Índex per 2024-01-12 a Star

Genocides are never declared in advance. But this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows, incontrovertibly, a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies a plausible claim of genocidal acts. This is according to Dr Adila Hassim SC, who is part of South Africa’s legal team who yesterday presented its case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, against Israel for what it said were “genocidal” acts in Gaza. The ICJ application related to alleged violations by Israel of its obligations under the Genocide Convention. South Africa argued that “Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza”. South Africa presented a strong case in just over…

From Page 1 In the first three weeks alone following October 7, Israel deployed 6 000 bombs per week. At least 200 times, it had deployed two-thousand-pound bombs (907kg) in southern areas of Palestine designated as “safe”. These bombs had also decimated the North, including refugee camps. “Two-thousand-pound-bombs are some of the biggest and most destructive bombs available. They are dropped by lethal fighter jets that are used to strike targets on the ground, by one of the world’s most resourced armies. “This killing is nothing short of destruction of Palestinian life. It is inflicted deliberately. No one is spared, not even newborn babies. The scale of Palestinian child killings in Gaza is such that UN chiefs have described it as ‘a graveyard for children’. “The devastation is intended to,…

Happy Celina Baljeet Basra Loot (R275) Wildfire llc An innovative debut novel, Happy is the story of a starry- eyed cinephile who leaves his rural village in Punjab to pursue his dreams – set against the global migration crisis. In a small farming village in Punjab, India, a boy crouches over his brother’s phone in a rapeseed field watching clips of Godard’s Bande à part on YouTube. His name is Happy Singh Soni and when he’s not sleeping among the cabbages and eating sugary rotis, Happy dreams of becoming an actor, one who plays the melancholy roles; the sad, pretty boys, rare in Indian cinema. He plans a clandestine journey to Europe, where he’ll finally land a breakout role. After a nightmarish passage to Italy, Happy still manages to find…

Remedy for death Sarah Naidoo Loot (R 241) Kwela Science journalist Roshana Peterson wants to escape her traumatic past and mundane reality. Her story takes her from Cape Town to the sub-tropical hills of KwaZulu-Natal. A mysterious man claims to have the original story of an enigmatic cure that eradicated a global pandemic decades before. Peterson and the mysterious man delve into the realms of science, death and consciousness to reveal what it means to die, and truly live. The woman and the fortune teller The windows shuddered and Roshana’s lemonade glass rattled on the wooden table as the train passed the house. They had made their way back to the kitchen, the old room with its ancient contents locked away once again. She placed a steadying hand on her…

Three suspects arrested in connection with two counts of murder relating to a brutal incident at Makgoophong village in Limpopo have been remanded in custody. The trio briefly appeared before Lebowakgomo Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, said Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba. The murder happened on the night of May 4, 2021. “The suspects are facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder, robbery with aggravated circumstances, attempted murder, two counts of murder and defeating the ends of justice,” Mashaba said. David Khoza, 40, William Manku, 53, and Nonhlanhla Ngubo, 42, were remanded in police custody and their cases were postponed to Thursday next week for formal bail application and further police investigations. “The suspects were nabbed by the members of the Limpopo murder and robbery, a provincial tracking team and…

To FOSTER new university and college exchange collaboration between South Africa and China, the Chinese international school organised “The Belt and Road” overseas promotion of Liaoning Universities in South Africa. This was also to support African students studying in Liaoning, China, and enhance education and human resources co-operation between the two countries. This happened after the two nations had marked the 25th anniversary of China and South Africa’s diplomatic ties, and their continuing to work together to enhance communication and exchanges. Professor Yang Jie, head of the delegation and vice-president of Liaoning Economic Vocational and Technical College, was among the dignitaries at the event. She spoke about Liaoning Province, highlighting that it had a strong industrial foundation and “perfect infrastructure”, and that the equipment manufacturing industry and raw material industry…

ANY loss of life, by whatever means, is tragic and heartbreaking. Is June Steenkamp the only person who has lost a loved one through violence? What about the thousands of parents who have lost loved ones through some or other criminal activity. Why is there this continual obsession with Steenkamp’s “loss and pain”. She tries to evoke sympathy by stating: “I just want to live my last years in peace”. Don’t we all. June does not believe Oscar has shown remorse. How does one test for remorse? Headlines have been saturated with “No time served will bring Reeva back” and “But the person who is serving a life sentence is … Reeva Steenkamp’s mom, June, whose pain is still raw”. This, after 11 years? June is in dire need of…

Higher Education, Science, and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, has once again found himself at the centre of a corruption scandal. The minister would do well to hand himself over to the authorities following the latest allegations made by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa). According to Outa, Nzimande and the board chairperson of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), Ernest Khosa, received handsome kickbacks from service providers contracted to do work for NSFAS. It is alleged that millions of rand have been paid out to both Khosa and the minister. Nzimande has been central to every controversy and failure of the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, and the beleaguered NSFAS since his appointment in 2009. He has never been fit for purpose. The IFP believes that…

WASHINGTON: The US House Judiciary Committee said in a statement that it approved a resolution recommending contempt of Congress charges against Hunter Biden after he refused to comply with a subpoena to appear for a closed-door deposition. The 23-14 vote came down along party lines after the US president’s son made a surprise appearance on Capitol Hill during the hearing. The vote now sends the measure before the entire House of Representatives, of which Republicans maintain majority. | Sputnik…

Istanbul: Nato members Türkiye Bulgaria and Romania yesterday joined forces and signed an agreement on demining the Black Sea to ensure safe waters after Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Russian navy mined Ukraine’s Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its invasion nearly two years ago. Some of the mines have since washed up in the waters of the three countries, endangering shipping and complicating Ukraine’s efforts to break through a Russian naval blockade. Türkiye controls Black Sea maritime traffic, which must pass Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait. | AFP…

Internationally renowned DJ and music producer Black Coffee, pictured, was involved in a serious travel accident while on a flight en route to his scheduled show in Mar Del Plata, Argentina. On Tuesday afternoon, a statement was shared on the Grammy award- winning artist’s social media pages. “The incident resulted in unforeseen complications and left him with some injuries,” read the statement. “We can confirm that he is receiving the best possible medical attention and is surrounded by a supportive family and team. “In respect of his privacy, we kindly request understanding and patience from the media and his fans. “Despite the challenges presented, Black Coffee is optimistic and recovering well!” The statement had comments turned off on both Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) but that has not…

Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, with international partners, have presented their annual pick of the top 10 plants and fungi described as new to science in 2023. Approximately 74 plants and 15 fungi were named, with species coming in from virtually every corner of the globe. Unfortunately, many of these species are already considered threatened with extinction due to habitat clearance. Top 10 weird and wonderful species named new to science in 2023: 1. New orchid species saved by rare bird Discovered on the island of Madagascar, the newly described species of orchid Aeranthes bigibbum was found by Kew botanist Johan Hermans during a years-long exploration of the country’s orchids in partnership with Malagasy botanists. The plant hails from a small reserve managed by a group of…

A Mpumalanga mother who has learnt the art of chocolate making in a bid to put food on the table, is providing South Africa with her own handmade Belgian chocolate collection. Twenty-seven years ago Mary-Anne Price and her husband bought a macadamia nut farm in Hazyview, Mpumalanga. Belgian-born Price had stopped working as a travel agent to focus on bringing up their two children Shaun and Tanya, and the couple decided on a more rural lifestyle in which to do so. Having secured contracts to export their annual crop to the US, the Prices had a run of good fortune for four years, but in 1990 their American importer died, and his wife refused to deal with the shipment. “The container of macadamia nuts was dumped in the sea, and…

UP’s ‘HumanEATies’ cookbook wins International Gourmand Award THE book, HumanEATies, topped the list in the B22 category, which recognises free books published by university presses. Dr Heather Thuynsma, executive director of UP’s Emerging Scholars Initiative (ESI) Press, which published the book, recalls the team’s reaction upon hearing the news. “The ESI Press team was on a team Zoom call when we found out that the book had won,” she says. “We could hardly believe it. Needless to say, everyone did a little happy dance at their desks!” HumanEATies features 100 recipes that were submitted by members of UP’s Faculty of Humanities, and coincided with the centenary celebrations of the faculty, which turned 100 in 2019. However, it was delayed because of Covid-19 lockdown measures and was only launched in 2023.…

Author Macdonald M Mailula encourages self-love in his fifth book, Shattered But Reshaped For Purpose. Many will recognise him as having starred in Mzansi Magic’s reality show Thokoza Munt’wam recently. Born and raised in Tzaneen, Limpopo and currently residing in Mpumalanga, Nelspruit, Mailula is of royal blood (Palmel clan), holds a BSc honours and an MBA, and is a private investigator, a herbalist, and a former member of the SANDF. He says growing up for him was not easy. Mailula said he was inspired to write books because of his life experiences and the pain he endured while growing up, including being raped and sodomised during his formative years. “The message I want everyone to see and experience through my work of being an author is to never look down…

Independent Media announced this week that Adri Senekal de Wet has taken up the mantle of editor-in-chief overseeing a diverse portfolio of 18 titles. Many will know Senekal de Wet as the driving force behind Business Report and Personal Finance for the past few years. With a B Com (Economics), Senekal de Wet did not start out as a news pundit. Her initial career spanned a stint in Treasury at the then Volkskas Bank (now Absa) as a money and capital markets trader. She also worked at various financial institutions and managed a stakeholder relations company, with a natural progression towards financial journalism which she started at Fin24, then as economics editor at Sake Beeld and economics and markets editor at Sake Rapport. She joined the Sekunjalo Group in 2010…

WE OFTEN blame missionaries for their manipulative tendencies. It is notable that we also fall into what I call a “missionary trap”. Last week, we saw how the uMkhonto weSizwe party and the ANC went to faith-based organisations to air their political views. I assume that they did that because they knew that would have an audience with them. Some church leaders proclaimed that they would vote for the newly established party. I regard the campaigning strategy as passé. The aim of the church is to preach and teach the gospel. Preaching and teaching are related by not similar concepts. Preaching proclaims while teaching explains. We have seen political leaders and church leaders not proclaiming the gospel; we have, however, seen them proclaiming their political parties. When politicians go to…

Papua New Guinea’s prime minister declared a 14-day state of emergency in the capital yesterday, after 15 people were killed in riots as crowds looted and burned shops. Violence erupted in Port Moresby on Wednesday evening after a group of soldiers, police officers and prison guards launched protests over unexplained deductions to their pay. Within hours the unrest had also spread to the city of Lae, 300 kilometres to the north of the capital. “Today we call for a state of emergency for 14 days in our nation’s capital,” Prime Minister James Marape announced. More than 1 000 troops were on standby “to contain any situations that may arise going forward”, he said. At least 15 people were killed in the unrest in Port Moresby and Lae, said the police…

MOGADISHU: Shipping vessels should remain vigilant as they transit waters off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden as piracy remains a threat despite attacks having declined since 2017, a global anti-piracy body said. The International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau (IMB), in a new report released yesterday, said a vessel was hijacked off the coast of Somalia in December. It said a handymax bulk carrier was boarded and hijacked by Somali pirates about 700 nautical miles east of Bosaso, a town in northeastern Somalia. The IMB encouraged the continued presence of navies in the region. | Xinhua…

Mamelodi Sundowns’ exhausting match schedule, which saw them playing seven games in a jam-packed four-week spell at the end of 2023, has taken its toll on their Bafana Bafana players. Before the team’s departure yesterday for the Africa Cup of Nations, Bafana Bafana team doctor Tshepo Molobi said the frequency of Sundowns’ games over the past few months has posed challenges for the team’s medical staff. There are 10 Sundowns players in Bafana’s 23-man squad, and three of them – Mothobi Mvala, Ronwen Williams and Themba Zwane – have been forced to take a break from training after medical issues surfaced at last week’s training camp in Stellenbosch. Molobi felt the exacting demands of Masandawana’s hectic schedule contributed to the injuries. “We’ve have always maintained that Sundowns players have just…

Much like they did the last time they went to France, the Lions will endeavour to replicate the approach that saw them beat Perpignan away when they face Montpellier in the penultimate group stage match of the Challenge Cup this weekend. Just as they did last month, the Lions have travelled again to the south of France with a team devoid of what many would consider to be their first-choice players. There might have been some serious brow-furling previously about such a selection, but after beating Perpignan 28-12 with many of the same fringe players – and with a four-match winning streak in the United Rugby Championship backing up their progress – Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen finds his team in a healthy space. After two matchdays in Pool 2…

South African musician Thandiswa Mazwai is planning to wow audiences in the Big Apple on Sunday at globalFEST, hosted by The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The celebration marks the 21st edition of globalFEST, a full day of music and performances featuring artists from around the world, across three stages, inside the David Geffen Hall. Mazwai initially gained prominence in 1995 with the pioneering kwaito band Bongo Maffin. After six award-winning albums with the group, Mazwai embarked on a solo career. Her debut solo project, Zabalaza (2004), achieved double platinum status and garnered accolades such as a Kora award for Best African Female artist and four South African Music Awards. Ibokwe (2009) and Belede (2016), reached gold status. Mazwai’s influence extends globally, having performed at the Fifa 2010…

Ever wondered why the sight of someone turning on the waterworks leaves you feeling like you’ve stepped on a piece of Lego in the dark? It’s not just you; tears have a knack for turning a room’s vibe from “just chilling” to “awkward city”. Let’s take a dive into this pool of saltwater sentiments and figure out why we all become squirmy worms when the teardrops start falling. First up, the cry conundrum. Tears are like the emotional equivalent of those little flags you put on a mailbox. They pop up when there’s something inside that needs to be delivered – be it sadness, joy, frustration, or even that feeling you get when you can’t decide what to order for dinner. They’re a signal, saying: “Hey, I’ve got feelings here,…

The Fake Wife Sharon Bolton Loot (R275) Orion You’re not who you say you are. But neither is she. Olive Anderson has accepted that tonight she’ll be dining alone, without her husband. So when a beautiful stranger appears at Olive’s dinner table, telling the waiter she’s her wife, Olive is immediately unsettled. But the stranger wants to talk, and isn’t this what Olive wants on this lonely winter night? To vent to a perfect stranger? She’s too ashamed to tell her real friends the truth – six months into the marriage they all warned her against, her life is a living nightmare. Perhaps Olive should have asked the fake wife who she’s really married to. Perhaps she should have known this chance encounter had something to do with her secretive…

The Djinn Waits A Hundred Years Shubnum Khan Loot (R530) Viking Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Nearly a century later, it stands in ruins: an isolated boarding-housing for electric misfits, seeking solely to disappear into the mansion’s dark, dark corridors. Except for Sana. Unlike the others, she is curious and questioning, and finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion: To the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects – and to the door at its end, locked for decades. Behind the door is a bedroom frozen in time and a worn diary that whispers of a dark past: the long-forgotten story of a young woman named Meena, who died there tragically a…

In July 2023, there were murmurs that the first Mzansi Magic telenovela filmed entirely in the Eastern Cape, ‘Gqeberha: The Empire,’ wouldn’t get a second season. The much-anticipated second season of ‘Gqeberha: The Empire’ is coming to your screens from January 15, and it's bringing new drama, new twists and new characters. Viewers are going to be introduced to a duo they never knew they needed this upcoming season as Zinzi Nsele (previously seen in ‘Gomora’) as Vuyokazi and Rorisang Mohapi as Lulama join the ensemble. The new season dives deeper into the themes of family, power, and redemption, with complicated storylines that reveal the layers of each character and their relationships within the turbulent world of Gqeberha. Vuyokazi and Lulama play pivotal roles this upcoming season. Vuyokazi, Stokkie's…

In a feature article on Martin Scorsese’s latest masterpiece, Killers of the Flower Moon, Margaret Gardiner, writing for a Sunday newspaper, advises the potential viewer to arrive “fed, well rested and having already made a trip to the loo”. For some of us, young or old, one trip to the “loo” before sitting down to watch this marathon film of three hours and 26 minutes might not be enough. I missed seven minutes of this magnificent movie because I had to answer nature’s call. In the good old days, directors of epic movies such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, and other classics, used to have an intermission or interval. If directors today don’t make provision for such a break, I am…

If you need the City of Cape Town’s intervention urgently, the quickest way to get their attention is to paint a Palestinian flag on your walls. This is what residents are saying after the City’s graffiti unit was dispatched within a day of a mural being installed at a block of council flats in Lavender Hill this week. The community faces numerous challenges, such as gang violence, drugs and unemployment. The council units are evidently in need of some maintenance. A fresh lick of paint would renew the façade but also cover up the unsightly gang markings. Yet, the City deemed it more pressing to send out a team specifically to remove the mural with red paint. The incident sparked tension between the City staff and residents, who felt their…

KABUL: A powerful earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale jolted the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan yesterday, with tremors felt in parts of north India and Pakistan. There were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, tremors were felt in Islamabad, Lahore and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province in north-western Pakistan. And in India, light tremors were felt as far away as Delhi’s National Capital Centre. Further details were awaited at the time of going to print. – IANS…

Brussels: Belgian police stopped a coach coming from France yesterday after a passenger reported a “terrorist” conversation about a possible attack, officials said. The bus, run by the company Flixbus and operating a service between the northern French city of Lille and Brussels, was halted in the town of Wetteren, next to Ghent, officials said. Police arrested three passengers and were to question all those on board. Officials said the passenger had overhead a suspected “terrorist conversation” and alerted police who stopped the coach. Belgian police and security services are on alert after the country faced recent Islamist attacks. | AFP…

Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel confirmed the imminent signing of England defender Eric Dier from Tottenham yesterday, telling reporters “he is in Munich”. “We’re trying to sign him, finalise the deal and get another alternative for our squad,” Tuchel told reporters. Dier arrived in Munich yesterday ahead of a medical check, and told Sky Germany: “Bayern is a wonderful club.” Dier, whose contract with Tottenham was set to expire in the summer, arrives for a reported fee of €4 million. Often deployed as a centre back, the versatile Dier can also play as a defensive midfielder or as right back. The 29-year-old spent a decade at Tottenham, and will be reunited with former Spurs teammate Harry Kane in the Bavarian capital. Tuchel has been looking for additional support in defence,…