Inhoudsopgave van 2021-09-01 - Mercury

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za AVENG has made a sizeable turnaround in the year to June 30, its first full-year profit in seven years, on the back of strong operational performances from Australasia-focused McConnell Dowell, specialising mining services group Moolmans and Trident Steel. Headline earnings came to R751 million, or 2 cents per share, compared to a headline loss of R950m, or a loss of 4c a share, in the prior year. Revenue increased 23 percent to R25.7 billion from R20.9bn. Net operating earnings rose to R536m from a R532m loss in June 2020. “Despite the uncertainty and volatility created by health and economic crises, the group continues to build resilience and has been buoyed by its strategy of diversification, improving operational performance and the firm commitment of leadership…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za COVID-19 is wreaking havoc in KwaZulu-Natal schools, with close to 5 000 cases of infections recorded among teachers and pupils in the past three months. Between June and August this year, schools across the province recorded close to 4 905 cases of Covid-19 infections, and 39 deaths. A report tabled by the Department of Basic Education, before members of the education portfolio committee yesterday, revealed that Covid-19 infections were going through the roof. Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu said he was concerned about the rate of infections, and urged continued vigilance, especially among parents and guardians, when children were not in school. He said the department was concerned that more pupils were getting infected and that Durban was the epicentre of the disease in schools. The department, however,…

PAKS PAKIRIY | Durban North ONE is surprised about how Mark Boucher continues to hold on to his position as coach of the Proteas. An avowed racist who holds extreme views has no business as a coach. Those who say he has apologised for his utterances don’t understand the hurt that they have caused. A leopard cannot change its spots. It’s time he is condemned to the dustbin of history and a replacement is found for the position of coach. There are many capable contenders out there for the job. As for Dr Ali Bacher’s plea to leave Boucher alone and let him to get on with his job, it is poor judgement on the good doctor’s part. Boucher must be given out lbw for his…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff GIVEN the histories when medications were halted as a result of adverse effects, the massive media campaign promoting the Covid-19 vaccination, while ignoring science, should be a matter of grave concern. The report on the rapid vaccination progress in Limpopo is a case in point (The Mercury, August 30). In 1976, the H1N1 swine flu vaccine was terminated after just 450 cases of ascending paralysis were reported. Thalidomide, hailed as a wonder drug against morning sickness, was withdrawn in 1962 after it was found to have caused 6 000 miscarriages, 2 000 stillbirths and thousands of birth defects in Britain alone. The point here is that the medications were withdrawn from the market because the adverse effects raised the alarm. There is growing…

Grief labours long over its healing work. In so many ways it is often never over, never complete. Some losses seem beyond healing. Accommodation is possible. A full life is possible. New relationships can develop. But, the vacuum of some losses is never filled. It is natural to want to rush grief and to want pain to be gone. Who cannot want pain to be gone? But in rushing grief along, the pain can get buried, and run deeper into the soul only to manifest itself later and often arise later disguised as something unrelated to the initial loss. No matter how long ago your loss may have occurred, welcome the tears that well up within you. Let them flow. Tears are grief’s first agents, first responders in a tragedy.…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za THE police have launched a manhunt for the suspects who robbed and killed two Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) inspectors while they were conducting their duties on Monday afternoon on the N2 on-ramp to Nkodibe, on the North Coast. According to the KwaZulu-Natal police, the slain officers are 36-year-old Mxolisi Lamula, and 48-year-old Sizwe Sithole, who were stationed at Mtubatuba RTI offices. KZN provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said the pair were stationary in a state vehicle, along the Nkodibe on-ramp to the N2, when they were attacked. Gwala explained that Lamula and Sithole sustained multiple gunshot wounds to their bodies and were declared dead at the scene. “They were also robbed of their service pistols. Charges of murder are being investigated by Mtubatuba SAPS. The matter…

HEALTH Minister Joe Phaahla wants law-enforcement agencies to get to the bottom of the murder of Babita Deokaran, who was a senior official in the Gauteng Department of Health. Deokaran, a key witness in the probe by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into personal protective equipment corruption, was gunned down last week. Phaahla, who was taking part in a debate in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) yesterday on the roll-out of vaccines, said law enforcement should not be deterred by Deokaran’s murder, and needed to investigate PPE corruption and other graft cases. He said the SIU had investigated a number of cases emanating from the national Department of Health, and cases in provinces. Phaahla said those behind the murder of Deokaran must be punished. “The horrible incident in Gauteng…

REPORTS that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko, has been reinstated by the Presidency on a “warning” for her alleged role in the fraudulent awarding of personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts leave much to be desired. Diko has been on special leave since last year after Independent Media exposed a scandal involving the awarding of R2 billion worth of contracts by the Gauteng Department of Health under former MEC Dr Bandile Masuku. Some of the service providers delivered sub-standard PPE, thus risking the lives of health-care workers. Masuku and at least one senior official were fired for their roles in the scandal. Following a public outcry after it emerged that Diko was a close friend of Masuku and his wife, Loyiso, the Presidency placed her on special leave with…

Louisiana and Mississippi took stock yesterday of the disaster inflicted by Hurricane Ida as receding floodwaters began to reveal the full extent of the damage along the US Gulf Coast – and the death toll rose to four. New Orleans was still mostly without power nearly two days after Ida slammed into the Louisiana coast as a Category 4 storm, exactly 16 years after devastating Hurricane Katrina – which killed more than 1 800 people – made landfall. “Full damage assessment could take several days, as many areas are currently inaccessible,” power provider Entergy said yesterday. Four deaths have been confirmed as crews began fanning out in boats and off-road vehicles to search for communities cut off by the giant storm. A man was also missing after apparently being killed…

Kenya has hailed its efforts to crack down on poaching as it released the results of the country’s first national wildlife census, calling the survey a vital weapon in its conservation battle. According to the census released late Monday, the country has a total of 36 280 elephants, a 12% jump from the figures recorded in 2014, when poaching activity was at its highest. “Efforts to increase penalties on crimes related to threatened species appear to be bearing fruits,” the report, which counted 30 species of animals and covered nearly 59% of Kenya’s land mass, said. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warned in March that poaching and habitat destruction, particularly due to land conversion for agriculture, was devastating elephant numbers across Africa. The population of African savanna…

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has replaced his public order and tourism ministers and created a new civil protection post following sharp criticism of the government’s response to a spate of summer wildfires. More than a quarter of a million hectares of pine forests were destroyed last month by blazes that burned for several days. Mitsotakis replaced Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis with Takis Theodorikakos, a political analyst and former interior minister. He switched Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias, who oversaw Greece’s successful containment of the first wave of Covid19 infections, to the tourism post.…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za DALE Steyn can now provide his full attention to fishing, surfing, walking the dogs and the odd bit of cooking. Cricket is no longer a priority. His retirement from the sport, made via social media and using lyrics from his favourite band, Counting Crows, brings the curtain down on a career of one of the game’s greatest fast bowlers. The numbers tell one story – his Test strike-rate of 42.3 is the best for anyone who has taken over 300 wickets – but there are several others about Steyn, who never took his talents for granted and was respected, admired and loved by teammates and rivals. He had retired from the Test format in August 2019, but still held out hope of playing for the Proteas at…

Siddhi Jain Getting back to your fitness routine after a brush with Covid-19 can be hard, but experts say that starting slow with adequate nutrition is the key to crack post-Covid fitness. Whether that’s building up from yogic breathing exercises and a slow jog, or stocking up on Vitamin C, these tips are bound to help. Ankit Jha, Founder, Doctor’s Choice, and an avid fitness practitioner, suggests: Practising yoga every day heals Covid distress The immune system needs to be strong to fight any form of disease, be it Covid-19 or cancer. Yoga has been a natural healer for ages, dating back to ancient times until the present day. Practising yoga and Pranayama self-heals the Covid-distressed body to the extent of strengthening all the internal parts of the body, thereby…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-Leigh.solomons@inl.co.za POLITICAL analyst Zakhele Ndlovu says the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is entitled to have access to former president Jacob Zuma’s medical records. On Monday, media reports suggested that Zuma had refused to be medically examined by the NPA’s medical team. Zuma, who is serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court, was hospitalised a few days after he started his prison sentence. A media report reads that foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi has accused the State of “second guessing” the medical report produced by the military doctors responsible for Zuma's well-being by seeking to have him examined by their own doctors. “All (former) president Zuma says in all this is that because his name is involved, now all of a sudden somebody must think that now there’s some…

ALLAN WOLMAN | Tel Aviv, Israel One of the headlines in the news recently, was on the ANC offices’ closure countrywide due to a strike by the staff for non-payment of salaries. According to various reports, the ANC is suffering a cash-flow crisis which seems far worse than just cash flow. Other reports speak of the ANC being taken to court for non-payment of services by some business organisations. More concerning is that the ANC owes Sars around R100 million, and that deductions from staff for PAYE had not been paid over to Sars, which could be deemed an illegal activity. However, the question to the ANC leaders is: Have the leadership, the ministers, deputy ministers, directors-general and MECs received their salaries? Given the seniority of these good…

HELEN DU PREEZ | Durban ONCE again, I write about the shocking service from the electricity department. Every month, between the 27th and the 1st, I send through my meter reading. I then get a guess estimate from the 28th to the 4th. Why? I was told the dates for the reading, so I adhere to it. I, as a pensioner, do not want to pay guess estimates. My correspondence to an official in the department is ignored. All my emails carry the “read receipt” message. Not once have the electricity department clicked it. Not even for the meter readings. Since Krish Kumar retired, the department is going backwards. He is the only person who ever acknowledged receipt of my email and replied, even if it was over…

EBRAHIM ESSA | Durban THE ruthless assassination of yet another heroine who tried to speak out against corrupt collaborators once again reminds us why so much crime goes unnoticed and, if it reaches the courts, seldom sees the callous culprits serving a sentence. Ms Babita Deokaran lost her precious life only because she wanted justice. She felt that the crime was too heinous to be passed by in these Covid times. There was an old advertisement for some alcoholic drink that went: “You can stay as you like for the rest of your life or…” This has been altered to: “You can shut your mouth for the rest of your life or you can succumb to a gangster’s bullet!” It seems that the biggest terrorists are people in…

Xolile Bhengu xolile.bhengu@inl.co.za DOCTORS’ lobby groups are objecting to a proposal that seeks to allow pharmacists to dispense first-line antiretroviral medicine to patients. The Unity of Forum of Family Practitioners (UFFP), the African Viral Society (AVCS) and the Independent Practitioner Association Foundation (Ipaf), are all trying lobbying to stop the implementation of the proposal. Recently the Pharmacy Council gazetted the Pharmacist-Initiated Management of Antiretroviral Therapy (Pimart). It proposed that pharmacists should be allowed to manage patients for ARV treatment, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to increase the public’s access to health services. Vincent Tlala, registrar and chief executive of the SA Pharmacy Council, said the introduction of Pimart by the council meant South Africans would now have increased access to HIV testing, first-line treatment and prevention, as more…

THE bail application of nine suspects linked to the killings and violence in Phoenix during the recent unrest in Kwazulu-Natal has been adjourned to Friday. The accused are Yubandra Govender, Rinesh Mohan, Mehmood Khan, Mckallen Govender, Sholan Reddy, Khalil Mohammed, Christopher Pillay, Kirosh Maharaj and Sumeeth Maharaj. They are charged with murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and public violence. The murder charge relates to the death of a man, who was captured on CCTV footage from a garage on Northern Drive, Phoenix, fleeing from a mob. He subsequently died. The killing made international headlines and created racial tensions in the province. | Mercury Correspondent…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za LACK of funds to hire new teachers has forced the Department of Education (DOE) to take tough decisions, including stopping the normal practice of appointing substitute teachers to replace those who have been promoted. This means if a teacher has been promoted to a position of deputy principal, they could still be expected to continue teaching a class as the department cannot afford to hire substitute teachers to take over their subjects. The education budget was cut by R6 billion this financial year and could suffer another R9bn cut next year, which would affect the number of posts it creates. However, the department yesterday gave the assurance that it would ensure that teaching and learning were not affected by these changes. During an education portfolio committee meeting…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za BONGINKOSI Khanyile, the Fees Must Fall activist who was arrested for allegedly inciting violence during the recent unrest, will spend his second week in a holding cell. This follows yesterday’s decision by magistrate Vincent Hlatshwayo of the Durban Magistrate’s Court to reserve judgment on Khanyile’s bail application. The unrest allegedly incited by Khanyile and others was sparked by the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma, whom Khanyile insists should be released as he “was jailed in a thuggery manner”. Khanyile’s bail hearing was returning to court for the third time after last Thursday's arguments could not be finished, and there was an adjournment that continued yesterday. When the matter resumed yesterday, the investigating officer in the matter, Lieutenant-Colonel Anton Booysen, took the stand for the last time…

A WOMAN who was shot for life policy money she apparently knew nothing about will be buried along with her mother tomorrow – almost two months after their murders. The burial plans have been marred by controversy over the life policy that Linda Nobakathana’s family said she knew nothing about. Her family said a former colleague took out the policy for Nobakathana, and she was allegedly killed for its payout. Her mother, Thabile, who was also shot and killed on July 13 in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. “A female suspect was arrested on July 23 for the double murder,” said police spokesperson FC Van Wyk | Mercury Correspondent…

KABUL: Celebratory gunfire resounded across Kabul yesterday as Taliban fighters took control of the airport before dawn, following the withdrawal of the last US troops, marking the end of a 20-year war that left the Islamist militia stronger than it was in 2001. Shaky video footage distributed by the Taliban showed fighters entering the airport after the last US troops flew out on a C-17 aircraft a minute before midnight, ending a hasty and humiliating exit for Washington and its Nato allies. “It is a historical day and a historical moment,” Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference at the airport after the departure. “We are proud of these moments, that we liberated our country from a great power.” America’s longest war took the lives of nearly 2 500…

SEOUL: The leader of Samsung, Lee Jae-yong, should get back to managing the firm despite a five-year ban on his return to work, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum has told the Financial Times. In January, Lee was sentenced to two-and-a-half-years in prison for bribing former president Park Geun-hye, to succeed his father as Samsung chief. Samsung has called for Lee’s release so that he could concentrate on leading the conglomerate – the world’s biggest producer of computer chips, smartphones and electronic displays.…

Six members of an Islamist militant group were sentenced to death yesterday by a court in Bangladesh for the brutal killing of two gay rights campaigners five years ago. Xulhaz Mannan, 35, the editor of Bangladesh’s first magazine for gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people, and actor Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, 25, were hacked to death in Mannan’s apartment in the capital Dhaka in April 2016 in an attack claimed by Ansar Al Islam, the regional arm of al-Qaeda. The killings were part of a series of attacks on atheist bloggers, academics and other minorities that shocked the nation of 170 million and led many to go into hiding or flee abroad. Of the eight defendants in the case, six were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, public…

RIYADH: Saudi state TV reported yesterday that a bomb-laden drone hit an airport in south-western Saudi Arabia. Eight people were wounded. A civilian plane is said to have been damaged as well. This is the second such strike on Abha Airport over the past 24 hours. The earlier attack caused no casualties. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident. Over the past several months, Saudi territory has been the target of multiple attacks by Houthi rebels from neighbouring Yemen, where an internal conflict between government forces and rebels continues to rage on.…

Herman Gibbs herman.gibbs@africannewsagency.com AFTER Monday’s press conference, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos declared media interviews off-limits until the team arrive in Zimbabwe for Friday afternoon’s 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifier at the National Sports Stadium in Harare. It will be Broos’ first game in charge of the national team, who last played in a Fifa World Cup in 2010 when South Africa hosted the global showpiece. Since then, Bafana Bafana have failed to qualify for the 2014 and 2018 tournaments. The trip to Zimbabwe marks the start of Bafana Bafana’s Qatar 2022 campaign. The next stop will be a home clash on Monday against African giants Ghana, before back-to-back encounters against Ethiopia in October. Broos has made it clear that he has not been mandated to qualify for Qatar, but…

Mike Greenaway mike.greenaway@inl.co.za VETERAN flyhalf Lionel Cronje has made a big impact on the Sharks’ attacking play since he arrived two months ago on loan from Japan’s Toyota Verblitz. And if he steers the Sharks to a Currie Cup semi-final win over Griquas on Saturday, followed by success in the final, some of the credit might indirectly go to a famous pair of Wallabies. In 2014, Cronje spent a season at the Brumbies after Jake White brought him to Canberra, and although not a regular in the team, he soaked up some serious expertise. “I was in Canberra for eight months, and I was coached by absolute legends in George Gregan and Stephen Larkham,” Cronje said. “They made me a vastly improved player.” That was seven years ago, and the…

NOW that the British & Irish Lions tour and Tokyo Olympics are over, and Cricket South Africa continues to grapple with its racist past, the focus is squarely on the beautiful game again. The local Premiership and English Premier League may be on a short break due to the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, but it has come just at the right time for everyone to catch their breath after one of the craziest silly seasons yet. It is the movement of 11-time Ballon d’Or winners Lionel Messi (6) and Cristiano Ronaldo (5) that has simply blown everyone away. Messi’s departure from Barcelona after 21 years is undoubtedly the culmination of an era at the Nou Camp. Xavi and Andres Iniesta, along with Ronaldinho, may be imprinted in Barca’s folklore, but…

Ntombi Nkosi ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za The ANC has been left shocked and saddened by the death of former president of uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) Kebby Maphatsoe yesterday. The ANC chief whip in Parliament Pemmy Majodina also paid tribute to Maphatsoe, saying the caucus had been robbed of a dedicated fighter. This comes as tributes poured in after the death of the former deputy minister of defence and military veterans. The ANC said it received the news of the passing of Maphatsoe with shock and sadness. “Death has robbed the liberation movement of one of its most courageous and fearless cadres.The ANC will miss the constructive role he was playing to forge unity among former MK combatants, and preparations towards the 60th anniversary of the people’s army,” said ANC national spokesperson,…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za AFTER being threatened with legal action following complaints of starving soldiers, the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) quietly started withdrawing some troops in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, almost a month before the deployment was scheduled to end. The 25 000 troops were deployed in the wake of the widespread looting and destruction of property in July to help quell the unrest, with Operation Prosper expected to be active until October. But, it has recently emerged that some soldiers have already returned to their provinces. However, the SANDF has remained tight-lipped about the number of soldiers that have been withdrawn, including on whether they would be reducing numbers of troops at the Presidential houses and SABC, saying these were security questions. A soldier who spoke to The Mercury’s…

MOHAMED SAEED | Pietermaritzburg I HAVE been following the taking back of Afghanistan by the Taliban, over the past few days. For 20 years, the Taliban took on the world’s “greatest superpower”, together with their Nato allies. The fall of the US puppet regime in Afghanistan is an embarrassing and humiliating fiasco for American imperialism. The “War on Terror”, launched by former US president George W Bush and Tony Blair 20 years ago, was based on lies and maintained through bombing innocent civilians. Bush and Blair launched the 2001- US led invasion into Afghanistan, in what would become America’s longest conflict. I recall how, 20 years ago, the US was warned, not only by international political commentators but also by ordinary people, that “Afghanistan is the graveyard of…

DAVID LAWSON | St Lucia MR EBRAHIM Essa still hasn’t answered my question (The Mercury, August 30): “Please tell me why the majority of world refugees desperately try to reach North America, Western Europe or Australia/New Zealand rather than our BRICS partners, or communist paradises like Cuba and North Korea.” Instead, he inflicts readers with another tirade which appears to be Europhobic and especially Britphobic. When I wrote “many states, worldwide carry baggage since the dawn of history”, I was including the British Empire which was handing back its colonies when I was a schoolboy. I knew, even then, that you don’t get to rule half the world by being nice but you can begin to correct previous behaviour. Although Britain deserves bad press for past behaviour, the…

| Poul Anderson A FELLOW has just completed a trip across Britain on a 50cc moped, visiting places with unusual, often rude-sounding, names, raising funds for charity. Paul Taylor’s odyssey took him to Shitterton, in Dorset, Twatt, in Orkney, Booze, in the Yorkshire Dales, Brawl, in the Scottish Highlands, and Cockpole Green, in Berkshire, according to the BBC. Other names encountered included Slack Bottom, Crumps Butt, Cockshutts, Sandyballs, Ass Hill, Pishill, Willey, Penistone and Upperthong. Taylor’s trip, at a maximum speed of 45km/h, raised £20 000 (about R4 million) for cancer re- search. Next time, he really should come out to South Africa and explore places like Gert Se Gat, beween Franschoek and Cape Town, the river crossing at Baldiep and the sun- baked Hotazel. Parabat cows WERE…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za ESKOM has come in for criticism after submitting documents for yesterday’s meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) at the last minute. Eskom’s failure to submit the documents by last Thursday’s deadline annoyed the watchdog body, and the entity will now be reported to the presiding officers. Eskom was meant to make presentations on its 2019-20 expansions, its annual report, and give feedback on investigations by the Special Investigative Unit (SIU). The meeting was a continuation of an earlier one a few months ago. Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said they received correspondence at 12.55pm on Monday, saying the 127-page presentation was not approved by the board. “I try as much as possible to be calm. It is a trend that we have been observing with…

Samkelo Mtshali samkelo.thulasizwe@inl.co.za THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has admitted that it faces the stark reality of losing several municipalities in the province due to its failure to register candidates for the local government elections. This comes as the beleaguered ruling party’s staff members at Luthuli House and the ANC’s provincial office in the Western Cape have not been paid salaries for July and August, while in KZN, staff members have not been paid their salaries for August. However, the party did not attribute the failure to register candidates for the elections to financial woes. Instead it put the blame on huge constraints imposed by the Covid-19 curbs. KZN ANC secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli admitted that they had failed to secure registration of all PR candidates in local municipalities such as uPhongolo,…

NOKWANDA NCWANE nokwanda.ncwane@inl.co.za THE lack of adequate sexual and reproductive health services and education are the main drivers of teenage pregnancy in South Africa. This emerged from a seminar yesterday on challenges relating to sexual and reproductive health rights in South Africa and teenage pregnancy. The event was hosted by the Commission for Gender Equality. Speakers included Deputy Minister of Social Development, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, Muzi Ndlovu of the Department of Basic Education, Beryl Traore of LoveLife, Steve Letsike representing the South African National Aids Council and Professor Mary Crewe, of the University of Pretoria. According to Ndlovu, early and unintended pregnancy among pupils in the country continued to undermine the department’s efforts. “Despite having policies in place, learner pregnancies are still on the rise. “If we provide adequate sexual and…

A deeply embedded apartheid mentality could again be pulling the strings of government The issue of journalists and social media commentators arrested for their tweets is an outright attack on freedom of speech and that of the rights media have to report/opine/comment on issues of the day – in whichever country this occurs. Whether it is Turkey, which has the highest recorded number of jailed media commentators in the world, or South Africa, where we are once again beginning to experience a suppression of voices. It was a feature of the hated and brutal apartheid regime that it regarded the black masses of South Africa as “slow thinkers”, lacking the ability to think for themselves and come to their own decisions; that they were easily swayed and misled by “instigators…

The Lebanese flour millers’ association yesterday said fuel shortages were threatening bread production and mills would gradually stop working after supplies ran out. Lebanon’s financial meltdown has translated into crippling fuel shortages that have paralysed many aspects of daily life. The state power generator has barely supplied any electricity, leaving Lebanese households and businesses increasingly reliant on private generators powered by fuel oil, which in turn is in short supply. “The association is calling out to all concerned officials to work quickly before it is too late, fuel oil supply for all the mills has run out and they may stop working gradually starting today,” a statement from the association said. Despite efforts, alongside the economy and trade ministry, to communicate concerns to several officials, “no positive results have been…

WINDHOEK: President Hage Geingob has conferred a hero’s funeral on late Swapo deputy secretary-general Marco Hausiku. Hausiku died on Friday at the age of 67 due to post-Covid-19 complications. A media statement issued by the Presidency noted that the widow and the family accepted the honour after the head of state’s first visit to the late Hausiku’s house in Windhoek. “The passing of Cde Marco Hausiku is devastating. “The fact that he died on Heroes Day is not a coincidence,” Geingob said. Hausiku served as a leading freedom fighter for the independence of Namibia, was the deputy secretary-general of Swapo and minister of foreign affairs from 2004 to 2010. He was also the deputy prime minister from 2010 to 2014 and Swapo Party School Rector since 2016. He leaves behind…

MOSCOW: BBC journalist Sarah Rainsford left Russia yesterday after Moscow abruptly refused to extend her permission to work in a tit-for-tat row with Britain over the treatment of foreign media. Russian authorities earlier this month told Rainsford, one of the British broadcaster’s two English-language Moscow correspondents, to leave the country in retaliation for what it called London’s discrimination against Russian journalists working in Britain. Russian authorities accused London of mistreating a Russian journalist working for the state TASS news agency in London who they said was forced to leave in 2019 after his visa was not extended.…