Sommaire pour 2022-03-22 de Cape Times

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE SOUTH African Reserve Bank (SARB) could tighten monetary policy this week as inflation continues to head towards the top end of its 3 to 6 percent target range. Global producer price and food price inflation continues to rise higher on fears of supply chain disruption, with the Russian war in Ukraine pushing oil prices to a 14-year high. Global agriculture and other commodity prices have also risen strongly. Electricity and other administered prices also continue to present short- and medium-term price risks, as Eskom will get a 9.6 percent tariff increase from April 1. It is in these contexts that SARB’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will meet from today until Thursday. The MPC meeting occurs in a highly fluid global environment, characterised by heightened…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE INVESTEC Group would review its provision overlays nearer the release of its annual results in May as there were still market risks from the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK and South Africa and an as yet unknown impact of higher inflation associated with the invasion by Russia of Ukraine. This was according to Investec chief executive Fanie Titi, who spoke on Friday in an online event at the release of a pre-close trading update for the year to March 31. He said that there had so far been clear improvement in the group, but the possible impact of, for example, higher energy costs in South Africa and the UK from the high oil prices on the group’s generally high net worth clients and corporate clients,…

Stuart McFarlane and Adrian Dyer WITH the return to office work – and no longer being able to roll out of bed and straight into a Zoom meeting – many of us will be waking up earlier to beat the morning rush. So it’s important to ensure we are on top of our alarm game. But what type of alarm provides peak alertness upon waking? Pythagoras posited this same question in about 500 BCE. He believed specific songs – melodies that roused the energies – could counteract the drowsiness waking might bring. And he appears to have had a point. Research has now shown certain alarm sounds can enhance our alertness upon waking. In particular, alarms that have “tunefulness” that energise the listener. But to understand why this is the…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za OFFICIALS from the Deparment of Employment and Labour are expected to conduct inspections on all farms in Robertson soon to determine whether employers are adhering to labour legislation following allegations of employment of illegal foreign nationals on local farms. Unemployed locals had raised their grievances of labour brokers apparently employing foreign nationals instead of them and a protest was planned for Thursday last week. According to Langeberg mayor Schalk van Eeden, what was meant to be a demonstration by locals turned into violent clashes between two groups of Lesotho and Zimbabwe national seasonal workers over alleged discrimination employment practices on farms which saw one group favoured for jobs over the other. One person was hospitalised, and 17 people, including two children, reported minor injuries. “About 20 dwellings…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za RESIDENTS of Enkanini informal settlement in Khayelitsha marked Human Rights Day in mourning after six people, mostly youth, were shot dead in a brazen attack that has left the community reeling. The attack on Sunday afternoon came just days after Police Minister Bheki Cele announced the deployment of more than 200 officers from Mpumalanga to help fight crime in the province after five people were shot dead in Endlovini informal settlement, also in Khayelitsha, less than 5km from where Sunday’s attack took place. Despite Cele’s announcement, at least 12 people were killed in mass shootings around Cape Town at the weekend. Two were in Gugulethu at NY102 on Sunday, while a man was shot and killed when answering a knock at the front door of his home…

Barbie Sandler | Constantia WELL, once again we read in the paper the shocking statistics of teenage pregnancies, and the really stupid comment by the Eastern Cape Health MEC, Ms Nomakhosazana Meth. She says, to quote: “We are calling upon children to abstain from having sex until they are over 21 years of age.” How laughable! They are having it as young as 10 years old, so I promise, her remarks like this mean nothing. As I have been saying for years and years, sex education needs to be started in all our schools ASAP. And obviously in the junior schools. Too late in the senior schools. There need to be more sympathetic nurses at the clinics who help young girls who are sexually active, and not turn…

Doctors Without Borders THE EU, India, South Africa and the US are working on a possible compromise to address intellectual property (IP) barriers on Covid-19 medical products. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) acknowledges the efforts towards a final resolution, but notes that the recently leaked text is far from being an IP “waiver” for pandemic medical tools. MSF urges all World Trade Organization (WTO) members to be aware of the limitations of the leaked text. WTO members should work together to ensure that any agreement tackles the current barriers to accessing all Covid-19 medical tools, including treatments and diagnostics, and also addresses patents and non-patent barriers in an effective way. According to MSF’s initial analysis, key limitations of the leaked text include that it covers only vaccines, is geographically…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za A BARRYDALE acting school principal accused of rape, and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) will have to cough up for a damages claim against them over an alleged sexual assault incident at Vleiplaas Primary School about a decade ago. The Western Cape High Court dismissed the damages counter-claim by the acting principal, Keith Swanepoel, who was accused of raping a 12-year-old pupil in the staff toilets shortly after second break on a school day in September 2011. It was alleged that Swanepoel – who has a previous conviction for the sexual assault of a minor, but had not been properly vetted – asked the pupil to help him move boxes in his office. However, when she arrived there, he instructed her to go to the staff…

AS long as the inequality gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow, Human Rights Day will remain just another holiday in the country’s calendar. March 21, 1960, is a very significant day in the country’s history. It was on this day that 69 peaceful protesters and scores of others were shot and killed by police during an anti-pass demonstration. However, the significance of the day is lost to so many people around the country. This is mainly due to the fact that the lives of ordinary people have not changed since the country attained democracy in 1994. That is why the latest report produced by the World Bank, which states that South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, is very significant, especially for…

The EU was yesterday set to approve a new defence strategy designed to increase the bloc’s capacity to act, including setting up a 5 000-strong rapid reaction force. The plan – in the pipeline for two years – has undergone a last-minute rewrite to increase the focus on the threat from Russia after Moscow invaded Ukraine. “It’s not the answer to the Ukrainian war, but it is part of the answer,” EU foreign policy Josep Borrell said ahead of a meeting of the bloc’s foreign and defence ministers. “When we started working, we couldn’t imagine that at the last moment of approval the situation would be so bad and Europe would be facing such a big challenge.” EU leaders have described Russia’s assault on Ukraine as a wake-up call…

The head of the UN yesterday warned that the world is “sleepwalking to climate catastrophe”, as the ongoing pandemic, the war in Ukraine and a lack of political willpower undermine humanity’s efforts to slow the warming of the planet. “There is no kind way to put it,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres told attendees of the Economist Sustainability Summit, saying the most ambitious goal of the 2015 Paris accord – to limit Earth’s warming to 1.5ºC above preindustrial levels – is slipping away. “The 1.5ºC goal is on life support. It is in intensive care.” Guterres said the scientific implications of climate change are clear, and so is the math: to have a chance of avoiding global warming’s most ruinous effects, the world must cut greenhouse gas pollution nearly in half…

NEW DELHI: India is considering making all adults eligible for booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine, two sources with knowledge of the matter said yesterday, as infections grow in some countries and some Indians find it hard to travel abroad without a third dose. Only frontline workers and those older than 60 are currently allowed to take booster doses in India, whether free in government centres or paid for in private hospitals. The government is debating whether to provide boosters to other groups for free, said one of the sources, who both sought anonymity as the government has yet to make a decision. A health ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. | Reuters…

Nairobi: Burundi yesterday banned rickshaws, motorcycle taxis and bicycle cabs from almost all of its biggest city Bujumbura, accusing the popular low-cost transport providers of causing fatal traffic accidents. The Ministry of Interior announced late on Sunday that the “new perimeter prohibiting access to tricycles, motorcycles and bicycle cabs in the centre of the city of Bujumbura is well and truly in force from Monday (yesterday) ”. Police were posted on roads leading into Bujumbura to enforce the ban, which confines two- and three-wheel transport providers to the very margins of the bustling city. | AFP…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za SO, do the Proteas continue with a bouncer barrage for the final one-day international against Bangladesh at SuperSport Park tomorrow? The obvious answer is yes. It worked a treat in the second match, reducing Bangladesh to 34/5 in 13 overs and then life was made difficult for the remaining batters, who struggled - for the most part - to score. Continuing with that method is dependent on conditions in Centurion however. Kagiso Rabada, who took 5/39 at his home ground, made the point that both SuperSport Park and the Wanderers had good bounce, the crucial difference was that at “The Bullring” the pace off the surface was much quicker. As a result the Bangladeshi batters didn’t have time to play at the Wanderers. However South Africa too,…

RAINE Group, a United States bank overseeing the sale of Premier League club Chelsea, plans to narrow down the shortlist of bidders to three this week, sources close to the deal told Reuters. Chelsea were initially put up for sale by owner Roman Abramovich following Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine and before sanctions were imposed on the oligarch by the British government, effectively giving it control of the club. Raine set a deadline of 11pm last Friday for bids to be made, with several being made public, while sources close to the deal said many more had been submitted privately. Some are only just being made public now, with London-based global investment firm Centricus confirming yesterday that they had offered to buy Chelsea, a bid driven by co-founder Nizar Al-Bassam…

ORLANDO Pirates shrugged their domestic woes and booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the CAF Confederations Cup on Sunday night with a 2-0 victory over Saoura of Algeria. Pirates coach, Mandla Ncikazi applauded his side's performances at the Stade du 5 Juillet. He also revealed that they took advantage of their opponents inability to field a full strength team. "Saoura were very unlucky that they were missing a number of their important players, including their captain. But I also think we played very well and we exerted ourselves very well," he explained. The Buccaneers put in a character-defining performance in North Africa, withstanding pressure the entire match and managed to hurt their opponents when it mattered most. Ncikazi's men usually pride themselves on dominating possession and more…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za FORMER president Thabo Mbeki said yesterday there was a need to set aside time for a political discussion in the ANC in the Western Cape to practically think about what was to be done to achieve the party’s objectives. Delivering his closing address at the two-day interim provincial committee’s (IPC) extended meeting in Cape Town, Mbeki said one of the tasks that needed to be set was to strengthen the ANC. “The task we have set ourselves as part of the renewal is to strengthen the ANC so that practically in the Western Cape, it can play this role actually to help us achieve the changes that are required. “It is clear we are to going have another engagement among ourselves because part of the task that…

Philip Engelen | Rosebank I REFER to the letter by Kevin Meineke (Cape Times, March 16), criticising Nato’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as pathetic. What would Kevin advise, that Nato bomb Russia as Russia is bombing Ukraine? Kevin, the bigger picture is that if Nato assists Ukraine with troops from Nato countries such as France, Poland, US, UK and others, this could only spread the conflict first to Ukraine’s neighbouring countries and then possibly wider, and start what we all dread, a third world war that no one wants, as potentially some countries may use nuclear weapons. Nato should rather be pragmatic and try wherever possible to help mediate for peace and stop this senseless war before it spreads out of control . I’m sure that…

MOHAMED SAEED | PIETERMARITZBURG CONSTITUTIONS of countries, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other charters to promote and protect human rights are written to guarantee all people basic rights, different forms of freedom, security, peace, equality and self-respect to lead dignified lives. In recent years, it is becoming increasingly noticeable that governments and international human rights bodies that are in place to defend and promote human rights principles are undermining their constitutions and international charters. Russia’s military invasion across the borders of Ukraine is one of the many examples of violation of international law. The wrongs of some Western governments or Russia’s concern of Nato’s expansion into Eastern European states does not justify the invasion. Another example is the Karnataka High Court’s misapplication of Indian law…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za THE CLOSURE of certain taxi ranks and routes may be on the cards should the situation deteriorate further following a spate of taxi violence-related incidents in Nyanga. So warned provincial MEC for Transport and Public Works, Daylin Mitchell, after a number of vehicles, including two buses, a truck and two light duty vehicles, among them a City of Cape Town vehicle and an Eskom vehicle, were torched in Nyanga on Friday and one person sustained injuries. Samora Machel CPF spokesperson, Bongani Maqungwana, said no further incidents occurred since Friday and that a CPF and police meeting was expected to be held last night to address community concerns. “The taxi violence incidents have calmed down. We are hopeful that there will be no further flare ups but we…

A sudden shortage of staple foods and rising prices will hit ordinary South Africans What have Ukraine, Sudan and Zimbabwe got in common? At some stage in their recent history, they have all been dubbed “the breadbasket” either of the world, Europe or Africa! In the case of Zimbabwe and Sudan, that aspiration was never realised. Poor political governance transformed Sudan and Zimbabwe into dictatorships and pariah states, a status from which they have till today failed to extricate themselves. Ukraine, however, astutely leveraged its vast Steppe demography after the collapse of the Soviet Union to become one of the largest producers and exporters of wheat, corn, barley and sunflower oil, in tandem with its Steppe neighbour, Russia. That Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ill-judged invasion of Ukraine, which has left…

Ukraine defied a Russian demand that its forces lay down arms before dawn yesterday in Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped in a city under siege and already laid to waste by Russian bombardment. Russia’s military had ordered Ukrainians in the city to surrender by 5am, saying those who do so would be permitted to leave through safe corridors. “There can be no question of any surrender, laying down of arms” in the city, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk responded. “We have already informed the Russian side about this.” Russia’s assault on Ukraine, now in its fourth week, has stalled along most fronts. Russia has failed to seize a single major Ukrainian city much less capture the capital Kyiv or swiftly topple the government of…

ISTANBUL: Turkey’s leading activist Osman Kavala, who at the weekend marked his 1 600th day in prison without conviction, appeared before court yesterday for the first time in months, only to have his case adjourned and his detention extended. The philanthropist is accused of financing 2013 anti-government protests and playing a role in a coup plot against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The case has strained Turkey’s ties with the West and become a symbol to many of Turkey’s sweeping crackdown on government opponents. | afp…

| AFP The Central African Republic (CAR) yesterday began national reconciliation talks in a bid to bring peace to the troubled country – but no rebel groups were invited and the opposition is boycotting the forum. President Faustin Archange Touadera promised in late 2020, following his controversial re-election, to hold the so-called Republican Dialogue for reconciliation. The political opposition had demanded such talks, but it was a major surprise when last week Touadera announced they would start today and last just a week. The agenda looked vague and lacked concrete aims. Several hundred people were in attendance at the opening in the national assembly – representatives of the ruling party, civil society and invited guests. “We are all mobilised around ideas for peace … There is no taboo subject,”…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia said it would not bear responsibility for any shortages in oil supplies to global markets in light after recent attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on Saudi oil facilities, Saudi state news agency (SPA) reported. The Houthis fired missiles and drones at Saudi energy and water desalination facilities, causing a temporary drop in output at a refinery but no casualties, the Saudi energy ministry and state media said yesterday. The strikes hit a petroleum products distribution terminal, a natural gas plant and a refinery, and “will affect the kingdom’s production capacity and its ability to fulfil its obligations, which … threatens the security and stability of energy supplies to global markets”, SPA said. | Reuters…

JOHN Comitis, who serves on the Premier Soccer League executive committee, which is manifestly conflicted, has cried foul after the SA Football Association (Safa) arbitrator Nazeer Cassim SC ruled that the matches, which Chiefs missed because of a massive Covid-19 outbreak in the club, should be replayed. Comitis, the chairman of Cape Town City, declared: "It was a dark day for South African football." Comitis shared his thoughts on the arbitration outcome on the latest offering of the Marawa Sports Worldwide podcast. It is a tragedy that it has taken Comitis so long to realise that club chairmen on the executive committee that attend to the PSL's day-to-day affairs are inherently conflicted. Independent people, who have no vested interest in the clubs, should be tasked with the day-to-day affairs…

STORMERS coach John Dobson says their handling errors are a big frustration at the moment. Dobson addressed the issue following their 40-3 United Rugby Championship thumping of Cardiff - a match in which the Cape side ran in six tries, while the Welsh outfit could only manage a penalty in the seventh minute. Last week, the Stormers scored nine tries against Zebre, and with a tally of 15 tries in two games, creating opportunities certainly isn’t a problem. Finishing and rounding off those chances, however, has been a bit of a thorn at times. Against Cardiff on Sunday, the Stormers spilled a number of try-scoring opportunities with final passes just not sticking and an overall lack of patience on attack. Speaking after the game, Dobson said: “For us…

Bongani Hans bongani.hans@inl.co.za LAWYERS for Russian-born multinational mining magnate, Lyudmyla Roytblat, have expressed shock at the level of bullying she has received from First National Bank (FNB), in deterring her from taking legal action against the bank. Roytblat’s planned action against FNB stemmed from an abrupt notice to terminate her bank accounts without being given reasons why. Her lawyer, Udell Hammond-Smith, is taking instruction from Roytblat for the best option to deal with the termination of her accounts and those of her company, where she also holds the position of chief executive, Transasia Minerals and its subsidiary Transasia Minerals SA. The termination was set to be effected on May 9, 2022. Roytblat is an Australian citizen with a business visa in South Africa for mining contracts. Since opening the account…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za ESKOM has dispelled speculation that an incident at the scheduled maintenance of Koeberg Nuclear Reactor Unit 2 could have been a far worse disaster than what occurred. “Those reports are based on an internal Eskom newsletter to staff at Koeberg. “We always have the newsletter to communicate on as part of discussion of safety issues. “It is true the technicians picked up on the wrong cables, but that was rectified before it could be a problem, before there was any damage. “That particular unit (Unit 1) has been online for 141 days since its last outage and is doing well. “This was simply an internal update to staff to remind them of safety concerns,” Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Matshantsha said yesterday. Reports last week said that…

Loyiso Sidimba and Nicola Daniels IF THE country wants to get rid of corruption and gender-based violence, then all South Africans must become anti-corruption and gender-based violence activists. However, this should be done through organised formations and not vigilante groups, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned, addressing a national Human Rights Day commemoration in Koster in the North West yesterday. “We are the ones who must cleanse our communities; we must not expect people from outside to do so. Let us join the fight against corruption and gender-based violence,” he said. Ramaphosa urged South Africans to respect the law and report those who break it, and to join community policing forums to assist the SAPS. The president warned against groups mushrooming across the country targeting foreign nationals, and cautioned employers to…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za IN a victory for the rights of indigenous Khoi and San people, Western Cape Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath has interdicted the Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust (LLPT) from further construction earmarked for among other things offices for retail giant, Amazon, at the River Club site. The interdict will remain in place pending a review of the relevant environmental and land use authorisations by the City and the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning. Judge Goliath found that the fundamental rights to culture and heritage of Khoi and San peoples were under threat if the development was allowed to proceed. “This matter ultimately concerns the rights of indigenous peoples. The fact that the development has substantial economic, infrastructural and public benefits can never override the fundamental…

MICHAEL BAGRAIM | Highlands Estate YOUR Tuesday edition “Maynier prioritises R20 billion for jobs, R30 billion for infrastructure” refers: It is pleasing and a relief to read that our provincial Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC David Maynier has hit the nail on the head. Jobs and infrastructure are vital for the future of our province. Our province can proudly state that it is far ahead of all the other provinces and has moved very quickly to ensure that job creation is ahead of the agenda. In essence, the more people in jobs the more safety and security we have. Following on from that, the more people in jobs the less reliance we have on government. I wish much strength to Maynier and his team in ensuring that we…

Kevin Meineke | HOUT BAY THE articles: “Call for plan to address transformation at tertiary level” (Cape Times, March 15) and ”Setback for gender transformation in judiciary” (Cape Times, March 16) refer. The former article attacks Stellenbosch University (SU) for its staffing policy in that it appears to be too “white”. Does the author mean to say that SU should only appoint black staff? Surely this approach is like shooting yourself in the foot and is short-sighted. For example, let us assume that a world-recognised white chemist from Cambridge University applied for a position at SU, would his/her application be rejected just because he/she is white? Surely, both SU per se and the student body want the highest standards and best-qualified staff possible. Staff should be appointed…

Farouk Araie | Johannesburg ACCORDING to various confirmed reports, the numerous military conflicts raging around Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa have resulted in massive deaths of non-combatants, including women and children. This is a flagrant violation of international law. Why is the International Criminal Court deathly silent when the major powers, and their allies commit crimes against humanity? Nato powers and their opponents have blood drenched in their brutal 75 year history of unilateral military intervention in the affairs of sovereign nations. Military force and gunboat diplomacy are the tools of geographical expansion of the five military powers in the United Nations Security Council. They have since the advent of the UN collectively killed more than 50 million people in an orgy of mindless slaughter. Due to…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za THE Lionel Smit Studio says it is working on restoring one of its sculptures after it was thrown off a pedestal and vandalised at Beach Road in Strand at the weekend. Lionel Smit is a South African painter and sculptor best known for his contemporary portraiture, executed through monumental canvases and sculptures. The sculpture that was vandalised on Saturday is called Assembled and the material used was resin and fibreglass. The Strand Neighbourhood Watch said it had apprehended a suspect on Sunday and handed him over to police. “It’s sad to see when it does happen, especially to this extent, but we know these things happen from time to time. “When you put a sculpture up in the public domain, you know there is a risk of…

The recent resignation of Mbali Ntuli adds to a long list of black leaders in the DA who had thought they would find a viable liberal option for South Africa in the party. Not so. Professor Eddy Maloka, in his book Friends of the Natives, examining the inconvenient past of South African liberalism using the work of DA MP Dr Michael Cardo, explores the difference between the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party (PP). For example, as Cardo points out, “whereas the Progressives focused on civil rights, the Liberals campaigned for socio-economic rights, proposing forms of regulation and redistribution to deracialise the economy”. Maloka details how at its inaugural congress, the PP pledged “its commitment to ‘the maintenance and extension of the values of Western Civilisation’, the ‘promotion of friendly…

A UN human rights investigator yesterday called on North Korea to reopen its borders to aid workers and food imports, saying that its further self-isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic may have left many facing “hunger and starvation”. Tomas Ojea Quintana, addressing the UN Human Rights Council, said chronic food insecurity was already widespread before the pandemic began two years ago. Only 29% of children aged 6-23 months receive the minimum acceptable diet, he said. “Now with the country still in the grip of strict Covid-19 measures, there are serious concerns that the most vulnerable segments of the population may be facing hunger and starvation,” he said. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has not reported any Covid-19 cases and has imposed strict anti-virus measures since the onset of the…

Tunisia’s president said yesterday there would be a national dialogue about the country’s political system as he moves to rewrite the constitution after establishing one-man rule, but he gave no details on how it would take place. President Kais Saied has already held an online consultation to canvas public opinion about the new constitution, and has promised to name a panel of lawyers to draft it and put it to a referendum in July. His remarks appeared to indicate he was open to a more inclusive process – something his critics and other major players have long demanded – but he did not say when or how it would take place or who would be invited to take part. “Consultation is the first stage of national dialogue ... the national…

Tunis: A collision yesterday morning between two passenger trains injured 95 people in the south of the Tunisian capital, emergency services said. “The injured were taken to hospitals and there were no deaths,” civil defence spokesperson Moez Triaa told AFP, adding one train contained passengers, while the other was empty. Most of the injured were suffering from fractures, none of them life-threatening, he said. The accident happened at 9.30am local time in the Jbel Jelloud area of southern Tunis. The cause was not immediately clear. Tunisia’s ageing railway system has seen several deadly crashes in recent years. | afp…

Yangon: An Asean special envoy met with Myanmar’s junta chief yesterday in the regional bloc’s latest attempt to jumpstart dialogue between the military and opponents of its coup and bloody crackdown. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has led stalled diplomatic efforts to end the chaos unleashed by last year’s putsch, which ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government and sparked mass protests. Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and junta chief Min Aung Hlaing discussed “the situation of protests and violence stemming from political disagreement” and humanitarian co-operation, the junta’s information team said in a statement. | AFP…

A Women’s World Cup that began with great expectations for New Zealand has plunged into gloom, with the hosts on the brink of elimination and key players battling injury. The one-wicket loss to defending champions England at Eden Park on Sunday, New Zealand’s fourth defeat from six games, left them sixth in the standings and needing an unlikely chain of results to qualify for the semi-finals. Captain Sophie Devine, the team’s best-performing batter, is nursing a back injury while Lea Tahuhu sustained a left hamstring strain while bowling against England. Both are in doubt for the White Ferns’ final match against Pakistan in Christchurch on Saturday. In another blow, assistant coach Jacob Oram has also left the team to return home after his wife and children tested positive for Covid-19.…

MANCHESTER City have topped Deloitte’s Football Money League for the first time in their history after emerging from the Covid-19 crisis in a stronger position than their rivals. The Premier League champions, bankrolled by their Abu Dhabi owners, are only the fourth club to top the rankings after Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United. City’s revenue of €644.9 million in the 2020-21 season - up 17% - propelled them from sixth position to the top on the list of the 20 highest revenue-generating clubs in world football. However, some of City’s commercial deals - which account for nearly half of revenue - are a source of controversy, with a number of key partners such as shirt and stadium sponsor Etihad having links to the club’s owners. The club were €4.2m…