conference in the capital Abuja that three out of 25 parties that had applied for registration failed to […]