Staff Reporter

Malaria parasites found in Africa are showing signs of resistance to the most powerful anti-malarial drug available, say researchers on the Science and Development Network website. Artemisinin was introduced in several African countries, including South Africa, after the parasite developed resistance to the commonly-used anti-malaria drug chloroquine.

The National Council of Provinces is at the centre of a parliamentary battle over the independence of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. The battle, revolving around amendments to the Icasa Act, comes against the background of turmoil inside the regulator.

What was Project Avani? And how did it link to spying on African National Congress businessman Saki Macozoma? Those are some of the questions raised by tantalising new glimpses into the circumstances surrounding the suspension of National Intelligence Agency director general Billy Masetlha that emerged in court papers this week.

<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=zuma_report"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/243078/zuma.jpg" align=left border=0></a>Jacob Zuma confessed to senior trade union and communist leaders this week that he had sex with the woman he is alleged to have raped, but that it was consensual. Impeccable sources also say the alliance leaders, who visited Zuma at his Nkandla homestead last Sunday, also persuaded him not to resign from his post as African National Congress deputy president.

"This newspaper has been banned. It has been closed down. It has been sued. There is not a single politician, terrorist, vice-chancellor, Bafana Bafana coach, deputy minister, oil tycoon, Aids denialist, judge president or poet whose bowels have not been severely mangled by this paper," writes founding editor of the MAil & Guaridan, Irwin Manoim.

A few months shy of her 11th birthday, Vuyelwa bore in miniature all the noble traits of her race and gender. Stately and voluminous as a chubby-cheeked Zeppelin coated with Vaseline, she sailed through clear skies of her own making, deaf to the howls and grunts of the boy-children who crouched on all fours at her feet, snapping at each other as they fought over scraps of bone.

Ghana’s soccer team have qualified for the World Cup for the very first time, and it is not only the fans that are cheering. So too are health campaigners, who hope that football fever might boost the fight against HIV/Aids. For the past three years, some of Ghana’s most promising young talents have been learning not only ball skills and match tactics, but also how to protect themselves from the HI-virus.

Adding zinc to the diets of HIV-positive children helps protect them, researchers report. The South African scientists say zinc supplements are a safe, simple and cost-effective way to reduce illnesses such as diarrhoea, a major cause of death in poor communities.

The United States launched 210 spy missions against North Korea in November using high-altitude reconnaissance planes, Pyongyang’s official media said on Thursday. Five rounds of talks involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have been held in an effort to resolve the nuclear stand-off.

Jean Benjamin, Ntombazana Botha, Thoko Didiza, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Nomatyala Hangana, Lindiwe Hendricks, Loretta Jacobus, Brigitte Mabandla, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Naledi Pandor, Susan Shabangu, Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu, Buyelwa Patience Sonjica, Elizabeth Thabethe, Mantombazana Tshabalala-Msimang, Susan van der Merwe, Lulama Xingwana.

So here we are again, wrapping up another school year and longing for the holidays. The year-end exams are behind us and we all await the annual ritual of the matric pass-rates announcement. Which province will bask in the glory of first place? Which will be crowned with the dunce’s cap?

Cartoons and animation in the West are predominantly seen as being "you know … for kids", to steal from <i>Hudsucker Proxy</i>. In reality, they are just another vehicle for writers and filmmakers to get their story across. But there’s this constant, almost sneering attitude at the animated and "graphic" genres, as if they automatically have less depth or content than the written word.

There’s an old mantra in the humanitarian aid world — and many still live by it: Whatever you do, don’t let the aid get near the men with guns. Humanitarian assistance, they say, should never be entrusted to armies. Well, a few days ago I was flying low over the crushed ruins of Balakot, a thriving market town and tourist centre that was reduced to rubble in only a few seconds by the earthquake on October 8.

South Africa, the economic powerhouse of Southern Africa, continues to see an escalating HIV epidemic, while economically crippled Zimbabwe has apparently brought down levels of HIV infection among its people. According to the latest United Nation’s figures, one in three pregnant women in South Africa is HIV-positive, the highest level yet recorded.

HIV stands for "human immunodeficiency virus". It is a retrovirus. This means that the virus uses the body’s own cells to reproduce itself. While several theories exist, the origin of this virus is still unclear. We explain how HIV is transmitted and how it makes people sick.