Table of contents for 2023-11-15 in Mercury

The government has been slammed for failing to implement job-stimulating policies as South Africa’s unemployment rate remained disproportionately high between July and September, despite the eighth consecutive increase in employment since the fourth quarter of 2021. This comes as Statistics SA (Stats SA) yesterday reported that the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in a year, easing to 31.9% in the third quarter from 32.6% seen in the previous quarter. This means the unemployment rate in South Africa remains the second highest in the world with nearly 8 million people of working age without jobs. Sudan has the highest unemployment rate in the world at 46%, according to the latest figures from the International Monetary Fund. DA MP responsible for employment and labour, Dr Michael Cardo, said the…

“From the River to the Sea” sounds offensive but when all the smoke has evaporated, there might be no other solution. The US transfers the idea of a promised land to any territory that its comrade, Zionists, chose in the land of the US. To continue in the new promised terrain, without any interference from annoying locals who are plainly professional, self-pitying, tear-jerking, party-poopers. There, the average Jew can live in peace, as an integrated and peace-loving citizen. No need to become a soldier first. No need to have an overhanging threat of being recalled and drafted, suddenly, into military action overnight. To serve family first, before any government ministry. To begin to enjoy life instead of being constantly stressed from hatred across the ramparts. Unlimited hatred across unlimited borders…

THE news that Minister Fikile “Fixfokol” Mbalula is “prepared to sell his socks” to defend his integrity in laying a charge of crimen injuria and defeating the ends of justice against the former chair of Productivity SA and Thuja Capital CEO is newsworthy for one main reason. Mbalula may have been gifted with many things but political integrity is certainly not one of them. Whether he’s guilty of soliciting a bribe or not, he’s wasting his money (and his socks) if he’s going to try to defend it. He’ll have to find it first.…

I was surprised by the Hamas propaganda written by Mamphela Ramphele. I would have expected something more meaningful and unbiased from her instead of the usual Hamas propaganda. Ramphele seems to have a blind spot with regard to Israel’s side of the story. She does not mention the barbaric attack by Hamas on innocent Israeli and other citizens, where women, babies and teenagers were raped, slaughtered, tortured and disembowelled. She claims that Israel is guilty of genocide when the Hamas charter states that Israel must be extinguished and eliminated. Is this not genocide? Does she think that Israel, or any other country, should not defend itself in any way possible from the barbarians? She believes all the lies put out by Hamas that the Gazans have no medicine, food, water…

A 33-year-old driver was arrested by police in Mpumalanga after 23 foreign nationals – Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals – believed to have been trafficked into South Africa were found in his vehicle. On Monday, an intelligence-driven “disruptive operation” was conducted by the SAPS Nelspruit-based crime intelligence and highway patrol units along the N4 and R38 roads. Spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks, Captain Dineo Sekgotodi said the police operation followed information that was received from “a reliable source” about a white Toyota Quantum transporting passengers suspected to be undocumented foreign nationals. The Toyota Quantum taxi was spotted by police on the R38 Road, in the area of Kaapmuiden. “The driver was interviewed to determine the origins of the passengers. The driver informed the…

More specialised crime-fighting units similar to the disbanded Scorpions are on the cards for South Africa according to Deputy President Paul Mashatile The deputy president was responding to a question by ACDP’s Wayne Thring during a National Assembly question and answer session last week. Thring said it was a common cause that South Africans are under attack largely from the criminal element throughout the country including the “construction mafia” and drug and human trafficking syndicates among others. “It has been said that the Scorpions had a conviction rate of some 90%, currently SAPS has a conviction rate of 10% for murder and rape, and an overall conviction rate of 20%. Now, does the Deputy President agree that besides SAPS, all crime-fighting units in South Africa need to be adequately capacitated?…

A Pietermaritzburg man has been charged with murder for allegedly shooting an off-duty policeman following an altercation on Monday. Haniff Rajman, 29, appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday and has been remanded in police custody. He is charged with the murder of Constable Stabane Gwala, who was attached to the Pietermaritzburg Public Order Police (POP). The 35-year-old off-duty policeman was shot multiple times following an altercation on Monday morning on Oribi Road in Pietermaritzburg. ALS Paramedics who attended the scene said there was nothing more paramedics could do for the officer, and he was declared deceased on the scene. Spokesperson Garrith Jamieson said it was understood that an altercation allegedly led to the shooting. Provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (Hawks), Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo, confirmed the…

A Northern Cape court official has been sentenced in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Kimberley after being convicted of corruption. Method Gqetywa, 48, was assistant master of the High Court in Kimberley. He was arrested during a buy-and bust (section 252) operation when he solicited and accepted R15 000 in cash to interfere with the administration of a deceased estate. “On July 4, 2019, and July 18, 2019, when Gqetywa was still employed by the High Court he accepted gratification of R15 000 from the complainants to process the estate of a deceased known to the complainants,” provincial National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Mojalefa Senokoatsane said. “The accused acted in a manner that was illegal, untrustworthy, and unauthorised by accepting the money.” The matter was reported to police and…

Every person has the basic right to water and sanitation; however, millions of people around the world have this right infringed upon daily. More than 3.6 billion people globally do not have access to safely managed sanitation services and, for this reason, World Toilet Day was founded in 2001 by philanthropist Jack Sim, and is celebrated annually on November 19. This day serves as a platform to increase general knowledge on what sanitation is; raise awareness on poor sanitation and lack of toilets globally; as well as to allow people who have good sanitation to recognise the importance thereof. Securing access to basic sanitation has been acknowledged by many policies, declarations, and agendas, including the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 which aims to ensure the availability and sustainable management…

Former British prime minister David Cameron attended his first Cabinet meeting in seven years yesterday, after his surprise appointment as UK foreign secretary. Cameron was the shock call-up in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle on Monday, which notably saw outspoken right-winger Suella Braverman sacked as interior minister. His unexpected return has been interpreted as political positioning, to win over more centrist voters before a general election expected next year. Sunak, 43, assembled his new senior ministers for their first meeting at Downing Street yesterday morning, describing them as a “strong and united team”. “A warm welcome to those for whom it’s their first Cabinet and also a welcome to those for whom it may not be their first time,” he said in a nod to Cameron, who sat opposite him…

LOS ANGELES: Singer Billie Eilish 21, hit out at what she sees as an unfair focus on women’s bodies as she fronted the cover of Variety magazine’s “Power of Women” issue. “Nobody ever says a thing about men’s bodies. If you’re muscular, cool. If you’re not, cool. If you’re rail thin, cool. If you have a dad bod, cool. If you’re pudgy, love it! Everybody’s happy with it. “You know why? Because girls are nice. They don’t give a f*** because we see people for who they are!” she said. | Bang Showbiz…

New Delhi: More than 2 000 people fleeing Myanmar have crossed into neighbouring northeastern India as an offensive against the military widens, reports said yesterday. More than 2 000 Myanmar citizens from western Chin state had crossed into India’s Mizoram state since yesterday, with at least 17 people taken to hospital for their wounds. Almost 50 000 people have been displaced by fighting in northern Myanmar after an alliance of ethnic armed groups launched an offensive against the junta two weeks ago, according to the UN. Mizoram was already home to more than 30 000 Myanmar nationals. | AFP…

MONROVIA: Liberians voted yesterday in a run-off election between President George Weah and former vice-president Joseph Boakai, in what is expected to be a closely fought vote between the two rivals. Former soccer star Weah, 57, won 7 000 more votes than Boakai in the October poll, and he failed to reach the 50% needed to secure an outright victory. Weah’s first term has been dogged by graft scandals and poverty in Africa’s oldest independent republic. Boakai, 78, has campaigned on the need to rescue the nation from what he calls mismanagement by Weah’s administration. More than 80% of the population still face food insecurity. | Reuters…

Mamelodi Sundowns have become the undisputed flag-bearers of South African football – and for good reason. In the domestic arena, Sundowns have won six consecutive Premiership titles and 16 overall. Five times they finished as runners-up. In the MTN8, rebranded Knockout Cup tournaments and Nedbank Cup competitions, the Brazilians have won 14 titles and were runners-up 16 times. In continental competitions, Sundowns won the CAF Champions League, CAF Super Cup and African Football League. They have played in the Champions League 16 times. This is a staggering list of achievements. It is the result of running a club with sound governance structures in place, starting with the appointment of a sporting director who oversees the day-to-day running of the club. A few years ago, Sundowns brought in Spaniard José Ramón…

THE PRESIDENTIAL Climate Commission (PCC) views the just transition as a pathway to ensure a quality life for all South Africans. The perspective is grounded in several key objectives. First, it emphasises the need to increase our ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. Second, it focuses on fostering climate resilience and last, it aims to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a target set in alignment with the best available science. The Just Transition Framework envisions a resilient economy powered by equitable energy mix, access to resources and sustainable land use and livelihoods, all while upholding social justice, creating decent employment opportunities and eradicating poverty. The vision is informed by an understanding of a just transition whereby social justice is intricately linked to addressing climate,…

The number of murders in South Africa has risen by an alarming 77% since the 2011/2012 period. This is according to statistics released by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) at a briefing yesterday. The stats showed that murders increased from 15 554 incidents in 2011/2012 to 27 494 in 2022 /2023. The ISS stats further revealed that four provinces – the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and Gauteng – recorded the highest number of murders in the country. David Bruce, an independent researcher on policing and consultant to the ISS, said from 1994/1995 to 2011/2012 the murder rate fell by more than 57%. “This is equivalent to the per-capita murder rate decreasing from 69 per 100 000 to 29.5 per 100 000. Since then the rate has increased…

SEVERAL parts of the country’s economy including imports and exports; foreign direct investment; public and private debt and company balance sheets were among the hardest hit when 28 South African and international banks allegedly colluded to manipulate the Rand/Dollar currency. This is according to the Competition Commission which has set its sights on having Absa, Standard Bank, Nedbank, FirstRand, Investec, Standard Americas, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Commerz Bank (Germany), Macquarie Bank Limited (Australia), Barclays, Bank of America, HSBC Bank, Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner and Smith, JP Morgan Chase, Credit Suisse Securities (US), among others, answer for the alleged collusion between 2007 and 2013. This legal battle is currently before the Competition Appeal Court (CAC) and is set to continue today. According to the Commission, who had…

THE article in your November 7 issue, “Malema’s views on illegal foreigners could hurt EFF at polls”, refers. EFF leader Julius Malema is well known to flip flop on his views. His views on foreign labour will change many times before next year’s elections. The issue of foreigners and foreign labour in South Africa is becoming more and more of a nightmare. As we feel the economic belt tightening and the unemployment figures rising, we need to try to understand that the average South African who has become desperate because of the ANC’s failure, will be looking for someone to blame. The ANC is quick to push blame wherever it can find an easy defenceless target. Foreigners are that target. The minister of employment and labour has notoriously done…

I WAS looking at the news and photos of the devastation and chaos caused by all the recent wars and explosives … the Bang! Bang! I was also looking at the orderly world around us: the tides, the phases of the moon, the sequence of the seasons (autumn never comes before spring), day and night, sunrise always in the East (on the right in the Southern Hemisphere) and then setting in the West, the migration of fish, birds, animals, insects, etc. It is impossible for me to believe that Creation came into being by the “Big Bang”. I think scientists must look into another dimension/direction.…

“Why can’t I get my son, 22, to text me back? Why would he ignore me? I answer him immediately if he calls or texts. “He responds (or usually responds) only if I ask if he needs a doctor or an ambulance or if he’s on fire. That is my signal to him that he had better reply soon. “It’s easy to reply. Why do so many moms experience the same thing with their sons? I know they do. We talk about it.” I do not believe that I, or anyone for that matter, can answer your question, but you are raising what seems to be a widespread parent experience. Your son might be hinting at the need for a little space. That you always immediately reply might feel a…

Secretary to Parliament Xolile George has confirmed that some of the offices burnt in a fire last year have been rebuilt and will be available for use by MPs. George said 155 offices were completed within seven weeks, and the rebuilding of the National Assembly and Old Assembly chambers will get under way soon. Parliament was still committed to ensuring the restoration of the legislature would be completed by the set deadline of November 2025. The national legislature said on Monday that rubble was removed from the two chambers gutted in a fire in January last year. Parliament said it was determined to rebuild the damaged buildings. “A temporary roof was installed on the sections of the Old Assembly building affected by the fire. This will ensure that the…

The National Student Financial Scheme (NSFAS) has announced that funding applications for 2024 are expected to open next week. The announcement comes after students expressed concern over the what they said was the late opening of applications this year and said this could lead to instability in institutions of higher learning in the new year. According to the entity, funding applications for 2024 were expected to open on November 21 this year and close on January 31 next year. Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande said this was to afford the beneficiary shorter turn-around times for decision making, which is aligned to the financial eligibility assessment which requires updated South African Revenue Service (Sars) information. “NSFAS is awaiting Sars’ completion of its tax period and to enable NSFAS to have the…

Parents who are at war with each other, with their 11-year-old twin boys stuck in the middle, led a judge to call the children into his chambers, along with a social worker, to try to find “the voice of the child”. Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, acting Judge C Marumoagae said courts could certainly benefit from the participation of children in care and contact cases. “This need not be in an open court. By ascertaining the views of children who are affected by the dispute that the court is called upon to determine, the court may be in a better position to understand the children’s relationship with their parents,” the judge said. He said the court may obtain uncensored information relating to the children’s level of comfort or discomfort with each…

THE silly season is upon us – and so are cash heist gangs. Six cash-in-transit heist suspects were today scheduled to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court after they were arrested following a robbery on Monday in Bloemfontein. Yesterday morning, also in the Free State, three security guards were disarmed and money was taken after their vehicle was rammed by another vehicle at the corner of Mill and Vooruitsig streets. In another incident on Tuesday, a security guard was wounded in a suspected cash-in-transit heist in Perseverance, Nelson Mandela Bay. In Limpopo, a car accident led to the arrest of a 33-year-old cash-in-transit robbery suspect who had been on the run since an attack on a G4S Cash Solutions van at the Mvusuludzo Mall in Thohoyandou in March 2019. A…

Palestinians trapped inside Gaza’s biggest hospital were digging a mass grave yesterday to bury patients who died under Israeli encirclement, and said no plan was in place to evacuate babies despite Israel announcing an offer to send portable incubators. Israeli forces have surrounded Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which they say sits atop an underground headquarters of Hamas militants. Hamas, Gaza’s ruling Islamist group, denies fighters are present and says 650 patients and 5 000-7 000 other displaced civilians are trapped inside the hospital grounds, under constant fire from snipers and drones. It says 40 patients have died in recent days, including three premature babies whose incubators were knocked out. Five weeks after Israel swore to destroy Hamas in retaliation for a cross-border assault by militants, the fate of…

Afghanistan urged Pakistan yesterday to release thousands of containers of imports it said were stuck at Karachi port since Islamabad clamped down on transnational cargo. Pakistan authorities say they have lost millions of dollars in taxes because goods are being sent duty-free from its ports to land-locked Afghanistan, and then smuggled back across the border. Afghan authorities say Pakistan has stopped more than 3 000 Afghanistan-bound containers at Karachi port while demanding more tax and duty payments, causing millions of dollars in losses to traders. The issue was raised yesterday by Nooruddin Azizi, Afghanistan’s minister of industry and commerce, in a meeting with Jalil Abbas Jilani, Pakistan’s caretaker minister of foreign affairs. They spoke about “the transit problems” the Afghan embassy said. The trade row is one of several thorny…

LONDON: Britain’s King Charles marked his 75th birthday yesterday with the launch of the Coronation Food Project, which seeks to bridge the gap between food waste and food need across the nation. The monarch also hosted a reception for 400 NHS nurses and midwives at Buckingham Palace, while ceremonial gun salutes marked the day, including at the Tower of London. Highlighting the Coronation Food Project in an article in the Big Issue magazine, the king said: “Food need is as real and urgent a problem as food waste.” He said that “cost-of-living pressures” were resulting in “too many families and individuals missing out on nutritious meals”. The project aims to create distribution hubs to connect surplus food with 14 million people facing food insecurity. | IANS…

Geneva: One in three children, or 739 million worldwide, already live in areas exposed to high water scarcity, with climate change threatening to make this worse, according to a new Unicef report. The report said the greatest share of children were exposed in the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia regions, places with limited water resources and high levels of variability, ground water table decline or drought risk. As many as 436 million children face high or very high water scarcity and low or very low drinking water service levels. Those most affected live in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Southern Asia, and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia. | IANS…

Bafana Bafana suffered a cruel blow before their 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifying Group C game against Benin at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday. Safa announced yesterday that the Sundowns fullbacks Thapelo Maseko and Grant Kekana have withdrawn from the squad because of injury. This was the third withdrawal in three days after the France-based Lebo Mothiba withdrew 24 hours earlier. Striker Evidence Makgopa, the hero for Orlando Pirates in Saturday’s Soweto derby, comes in for Mothiba. Elias Mokwana of Sekhukhune United and Pirates skipper Thapelo Xoki are the replacements called up yesterday. Meanwhile, Percy Tau, popularly known as the “Lion of Judah”, has a career littered with accolades that include two highly sought-after CAF Champions League winners’ medals. But the Al Ahly marksman says he has yet…

Staff in the eThekwini Municipality may come under scrutiny in the investigation into the theft of municipal LED street lights, after it emerged that the equipment had been in the City stores last month. A source, familiar with the department, said there was a strict process in managing equipment in the stores. “These lights arrived at the stores in October, and now they are found at the border, these (lights) did not jump there, someone took them out of the stores." The Hawks and the Kosi Bay Border Management Authority arrested two suspects at the weekend for possession of municipal property. They stopped a vehicle heading to Mozambique that was pulling a trailer. The suspects, aged 31 and 44, were arrested for possession of suspected stolen property and tampering with…

SENSATION in Old Blighty. Tory turmoil? Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has appointed former prime minister David Cameron as foreign secretary to replace James Cleverly who in turn replaces the sacked – and voluble – rightwinger Suella Braverman as Home Secretary. Not only that; Cameron is elevated to the peerage and will operate from the House of Lords. Hoo Boy! Is this just another colourful episode in Downing Street Frolics – the antics of Bojo, the weeks in office of his successor, Liz Truss, the financial/economic cataclysm of her mini-budget, the porkypies and other nonsense that surfaced in the Covid inquiry? Or could it be some sort of turning around full circle? Does Sunak have time to complete the circle, with an election only about a year away and with the…

Over the last few weeks we have been bombarded – pun intended – with daily images of the destruction in Palestine and of people holding dead or injured children, and with articles calling Israelis murderers and terrorists. So, in the spirit of fairness, how about publishing some pictures of the death and destruction in Israel from the thousands of rockets launched by Hamas? And I mean Hamas and other terrorists, not Palestinians, most of whom just want to get on with their lives, but can’t because of the terrorists who are in control. Naledi Pandor has called for top Israeli decision-makers to be arrested and tried by the International Criminal Court. There’s no mention of doing the same for top Islamic terrorists who have murdered Israeli citizens, who strap bombs…

SOUTH Africa has one of the highest murder and rape rates in the world, a corrupt government and here is Min ister of International Relations and Co-operation Naledi Pandor calling for the arrest of Israeli officials. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! There are 22 Arab states, 57 Muslim nations that refuse entry to Gazans. The brutal attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7 that left 1 440 Israelis dead and 240 being taken hostage into Gaza, started the war but now that Israel defends itself, it is blamed for retaliating. Pandor ignores the Muslim-on-Muslim violence taking place in Yemen, Sudan and Pakistan. She reserves her venom only for Israel which will not commit national suicide to appease people like Pandor. What hypocrisy!…

THE Department of Public Service and Administration is on track in terms of employing women in management positions but lagging in meeting government targets in hiring the youth. This was confirmed by Public Service and Administration Minister Noxolo Kiviet when responding in writing to parliamentary questions. EFF MP Rosina Komane asked Kiviet about the representation of women and youth in her department. Komane said the report presented by the Auditor-General of South Africa before the portfolio committee mentioned that her department still had not met the representation target of 35% for women and youth. “As at September 30, 2023, the representation of women at SMS (senior management) level in the department was 52.90% of SMS members, or 2.90% more than the set national target of 50%,” Kiviet said. Kiviet…

Three men have been arrested in Gauteng in connection with the alleged distribution and possession of child pornography. Police said the trio were arrested last week during a take-down operation by the SAPS Serial and Electronic Crime Investigations (Seci) unit in collaboration with the US Homeland Security department. The accused are a 63-year-old British citizen, and two South African men, both aged 43. National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the suspects were arrested after months of investigation into their alleged involvement in the possession, distribution, manufacturing, accessing and downloading of child pornography. The British citizen, who was found to be in the country illegally, was arrested in Springs. ​“The suspect faces offences related to bestiality where police have seized material of him allegedly having sexual intercourse with a dog,”…

TRANSNET National Ports Authority said it has plans to resurface the quayside and rehabilitate some roads in the port to address the issue of potholes and stormwater drainage. This comes after a video went viral on social media showing external contractors using makeshift tools and buckets to drain the water at one of the privately owned terminals at the Port of Durban. Mpumi Dweba-Kwetana, port manager at the Port of Durban said they are aware of a video clip in circulation showing quayside flooding and external contractors using makeshift tools and a bucket to drain the water at one of the privately owned and managed terminals in the Port of Durban’s Point Precinct. “The video was shot during one of the recent bouts of heavy rains in Durban and displays…

The Deputy Chief Electoral Commissioner, Masego Sheburi has denied that the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) was hiring only members of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) to work during the registration weekend and elections. This was after the EFF accused the IEC of only hiring Sadtu members. The EFF repeated its claim yesterday, and called on its members to guard against members of the union during the registration weekend. It said Sadtu was an alliance partner of the ANC and supports the ANC. But Sheburi told members of the portfolio committee on home affairs yesterday that they did not hire Sadtu members only, but people from across sectors. He said the IEC does submit names of people working for it at voting stations to the local…

The concept of a “two-state solution” has been proposed as a means to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The proposal for creating Jewish and Arab states in the British Mandate of Palestine can be traced back to the Peel Commission report of 1937. However, this proposal is fundamentally flawed as it stems from historical injustices, particularly European imperialism, civilisation and racism. The British government established the Peel Commission to investigate the Arab-Jewish conflict in Palestine and recommend its resolution. Its recommendations set the stage for the later UN partition plan in 1947, which eventually led to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The birth of Israel contributed to the ongoing disputes and tensions in the region. Israel came about in response to the global Zionist movement, a political…

Orphaned during a coup in his homeland Guinea, teenager Moussa Camara took to sea in a wooden boat with 240 other migrants, enduring an 11-day voyage, half of it without food and fresh water, before reaching the Canary Islands. Twenty people died en route, their bodies dropped in the sea, the travellers said, more victims of one of the world’s most perilous migrant routes. Yet when Camara made it last month exhausted, famished and nursing sores from the sun, another problem beset him – police registered him as an adult and he was not allowed into a centre for minors with the better opportunities available. “We are children … they betrayed us,” he said with a friend also classed as an adult at an old military base in Tenerife’s mountains,…

Rescue workers yesterday battled to reach 40 Indian workers trapped inside a collapsed Himalayan highway tunnel for almost 60 hours, drilling through debris to fix a wide steel pipe they hope can be used to pull the men out. The trapped men are safe and healthy, authorities said, and are being supplied food, water and oxygen through a pipe. The 4.5km tunnel, built in Uttarakhand state on a national highway that is part of the Char Dham Hindu pilgrimage route, caved in on Sunday. There were about 50-60 workers on the night shift and those near the exit of the tunnel got out, while the 40 who were deeper inside were trapped. The debris covered an area of 40m and the 40 men were stuck in an area of about…

Paris: More than 1 500 anti-Semitic acts and comments have been recorded in France – which is home to large Jewish and Muslim communities – since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said yesterday. “There have been 1 518 anti-Semitic acts or remarks,” said Darmanin. This was a more than three-fold increase compared to the whole of 2022. Assaults and injuries had resulted in 571 arrests, the ministry said. Darmanin said there had also been anti-Muslim incidents “but they are not on the scale of what we are seeing in terms of anti-Semitism”. A total of 330 investigations have been opened. | AFP…

MOSCOW: A man convicted over the 2006 murder of the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, best known for reporting on abuses in Russia’s war in Chechnya early in Vladimir Putin’s presidency, has been pardoned in return for fighting in Ukraine, reports said yesterday. Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, a former law-enforcement officer, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2014 for organising the killing. His lawyer, Alexei Mikhalchik, yesterday said he had last year taken advantage of a scheme, known to have been used principally by the Wagner mercenary force, to sign up from prison to fight in Ukraine. | Reuters…

Just days after Mamelodi Sundowns sent Moroccan heavyweights Wydad AC packing in the AFL final, South African football fans are braced for another conquest over the north Africans. Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies will be playing AS FAR in their CAF Women’s Champions League semi-final at the 20 000-seater Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo, Ivory Coast, this evening. Sundowns were the inaugural winners in 2021 and AS FAR, one of the most widely supported women’s teams in Africa, are the defending champions. The Moroccans walloped Sundowns 4-0 in last season’s final in Rabat and that defeat still lingers in the minds of Banyana Ba Style. AS FAR had a nervy start to the competition but have found their rhythm as they worked their way through the group stages. After Sundowns Ladies…