Tabla de contenidos para 2024-01-30 en Mercury

In a groundbreaking move by a South African pharmaceutical company, patients who speak isiZulu will now be able to read about their medicines in their own language. Pharma Dynamics has become the first company in the country to offer medicine information in isiZulu. According to Nicole Jennings, a spokesperson for Pharma Dynamics, this effort is all about respecting people’s rights to health care, something the Constitution takes very seriously. “Everyone should be able to understand the information that comes with their medicine. It’s not just about following a doctor’s advice,” Jennings said. “These medicine leaflets provide essential guidance so people can use their medicine safely and correctly.” “We have lots of people who speak isiZulu, and they should be able to read about their medication in their own language. By…

The Cultural, Religious and Linguistic (CRL) Rights Commission and the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) have found there were lapses in intelligence and police capacity constraints that hampered efforts to deal with the July 2021 unrest. This was revealed at the release of both their reports into the unrest in Durban yesterday. The SAHRC findings also indicated that the unrest was a carefully orchestrated event but the cause could not be found and no link could be established to the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma. SAHRC commissioner Philile Ntuli said their report found that police were ill-prepared to deal with the orchestrated attacks. “This might include insufficient training, equipment, or resources to effectively respond to the situation.” Regarding the intelligence sector, the SAHRC report found that the…

Our domestic helper, of Tamil origin, a survivor of the notorious “Magazine Barracks” in Somtseu Road in the late ’60s, used to keep our flat spotlessly clean and cook the most delicious Gadra-Beans curry this side of Madras. She was also an adviser to us, then youngsters, about good manners and reasonable behaviour. She also taught us, early in our lives, about double-standards: “When a daughter accidentally breaks a (clay) pot, it’s a clay pot. When a daughter-in- law breaks a (similar) pot, it’s construed to be a gold pot!” (More interesting tales about Muniamma, as she preferred to be called, appear in my book, Shananigans from Durban to Bombay.) Double standards: President Joe Biden makes a big hoo-ha about the three US soldiers who were killed in Jordan on…

Listen to your conversations, yes, eavesdrop on yourself. I try to do this and I am often embarrassed how regularly I’m on auto-play. I hear the same stuff – the same stories and one-liners – coming out of me over and over again. It is as if I am bored with myself and those who are part of the conversation. I don’t like this about me and I don’t particularly like it when I’m caught in someone else’s well-worn loop. Sometimes I also hear traces of contempt and sarcasm in my conversations. I am very careful about avoiding swearing and blasphemy, yet there are times I am apparently okay with using words as clubs and bullying others with snarky sarcasm. These verbal habits are surely at least as toxic as…

IN A typical David versus Goliath scenario, a home for people who have physical and mental disabilities in Mpumalanga scored a victory for its 36 state-subsidised residents when the court ordered the Department of Social Development (DSD) in the province to up its subsidies to the home. The Mpumalanga High Court, sitting in Mbombela, heard that the provincial government had not increased its subsidy to the Sunfield Home Fortuna, outside Balfour, in the past 15 years. The home, with the help of AfriForum, turned to court. The civil rights organisation argued that the home’s subsidy should be increased in line with inflation. The case, which began when Sunfield Home approached AfriForum for help in August 2022, focused on the unfair subsidy amount. In 2022, AfriForum successfully obtained an interdict that…

Police unions have called for more benefits to be made available for the families of police officers who have been killed in the line of duty. The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) and Independent Policing Union of South Africa (Ipusa) were speaking after the commemoration of National Police Day which was observed on January 27. The office of the national SAPS commissioner said that in the last four years, 140 police officers, the majority of whom were breadwinners in their families, died in the line of duty, while serving and protecting South Africa. Police said in honour of the men and women in blue who sacrificed their lives, more than 100 golf players from various corporate companies across the country came together to pledge and raise funds for…

Police in KwaZulu-Natal are on the hunt for at least five suspects linked to a cash-in-transit heist in the Durban CBD yesterday that left two people dead. At about 8am armed suspects pounced on a cash van after it had picked up money from a local business. One suspect was killed, and two guards were rushed to hospital in a critical condition. One of the guards died in hospital, despite the best efforts of the doctor and paramedics, said Garrith Jamieson from ALS Paramedics. Provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda, said police were searching for suspects who stole an undisclosed amount of money in a cross-pavement cash-in-transit robbery on Warwick Avenue. “At least five armed suspects reportedly approached cash-in-transit security guards, and a shoot-out ensued. “One suspect was fatally wounded,…

Much will depend on how carefully we choose leaders who are fit for public office AT THE outset of this election year, when we join the Electoral Commission in encouraging eligible voters to register on the first weekend in February, and with thousands of candidates joining the race to win seats in legislative bodies, as South Africans, we should pause to consider what the threat of re-election of corrupt and incompetent politicians would mean for the country and our democracy and to weigh the responsibility this election places on our shoulders. By now, as voters, we should have no illusions about each candidate. During their many years as members of legislative bodies and as prominent figures in their respective political parties, some candidates we will be interacting with during election…

Deadly fighting and air strikes rocked besieged Gaza yesterday, a day after an attack that killed three US troops in Jordan heightened fears of a wider regional conflict. Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip killed 140 people overnight, including 20 members of one family, said the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory. The Israeli army, in its war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack, said its troops had “encountered and killed dozens of armed terrorists in battles in central Gaza”. Ground forces backed by tanks have focused combat operations on the coastal strip’s main southern city of Khan Yunis, the hometown of Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar. The four-month-old war was sparked by the Hamas attack which resulted in about 1 140 deaths, mostly civilians, in southern Israel, according…

Fighting between rival communities in a disputed region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan has killed 54 people, including two UN peacekeepers, the UN said yesterday calling for calm. The clashes in Abyei, a contested oil-rich territory straddling the border of both countries, broke out at the weekend, local authorities said. The UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) said it “strongly condemns these attacks against civilians and peacekeepers”. “Currently, according to local authorities, 52 civilians have lost their lives, while 64 others are said to be gravely wounded,” it said. It said peacekeepers came under fire on Sunday “while transporting affected civilians from a UNISFA base to a hospital”. A Pakistani peacekeeper was killed, and “four uniformed personnel and one local civilian sustained injury”, it said. A Ghanaian…

Madrid: Spanish police yesterday said they had busted the owners of a funeral parlour in Valencia for allegedly selling dead bodies to university research departments for €1 200 (about R24 400 ) per corpse. The four suspects, two owners and two employees, also helped the universities dispose of the bodies after they had been studied by incinerating them or disposing of their dismembered parts in other coffins slated for cremation. Most of the bodies were of people without any family. The suspects “falsified documentation to get the bodies from hospitals and retirement homes in order to later sell them to universities for research”, police said. | AFP…

Mexico City: Cheering spectators filled Mexico City’s massive bullfighting arena on Sunday, taking in the capital’s first bloody show since the Supreme Court last month overturned an earlier suspension, as protesters outside the stadium demanded a ban. Inscribed in the dirt of Mexico’s Monumental Plaza de Toros – the largest bullfighting stadium in the world, with seating for over 41 000 – was the phrase, “Freedom. Bulls, living culture”. Trampled by the charging bulls and side-stepping matadors, the message slowly faded. The event was the first since a judge in June 2022 ordered indefinite suspension of the centuries-old practice in Mexico City. | AFP…

Durban’s Super Giants may not be everyone’s favourite team, but they are fast developing into the leading contenders for the SA20 season 2 title. Many of the fans’ top choices are MI Cape Town and Joburg Super Kings due to their respective Indian Premier League connections, but DSG are showing they are more than able to go toe-to-toe with the heavyweights. In fact, DSG have been handing out the knockout punches as they became the first team to qualify for the play-offs after their resounding 125-run bonus-point victory over second-placed Paarl Royals at Kingsmead on Sunday. The DSG line-up is packed with X-factor players. Even the loss of overseas stars Nicholas Pooran and Richard Gleeson has been absorbed with the recruitment of Marcus Stoinis, Naveen-ul-Haq and Noor Ahmad. Stoinis’ all-round…

SOUTH African investors are expressing caution regarding the country’s investment outlook for the year, given the potential for a coalition government arising from the upcoming general election. Anchor Capital, which has R225 billion in assets under management, yesterday said South Africa was “going to be different” post the May election. The asset manager has drafted four possible scenarios that, the first being the ruling ANC winning the election with a 50% to 55% majority. In this scenario, Anchor said the ANC would continue governing with a lot of challenges continuing to persist, and things getting worse after 2026 when the sitting President ends his term as the party president. In the second scenario the ANC achieves 45% to 49% of the vote, and gets into a coalition with one…

IN an effort to respond speedily to the Durban water crisis, eThekwini Municipality has proposed the formation of a “tender committee” to deal exclusively with procurement issues for the Water and Sanitation Unit. Speaking on discussions at an executive committee meeting yesterday, chairperson of the human settlement and infrastructure services committee, Themba Mvubu said city manager Musa Mbhele has been directed to set up a committee that will be dedicated to resolving procurement log jams for the unit. The supply chain management (SCM) processes in eThekwini can take months or even a year to complete. They have been a source of complaints for many councillors in the past, including the mayor Mxolisi Kaunda. With the City coming under intense pressure over water disruptions, procurement processes have once again…

The ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) yesterday suspended former president Jacob Zuma after he publicly endorsed the newly formed Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, although he will remain a member of the party until after the elections, when a disciplinary committee will decide on the matter. The party was expected to write to Zuma yesterday to notify him of his suspension. Zuma was suspended for contravening rule 25.60 of the party’s constitution, after he announced on December 16 that he would not campaign or vote for the ANC and would instead back the MK Party at this year’s elections. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said Zuma was actively impugning the integrity of the ANC and campaigning to dislodge the ANC from power, while claiming that he has not terminated his membership. He…

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. The world’s highest court, using careful but, at the same time, damning language, agreed unequivocally that the warning signs of genocide were plausible. The ICJ’s ruling will correctly be read as a devastating judgment against apartheid Israel and its alliance partners like the US, UK, France and Germany on whose financial, economic and military support the Israeli regime justifies and defends the genocide in Gaza and the occupation of Palestine. As predicted, the ICJ judges tried their best to follow a middle path and play a balancing act. While on the one hand, acknowledging and endorsing the entire case that South Africa presented, the judges on the other hand, did not call for a…

RUSSIA swirls with mysticism. The country’s Science and Higher Education Ministry has just dismissed the head of a prestigious genetics institute, according to Associated Press. We’re not told exactly why, but Alexander Kudryavtsev had stirred controversy by contending that humans once lived for centuries and the shorter lives of modern humans are due to their ancestors’ sins. He said that before the Biblical Flood, humans lived for up to 900 years but “original, ancestral and personal sins” caused genetic diseases that shortened lifespans. Kudryavtsev said children “up to the seventh generation are responsible for the sins of their fathers”. And “ancestral and personal sins” caused genetic diseases. The head of the Russian church’s commission on family issues, Fyodor Lukyanov, said Kudryavtsev’s dismissal was “for religious beliefs and statements in accordance…

Police at Sebayeng in Limpopo have arrested 23 undocumented foreign nationals for contravention of the Immigration Act. The group of men were arrested at Solomondale near Polokwane on Saturday. Provincial spokesperson of the SAPS in Limpopo, Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said officers, working in conjunction with private security companies went on an operation after receiving information about a white Toyota Quantum on the R81 Road in Solomondale. Police said the Toyota Quantum was travelling from the Beitbridge port of entry linking South Africa with neighbouring Zimbabwe. The law enforcement team spotted the Quantum at a filling station along R81 Road in Sebayeng, and on checking, discovered 23 Ethiopian men, aged between 20 and 38, in the 15-passenger seater minibus. The driver was a 44-year-old South African man. “Preliminary investigations revealed that…

A month ahead of Facebook rapist Thabo Bester’s pre-trial at the Bloemfontein High Court, publishers and authors are unable to confirm whether he or Nandipha Magudumana had received a copy of the book based on their elaborate escape. The Thabo Bester Story, The Facebook Rapist, the Celebrity Doctor and the Escape from Cell 35 has done well, according to NB Publishers. The book, written by Marecia Damons and Daniel Steyn who are GroundUp reporters, hit the shelves nationally in October. Erika Oosthuysen, non-fiction publisher at NB Publishing, said the book has become a hit. The publishers could not disclose how many copies were sold. “The book sold exceptionally well, but we are not allowed to share any more precise sales figures,” she said. “We were very happy with the uptake,…

PARLIAMENT said yesterday it would push ahead with the impeachment of Western Cape judge president John Hlophe unless it was interdicted by the courts. This comes after Judge Hlophe revealed last Friday that he had brought an application to stop his pending impeachment by Parliament. Spokesperson Moloto Mothapo confirmed that the national legislature was served with court papers. “We plan to oppose (the court application). We will proceed (with the impeachment) unless interdicted,” Mothapo said. In November, Parliament decided to vote on the removal of Judge Hlophe and Judge Nkola Motata before the end of this month. The decision was taken by the National Assembly programme after the justice and correctional services portfolio committee adopted the report recommending the removal of the two judges. The portfolio committee had resolved to…

THE extraterritorial net of the spinmeisters of the Israeli government in discrediting respected global institutions and NGOs, especially those involved in delivering life-saving medical relief to the devastated Palestinian enclave of Gaza subject, of course, to the necessary circumstances and permissions, continues unabated. Perhaps it is an act of desperation or the psychological warfare tactic in pre-empting the fallout from anticipated bad news and optics through a narrative of denial, discreditation and damage limitation, in the wake of the interim ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague last Friday, that “the State of Israel should immediately implement a set of provisional measures to prevent any further acts of genocide in Gaza, to desist from such acts, and to take effective measures to prevent the destruction…

African leaders gathered at a Rome summit yesterday to hear Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s much-hyped plan for the continent, aimed at transforming Italy into an energy hub – and stopping migration. Far-right leader Meloni, who came to power in 2022 on an anti-migrant ticket, has vowed to reshape relations with African countries by taking a “non-predatory” approach inspired by Enrico Mattei, founder of Italy’s state-owned energy giant Eni. The so-called Mattei Plan hopes to posit Italy as a key bridge between Africa and Europe, funnelling energy north while exchanging investment in the south for deals aimed at curbing migrant departures across the Mediterranean Sea. Meloni said the plan would initially be funded to the tune of 5.5 billion euros (about R112bn) some of which would be loans, with investments…

Manila: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos yesterday brushed off accusations by Rodrigo Duterte that he was a “drug addict”, saying his predecessor’s long-term use of fentanyl had taken a toll on his health. Duterte had launched a foul-mouthed tirade against his successor over a campaign to change the country’s constitution, in the latest sign of a breakdown in relations between the families. Fronting a rally of supporters in his southern stronghold of Davao city, Duterte said Marcos was a “drug addict”, without providing evidence. Duterte, whose crackdown on narcotics left thousands of people dead, has admitted using fentanyl for pain relief. | AFP…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran pledged yesterday to improve dialogue and swop liaison officers as both nations sought to ease tensions after deadly cross-border strikes threatened diplomatic relations. The tit-for-tat raids earlier this month in the porous border region of Baluchistan, split between the two nations, stoked regional tensions already inflamed by the Israel-Hamas war. During a visit to Pakistan yesterday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the hostilities could not be described as a “crisis” because relations had always been strong. Pakistan Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani said both sides had agreed to strengthen dialogue. | AFP…

The report that Rassie Erasmus is to replace one Irishman with another in his Springbok coaching staff and bring in a clever Kiwi is a positive development because it ensures freshness of ideas. The indications are that Felix Jones is to be replaced by Jerry Flannery and he will have the defence portfolio, while former All Black flyhalf Tony Brown will be in charge of growing the backline attack. Flannery, a former Six Nations-winning hooker with Ireland, is currently coaching defence at English club Harlequins but he used to coach the forwards at Munster and this is where he got to know Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber, who coached the Irish province in 2016 and 2017. Rassie is massive on team culture and he is bringing Flannery in because he rates…

Bafana Bafana and Morocco will want to take a step closer to the Africa Cup of Nations' final when they meet in the last 16 in San-Pedro, Ivory Coast, tonight. Here, MIHLALI BALEKA looks at five players who could win the match for their respective nations. THEMBA ZWANE – BAFANA Zwane has been one of the standout players in the ongoing biennial showpiece as he scored a brace and walked away with the player-of-the-match award on two occasions. However, with the round robin group stage done and dusted, according to experts it’s only now in the knockout stage that the competition will finally start. That’s why coach Hugo Broos will need his best players to be in top form and Zwane is chief among them with his trickery feet and…

SWISS construction giant Holcim is betting that US “reindustrialisation” will continue booming regardless of who wins the presidency in November, bolstering its North American branch ahead of a planned spin-off. Holcim, one of the world’s largest cement makers, announced on Sunday that it plans to fully spin off its North America busi- ness and list it on the New York Stock Exchange during the first half of 2025. It suggested the new North American building solutions company might be valued at more than $30 billion, and saw its share price surge when markets opened yesterday morning. The North America branch “is a rock star business”, company chief Jan Jenisch told reporters after the announcement, adding that spinning it off was the “natural next step”. “This is simply too successful…

While most of us are feeling the bitter post-festive pinch and are counting our cents until month end or the next payday, a table of four guests racked up an enormous bill at Salt Bae’s famous Nusr-Et restaurant in Dubai. It is hard to believe any food could be worth splashing more than R2 million in one sitting, but customers are clearly willing to do it. The celebrity chef, whose real name is Nusret Gökçe, posted a picture of the bill on social media. The eye-watering amount was spent on three golden steaks as well as a golden fillet mignon and beef carpaccio, among numerous other things. According to the bill, it was all washed down with four porn star martinis, three bottles of wine, and doubles of lavish Louis…

Ebrahim Essa has gone ballistic. Seething with venom and spleen because I picked on the Muslim community, he has fired left, right and centre a barrage of hot, explosive words and left me dazed and scorched. Though he doesn’t mention my name it’s obvious that his letter, Motive behind SA’s ICJ case [Mercury, January 25], is in response to my controversial letter which didn’t toe the ANC-Palestine line. How disloyal of me. And what a traitor am I. Hell hath no fury like a Muslim scorned. In my letter, South Africa’s real reason for going to the Hague [Mercury, January 24] I dared to go against the popular pro-Palestine sentiment sweeping across the country and asked some unpalatable questions, like why Palestine not Ukraine and Sudan? Is it because Russia…

THE SA BDS Coalition welcomes the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) order at The Hague. The historic judgment demonstrates the validity of the meticulously compiled case by the South African legal team and what most people across the world can clearly see – the genocide unfolding on our screens over the past 115 days. We are proud that the South African government hauled apartheid Israel to the ICJ. The ICJ is now compelled to investigate and hold Israel accountable for its genocide on the people of Gaza, under the Genocide Convention. The ICJ made history. It confirmed the plausibility of South Africa’s charge under the Genocide Convention that “Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza”. It ordered…

Unions have expressed mixed reactions to the leave of absence of Transnet National Ports of Authority (TNPA) CEO Pepi Silinga amid an investigation into corruption allegations. Union federation Cosatu welcomed the news, while the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) questioned why Transnet did not suspend Silinga. Satawu had called for action following allegations that close allies were appointed “in his office who did not even meet the minimum requirements for those top positions at the entity”. Transnet has faced a number of challenges which its board after 100 days in office mentioned, included external issues and internal issues. Externally, they included the economic impact of the Covid-19 lockdown, extensive damage from floods in KwaZulu-Natal, climate change, and a cyberattack on the company’s IT systems. Internally, challenges included…

The Gauteng Department of Education has appointed a law firm to investigate and provide a detailed forensic report into the circumstances that led to the drowning of a Grade 7 learner at a school leadership camp last week. Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane said they had appointed Meshack Nchupetsang of Nchupetsang Incorporated Attorneys to provide a comprehensive report within seven days about the drowning of Latoya Temilton, 12, at the Wag ’n Bietjie Resort in Witkoppen. It is believed learners had been swimming unsupervised when the young Latoya drowned, while some parents have told the media two young boy learners had to retrieve the body before a teacher performed CPR, in a desperate effort to save Latoya‘s life. Nchupetsang said he would spend much of this week at Laerskool Queenswood…

AUDITOR-GENERAL (AG) Tsakani Maluleke has found that Passenger Rail Services of SA (Prasa) lost more than R30 million through a cybersecurity attack and theft by an employee in the 2022/23 financial year. “A R14.8 million loss was incurred as a result of a cybersecurity attack. R21.2 million was embezzled by an employee of the organisation who was subsequently dismissed,” Maluleke said. Prasa had procured the services of an independent digital forensic service provider to assist with an investigation into alleged fraudulent activity following the alleged cyber breach during the financial year under review, she said. “This investigation was concluded on May 31, 2023 and pointed to critical weaknesses in the Prasa cybersecurity environment. “Management is in the process of addressing the findings of the report as part of its ITC…

RISE Mzansi in KwaZulu-Natal has outlined its plans to “rescue” the province from its current challenges. The recently formed party led by Nonkululeko Hlongwane-Mhlongo, the RISE Mzansi KwaZulu-Natal provincial convenor, held a media briefing in Durban yesterday detailing what the party had been doing in KZN since it was formed. The party was founded by Songezo Zibi, a former editor of the Financial Mail and former editor of Business Day. Hlongwane-Mhlongo said the party had been doing a lot of community engagement and found KZN was in desperate need of committed leadership. “KZN has had no leadership in our municipalities or provincial government, (they) have failed to govern effectively, create an environment for economic growth and jobs, provide access to opportunities for the many jobless people who have been shut…

THE recent tragic incident in Gauteng where a primary school pupil lost her life during a school outing, has once again raised concerns about the safety measures that need to be adopted by schools and the Department of Basic Education (DBE). It is essential that immediate action is taken to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. Last week, Latoya Temilton, a 12-year-old learner at Laerskool Queenswood in Pretoria, died while on a school outing. She drowned during a one-day excursion to Wag ‘n Bietjie Resort in Witkoppen, Olifantsfontein. In KwaZulu-Natal, a bus crash claimed the lives of six learners from Mchitheki Secondary School, in Hluhluwe, last year. The pupils were travelling to Durban for an educational tour when their bus overturned after the driver failed to negotiate a…

Hundreds of farmers yesterday used tractors to block access to key ports in Germany, intensifying their protests against the government’s plans to cut agriculture subsidies. Around 100 tractors were parked on strategic routes leading to Hamburg’s port area, disrupting access to Germany’s biggest such facility and one of the busiest in Europe for international container shipping. Other smaller ports along Germany’s northern coast – Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven – were also hit by tractor blockades. Police at Bremerhaven said talks were ongoing with farmers in a bid to ease access to the harbour area. About 1 500 tractors were also holding up traffic across Hamburg, police said. Farmers in Germany have been protesting since December over Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s plans to scrap subsidies in the agricultural sector after a shock court…

Kyiv: Ukraine’s energy ministry said yesterday that it will begin building four new nuclear reactors to compensate for Russia’s seizure of the country’s largest nuclear plant. Energy Minister German Galushchenko said all four new reactors would be at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant in western Ukraine, eventually making it the largest in Europe. Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Europe’s largest, has been under Russian control since March 2022 and its six reactors have been shut down. Fierce fighting in the area and power cuts have raised international concerns since the plant still needs electricity and water to cool its systems. | AFP…

Tokyo: Toyota said yesterday that was suspending shipments of 10 models that use engines linked with testing irregularities at an affiliate company. The affiliate, Toyota Industries, did not conduct proper horsepower output testing for the certification of three diesel engine models, the parent group said. The automaker said the models, including the Land Cruiser 300 and HiAce, use the affected engines. The shipment suspension will affect about 36 500 Toyota vehicles produced every month, the company said. Toyota Motor Industries said that its workers adjusted the fuel injection amounts to make the data “better-looking”. | AFP…

South African teams have been flexing their muscles in the European club rugby tournaments so far, and for the Springboks, that can only be a good sign ahead of the demanding 2024 season after their World Cup triumph, with Tests against Ireland and Portugal in June, and the Rugby Championship later this year. Starting at fullback, Independent Newspapers will, over the next few weeks, look at the options at Bok head coach Rassie Erasmus’ disposal for the looming international season, where they will look to maintain the No 1 spot in the world. The incumbent: Damian Willemse The World Cup winner has been juggling responsibilities at the Stormers, shifting between fullback and inside centre where he has been solid as well. But for the national team, his best position is…