"Mbeki 'to work with' Zim"

Iran takes on west's control of oil trading
Iran is to launch an oil trading market for Middle East and Opec producers that could threaten the supremacy of London's International Petroleum Exchange. A contract to design and establish a new platform for crude, natural gas and petrochemical trades is expected to be signed with an international consortium within days.

South Africa to challenge India over call centres
An initiative supported by the national and provincial governments in South Africa to lure call centres of multinationals to this coastal city could impact on India's huge role in this field.

Mbeki 'to work with' Zim
President Thabo Mbeki in his annual state of the nation address Friday pledged to "work with" Zimbabwe to ensure that March parliamentary elections would be free and fair.

Africa's reformers discover it is hard to stamp out corruption
Kenya's government, which was elected on a pledge to fight corruption, has been hit by the resignation of its chief anti-corruption official John Githongo this week.

National Assembly Urges AU to Intervene in Togo
The House of Representatives, yesterday resolved to charge the African Union (AU), to give Mr Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema, the son of the late president of the Republic of Togo, General Gnassingbe Eyadema, time within which to step down from power or be forcefully removed should he fail to comply.

South Africa told to admit size of Aids crisis
The South African government is still in denial over the scale of the Aids crisis, it is alleged today following revelations that the true death toll is three times the official figures.

Nigeria's Obasanjo cancels trip to Togo, threatens sanctions
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo cancelled a crisis visit to Togo and warned of sanctions against its controversial new regime on Friday after Togolese authorities refused to allow a plane carrying his advance party to land, the Nigerian leader's spokeswoman said.

Congo's Ninja rebels told to disarm, get a haircut
The leader of Congo Republic's self-styled "Ninja" rebels has told his loyalists to take guns from the unruly members of his movement and make themselves more presentable by trimming their ragged locks.

The Secret Service at Booker Elementary
We've all seen the video. It figures prominently in Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11". It is the video of George Bush at Booker Elementary School being informed by Andy Card of the second impact of a passenger jetliner into the World Trade Center, then sitting there for several minutes reading about goats. What damns the Bush administration is not what is in this video, but what SHOULD be in the video and is not. Ostensibly, Bush and Card are reacting to a surprise attack, but Bush does not act surprised, and Andrew Card does not act like a man delivering an unexpected piece of news but instead is merely delivering a progress report to which he already knows Bush will not have an immediate response.

Analysis: Hamas history tied to Israel
Israel and Hamas may currently be locked in deadly combat, but, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials, beginning in the late 1970s, Tel Aviv gave direct and indirect financial aid to Hamas over a period of years. Israel "aided Hamas directly -- the Israelis wanted to use it as a counterbalance to the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization)," said Tony Cordesman, Middle East analyst for the Center for Strategic Studies.

Rights group says US killed detainees
A US human rights group has alleged that at least 37 detainees died of torture in US detention centres at Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

Putin cronies exposed in new list of Russia's rich
Russia's political class has amassed as much wealth as power under President Vladimir Putin, according to a new "rich list" published yesterday.

Saudis go to polls but women still excluded
Voters go to the polls in Saudi Arabia today in the kingdom's first nationwide election - but no women will be among them, and no female candidates will be on the ballot.