Table of contents for 2023-07-04 in Cape Times

It is an important part of South Africa’s economy, contributing 8% of GDP Manufacturing activity in South Africa is expected to remain under pressure in the months ahead after sliding further into contractionary territory in June, in spite of less intense daytime load shedding during the month. Manufacturing is an important part of South Africa's economy, contributing 8% of gross domestic product (GDP), 12% to formal sector employment and at least 40% of the rand value of exports. The seasonally adjusted Absa headline Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dropped further below the neutral 50-point level in June, declined by 1.6 index points to 47.6 points from 49.2 points in May. The June PMI reading marked the fifth consecutive month of contraction in manufacturing activity and was the lowest level…

ANALYSTS expect revenues in Tongaat Hulett’s Zimbabwe listed unit, Hippo Valley Estates, to top $141 million in the financial year ahead after the company secured additional land leases from the government. Hippo Valley opted to forego a dividend payment for its 2023 second half year period to end March, owing to high indebtedness and the tough economic environment. This is despite the board of the Zimbabwe listed entity declaring a US$0.3 cents dividend for the interim period. “In light of the heightened volatilities weighing down the economic and operating environments as well as the increased level of borrowings, the directors have not declared a final dividend for the year ended March 31, 2023,” board chairperson Canaan Dube said. Zimbabwean companies have started to see an uptick in US…

IMPALA Platinum (Implats) is closer to acquiring Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) after RBPlat announced yesterday that the JSE has approved Implat’s listing of the offer consideration shares, a critical requirement in its bid. This was the final condition to officially conclude its offer to buy out RBPlat’s remaining shareholders. “RBPlat shareholders are advised that the JSE has approved the listing of the offer consideration shares thereby fulfilling the condition precedent … Accordingly, as referred to in the Implats announcement, the mandatory offer is unconditional,” it said. The group said the dates and times following the initial closing date will be extended. Last week, Implats was also issued with a compliance certificate from the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP), another step that brought it closer to finishing its takeover bid. Meanwhile, RBPlats…

IF YOU DO not know the “language” of prompting, you will find it increasingly difficult to communicate with the numerous artificial intelligence (AI) systems that are now part of our everyday life. Suddenly, after the popularisation of AI tools, AI has become an integral part of our lives and businesses. Generative AI, virtual assistants and chatbots are currently present in many things we touch. And the most impressive thing is that AI keeps getting smarter and more capable and has changed the way we interact with humans and, in particular, machines. These dramatic changes gave rise to the need to improve our communication with machines. Therefore, understanding prompting is crucial for effective interaction with AI systems because it forms the basis for communicating our intentions and obtaining the desired outputs.…

SA Football Association (Safa) CEO Lydia Monyepao is caught between a rock and a hard place due to the dispute between the association and Banyana Banyana. The senior national women’s team have been the country’s footballing darlings in recent years after winning their maiden Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) last year to qualify for their second successive Fifa Women’s World Cup this month. Their preparations for the showpiece event took a turn for the worse on Sunday as they boycotted their send-off match, citing Botswana as unworthy opposition and accusing Safa of not meeting their contractual obligations. Since then, Safa has been forced to find ways to come to an agreement with the players before they depart for Australia and New Zealand on Wednesday and Thursday, or they could…

I AM deeply saddened by the unacceptable abuse, desecration and burning of the Qur’an in Stockholm, Sweden. Such bigotry and offensive acts of provocation, hate and intolerance only fuel disorder and lawlessness and must be condemned. Desecrating the Qur’an is not only a transgression against the Islamic faith and Muslims, but a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and a crime against humanity. Let us stand together as consciously-driven human beings in condemning this atrocious action of burning the Qur’an, stop the unnecessary increasing hostility towards Islam and Muslims and promote coexistence, respect, peace, understanding and the rule of law. We live in a beautiful world. Do not let expressions of hate, ignorance and related prejudice divide humanity. Just as how in some European countries insulting the…

RATHER than conducting a proper investigation to trace who should be allocated a death benefit, a retirement fund decided to go “through the back door” and allocate the benefit to the deceased’s estate. This was according to Pension Funds Adjudicator Muvhango Lukhaimane following the decision of the SA Retirement Annuity Fund, administered by Old Mutual Life Assurance Company (SA) Ltd, to pay a death benefit into the deceased’s estate following the death of its member. Lukhaimane ruled the decision to allocate the death benefit to the deceased’s estate unlawful and set it aside. The complainant was the spouse of the deceased who was a member of the fund until he died on December 26, 2019. Thereafter a death benefit in the amount of R52 120 became available to his beneficiaries.…

THE NPA has welcomed the sentences handed down to two fraudsters who used fake bank cards to make withdrawals at ATMs. NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the Bellville Commercial Crimes Court sentenced Silindilizwe Ntini and Lwazi Madonono following their convictions for conspiracy to commit fraud, fraud, and the contravention of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002. The State had alleged that Absa Bank received complaints of compromised bank cards that were used to withdraw money at ATMs at Vangate Mall. “The two accused were noticed exiting a vehicle with the registration NTINI WP and entering the mall. They went to an ATM where they withdrew money using the counterfeit bank cards and left. The incident was reported to the police who, as part of their investigation, traced…

FORMER UCT vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng has welcomed the public protector’s finding that it would have been improper for the university to award a student a Doctor of Philosophy Degree (PhD) while the examination outcome of his thesis did not comply with the required standard of proficiency. Phakeng said she was “once again” proven correct. “This is the case that caused the fallout between me and the (university) ombud, who hit back by arguing that I am a bully. Once again I was correct. Call me whatever you like, but no ombud has the authority to instruct any VC to pass any student who has plagiarised a PhD thesis. “The student ... argued that he cannot spend four years in South Africa and leave without a PhD. No one should trust…

BEEFING-up security at the border has become so critical for the country’s security needs that the government should start investing the necessary resources to stem the tide of human trafficking. In a new study titled Human Trafficking in South Africa, the author, Professor Philip Frankel, says the country has become a “paradise for human traffickers”. This is mainly due to SA’s economic dominance in the region and its porous border that includes a 3 000km shoreline. Frankel says one of the main attractions for traffickers is South Africa’s long and easily penetrable borders, which are not well guarded. He says human trafficking has become so serious in the country that people are arriving in boats. “Not to the extent of the situation in the Mediterranean to Europe,…

Explosions again rocked Sudan’s capital Khartoum yesterday as the army rallied civilians to take up arms against a renewed onslaught by its paramilitary foes. The sound of artillery fire shook the dawn in north-west Khartoum and progressed towards the centre and east of the city, witnesses said. The war-torn capital barely saw a few hours of respite after heavy clashes on Sunday between troops loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The army announced yesterday that it was ready to “receive and prepare” volunteer fighters, after Burhan last week urged Sudanese “youth and all those able to defend” to join the military. War-weary civilians have largely rejected the call, pleading for an end to the relentless war between Burhan and his former deputy,…

Caen: The last surviving Frenchman to participate in the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944 died yesterday, aged 100, local authorities said. Leon Gautier was among 177 Frenchmen who participated in the landings on June 6, 1944, which started the rollback of Nazi Germany’s domination of western Europe. He belonged to a commando that battled the Nazis with other Allied forces even after the French government surrendered to Germany in 1940. After the war, Gautier became a peace campaigner. | AFP…

Islamabad: Terrorist activities in Pakistan have soared by 79% during the first half of 2023, according to a statistical report by independent think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. It said that at least 271 militant attacks took place during the past six months, resulting in the loss of 389 lives and injuring 656 individuals. The situation in the same time frame last year was better, as the first half of 2022 saw 151 attacks and 293 deaths, and 487 injuries. These figures are a 79% increase in militant attacks during the first half of this year compared with the same period last year. The latter half of 2022 recorded 228 attacks, 246 fatalities and 349 injuries. | IANS…

LONDON: The UK this year has seen its hottest June on record, the British Meteorological Office said yesterday. “The average mean temperature of 15.8°C for June 2023 in the UK is the highest since 1884,” it said. The average temperature in June 2023 was 0.9°C higher than a previous joint record of 14.9°C registered in June of 1940 and 1976. On the hottest day in June, the temperature reached 32.2°C. Scotland, England Wales and Northern Ireland all reported their respective warmest June on record. Water use restrictions have been imposed in parts of south-eastern England amid record demand for drinking water. | AFP…

THE PRICE of petrol (95 ULP and LRP) will fall by 17 cents per litre tomorrow, while the price of diesel (0.005% sulphur) will increase by 18c per litre, a statement from Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said yesterday. South Africa’s monthly fuel price changes are informed by international and local factors. Including the rand exchange rate and that South Africa imports both crude oil and finished products at a price set at the international level, including importation costs, eg shipping costs. FNB Senior economist Koketso Mano said they expect continued slight upward pressure on oil prices in the months ahead due to their belief the rand would remain under pressure in the short term, the possibility of further oil production cuts by major oil producers as global…

PAPER and packaging group Mondi said yesterday that all the approvals for the sale of its three Russian converting operations to the Gotek Group, for 1.6 billion roubles (R335.5bn), had been received and the sale was completed. On December 15, 2022, the group had announced that an agreement had been reached for the sale of the packaging converting operations. “Mondi has received net proceeds of €30.4 million (R625m) from this disposal into its Austrian bank account,” the group said in a statement. Net proceeds from the sale of all the group’s Russian assets would be distributed to shareholders “as soon as reasonably practicable following receipt, once our exit from Russia has been completed”, the group said. The proposed disposal of Mondi Syktyvkar, Mondi’s most significant facility in Russia,…

THERE was growing demand for credit in the fourth quarter of last year after the CreditSmart Financial Services’ 2023 Financial Savvy Survey highlighted a 9% year-on-year expansion in unsecured debt. This was the fastest growth since 2019. The survey showed that 33% of respondents confirmed their usage of credit cards for “everyday and everything” purchases, 32% said they had no extra money to put away, and 24% said the unsecured debt cycle was something they could not escape. The impact was also evident in figures from the National Credit Regulator-NCR (Credit Bureau Monitor and Consumer Credit Market Report – December 2022). More than 9 million consumers reflected having impaired credit records and a 4%-plus increase was registered in credit applications compared to previous quarters’ statistics. CreditSmart Financial Services MD…

TEXT-BASED AI models, formally known as Large Language Models, have been enjoying widespread media coverage this year. By being trained on arguably the largest set of text data assembled (made possible in large part by the internet), the models do an impressive job of mimicking humans on a wide range of tasks. They can write essays, hold back-and-forth conversation, and brainstorm. Importantly, recent language models have also proved to be effective at writing and explaining computer code. The potential applications of the technology are too wide-ranging to detail here, but a useful case that shows great promise is AI tutors. General-purpose tools like ChatGPT are good at helping users understand topics but this scratches only the surface of what is possible. Khan Academy, a non-profit organisation whose high-quality free tutorials…

As countries around the world work to reduce carbon emissions, there is great potential for South Africa to establish and develop new industries. For us, reducing our carbon footprint is critical to the health and well-being of our people, the sustainability of our society, and ensuring that our goods and services remain competitive into the future. At the same time it is a great opportunity to grow and diversify our eco- nomy and create employment. We have said that our transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient eco- nomy must be just and inclusive. We have, therefore, produced a Just Energy Transition Investment Plan to direct resources both to supporting workers, communities and industries affected by the shift towards renewable energy sources, and to investing in new industries like green hydrogen and…

A TEAM of investigators from the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has once again been dispatched to the Eastern Cape after 15 people, including an infant and toddler, were killed in what has been described as a “freak crash” involving a truck and taxi. The incident happened at about 11pm on Sunday on the N9 road in Middelburg. According to Eastern Cape Transport Department spokesperson Unathi Binqose, the minibus taxi was travelling from Tsolo to the Western Cape while the truck was going in the opposite direction. “It is alleged that a heavy-duty truck hit a stray animal and the driver lost control. As the driver was trying to regain control, its trailer gave in and fell over, right at that moment as a fully loaded taxi was parallel to…

READING the stories in the paper of the young girls who fell pregnant while at school and how difficult it was for them is sad. Maybe the Education Department should use these girls to go to schools to talk to the kids in the classroom. There’s nothing like from the horse’s mouth. Obviously, sex education is either not being done at the schools or the kids are not taking it seriously. But if these girls, who are now giving their stories to the media, went back to their schools to tell their classmates how hard life has been for them and how expensive, something may rub off? We are not winning the battle at the moment so we need to start thinking outside of the box!…

THE FIRST paragraph in Thursday’s Cape Times “Comment” column on page 6 is all it took to see that this was written by a white-hating racist. Sure enough, the author, writing in his personal capacity, is a high-ranking member of that obstructive and pointless organisation, the ANC Youth League. His article contained nothing more than the usual tedious and repetitive clichés, interspersed with blatantly untrue statements, the most bizarre being that “white monopoly capital … has been strangling the country’s economic growth”. One would have to be mentally unstable to believe that. Surely any barely sentient being must, by now, know that the country has been brought to its knees by ANC incompetence and corruption. As always, it is the poor and uneducated who suffer the most from the ANC’s…

THE 32-year-old man accused of the murder of Charmaine Bailey, an employee of the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association regional taxi council, will be back in court next month for a formal bail application. The man, who can’t be named at this stage pending the completion of an identity parade process, made a brief appearance in the Wynberg Magistrate’s court yesterday. Bailey, a 53-year-old mother of one, was shot dead on May 2 during a meeting in Wynberg. Police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said the suspect was arrested in Hout Bay during a police tracing operation on Saturday. He faces murder, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition charges. Through his defence, the suspect claimed that he was assaulted by police during his arrest resulting in a swollen foot, and said…

THE ANC in the Eastern Cape has expressed anger at what it said were was senseless killings of its hard-working councillors in the province. This follows the murder of ANC ward 2 councillor Mzikayise Saki of the Mbhashe Local Municipality in Dutywa, who was attacked and strangled while walking home at the weekend. Saki was reportedly attacked by two assailants while his girlfriend, who was with him, was allegedly raped. While the motive for the killing is yet to be established, two suspects were arrested by police in connection with the crime. Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said cases of murder and rape are under investigation. “Two suspects, aged 27 and 29 years, were arrested soon after the murder of a councillor and the rape of his 28-year-old girlfriend…

Voting population finds itself displaced by constant need to struggle for survival THE dust is settling on last Wednesday’s by-elections, and the announced results are making interesting headlines in the mainstream and social media platforms. But one of the big stories doing the rounds in election observer networks highlighting last week’s experience is not the vote results. It is about the dwindling numbers of people participating in the voting process, even by by-election standards, which are usually significantly lower than in general elections. Many municipalities that held by-elections after the November 2021 local government elections face the embarrassment of coming bottom of the league for voter turnout. For example, last Wednesday’s by-elections affected 99,711 registered voters in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. Five independent and 54 party candidates…

Israel launched extensive air and ground attacks on Jenin yesterday, striking what it called a militant “operational command centre” in a further escalation in the occupied West Bank city that is a hub of armed Palestinian resistance. The assaults were the start of an “extensive counter-terrorism effort” centred on a densely populated Jenin refugee camp, according to Israeli officials, and were ongoing as of yesterday. At least eight people were killed and 50 injured, said the Palestinian Health Ministry, with 10 in critical condition. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF), which entered the area with about 1 000 soldiers, said the operation would continue indefinitely. The camp, a warren in the city centre, has been the site of frequent IDF raids targeting alleged militants. The clashes have grown more intense in…

An international office to probe Russia for the war crime of aggression opened in The Hague yesterday in what Ukraine called a “truly historic” first step towards a tribunal for Moscow’s leadership. The centre will investigate and gather evidence for any future trial that could bring Kremlin and Russian military figures to justice for invading their pro-Western neighbour. Its aim is to plug a legal gap left by the fact that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no mandate to prosecute aggression, the core war crime of launching a war against another country. The new International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine (Icpa) features prosecutors from Kyiv, the EU, the US and the ICC. Speaking as the centre opened, Ukraine Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said…

New York: Women must be involved in developing new artificial intelligence (AI) systems to prevent bias from these technology tools, US philanthropist Melinda French Gates has said. French Gates, the ex-wife of billionaire Bill Gates, said she was “very nervous” about how incorporating AI into as many products as possible would play out for women, because they were not taking the view of women. “The system needs to take all people’s points of view, and see society, and quite frankly, see the world writ large as it is,” she said. AI models have been criticised for their ability to perpetuate biases. Even the new generative AI tool like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, trained on vast troves of online data, also carries the same biases. | IANS…

Hong Kong: The police yesterday offered large bounties for information leading to the capture of eight prominent democracy activists based abroad and wanted for national security crimes. All eight fled Hong Kong after Beijing imposed a national security law on the financial hub in 2020 to quell dissent after violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 were quashed. All eight are alleged to have colluded with foreign forces to endanger national security – an offence that carries a sentence of up to life in prison. Some have also been accused of subversion, incitement to subversion and secession. The law has the power to hold accused people across the world accountable. | AFP…

NEW VEHICLE sales surprised on the upside for the second month in a row as electricity supply stabilised, rising by a significant 14% from a year ago last month, in spite of dwindling exports, the impact of rising interest rates and weak economic growth. This comes as the aggregate domestic new vehicle sales rose to 46 810 units in June, from the 41 052 vehicles sold in June 2022, reflecting an increase of 5 758 units. The Automotive Business Council (Naamsa) yesterday said that the upbeat new vehicle market performance was encouraging given the multiplicity of negative considerations which still outweigh positive ones during the month of June. The unexpected extent of the upswing in the new vehicle market for the second month in a row exceeded…

NORTHAM Platinum Holdings said yester- day it had restructured its banking facili- ties by settling and cancelling the term loan facility and increasing the revolving credit facility (RCF). The RCF was increased to R10 billion from R7.2bn. The R2.445bn term loan facility had been fully settled and cancelled. “As a result of the restruc- ture, Northam’s total available banking facilities now amount to R11bn, comprising the increased RCF of R10bn and existing general banking facilities of R1bn. “The remaining terms of the RCF remain un- changed, including the maturity date being August 2027,” a statement read. The term loan had a staggered maturity profile of four equal tranches, commencing in February 2026 and ending in August 2027. The restructure increased North- am’s available banking facilities and removed…

THE COMPETITION Tribunal has unconditionally approved the proposed merger, a global transaction, whereby Anchorage Merger Sub, a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation intends to acquire Activision Blizzard. In a statement yesterday, the Tribunal said the reasons for its decision would be issued in due course. The commission said it had recommended that the proposed $68.7 billion (R1.29 trillion) transaction whereby Anchorage, a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation, intends to acquire Activision, be approved without conditions. Anchorage is controlled by Microsoft. It is a global technology company that provides information technology-related services. Its gaming activities are relevant to the proposed merger. Activision develops games for computers, consoles, and mobile devices and publishes them in most countries around the world. Its most notable content is the Call of Duty series…

Last week, South Africa took an integral step towards laying a solid foundation in creating an artificial intelligence (AI) driven society. Although there are AI companies in South Africa, the country is limited by a lack of data. The Spatial Economic Activity Data (Sead) initiative was launched by the National Treasury and Human Sciences Research Council to close the data gap in South Africa by leveraging tax and other administrative data sources. For the first time, granular spatial data exists to help answer vital policy and research questions about urbanisation, uneven development, territorial disparities, productivity and economic conditions of municipalities, cities, towns and suburbs/wards. The creation of robust disaggregated and granular economic data is not only essential for monitoring changing economic conditions but for the advancement of the AI industry…

THE speculation over Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s health, has taken a political dimension with the ANC and IFP exchanging blows, accusing each other of making political capital over the monarch’s health and royal house matters. The war of words stems from two statements, one from Zulu Traditional Prime Minister Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi on Saturday evening claiming that the king was unwell and being treated in eSwatini, and another by Prince Africa Zulu issued on Sunday disputing the king’s reported ill-health. Zululand District mayor Thulasizwe Buthelezi yesterday entered the fray, accusing Prince Africa of undermining Prince Buthelezi by issuing a contradictory statement, a move which he claimed, had been persistent. He labelled the statement as a politically calculated ploy that was sponsored by the ANC to discredit Prince Buthelezi, which he…

‘No senior management staff may hold political office’ THE Department of Public Service and Administration has set its sights on barring heads of departments (HODs) and senior management reporting to them from holding political office in political parties. If it has its way, this would be an extension of a legislative provision across the public sector that has been applicable to municipal managers and directors in municipalities. This emerged from the Public Service Amendment Bill the department introduced in Parliament recently after approval by the Cabinet. According to the bill, a HOD or senior management staff may not hold political office in a political party whether in a permanent, temporary or acting capacity. It wants to have the person appointed as an HOD, or for affected employees to comply with…

Teenage pregnancies are upsetting for many reasons. I was reading an article in which someone in the Health Department was blaming the nurses who refused to abort the babies of the pregnant girls. As usual, South Africa rushes to put a bandage on a boil. Why are we not educating our children about sex? Why are our children having sex earlier? Are they bored? Do they know the consequences of sex? Do they have people to guide them when they reach puberty, on the changes that occur in their bodies? Are they copying their parents who live in a shack where there is hardly any privacy? What of the boys? Are they being taught about being responsible young men who are useful members of society? Are the schools teaching kids…

TO HEAR about teenage pregnancies is a really sad state. It seems like the parents and the elderly are not teaching their adolescent children about sex education nor are they shy to address these issues. This is a big concern in society, parents are supposed to start by teaching their kids about having their periods and from there, they should make them aware of being in a relationship at a young age. Parents are supposed to get their girls on the injection or pills at an early age to prevent these kinds of pregnancies. This is reality, which should be implemented. The schools should also play a big part in female sex education. They need to have open talks with guidance counsellors. Another good idea is to get the…

THE CENTRE for Child Law (CCL) has welcomed a declaratory order recently made by the Constitutional Court relating to children born to unmarried parents and conceived through artificial fertilisation, saying it gives legal clarity regarding the acquisition of parental responsibilities and rights (PRR). The Constitutional Court held that section 40 of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 was unjustifiably discriminatory on the bases of marital status and sexual orientation. This after a female same-sex couple who had undergone an in vitro fertilisation (IVF) process, and from which twins were born, were not afforded equal parenting rights under the Children’s Act. The order stated that the words “or life partner” be read in after “spouse” and “husband” in section 40 of the Children’s Act. “The decision provides legal clarity regarding the…

The City of Cape Town’s Film Permits Office (FPO) has concluded a busy 2022/23 financial year, having issued more than 3 900 film permits. A review of the FPO’s figures showed the past film season was one the busiest post the Covid-19 pandemic. American Monsters, Blood and Water season 4, Come Dine With Me Cape Town and Fear Factor India were among some of the local and international productions filmed in Cape Town over the past 12 months. Between July 2022 and July 2023, the FPO issued permits for feature films, commercials, TV series, stills photography, documentary films, short films, student projects and music videos. While a majority of the permits issued were for commercials, Cape Town also hosted more than 100 large feature film productions and 499 TV series…

WHEN we were growing up, we were taught about the Bantustan system and its leaders. The overall liberation Struggle entailed the end of the Bantustan system and its leaders. The white minority oppressive government did not just impose its rule but, as time progressed, it studied the mindset of the people it oppressed, black people. Knowing the culture of the people you oppress makes it easy to manipulate them. The story of Nongqawuse was continuing. Transkei was not easy to to turn into a Bantustan. This is because it comprised different houses from the Thembu royalty. Though it is contestable, there were three main houses in the Thembu family: upper house-Dalindyebo/Sabata/Buyelekhaya, Matanzima and Mandela. Without entertaining other issues irrelevant here and now, the first has been proved as an upper…

Demonstrations began at French town halls yesterday opposing nearly a week of violent protests over a teen’s fatal shooting by police, even as the first signs emerged that the unrest was beginning to ease. The government has battled riots and looting since 17-year-old Nahel M was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop last Tuesday, reviving longstanding accusations of racism against the French police force. During a sixth consecutive night of unrest, a fireman died while seeking to douse burning vehicles north of Paris but it was unclear if there was a link to the violent protests, the interior ministry said. Yesterday’s demonstrations – called a “mobilisation of citizens for a return to republican order” – came after the home of the mayor of a Paris suburb…

Vietnam has banned the upcoming Barbie movie from cinemas over scenes with a map showing China’s claims to territory in the South China Sea, state media said yesterday. The fantasy comedy film about the famous doll, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, had been set for nationwide release in Vietnam on July 21. China has long used its nine-dash line to illustrate its claims over most of the resource-rich sea, often to the displeasure of Hanoi, which also claims parts of the waterway. State media reported that the nine-dash line scene appeared multiple times in the movie. The South China Sea is home to oil and gas deposits and shipping lanes, and several of China’s neighbours have voiced concern that Beijing is seeking to expand…

Bangkok: Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn opened parliament yesterday following a shock election result in which the pro-democracy opposition trounced army-backed parties that have ruled the kingdom for nearly a decade. The Move Forward Party won the largest share of votes in the May 14 election but its radical platform, which includes reformation of a royal defamation law, may see it struggle to form a coalition government. Its eight-party coalition bloc is short of a majority in the lower house to surpass the non-elected Senate chamber and nominate a prime minister. The election was seen as a rejection of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former army chief who came to power in a 2014 coup. | AFP…

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia said yesterday it was extending a voluntary oil production cut of one million barrels per day (bpd), and Russia said it was slashing exports by 500 000 bpd. The moves were the latest attempts by major producers to stabilise markets rocked by the continued fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s faltering economic recovery. The cut by Saudi Arabia, took effect at the weekend. Also yesterday, Russia unveiled its export cut of 500 000 bpd for August “to ensure that the oil market remains balanced”. Since the outbreak of war, Moscow has pivoted energy exports from Europe to India and China.| AFP…

By adding a bullet-proof level of consistency to his talent, and Red Bull’s reliability and speed, Max Verstappen showed on Sunday that he could remain invincible this season. A revived Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari challenge that was never strong enough to suggest any other outcome than a 42nd career win for the Dutch double world champion on a day when Formula One was described as farcical and embarrassing. A post-race protest from Aston Martin resulted in a welter of penalties for contravention of track limits that changed the result hours after the event. Here, we look at three things we learned from a chaotic weekend at the Red Bull Ring in the Styrian Alps. Trapped in post-race turmoil Many team bosses were angry at the ‘embarrassing’ chaos created after…

The Craven Week kicked off at Hoërskool Outeniqua in George yesterday with Western Province scoring a convincing win 42-12 over the hosts South Western Districts. Province, who led 23-7 at the interval, outscored the home side by six tries to two. The game started off at a quick tempo with both backlines running hard at each other. WP were 6-0 up by the 10th minute when SWD were guilty of indiscretions at the breakdown and flyhalf Kyle Smith raised the flags on both occasions. WP had the territorial advantage and from the back of a scrum the Divan Norris-Aiden Fuller combination sent scrumhalf Zeke January in for their first try for Smith to convert. From a maul, hooker Cilliers Viljoen crossed the whitewash and WP were 18-0 ahead. Then the…