Mercury -julkaisun 2023-06-23 -irtonumeron sisällysluettelo

Excitement is building for the Holly- woodbets Durban July as the Gallops for the big race took place yesterday morning at Greyville racecourse. Spectators were able to view the KwaZulu-Natal-based runners gallop on the track, while fashion designers also had the opportunity to showcase their designs for the “Out Of This World” theme for this year’s event on July 1. For punters, there was a panel discussion on the main contenders in the main race for the Durban July which featured former jockeys: four-time Durban July winner Anthony Delpech and two-time Durban July winner Kevin Shea. Both jockeys earmarked See It Again as the horse to beat in the race. The jockeys also picked Dave The King as a strong contender, with Pacaya named as the dark horse in the…

A letter showing Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in a “complete panic” over his love life is set to go up for auction at Christie’s in London next month. Written by the composer in the summer of 1782 the two-page letter shows him asking a close friend for advice following a “misunderstanding” with his soon-to-be mother-in-law. “She’s about to send in the police to retrieve his fiancée with obviously terrible consequences for his reputation,” said Christie’s head of Books and Manuscripts, Thomas Venning. “He’s in a complete crisis and rather wonderfully pouring out his heart in a totally unfiltered way.” Mozart wrote a lot of letters during his life, but Venning said it was rare to see one of them at auction, and rare to get this “degree of insight…

Certain entities are worried about the diplomatic fallout and how it will affect our relationship with the US because African leaders are going to Ukraine and Russia. Why should our African leaders not be allowed to do that? After all, US secretary of state Antony Blinken went to China. Was there fallout? Let us consider the trade deal we have with the US. Who benefits the most? It is in the interest of the US to keep the dollar high and the rand low. Consider the type of goods we supply it with: precious stones, metals and so on. When the dollar is on a high and the rand on a low, the US is smiling. What do we get in return? Seventy-one-thousand tons of chicken. How does that…

HOW could he do it? Even if he was drunk or drugged out of his mind, how could he ever rape an 8-day-old baby? And his own baby? It’s a horror story beyond belief, words and imagination. Not only does he rape the little newborn baby, but she also dies from her severe injuries. Not even an animal would do such a monstrous, wicked thing. I watched a wildlife documentary where a leopard killed a baboon and took it up the tree to eat it. Then it discovered a frightened little baby baboon clinging to the mother’s belly. In an instant, the leopard turned from a killer to a doting, loving mother, caressing and cuddling the little baby baboon. It was an incredible scene which left a lifelong memory. If…

More South Africans are being hauled before the courts for failing to honour the debts they have incurred. Stats SA recently found the number of civil summonses issued for debt increased by 0.3% by the end of April compared to the same month last year. The national data agency conducts monthly sample surveys of civil cases and civil summonses for debt issued in South Africa. “The largest positive contributors to the 0.3% increase in civil summonses issued were ‘other’ debts (contributing 4.7 percentage points); and services (contributing 0.7 of a percentage point). Money lent was the largest negative contributor,” it said. Don Consultancy Group chief economist, Chifi Mhango, said banks and credit providers needed to consider options for debt restructuring. “The household debt levels are continuing to show an upward…

An Eastern Cape man has been charged with the murder of his wife, who was reported missing earlier this month. Police said the body of Desiree Baartman was recovered on Tuesday night in a storm water drain next to Standford Road, near the Jagtersvlakte area. Johnny Baartman, 58, was initially charged with attempted murder. The charges have now been changed to murder and defeating the ends of justice. “At about 9pm on Tuesday night, SAPS Betheldorp detectives with the assistance of the K9 Search and Rescue and Diving Unit recovered the victim’s body, which was thrown down a 3.7 metre storm water drain,” provincial police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said. “An autopsy will be done to determine the exact cause of death.” Police said it was reported that Baartman had…

More than two miles under the sea, off the remote coast of Newfoundland, sits the skeleton of a ship that has captured the public’s imagination for more than a century - rusting, decaying, but still emitting a siren call that draws historians, explorers and regular people alike to study its tragic history. The Titanic has inspired books, films, video games and musicals and has afforded researchers decades of exploration and debate. It is immortalised in at least seven museums, and artifacts circle the globe as part of travelling exhibits. One hundred and eleven years after sinking to the depths of the Atlantic, the ill-fated luxury ocean liner still regularly makes news: new images of the wreck are released, replicas are built, salvage missions are launched. On Sunday, a submersible vessel…

UMNGENI Local Municipality paid a service provider R32 000 for soccer kit that would have cost the municipality R8 000 had it been purchased directly from the shops. This is among a list of allegations of financial abuses that occurred in the municipality that were detailed by mayor Chris Pappas during a media briefing yesterday. He was giving an update on the work done to boost control systems in the municipality since taking over the municipality. He said since taking over, they had uncovered previous concerning transactions and some cases of outright illegality had been identified. According to the mayor, several officials were implicated in wrongdoing and showed contrition for their actions, resigning in the face of financial misconduct charges against them. Pappas cited several instances in or around September…

How would politics in the province look if the party had a plan and the plan was working? THIS week’s much-awaited Western Cape ANC provincial conference is a crucial stepping stone for the party on what it hopes will be a path leading to the premier’s office and the majority seats in the provincial legislature next year. Its leaders know they are at a critical juncture in their bid to oust the DA after many years in office, in circumstances that have left the ANC licking self-inflicted wounds. Despite putting all the effort into branding and internal affairs reorganisation, many see the ANC as dull and wooden and that it has yet to make enough of an impact on the public. Too few people know what it would do in…

IN a perfect world, the final that the Free State Cheetahs and the Pumas play tomorrow, would not be the only real opportunity they get to lift silverware. Indeed, much like the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers do, it would be expected of them to travel the world to face teams on the other side of the globe week-in and week-out, testing their strength and tactics against some of the best franchises and clubs rugby offers. It is completely understandable that earlier this week Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse begged SA Rugby for more competition, especially after the Nelspruit-based team – one of the country’s financially poorer unions – proved everyone wrong again by making a second, consecutive Currie Cup final. “It’s tough for the guys sometimes at the Pumas, and…

Ex-president Jair Bolsonaro faced an eight-year ban on running for office as Brazil’s top electoral court began trying the far-right leader yesterday over his unproven allegations against the voting system during last year’s elections. Bolsonaro, 68, was not in court as the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) opened his trial on charges he abused his office and misused state media when he convened foreign diplomats to warn of the alleged risk of large-scale fraud in the October elections, which he went on to lose to veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The proceedings in Brasilia began with Judge Benedito Goncalves reading a summary of the case against the former president, which was brought by the left-wing Democratic Labor Party (PDL). The accusation against Bolsonaro is that the meeting with ambassadors…

LOS ANGELES: Adele refused to purchase Sylvester Stallone’s mansion if she couldn’t keep his Rocky statue as part of the deal. The singer, 35, spent $58 million on the Los Angeles pad last year and has been doing some renovations to the lavish property. Stallone, 76, received critical acclaim for his role as boxer Rocky Balboa, starting with the first film in 1976. And it appears Adele, who is said to be engaged to sporting agent Rich Paul, is a huge fan as she wasn’t willing to sign on the dotted line without the statue. However, the Grammy winner managed to persuade the Hollywood icon to give up the beloved item. He said of the work she’s doing to the pad: “She’s making it gorgeous.” The expansive, eight-bedroom property sits…

San Antonio: A powerful tornado left at least four people dead and 10 injured in the southern US state of Texas, where officials and residents were already grappling with a heat wave. “The town of Matador has experienced an unprecedented tornado bringing damaging winds,” the fire service in the neighboring city of Lubbock said yesterday. Matador, with a population of about 600, is the main city in Motley County in north Texas. The US National Weather Service said several buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed. It reported at least four tornadoes in Texas. Rain and strong winds also hit some cities in the state. | AFP…

Sydney: The government of New South Wales (NSW) yesterday reported a growing number of homeless people across the Australian state, noting that the deepening housing crisis was hurting the most vulnerable citizens. According to the report, conducted between February 2 and 27 in more than 350 towns and suburbs, 1 623 people were counted sleeping rough in the state, registering a 34% increase compared with the 2022 survey. Byron Bay, on the far-north coast of NSW, accounted for 300 rough sleepers – a stark 117% hike compared with February 2022. Sydney saw the number of homeless people rise by 23% to reach 277. | IANS…

SARDINE, Sardine, Sardine! The sardine run is in full swing and the chaos is amazing. This is a great event and experience to see. Get to the beach and go fish or just watch the excitement. The offshore fishing has not been great but there have been fish to catch along the entire coast. Get out there and get your fishing rod bending. The central coast has seen a great flush of geelbek and daga in the last two weeks. The charters have been fully booked and the recreational anglers have been launching at every opportunity. 8-9ft rods, 80lb+ braid and a 9inch KP are the weapons of choice for this type of fishing. There have been snoek around in the early mornings. Most of the fish have been taken…

Jessica White has described her past relationship with Nick Cannon as “emotionally abusive”. The 39-year-old model dated Masked Singer host Cannon, 42, on and off between 2015 and 2020, following his split from pop star Mariah Carey, and she suffered a miscarriage with the TV star – who has fathered 12 children with several women – in the same year they split. The former Victoria’s Secret runway beauty has been lifting the lid on their relationship and has no plans to sugar-coat it. She told The New York Post’s Page Six column: “I went through an emotionally abusive relationship, and everybody goes through it. “I am just the first person in Hollywood to talk about it, and not try to make a pretty picture of it. I don’t want to…

THE Institute of Risk Management South Africa’s (Irmsa’s) latest report has raised concerns over growing social unrest in the country, with social and economic factors fuelling protests and riots. The ninth edition of the Irmsa annual risk report stresses the urgent need for strategic and comprehensive actions to address the interplay of multiple predicaments that threaten the nation’s stability and progress. Ahead of next year’s election, there are concerns that if issues continue to be left unattended, then waves of protest action could become a reality. A protest attributed to discontent with service delivery led to a car-carrier being set alight on the N2 in Durban last month. Active citizenry has also been behind protests in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, where residents have vowed to intensify their discontent with the high crime…

This business of blatant illiteracy in spite of being “educated” and spending billions on school funding in some form or another has got to stop. Curricula in the primary school phases between Grade 1 and Grade 9 must become absolutely flexible as per the local needs of specific schools. Forget standardisation. Forget trying to align all syllabuses across the land. A child in a school with high fees will certainly not be at the same disadvantaged position as a child in the outlying areas. Total flexibility with syllabus content and levels should be permitted. Omit some “not-too-relevant-at-the- moment” subjects and focus on the basic three Rs … reading, writing and arithmetic! Put children with similar levels in groups … force them to read aloud (as is still done in…

The family of missing German tourist Nick Frischke has not lost hope he will be found and returned home. Four months have passed since the 22-year-old went missing in Cape Town. On holiday, Frischke was last seen leaving his B&B in Pinelands on February 14. His distraught mother, Jenna Frischke, said the family had been struggling to sleep and appealed for the media’s help. “We don’t want the case to just stop being processed. “Our son has to be somewhere. He’s been missing for a while now and we don’t know what to do any more. Perhaps these suspects abducted him or someone else took him in with possible injuries? It would be nice if you could help us in any way.” The family has contacted public benefit organisation Action…

Dutch archaeologists this week revealed an around 4 000-year-old religious site – dubbed the “Stonehenge of the Netherlands” in the country’s media – which included a burial mound serving as a solar calendar. The burial mound, which contained the remains of some 60 men, women and children had several passages through which the sun directly shone on the longest and shortest days of the year. Diggings around the so-called “open-air sanctuary” started in 2017 in the small village about 50 kilometres southeast of Utrecht. Studying a difference in clay composition and colour, the scientists located three burial mounds on the excavations, a few kilometres from the banks of the Waal river. The main mound is about 20 metres in diameter with its passages lined up to serve as a solar…

A “debris field” has been discovered by an underwater robot searching near the wreck of the Titanic for a missing submersible with five people on board, rescuers said yesterday. The development came after rescuers insisted that the multinational mission to locate the craft was still focused on finding the crew alive despite fears that the vessel’s oxygen may have run out. “Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information,” the US Coast Guard said in a tweet. Based on the sub’s capacity to hold up to 96 hours of emergency air, rescuers had estimated that the passengers could run out of oxygen early yesterday. But as that possible deadline passed US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said rescuers were “fully committed”. “People’s will to live really needs to…

IFP member of the provincial legislature (MPL) Blessed Gwala has accused Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Bongi Sithole-Moloi of the selective application of Section 139 (to place a council under administration) especially in municipalities governed by the opposition. Speaking at the KwaZulu-Natal legislature sitting yesterday, Gwala said while they were not against the department’s intervention where there was evidence of wrongdoing at councils, the MEC’s strategy raised questions. “The IFP is not against any intervention by the MEC of Cogta to deal with transgressions in municipalities but we question her intervention strategy which seems to be politically motivated. “Some municipalities have been under administration for quite some time now and it seems as if there is no progress that is being made to turn the tide, including in…

WITH Youth Day again focusing our minds on the youth and the truly appalling youth unemployment figure of over 4.9 million, everyone is wringing their hands saying that something must be done, but what is that something? One option, perhaps an old-fashioned one, would be to bring back limited conscription for youths between 18 and 27, whereby they go into the military for a three-year period, but during that period they learn a trade, whether it be plumbing, nursing, building or hospitality. After that period they would have a far better chance of getting full-time employment. New trade schools could be set up within this new expanded framework with qualified instructors, with set goals for the recruits. They would also be taught personal discipline with the ethic to first not…

The World Bank will ease financing for countries hit by natural disasters, it said yesterday, as the International Monetary Fund announced it had hit its target of making $100 billion (about R1.85 trillion) in special drawing rights available for vulnerable nations. The two announcements were made at a gathering in Paris of some 40 leaders, including about a dozen from Africa, China’s prime minister and Brazil’s president, that aims to give impetus to a new global finance agenda. It aims to boost crisis financing for low-income states and ease their debt burdens, reform post-war financial systems and free up funds to tackle climate change by getting top-level consensus on how to promote a number of initiatives struggling in bodies like the G20, COP, IMF-World Bank and UN. An announcement…

Ukrainian missiles struck one of the few bridges linking the Crimea Peninsula with the Ukrainian mainland yesterday, cutting one of the main supply routes for Russian occupation forces in southern Ukraine as Kyiv pushes to drive them out. Vladimir Saldo, the head of the Russian-installed administration in occupied parts of Ukraine’s Kherson province, released a video of himself on the Chonhar road bridge, where craters had been blasted through the asphalt. He threatened to retaliate by targeting a bridge linking neighbouring Moldova to Nato member Romania. The Chonhar bridge hit overnight is one of just a handful of access roads to Crimea, which is linked to the Ukrainian mainland by a narrow isthmus. Alternative routes require hours-long detours over roads in poor condition. Russian-installed transport officials in Crimea said repairing…

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis skipped reading a planned speech at a conference yesterday, saying he still had breathing problems following a hernia operation this month. “I am still under the effects of anaesthesia, my breathing is not good,” Francis, 86, told a meeting of the Catholic Oriental Church, saying delegates would instead receive a text of the speech. Asked how he felt, he replied: “I’m still alive.” The pope had surgery on June 7 to repair an abdominal hernia. He had eight events scheduled for yesterday. | Reuters…

Beijing: Nine people were detained yesterday over a massive explosion at a barbecue restaurant in China’s Yinchuan city that killed at least 31 people. Authorities said that the detained people included the owner of the Fuyang Barbecue Restaurant, as well as staffers and shareholders of the eatery. Assets of the nine people have also been frozen. Wednesday’s blast occurred due to an alleged gas leak at the restaurant, which is part of a cluster of eateries and entertainment venues in Yinchuan, the capital of the Ningxia autonomous region. Seven injured people were being treated at a hospital. The rescue operation lasted until yesterday. | IANS…

WARRIORS coach Robin Peterson wants Tristan Stubbs and the other youngsters in the South Africa A squad to be given room to play all formats to develop into future match winners for the Proteas. One of the highlights of the SA ‘A’ tour to Sri Lanka has been batter Stubbs. What made him stand out on the tour has not been his hard-hitting ability that the whole world knows him for. Stubbs gave everybody a glimpse of his full potential by spending a lot of time at the crease. In fact, Stubbs faced more deliveries on the tour than any other SA ‘A’ batter, with his Warriors teammate Matthew Breetzke finishing second across the two series played in Kandy and Colombo. Peterson complemented the 22-year-old Stubbs for his work ethic…

Yana Fry doesn’t care if you think she’s a horrible person. As Frank Sinatra said, “I did it my way”. The Russian-born life coach got married when she was 22 years old. Her husband was 15 years her senior, the Daily Mail reported. After three months of marriage, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, but she stayed with him for a further five years, knowing full well that she rushed into walking down the aisle. “I rushed into that marriage. I don’t think women should marry before 30. “We have no idea who we are, and we don’t know what is a good partner for us,” the now 40-year-old told the British publication. Fry said even before his diagnosis, her husband was pessimistic and tended to drown in self-pity. But…

TOURISM bodies have expressed their frustration about the latest closure of the beaches in uMhlanga that have come on the eve of the winter school holiday season. The Main and Bronze beaches in uMhlanga have been closed for more than a week for “infrastructure repairs” at the Portland Drive sewage pump station. Duncan Heafield, the chairperson of uMhlanga Tourism Association, said the closure of the beaches was concerning. The tourism industry in the area was decimated last year as a result of a sewage spill that led to the beaches being closed. Businesses in the accommodation industry said at the time that people from out of the province were cancelling their bookings after questioning the state of the beaches. Community leaders said many businesses had been battling to recover from…

The South African economy has been in turmoil since before the Covid-19 era. However, during the lockdown, some economic indicators appeared to be stable. This was assisted by the lowering of the interest rates by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). Although in academia and other economic circles it was known that the period of low interest rates was temporary, the hope of a better economic environment did not escape people’s imagination. Living in a period of lower interest rates presented an opportunity for investors and citizens with access to credit to borrow funds in order to fund their plans. The availability of borrowing funds and the willingness of the banking sector to lend fuelled expectations of a better economic environment. However, during the lockdown period, especially the hard lockdown,…

The National Freedom Party welcomes the recent announcement of a new agreement aimed at tackling cybercrime and corruption in South Africa. However, the NFP believes it is imperative that its approach to combating the pervasive issue is comprehensive and far-reaching. Merely scratching the surface will not be enough to uproot corruption from our society. We need a multi- faceted strategy that includes strong legislative measures, independent oversight and a culture of transparency and accountability. While the NFP acknowledges the progress made through the agreement, we emphasise the need for the government to prioritise the establishment of an independent anti-corruption commission. The commission should be given sufficient resources, powers and autonomy to investigate and prosecute cases of corruption, without fear or favour. It should operate with transparency and be accountable to…

According to a report, the incident took place at 2am in Zazi Road, B-Section, Richmond Farm in Ntuzuma. It is alleged the owner of the vehicle, 44, was dropping off his girlfriend when he was approached by three armed men who pointed a firearm at him. The victim allegedly produced his own firearm and fired several shots, killing one of the hijackers. The other hijackers are believed to have fled on foot. The suspected hijacker who was killed was believed to be in his thirties and died following a gunshot wound to his stomach. An unlicensed firearm was found laying next to him. It is further alleged the hijacker had been wearing woman’s black panty hose as a face mask. Provincial police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said Ntuzuma police are…

Teachers’ unions have raised concern over a lack of understanding of some of the clauses in the proposed draft Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill. This comes after parents and other stakeholders have publicly expressed dismay over clause 41, which reads: “Clause 41 seeks to amend section 61 of the SASA to extend the powers of the minister to make regulations on the management of learner pregnancy.” The parents and stakeholders have interpreted the clause to mean that there would be comprehensive sexual education for young children, which they found to be inappropriate. National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa) executive director, Basil Manuel, said some complaints were due to “half truths peddled by misinterpretation and misunderstanding. “The Bela Bill doesn’t speak about sexual education as an individual entity.…

Years before it begins offering the longest direct flights in the world, Australian airline Qantas says it is making in-flight improvements to help ultra-long-haul customers combat jet lag. Last week, the carrier detailed changes to the in-flight experience it tested during three trial flights, nearly 20 hours long, from New York and London to Sydney in 2019. Qantas plans to officially launch those routes in 2025 under its “Project Sunrise” programme, the push to operate the first direct flights between those cities with new Airbus A350 jets. As part of the trials, which used volunteer travellers, the airline worked with researchers from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre to implement changes such as setting the cabin lighting to help people adapt to the time zone of their final destination;…

EThekwini Municipality said that following a successful pilot of the new prepaid electricity token system, the city was going ahead with the process of rolling over its prepaid system to the new STS 6 format in July. The city said the Token Identifier (TID) Rollover project would start on July 1 after having been piloted in Magabheni in June. Municipal spokesperson Lindiwe Khuzwayo said the roll-over would ensure that customers who used prepaid electricity would still be able to purchase tokens after the November 24, 2024, deadline when the current format would no longer be usable. “More than 15 000 of eThekwini’s 436 000 prepaid electricity meters have already been rolled over to the new format during the pilot phase, making eThekwini one of the leading metros in the roll-over…

Umsunduze Primary School in Ndwedwe, KwaZulu-Natal, has 18 new, modern, low-flush toilets thanks to an initiative by Breadline Africa, a public benefit organisation. The toilets were unveiled yesterday at the school. The Ndwedwe school previously only had 10 pit toilets. Breadline Africa said it had joined hands with corporate South Africa to tackle the pit toilet crisis plaguing the country. ​The organisation said it had redirected a significant portion of its annual infrastructure budget,​ ​an amount of R7 million, towards funding this life-changing initiative. Mark Barnes,​ ​investment banker, is leading the corporate fund-raising initiative and has pledged his​ ​personal support to Breadline Africa’s cause. ​The aim is to raise R156 million, with a specific focus on 240 schools in the most affected regions of​ KZN and the Eastern Cape​ to​…

THE year 1971 was eventful. The third Apollo mission to the moon was launched, and Motown singer Marvin Gaye released What’s Going On, which protested the war and drew attention to the racism and poverty that affected black Americans. While the Apollo mission sought to test the frontiers of space and science, in South Africa, another mission with more modest ambitions was quietly being stitched together. The non-racial Southern Africa Lawn Tennis Union (Saltu) prepared to send six promising young black players on a historic four-month tour of Europe. Saltu was an affiliate of the South African Council on Sport, which championed non-racial sport and proclaimed there could be “no normal sport in an abnormal society”.’ Dubbed the “Dhiraj” squad, after tennis champion Jasmat (Dhiraj) Soma, the players included Hiralal…

In war-torn Sudan, a Blue Nile river town has become a relative sanctuary from the fighting, but survivors living there endure overcrowding, widespread disease and creeping hunger. One of the internally displaced people who made it to Wad Madani, a 200km drive south-east of the embattled capital Khartoum, was mother-of-three Fatima Mohammed. Then, 10 days ago, she succumbed to illness, leaving behind three children – Ithar, 11, Dalal, 9, and Ibrahim, 7 – who now largely fend for themselves in the courtyard of the Al-Jeili Salah school. They are among hundreds of thousands who have run for their lives since the war erupted in mid-April between two rival generals in the long unstable and poverty-stricken country. More than 2 000 people have died in the conflict between the forces of…

The TEMPERATURE in Beijing breached 41°C yesterday and shattered the record for the hottest day in June as heatwaves that had seared northern China a week earlier returned to the Chinese capital. The previous June high was logged on June 10, 1961, when the mercury hit 40.6°C. In Tanghekou, in Beijing’s north-east, the temperature pushed even higher to 41.8°C, helping the small township clinch the title of the hottest spot in China yesterday. Beijing has raised an orange alert, the second-most severe weather warning, saying temperatures could be as high as 39°C until Saturday. The 41.1°C logged yesterday was the city’s second-highest in history. The warmest temperature recorded by the city of nearly 22 million people was 41.9°C on July 24, 1999. The latest round of heatwaves, coinciding with the…

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden yesteday announced a series of defence and trade agreements with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Washington attempts to counter China’s global influence. Biden treated Modi to a colourful White House South Lawn arrival ceremony yesterday followed by Oval Office talks and a state dinner in the evening. Senior Biden administration officials said the agreements on semiconductors, critical minerals, technology, space co-operation and defence co-operation and sales would ring in a new era in relations between the two countries. Some of the deals are aimed at diversifying supply chains to reduce dependence on China. | Reuters…

KUALA LUMPUR: Four Thai nationals will face charges in a Malaysian court today over the 2015 discovery of mass graves and suspected human trafficking camps at the country’s border with Thailand, Malaysia’s home affairs minister said. The dense forests of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia have been a major stop-off point for smugglers bringing people to Southeast Asia by boat, most of them Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar and squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh. The discovery of camps and graves on the Thai side of the border led authorities in Thailand to crack down on people smugglers. | Reuters…

IT’S not just Scotland and Ireland that the Springboks have to worry about in Pool B of the World Cup in France later this year, but one of the Pacific Island teams can also cause some headaches for the world champions. Tonga, who form part of the group of death, and their coach former Wallaby international Toutai Kefu, are assembling a stellar line-up for their campaign loaded with internationals from different tier-one countries. Just like the Boks made use of World Rugby’s Regulation 8 to get the services of South African Irish lock Jean Kleyn as they prepare for the World Cup, Tonga have several former All Black and Australian players in their current squad. The regulation allows players to switch from one country to another on birth or ancestral…

NEW AmaZulu coach Pablo Martin has promised to make the club a major force in South African football. At 91-years-old, Usuthu are the oldest club in the South African top-flight. However, they have failed to do anything of note in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) era, having last won a major trophy when the late Clive Barker led them to the Coca-Cola Cup in 1992. “I have the intention of making history by bringing the team back to the place it deserves. To make everyone, especially the fans and people in the club proud,” said Martin on a recorded video from the club. Since acquiring the ownership of the club in 2020, Usuthu chairman Sandile Zungu has made no secret of his desire for the club to regularly challenge…