The Congress of South African Trade Unions on Wednesday said that while the SABC's draft editorial policy was "full of excellent intentions and worthy ideals" there remained a huge gap between the course of action the public broadcaster had prescribed and what it was doing in its day-to-day broadcasts.

A new international law covering the conditions under which genetically modified (GM) organisms can be traded between countries is to come into force later this year, after the Pacific island of Palau last week became the 50th state to ratify the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Palau's move triggered a 90-day countdown before the protocol – which will regulate the impact on the environment and human health from trade in GM organisms – comes into legal force on 11 September.

A pall of heavy smoke from thousands of backyard bonfires lit to chase away an evil spirit has created a foul atmosphere in the Guinean capital Conakry. Health workers and environmentalists have appealed over the radio for people to put out the fires, which have clogged the air with pollution for several days.

The Sudanese government has guaranteed the World Food Programme (WFP) that all food deliveries will be permitted to enter the country for the next six months, while it conducts a review of its policy on genetically modified (GM) foods.

They believe God created an elect group of whites to rule the peoples of the world. They also believe the Bible forbids racial "interbreeding". Yet Jaco van der Merwe, spiritual leader of the Lewende Hoop (Living Hope) congregation in Kroonstad, denies their message is political. Police and intelligence officers do not seem to agree that the teachings of the Lewende Hoop church are a-political.