Tabla de contenidos para 2023-06-05 en Mercury

SOUTH Africa’s leading economists are forecasting that gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2023 will reflect the fragile economic environment characterised by intensified power cuts and rising cost of living. This comes as Statistics South African (StatsSA) will tomorrow release the data for after growth contracted by 1.3% quarter-on-quarter in the last three months of 2022. The decline in growth over the quarter was largely broad-based, with only the transport, construction and personal services sectors increasing over the quarter. Bloomberg consensus expectations are for GDP to have expanded by just a tad over 0% in the first quarter, generally underpinned by the unexpected expansion in the electricity-intensive sectors, even as load shedding intensified in the first quarter of 2023 relative to the fourth quarter of 2022. FNB…

FINANCE Minister Enoch Godongwana said the National Treasury has stopped R2.7 billion in transfers in conditional grants to municipalities from the R7.4bn that was earmarked earlier this year. Godongwana revealed this when responding to parliamentary questions from GOOD Party MP Brett Herron, who had enquired about the National Treasury’s announcement that conditional grant funding would be withheld from some municipalities due to non-performance. The minister said the withholding of transfers to municipalities was an annual practice that had been institutionalised over the past 10 years to maximise spending and the effectiveness of conditional grants. The National Treasury initiated stopping and re-allocating the 2022/23 conditional grant allocations in terms of the Division of Revenue Act in February. “The National Treasury issued 171 letters to all under-performing municipalities on February 17,…

SOUTH Africa is bordering on being a failed state and the prime reason for this, in my opinion, is our Constitution and Bill of Rights – the foundation on which our democracy has been built. Twenty-nine years down the line, just about everything that stands on that foundation is toppling. These documents were drawn up by highly qualified persons but they are not suitable for a country such as ours. The rainbow nation was doomed to fail because the foundation was idyllic – not realistic – and no amount of trying to work with it is going to succeed. If we are going to have any chance of turning things around, we have to design an alternative Constitution and change our present attitude to human rights. The first change I…

THE way in which the DA is working itself up into a lather over the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin and calling for his arrest reflects much about the DA’s stance on global affairs and the double standards that prevail on international issues. The ICC has charged Putin with war crimes and the deportation of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. On that basis, the DA wants him arrested when he arrives to attend the July 25-27 BRICS summit in Johannesburg. Also attending the summit will be President Xi Jinping of China. His humanitarian record makes Putin’s look moderate. First of all, China is a one-party Communist state. Religious sites are destroyed and Chinese youth face persecution for involvement in religious services. Then there is China’s military…

The South African police have arrested several suspects, who were wanted in other countries, in operations across the country. This is according to national police spokesperson Major-General Mathapelo Peters who said the SAPS have arrested more than 60 fugitives wanted on extradition requests and by Interpol in the past five years. She also said they were successful in tracing suspects and bringing many back to the country to stand trial. “In the past five years members of Interpol NCB Pretoria have successfully arrested more than 60 fugitives wanted on extradition requests and Interpol Red Notices,” she said. Of the 60 wanted fugitives arrested, 42 were successfully extradited and a further 27 extradition requests were currently before courts in South Africa. “Interpol NCB Pretoria has also successfully traced and arranged for…

The SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) has urged local governments to recruit professionals into their ranks to promote an ethical culture in their municipalities. Saica made the call following Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke’s presentation on the 2021-22 Local Government Audit Outcome last week, which continues to reflect poor audit outcomes as a result of poor financial planning, inadequate financial controls, skills and capacity, governance and accountability. “Local government has been characterised by dysfunctional municipalities, financial mismanagement, council and administrative instability and crumbling municipal infrastructure,’’ the report said, leading to deteriorating standards of living, service-delivery failures and service-delivery protests. “I firmly believe that service-delivery improvements will be enabled by capable, accountable and citizen- centric municipal leadership, delivering on their mandates to improve the lives of ordinary South Africans.” The…

The Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has sentenced a 38-year-old man after he defrauded his former employer, Ndwedwe Local Municipality, north of Durban, of nearly R500 000. Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Simphiwe Mhlongo said Nkosingizwile Gama was employed by the municipality as payroll administrator in 2015 and 2016. “He created ghost employees and used fictitious names to defraud the municipality. As a result, Ndwedwe Municipality suffered an actual prejudice of R488 142,” he said. According to Mhlongo, during the certification of salary payments, his supervisor noticed suspicious payments. He said a case of fraud was reported at Ndwedwe police station and the case docket was allocated to the Hawks for investigation. “Gama was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment of which two years were suspended for five…

The Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) has arrested four people after allegedly finding them in possession of diamonds worth more than R3 million. Spokesperson for the TMPD, Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba, said of the four, two are Namibian nationals. “The Tshwane Metro Police’s K9 unit members conducted a crime-intelligence driven operation with other law enforcement agencies on (Saturday) 3 June. “During the operation, they followed up on information about diamonds that were going to be delivered at a mall in Mayville, Pretoria,” said Mahamba. “The team rushed to the said location and tactically waited for the suspects to arrive. A white Honda vehicle arrived with four suspects. “The four suspects were immediately apprehended. They were found in possession of 36 diamonds. “The diamonds have an estimated street value of R3.7m,”…

Foreign policy inimical to principles of Ubuntu IN A master stroke of deflection diplomacy, Dr Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco), took much of the awkwardness out of the BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs indaba last Friday in Cape Town over the controversy whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will be arrested under an ICC warrant for alleged war crimes against Ukraine if he attends the 15th BRICS Heads of Government summit in August in South Africa. Never mind that Pretoria is seemingly “neutralising” the arrest threat by extending a blanket “standard” diplomatic immunity for the summit and its attendees from any legal provisions of the jurisdiction of the host country for the duration of the conference – perhaps a desperate yet stunning act of Rome Statute casuistry.…

Hong Kong police searched and detained scores of people yesterday, including four arrested for “seditious” intent, as authorities tightened security for the 34th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Restrictions in Hong Kong have stifled what were once the largest vigils marking the anniversary of the crackdown by Chinese troops on pro-democracy demonstrators, leaving cities like Taipei, London, New York and Berlin to keep the memory of June 4 alive. Near Victoria Park, the previous site of yearly vigils, hundreds of police conducted stop and search operations, and deployed armoured vehicles and police vans. Witnesses saw more than a dozen people taken away, including activist Alexandra Wong, 67, who carried a bouquet of flowers, a man who held a copy of “35th of May”, a play on the Tiananmen…

Residents of Sudan’s capital Khartoum reported a sharp escalation in clashes in several areas of the capital yesterday after the expiry of a ceasefire deal between rival military factions brokered by Saudi Arabia and the US. Witnesses also said a military plane had crashed in Omdurman, one of three cities around the confluence of the Nile that make up the greater capital region. There was no comment from the army, which has been using fighter jets to target the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) spread out in a conflict that erupted on April 15, triggering a major humanitarian crisis. Saudi Arabia and the US said they were continuing to engage daily with delegations from the army and the RSF, which had remained in Jeddah even though talks to extend the…

Warsaw: Half a million protesters packed the streets of central Warsaw yesterday, Poland’s opposition organisers said claiming one of the biggest anti-government demonstrations in the 30 years since the end of communism. Lech Walesa, a former Polish president and leader of the fight against communism, joined opposition figures at the head of the march ahead of legislative elections in the autumn. People travelled from across the country after former prime minister Donald Tusk, head of the centrist opposition party Civic Platform, called for the protest against “the high cost of living, swindling and lying”. | AFP…

LOS ANGELES: Twitter’s value has sunk by almost two-thirds since Elon Musk acquired the company. That is according to Fidelity, an asset manager that held a stake in Twitter worth around $20 million (R390m) after Musk acquired the micro-blogging platform in 2022. Fidelity has now claimed in a corporate filing that its stake in the company is worth just under $6.6m. As a result, Fidelity now values the social media platform at around $14.75 billion – even though Musk acquired the company for $44bn less than 12 months ago. The billionaire businessman introduced a wave of changes following his takeover of the company last year. | Bang Showbiz…

Dewald Brevis laid down an early marker that he wants to be part of the conversation when the Proteas’ one-day international World Cup squad is selected later this year. Taking on a new middle-order role, the talented youngster blasted 98 not out off just 71 balls (6x4, 7x6) from No 7 to lead South Africa A to a comfortable four-wicket victory over their Sri Lankan counterparts in the first unofficial ODI in Pallekele yesterday. Brevis’ imposing innings carries even greater weight as he and fellow youngster Beyers Swanepoel were paired together with SA A in a spot of bother on 155/6 in pursuit of Sri Lanka’s 264/8. The situation did not, however, deter the former SA Under-19 star as he and Swanepoel tore into the hosts’ attack from thereon. The…

OPPOSITION parties in the eThekwini Municipality are outraged at the delay of the implementation of the section 154 intervention that aims to bring in experts to improve the metro’s performance. The City’s communication unit announced on Friday that the council meeting where the intervention was to be tabled had been postponed. This has delayed the introduction of the intervention action. Some councillors said the procedure had not been followed in implementing the intervention. They said the MEC of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Bongi Sithole-Moloi, should have first briefed the executive committee about the action and then full council. “The eThekwini Municipality’s urgent council meeting that was convened to introduce the Section 154 intervention was postponed. The council resolved that the MEC must first engage the executive committee on…

The BRICS summit is to go ahead in South Africa, with ongoing discussions over the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to be finalised this week. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s interministerial committee (IMC), led by Deputy President Paul Mashatile, is expected to meet today to consider the state’s options after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant of arrest for the Russian leader. Last Thursday, International Relations and Co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor, speaking after a meeting of BRICS foreign ministers, insisted the summit would be held in Johannesburg. Yesterday, Professor Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s Ambassador-at-Large for Asia and BRICS said Pandor was at pains during the meeting with foreign ministers last week to point out that the August 22-24 summit would take place in the country. The summit was…

I REFER to the advice of Mr Du Bois (The Mercury, June 1) that our courts begin to become serious about our corrupted officials in government, in a Nuremberg-Trial manner. The earlier-famous trials, on closer examination, later became notorious in its one-sided viciousness by the Allied forces and also resulted in aiding the establishment of the state of Israel, constructed totally on the basis of sympathy and pity. But I agree that alluding to that strict trial of war criminals, places the sordid, and sorry, hamstrung, shackled, ineffective, castrated and totally emasculated state of our own South African brand of a justice system in clear focus. No election, no coalition, no promises, no written undertaking by wannabe-leaders next year will help at all. Unless some head-rolling occurs! For all role-players…

THE Indian community of South Africa are South Africans – no more, no less. When scantily clad, impoverished and waif-like citizens of the world across the big pond embarked on their tortuous journey to these shores more than 150 years ago, they left in the great hope of opportunity, of safety and security, and of unbridled dreams. They got very little of that, if any. Indeed, what they really got was bondage and slavery, suffering and heartache, torture and pain. There was no land of milk and honey that awaited them. But instead of that being a deterrent, it became a spur and a root of survival. While their spirits may have been low and the heads drooped, their strength of resolve and determination never faltered. Looked at as sub-human,…

Experts in the field of child protection and child rights say despite the country marking Child Protection Week, too many children are still abused and/or killed. They also lament the recent crime statistics announced by the government which show a 20% decrease in child murders, adding that the stats do not show the unreported or concealed child deaths. Luke Lamprecht, the head of advocacy at Women and Men Against Child Abuse, said the crime stats often did not include concealed deaths because the government was uncomfortable talking about unreported or missed cases. “How often have we not heard about abandoned newborns found in open fields? In some cases those babies died but their deaths do not form part of the crime stats. “Babies are often abandoned near medical sites as…

International Relations and Co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor has confirmed that no further action will be taken against the US ambassador for his allegations that South Africa supplied arms to Russia. Pandor said she had called US ambassador Reuben Brigety to her office in March after he went public with the allegations. President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Judge Phineas Mojapelo to lead an inquiry into the matter. Judge Mojapelo has six weeks to investigate the matter and will submit his report two weeks after the conclusion of the probe. Defence Minister Thandi Modise also denied that South Africa gave Russia arms when Lady R docked in Simon’s Town last December. The allegations had led to tensions between South Africa and the US. Pandor had also spoken to US Secretary of State…

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has informed the Department of Health (DoH) that influenza has been spreading more widely across the nation since last month. Foster Mohale, Health Department spokesperson, said cases have been steadily increasing since week 15 which started on April 10. The NICD has received reports of influenza clusters in schools and workplaces. “Influenza, also known as ‘flu’, is an acute respiratory illness caused by an infection of the respiratory tract with the influenza virus.” Two types of influenza viruses commonly infect humans, namely A and B. The flu viruses are typically in circulation before the winter season in South Africa, he said. “The virus spreads from person to person through the inhalation of infected respiratory droplets when people are sneezing, coughing, or talking. “A…

THE Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) has conveyed its condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of electrical engineering lecturer Shan Dwarika, who was found murdered in Inanda at the weekend. Dwarika, 61, was last seen in CCTV footage outside his Sea Cow Lake property, where he was confronted by armed suspects who bundled him into his car and drove off. The lecturer, who lived in Verulam, had been attending to repairs at his rental property. Last Wednesday, MUT held a press briefing to plead for Dwarika’s safe return, saying he was a dedicated lecturer who “treated his students like his children”. MUT vice-chancellor Marcus Ramogale said he could not imagine what Dwarika’s family was going through. “All I can say at this stage is that our law enforcement has…

THE latest figures detailing the attacks on eThekwini Municipality employees show that the metro is being held under siege by criminals, with more than 110 vehicles hijacked and staff members being wounded or traumatised this year. Head of City fleet Malcolm Joshua gave the updated figure on the attacks this past weekend while speaking on the City video platform, eThekwini Matters. Joshua is tasked with managing close to 8 000 vehicles belonging to the municipality. He said the waste and sanitation unit and electricity unit were the most affected by attacks because they were out in the field dealing with repairs. The update comes after mayor Mxolisi Kaunda on Thursday last week said that the attacks on City employees had become a daily occurrence. The mayor revealed this shortly after…

MASS killings, like the murder of eight people at the notorious Glebelands Hostel in Durban, should never become the norm. Police reported that the men were shot on Saturday morning; seven were declared dead at the scene, while an eighth person died in hospital. Glebelands is notorious. Between 2014 and 2019, more than 120 people died as a result of violence allegedly at the hands of hitmen. Last year, nearly 30 people died in tavern shootings around the country. In July, 16 people were killed at Nomzamo tavern in Orlando East, with Police Minister Bheki Cele saying more than 137 cartridges were recovered from the scene of the shooting, and that an AK47 had been used. These mass shootings have again raised questions about the effectiveness of the Crime Intelligence…

ABOUT 54 Ugandan peacekeepers died when militants besieged an AU base in Somalia last week, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni said, in one of the worst recent attacks by Al-Shabaab jihadists in the war-torn country. “We discovered the lifeless bodies of 54 fallen soldiers, including a commander,” Museveni said at the weekend. The veteran leader was speaking during a meeting with members of his governing National Resistance Movement party, the presidency said yesterday. The toll is one of the heaviest yet since pro-government forces backed by the AU force known as ATMIS launched an offensive against Al-Shabaab last August. It was also a rare admission of a major military death toll by AU members. Al-Shabaab, which has been waging a deadly insurgency against Somalia’s fragile central government for more than a…

LOS ANGELES: Taylor Swift kicked off Pride Month with a message of support for the LGBTQIA+ community. The 33-year-old musician was speaking during the Chicago, Illinois stop of her Eras tour when she told her fans that her concerts were a “safe space” for everyone. “Being with you during Pride Month, getting to sing the words to You Need To Calm Down where there are lyrics like, ‘Can you just not step on his gown?’ or, ‘Shade never made anybody less gay,’ and you guys are screaming those lyrics… Such support of one another and such encouraging, beautiful acceptance and peace and safety. And I wish that every place was safe and beautiful for people of the LGBTQ+ community.” She urged her fans to think carefully about their votes in…

CAIRO: Egypt deployed three tugboats yesterday to tow away an oil tanker that had broken down and caused brief delays in the Suez Canal, authorities in charge of the vital waterway said. Traffic in both directions returned to normal after a brief disruption when the Malta-flagged Seavigour experienced a “machinery malfunction” while en route from Russia to China, the authority said. Three tugboats “successfully towed and moored the ship” at a shipyard where the technical fault will be fixed before the tanker “resumes its crossing”. Brief disruptions caused by ships breaking down are common in the waterway. | AFP…

GORDON Lesetedi has often started the Comrades Marathon as a serious contender for glory. But over the years, misfortune has befallen him, the runner who trains under the tutelage of the revered John Hamlett either suffering pre-race illness, injuries or just having an unfortunate race day. It is for that reason that he is yet to realise his dream and fulfil the potential his talent and through preparations have often deserved – a podium finish. He only has two gold medals. Lesetedi’s best at the Comrades was a sixth-place finish in the 2018 down run when he ran a 5hr 39min 32sec. It was a good 13 minutes slower than the time ran by winner Bongmusa Mthembu. Though pleased with the gold, Lesetedi was understandably disappointed given that he was…

Electricity Minister says risk of a national blackout was extremely low given the various control measures in place THE MINISTER in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has warned that the government will be ramping up Demand Side Management (DSM) programmes this winter as part of measures to prevent load shedding from exceeding stage 6. DSM is a strategy used by electricity utilities to control demand by encouraging consumers to modify their level and pattern of electricity usage, and typically includes monetary incentives to encourage consumers to buy energy-efficient equipment, or lower prices if they agree to reduce usage during peak times of demand. Ramokgopa on Friday presented an update on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan, saying that they were working tirelessly to avert a…

EIGHT people were killed by gunmen at Glebelands Hostel in uMlazi on Saturday morning. Experts said that crime levels had reached exponential levels in KwaZulu-Natal, as underlined by the crime stats released last week. The murder rate in South Africa increased by 3.4% between January and March 2023, compared to the same period last year, while KZN had the highest figures of multiple murders. Glebelands Hostel has also been notorious for murders. Between March 2014 and January 2019, more than 120 people died as a result of violence allegedly perpetrated by hitmen. KZN police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker said yesterday that detectives from the provincial task team had taken over the investigation. Seven men died at the scene. “According to police in uMlazi, at 2.45 on Saturday morning, men aged…

DURING a recent sitting of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, the DA called on provincial Education MEC Mbali Frazer to intervene after a pregnant pupil was allegedly expelled and told to only return after the baby’s delivery. The DA condemns this repugnant discrimination. It is not only a vile response to a difficult situation, it is a horrific violation of her rights. Section 5(1) of SA Schools Act states that “(a) public school must admit learners and serve their educational requirements without unfairly discriminating in any way”. This means that pregnant learners, particularly those of compulsory school-going age, must be allowed to attend school. Section 9 (3) reads: “The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status,…

Caring for another – a neighbour, a friend – during an illness or while grieving a loss is an art. Caring too much – overdoing caring – damages both the recipient of the “care” and he or she who offers it. Caring offhandedly or indifferently is no care at all. Then, it’s a tricky business trying to care for one who needs no care or thinks he or she needs no care. Striking a balance of caring for another without compromising oneself is a delicate art form. But, it’s possible. It can be learnt and practised and perfected. Then, when errors are made, the errors can teach valuable lessons so they are unlikely to be repeated. Among the first errors is the belief that caring for another is easy and…

Judgment in Dr Nandipha Magudumana’s urgent high court application to have her deportation from Tanzania declared unlawful is expected today. Argument was delivered last Thursday before Judge Philip Loubser at the Bloemfontein High Court. The court heard from an advocate how Magudumana hitched a ride back to South Africa from Tanzania because she told officials that she wanted to come back home for her children. Advocate Neil Snellenburg, who was representing the SAPS, said at no point did Magudumana refuse to board a private jet that had been chartered to ensure she and Facebook rapist Thabo Bester return to the country. The high court is hearing an urgent application brought by Magudumana, who is arguing that the process to bring her back to the country was unlawful. Magudumana was arrested…

Bolt has suspended pick-up and drop-off points at Maponya Mall in Pretoria to ensure that drivers and passengers are safe while they assess the situation. This follows the torching and stoning of vehicles owned by e-hailing operators at the Maponya Mall in Soweto on Thursday night. Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said three vehicles were torched, while four were damaged, the owners assaulted and one of them shot. Nevhuhulwi said police were investigating a case of attempted murder and malicious damage to property. Bolt regional manager Takura Malaba said the company had escalated the issue with the management of Maponya Mall and police, including Crime Intelligence, to ensure that the matter was closely monitored. “Bolt condemns criminal conduct and violence of any form directed towards ride-hailing drivers because it…

The MEC of Education in KwaZulu-Natal, Mbali Frazer, is expected to take legal action against scam artists on social media. This comes after individuals created several social media accounts using her name illegally to scam people out of money with the promise of jobs. The department said the criminals responsible for fabricating the fake accounts were deceitfully trying to extract money from individuals by falsely promising non-existent positions within the provincial Education Department. “First and foremost, we are dealing with a clear case of identity theft, as these individuals are impersonating me. Moreover, they are shamelessly attempting to defraud unsuspecting job seekers, which is an additional criminal offence,” she said. The MEC urged the public to stay away from the scam artists. “You don’t have to pay a cent to…

BRAZIL, Russia, India and China originally formed the bloc in 2009 after a series of meetings and understandings. The first BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia on June 16 of the same year. The following year, in Brasilia, Brazil, in April, the second summit was held, where the leaders of these countries emphasised the necessity of a multidimensional global intergovernmental system. Then, at their third meeting in New York in September 2010, BRIC agreed on the entry of South Africa. South Africa managed to join after a strong effort as a result of its active foreign policy, this coalition of states changing it from “BRIC” to “BRICS”. At the fourth summit in March 2012 in New Delhi, India, a first announcement was made of the establishment of a New…

The cause of India’s deadliest train disaster in decades was linked to the signal system, the railway minister said yesterday, as families scoured hospitals and morgues for missing relatives with deaths expected to top 288. Mounds of debris were piled high at the site of Friday night’s crash near Balasore in the eastern state of Odisha, as workers started to clear the smashed carriages and the blood-stained wreckage where hundreds were also wounded. Hospitals have been overwhelmed by the number of casualties. “We have identified the cause of the accident and the people responsible for it,” India’s Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, but said it was “not appropriate” to give details before a final investigation report. There was confusion about the exact sequence of events but reports cited railway officials…

Fourteen people were killed and five were missing following a landslide in southwestern China’s Sichuan province yesterday, the local government said. The “collapse took place high on a mountain” at a state-owned forestry station in Jinkouhe, near the city of Leshan, the local government said. Authorities sent more than 180 people and a dozen pieces of rescue and recovery equipment to the site. “Currently, search and rescue work is urgently under way,” it said. The site is in a mountainous region about 240km south of the provincial capital Chengdu. Landslides are a frequent danger in rural and mountainous parts of China, particularly during the rainy summer months. An official in Jinkouhe’s publicity department declined to give further comment on Sunday’s landslide. The settlement of around 40 000 people lies between…

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday called the killing of three soldiers by a member of the Egyptian security services a terrorist attack and demanded a full joint investigation with Cairo. Israel’s military said that two of its soldiers were shot dead early on Saturday by an Egyptian security services member who crossed through the border fence. Soldiers then made contact and during an exchange of fire the Egyptian guard and a third Israeli soldier were killed. The Egyptian military said the three Israelis and Egyptian guard had been killed in an exchange of fire as the guard chased smugglers across the frontier. | Reuters…

MOSCOW: Ukrainian forces continued to shell Russia’s border region of Belgorod overnight into yesterday after two people were killed the previous night and hundreds of children were evacuated away from the border, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Gladkov later wrote that fires had broken out in the town of Shebekino after Ukrainian forces shelled a market area in the centre, and that nobody had been injured. Shebekino is about 7km from the Ukrainian border. More than 4 000 people have been relocated to temporary accommodation in the region. In late May, Russia said it had repelled one of the most serious cross-border attacks. | Reuter…

Novak Djokovic swept into the French Open quarter-finals for the 14th straight year yesterday. Third seed Djokovic, who is chasing a record 23rd grand slam singles title at Roland Garros, ended the surprise run of Peruvian outsider Juan Pablo Varillas in straight sets. Djokovic, a two-time champion in Paris, won 6-3 6-2 6-2 against the 94th-ranked Varillas to book a meeting with Russia’s Karen Khachanov, the 11th seed who overcame Lorenzo Sonego in four sets. “I had never played my opponent before,” said Djokovic. “I knew he was a clay-court specialist and that I had to earn the victory. It was the best I played this week.” The 36-year-old Djokovic has yet to drop a set through four rounds. He is into a record 17th French Open quarter-final after making…