The Wall Street Journal on its front page, reported that Nvidia had a strong quarter amid investor jitters over the staying power of the AI boom.

The Daily Mail newspaper’s front page reported that motorists face a fuel hike under Starmer’s squeeze.

The Jerusalem Post’s front page reported that the IDF and Shin Bet recovered the body of a soldier killed on October 7.

The New York Times published a front-page article titled ‘At Least 10 Killed as Israeli Military Steps Up West Bank Raids.

The Guardian reports on its front page that a thinktank claims the Tories significantly understated the cost of asylum.

China Daily’s front page reported that the Integration of culture and tourism is gaining momentum, with technology playing a key role in fostering new business forms.

The Japan Times newspaper reported that Kyushu is bracing for the landfall of a strong typhoon.

According to The Times of India, the government plans to set up 12 industrial cities with an investment of ₹28.6 crore.

REMEMBER

If you wish to stay up-to-date – for FREE – on the latest international and South African news, then bookmark The South African website for all that plus the latest in the world of finance, sport, lifestyle – and more.

Did we mention it was 100% free to read …?

Prosecutors on the Italian island are probing potential manslaughter offences over the sinking of the Bayesian yacht in a pre-dawn storm on August 19, which killed entrepreneur Mike Lynch, his daughter and five others.

15 people survived the tragedy

Captain James Cutfield, a New Zealand citizen who was one of 15 people who survived the tragedy, has been placed under investigation, his lawyer Aldo Mordiglia confirmed to AFP following media reports.

Engineer Tim Parker Eaton, who was in charge of the engine room that night, and a crewman on look-out named as Matthew Griffith have now also been placed under formal investigation, reports said.

Prosecutors on Saturday said their probe remained at an early stage, but have since declined to formally comment.

Nobody has yet been charged.

Italian media said Parker Eaton – who is British – is accused of not having properly checked that the yacht’s windows were closed and watertight compartments activated.

Lynch, 59, had invited friends and family onto the boat to celebrate his recent acquittal in a massive US fraud case.

But the 56-metre (185-foot) yacht was struck by something akin to a mini-tornado as it was anchored off Porticello, near Palermo, and sank within minutes.

The body of the yacht’s cook, Recaldo Thomas, was found shortly afterwards, and six people were reported missing.

The yacht had a 75-metre mast

Following a major search operation, divers pulled up the bodies of four of Lynch’s friends from the wreck – US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda, and Jonathan Bloomer, the chair of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife Judy.

Lynch’s body was recovered the day afterwards and the following day, that of his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.

Lynch’s wife survived.

The yacht, which had a 75-metre mast, currently lies on its side on the seabed, some 50 metres down.

The Sicilian coastguard said on Tuesday it was carrying out checks on the site for potential pollution, but said so far there was no indication of fuel leaks.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Found in a makeshift grave

As per the Daily Mail website, Zaliya Shamigulova had been missing since leaving her rental flat near the picturesque Flic-en-Flac beach on Saturday, 17 August.

The university teacher was last seen getting into a blue Toyota vehicle of a ‘local man’ who was ‘giving her a lift’.

Shamigulova was then reported missing by a female travelling companion.

Her body was found in a makeshift grave five days later in La Marie, a residential area.

According to The Sun website, a post-mortem examination revealed that Shamigulova had her tongue and throat cut from her body, as well as multiple stab wounds to her chest.

It has subsequently emerged that the detained suspect Puryavirsingh Sundur, 29, met Shamigulova via dating app Tinder.

Sundur, an IT engineer, confessed to the killing, according to local police, who are now determining if there were accomplices.

During interrogation, he reportedly said that he had ‘learned about his new girlfriend’s infidelity’.

Mauritius popular as retirement destination for South Africans

The revelation of the gruesome murder will come as worrying news to those South Africans considering retirement to the Indian Ocean island.

As reported by The South African website, besides being a popular vacation spot for South Africans, Mauritius is fast gaining popularity as a retirement choice.

Mauritius offers a unique blend of cultural experiences, pristine beaches, and also luxurious resorts.

Additionally, Mauritius has a visa-free policy for South Africans, further enhancing its appeal.

Mauritius has a welcoming environment for expats and a diverse expat community and English is widely spoken in Mauritius.

These factors contribute to non-local people feeling welcome.

Another key aspect that makes Mauritius a popular retirement destination is, ironically, its reputation for safety.

Mauritius ranked 28th on Global Finance magazine’s safest country index for last year, 2023.

This index takes into account factors such as natural disasters, violent crimes, terrorism, and war to present a well-rounded analysis of overall societal safety.

In comparison, South Africa ranked 120th on this index.

The Global Peace Index 2024 stated that Mauritius is the most peaceful country in sub-Saharan Africa for the 17th consecutive year. It ranked 22nd on their global index.

The total number of retirees increased by over 150% between 2007 and 2023, with France, South Africa, and the United Kingdom being the top three feeder countries.

One of the primary reasons South Africans are considering Mauritius for retirement is its favourable tax regime. 

The island nation offers a low and straightforward tax structure, with no capital gains tax, inheritance tax, or wealth tax.

This is particularly appealing to retirees looking to preserve their savings and investments while enjoying a high quality of life.

Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah had been among six passengers reported missing after the “Bayesian” went down off the north coast of the Italian island in a storm early on Monday morning.

Mike Lynch had invited friends and family onto the yacht

After Hannah’s body was brought ashore on Friday, her family issued a statement describing their “unspeakable grief”.

“The Lynch family is devastated, in shock and is being comforted and supported by family and friends,” it said.

Search teams had recovered the bodies of four of Lynch’s friends on Wednesday, and that of the entrepreneur himself on Thursday.

The body of a man believed to be the yacht’s chef had been found a few hours after the sailing ship sank.

Lynch, 59, had invited friends and family onto the sailing boat to celebrate his recent acquittal in a massive US fraud case.

But the 56-metre (185-foot) British-flagged yacht was struck by a waterspout – akin to a mini-tornado – before dawn on Monday as it was anchored off Porticello, near Palermo.

It sank within minutes and now lies on the sea bed 50 metres down.

‘Heartbroken’

Hannah had just finished her end-of-school exams and had a place to study English literature at Oxford University.

Friends described her as warm, loving and “charming and ferociously intelligent”, according to one of the tributes issued by the family.

Lynch, once dubbed the British “Bill Gates”, was “the most brilliant mind and (most) caring person I have ever known”, said another.

The businessman had been acquitted on all charges in a San Francisco court in June after he was accused of an $11 billion fraud linked to the sale of his software firm Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard.

US lawyer Chris Morvillo, a partner at top law firm Clifford Chance who worked on the trial, also died in the sinking, along with his wife Neda.

Morvillo’s firm Clifford Chance paid tribute to the couple, saying all were “heartbroken at the tragic passing… and still coming to terms with this terrible loss”.

The bodies of Jonathan Bloomer, the chair of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife Judy, were also found.

The Bloomer family said they were suffering “unimaginable grief” for a couple who had been together for five decades.

“Our only comfort is that they are still together now,” the family said.

Many questions remain about why the yacht sank, and so quickly, when other boats nearby were unaffected.

Italian prosecutors have opened a probe and will hold a press conference on Saturday.

On Thursday the head of the company which built the boat said the tragedy could have been avoided.

“Everything that was done reveals a very long summation of errors,” said Giovanni Costantino, head of the Italian Sea Group, which includes the Perini Navi company that built Bayesian in 2008.

Bad weather forecast

He told Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper that bad weather was forecast and all the passengers should have been gathered at a pre-arranged assembly point, with all the doors and hatches closed.

“Instead it took on water with the guests still in the cabin. They ended up in a trap, those poor people ended up like mice in a trap,” he said.

The Bayesian, owned by Lynch’s family, boasted a 75-metre mast, the tallest aluminium sailing mast in the world, according to the Charter World website.

Raising the wreck would likely cost some €15 million and take “six to eight weeks”, according to the salvage engineer who led the operation to recover the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which sank off Italy in 2012.

To recover the yacht, the mast could be removed on the seabed but the boat would be lifted up whole using a giant crane and a team of 40 specialist divers, South African engineer Nick Sloane told the Repubblica daily.

Meanwhile, as reported by The South African website, a 20-year-old South African hostesses survived the Bayesian superyacht tragedy.

This developing news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

NHS struggling to clear a backlog

While cancer wait times have been “broadly stable” in the last two years, there has been a general upward trend since 2012, with a sharp rise in 2022 after the pandemic, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Nearly half of all cancer patients in Wales and a third in England had to wait longer than the recommended 62-day standard time between the disease being detected and the start of treatment in the second quarter of 2024.

In Northern Ireland, the figure was as high as 66 percent in the latest available data from the third quarter of 2023.

Scotland, where healthcare is devolved to the Scottish government, had the lowest rate among UK nations with just below 30 percent of patients waiting longer than 62 days.

Even so, the proportion of patients waiting had increased from 5.2 percent in 2012.

Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) is struggling to clear a backlog built up during the pandemic and worsened by staff shortages and strikes over pay.

As reported by The South African website earlier in the year, public satisfaction with the NHS hit record lows in 2023 with long waits for appointments a central grievance.

‘Key issue’

Several studies show that delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment can worsen survival outcomes.

Earlier this year, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) released a statement on the importance of minimising delays in cancer care.

Two studies led by University College London (UCL) from February looking at four countries showed that UK patients faced the longest wait times for cancer treatment, above Australia, Canada and Norway.

Earlier this week, experts wrote in the Lancet Oncology journal that cancer waiting lists in the UK are “still the worst they have ever been” and that a new cancer plan should be a “key priority” for the new Labour government, which took power in July.

In the article, academics warned that there are “over one in three people waiting more than 62 days for their vital cancer treatment, meaning that there is an increased risk of dying unnecessarily of this disease”.

The new government ordered an independent review into the state of the NHS last month, with health minister Wes Streeting acknowledging that the service was “broken”.

Polls showed that the NHS was a top priority for voters at last month’s election, with the ousted Conservatives widely blamed for letting the service deteriorate during their 14-year tenure.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Lynch’s daughter Hannah, 18, had been the last person missing after his family’s luxury yacht sank off the Italian island on Monday morning, killing the businessman and five others.

Meanwhile, as reported by The South African website, a 20-year-old South African hostesses survived the Bayesian superyacht tragedy.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

Yacht had 22 people on board

Here’s what we know so far about the yacht’s passengers and crew and what might have led to the sinking.

Specialist cave divers working in 12-minute underwater shifts were searching for six missing passengers and crew believed to be in the submerged wreck of a luxury yacht that was slammed by a powerful storm and swiftly sank off Sicily.

The sleek yacht, named the Bayesian, was carrying a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers when it suddenly sank near the Mediterranean island that is part of Italy at about 04:00 on Monday.

One body has been recovered and 15 people survived.

Fire rescue officials have said the six believed to remain in the sailboat’s hull will be considered missing until they are located in the wreckage.

Here’s what we know so far about the sinking and those who were on board.

Italian civil protection officials believe a sudden and fierce storm that battered the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday whipped up a waterspout in the exact spot where the 56-metre (184-foot) British-flagged Bayesian was moored.

Karsten Borner, the captain of another yacht moored nearby, said he saw the Bayesian during the storm but when the wild weather passed it was gone and he saw only a red flare lighting the night sky, the Italian news agency ANSA and the Giornale di Sicilia newspaper reported.

Borner and one of his crew boarded their tender and found a lifeboat carrying 15 people, some of them injured. They took them aboard their yacht and alerted the coast guard.

Rescue authorities said the wreck was resting at a depth of 50 metres (163 feet) about a half mile offshore of the picturesque fishing village of Porticello. 

Among the missing is 59-year-old tech tycoon Mike Lynch, sometimes described as the British Bill Gates.

Lynch was acquitted in June of all charges in a U.S. fraud trial linked to the $11 billion sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

Lynch still faced a potentially huge bill stemming from a civil case in London that HP mostly won during 2022. Damages haven’t been determined in that case, but HP is seeking $4 billion. Lynch made more than $800 million from the Autonomy sale.

A Cambridge-educated mathematician, Lynch made his name running Autonomy, which made a search engine that could pore through emails and other internal business documents to help companies find vital information more quickly.

Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah was reportedly among the missing. His wife, Angela Bacares, and 14 other people survived. 

Among others still missing, according to the civil protection agency, were one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers, Christopher Morvillo of Clifford Chance, and Morvillo’s wife, Neda.

Morvillo was regarded as an elite defence lawyer and was also a federal prosecutor in New York after 9/11.

Also missing was Jonathan Bloomer, the non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife, Judy. He is the former head of the Autonomy audit committee and testified for the defence at Lynch’s trial.

Bloomer was also chair of the Hiscox Group, an insurer that does business on the Lloyd’s of London market.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event,” Hiscox CEO Aki Hussain said in a statement. 

Among the survivors was Charlotte Golunski, who said she momentarily lost hold of her one-year-old daughter Sofia in the water, but then managed to grab her and hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were both pulled to safety, ANSA reported. The father, identified by ANSA as James Emslie, also survived.

The Dutch foreign ministry said a Dutch man survived. The ministry, citing privacy, did not release his identity.

One body was recovered on Monday, identified as the on-board chef.

‘Absolutely extraordinary’

The Bayesian was a luxury yacht built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Nav. It was known for its single 75-meter (246-feet) aluminum mast – one of the world’s tallest. Online charter sites listed it for rent for up to $215 000 a week. 

Its registered owner is listed as Revtom Ltd., based on the Isle of Man, according to online maritime database Equasis. Lynch’s wife is listed as Revtom’s sole owner, according to corporate registration documents from the Isle of Man.

The yacht’s name is an apparent reference to “Bayesian inference,” one of the two main approaches to statistical machine learning and the one that was used by Autonomy.

Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water and can happen when a storm moves across warm water. 

According to the U.S. National Ocean Service, there are two types of waterspouts – fair-weather and tornadic.

Tornadic waterspouts “have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning,” the service says on its website.

While scientists haven’t attributed the specific event to climate change, average monthly surface temperatures have been at record highs for months. Hotter air can hold more moisture, making heavier storms more likely.

Sicily has been baking under intense heat this summer, and the United Nations’ panel of climate change experts notes the Mediterranean Sea is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with warming rates roughly 20% higher than the global average.

Experts say it is extraordinarily rare for a luxury sailboat of this size to capsize due to weather events.

“This just doesn’t happen. You know, boats sink because things like keels fall off, or they run aground and breach the hull … whereas just from a weather angle, a boat that big being pushed over on its side is absolutely extraordinary,” said Skip Novak, a lifelong sailor who has taken part in multiple round the world yacht races and written books about sailing.

Novak said he believed that strong gusts likely pushed the yacht over 90 degrees to its side, and the vessel did not recover because of the weight of the huge mast and because it was anchored. He suggested that internal doors were likely not closed, and water quickly poured in to sink the vessel.

“When you’re at anchor, even if it’s blowing with a storm in the Mediterranean, you rarely shut the whole boat down because nobody expects something like this to happen,” Novak told The Associated Press.

“So if the boat wasn’t completely watertight at the deck, you’d have flooding going in. It would take a couple minutes and that would be it.”

As the search for the missing continues, authorities already have begun trying to piece together exactly what happened.

Prosecutors from the Sicilian town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation, as is normal in such events even when no suspects are identified. To date, they have not commented publicly.

The British Marine Accident Investigation Branch said four of its inspectors were being deployed to Palermo.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

With 13 of the world’s highest peaks already behind him, he is now one summit away from becoming the youngest person to conquer all 14 mountains towering above 8 000 metres (26 247 feet).

Final challenge

Sherpa, who already holds multiple records from his ascents of dozens of peaks, said he is on a mission to “inspire a new generation and redefine mountaineering”.

His final challenge, Shishapangma in Tibet, awaits him next month – if China issues a permit.

Summiting all 14 “eight-thousanders” is considered the epitome of mountaineering aspirations.

Italian climber Reinhold Messner first completed the feat in 1986, and only around 40 climbers have successfully followed in his footsteps. Many other elite climbers have died in the pursuit.

All of the mountains are in the Himalayas and neighbouring Karakoram range, which span Nepal, China, India and Pakistan.

Reaching each summit requires entering the thin air of the “death zone”, where there is not enough oxygen to sustain life for long.

“When I am in the mountains, I may die anytime,” Sherpa said.

“You need to realise how important your life is.”

The young man says the mountains have taught him to stay calm.

“Mentally, I have convinced myself… when I see an avalanche, bad weather, an accident in the mountains I am not in a hurry, I don’t get nervous,” he added.

“I have convinced myself; this is normal in the mountains. I think this has helped me a lot.”

‘Real value of life’

Hailing from the Sherpa ethnic group, renowned for its mountaineering prowess, the teenage climber is no stranger to the treacherous terrain.

His uncle, Mingma Gyabu ‘David’ Sherpa, currently holds the record of the youngest person to climb all 14 peaks. He achieved it in 2019, at the age of 30.

His father, Tashi Sherpa, grew up in the remote Sankhuwasabha district, herding yaks before joining mountaineering as a teenager with his siblings.

The entrepreneurial brothers now lead the biggest mountain expedition company in Nepal, Seven Summit Treks, and its sister company, 14 Peaks Expedition.

“I come from a privileged family,” the teen climber said. “But going to the mountains has taught me what hardship is, and the real value of life”.

Raised in the bustling capital Kathmandu, Sherpa initially preferred to play football.

He was also more interested in filming and photography than following his father’s footsteps.

“My whole family is from mountaineering. I have always been near mountaineering and expeditions,” he said. “But I never wanted to be myself in mountaineering.”

Instead, he would take his camera out to the mountains during school holidays.

But two years ago, he put his camera down to pursue mountaineering, and has since broken records.

In August 2022, Sherpa scaled his first of the 14 peaks, reaching the top of the world’s eighth highest Mount Manaslu (8 163 metres) at the age of 16, the first teenager to do so.

The last mountain he scaled was Kangchenjunga in June, again making a record for the youngest to climb the world’s third-highest mountain.

“I have learned so many things about nature, the human body, human psychology”, he said.

“Everything in the world I learnt from the mountain.”

‘Inspire newcomers’

When not in the mountains, the student runs on the treadmill every day and avoids junk food.

“Physically and mentally, you should be very fit for big mountain climbing,” his father Tashi Sherpa said, adding he had been helping him prepare for the challenge for years.

“He will inspire newcomers,” he added.

Nepali guides – usually ethnic Sherpas from the valleys around Everest – are considered the backbone of the climbing industry in the Himalayas.

They carry the majority of equipment and food, fix ropes and repair ladders.

Long in the shadows of their paying foreign customers – it costs more than $45 000 to climb Everest – Nepali mountaineers are slowly being recognised in their own right.

The teenager envisions a future where climbing is recognised as a demanding, athletic pursuit for Nepali climbers as well.

“My focus will be to make mountaineering a professional sport,” he said.

His hero is Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, the first person to climb the world’s highest mountain Everest along with New Zealander Edmund Hillary.

Sherpa considers his idol as big to climbing as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo are to football.

“Norgay is someone who is in that league,” he said.

But, having seen the impacts of climate change and commercial climbing on the mountains, he is keen on taking a sustainable approach to mountaineering, and intends to study environmental science.

“It’s a bigger purpose for what I do,” he said.

“When I first started climbing, it was purely for myself,” he added.

“But then I realised there is a lot we can do in mountaineering sports, and there are many ways to help the community.”

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

“Maria Branyas has left us. She died as she wished: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain,” her family wrote on her account on social network X.

“We will always remember her for her advice and her kindness,” they said.

Nursing home in Spain

Branyas, who had lived for the last two decades in the Santa Maria del Tura nursing home in the town of Olot in northeastern Spain, had warned in a post on Tuesday that she felt “weak”.

“The time is near. Don’t cry, I don’t like tears. And above all, don’t suffer for me. Wherever I go, I will be happy,” she added in the account which is run by her family.

Guinness World Records had officially acknowledged Branyas’s status as the world’s oldest person in January 2023 following the death of French nun Lucile Randon aged 118.

New oldest person

In the wake of Branyas’s death, the oldest living person in the world is Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, who was born on May 23, 1908 and is 116 years old, according to the US Gerontology Research Group.

Branyas, who lived through the 1918 flu, World War I and World War II and Spain’s civil war, got Covid-19 in 2020 just weeks after ringing in her 113th birthday and was confined to her room at the home but made a full recovery.

Her youngest daughter, Rosa Moret, once attributed her mother’s longevity to “genetics”.

“She has never gone to the hospital, she has never broken any bones, she is fine, she has no pain,” Moret told regional Catalan television in 2023.

‘Completely lucid’

Branyas was born in San Francisco on March 4, 1907 shortly after her family moved to the United States from Mexico.

The entire family decided to return to their native Spain in 1915 as World War I was under way, which complicated the ship voyage across the Atlantic.

The crossing was also marked by tragedy – her father died from tuberculosis towards the end of the voyage, and his coffin was thrown into the sea.

Branyas and her mother settled in Barcelona. In 1931 – five years before the start of Spain’s 1936-39 civil war – she married a doctor.

The couple lived together for four decades until her husband died aged 72. She had three children, including one who has already died, 11 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

Manel Esteller, part of a team of researchers from the University of Barcelona who studied Branyas’ DNA to determine the causes of her longevity told daily Spanish newspaper ABC in October 2023 he was surprised by her good health.

“Her mind is completely lucid. She remembers with impressive clarity episodes from when she was only four years old, and she has no cardiovascular disease, which is common in the elderly. The only things she has are mobility and hearing problems. It’s incredible,” the genetics professor said.

The oldest verified person to have ever lived was Frenchwoman Jeanne Louise Calment who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days old.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

The five-day expedition, named Polaris Dawn, will be led by US billionaire Jared Isaacman, who already chartered the first all-civilian orbital spaceflight in 2021, called Inspiration4.

Jointly funded with SpaceX

“It’s been two and a half years since we announced the Polaris programme. It’s been a really exciting journey of development and training,” Isaacman told a press conference on Monday.

He did not reveal how much he has spent on the programme, which includes a total of three missions and which he jointly funds with SpaceX.

For the trip, the company has developed its first generation of space suits, which are white and futuristic.

“This will be epic,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X, which he also owns.

The launch of the Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to take place before dawn next Monday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Two SpaceX employees will be on the trip: The first, Sarah Gillis, is in charge of astronaut training and trained Isaacman for Inspiration4.

The second, Anna Menon, worked for NASA before joining SpaceX.

“I’ve spent years trying to put myself in the seat of astronauts in space, and I am really looking forward to learning firsthand what that experience is actually like,” she said.

The fourth passenger is pilot Scott Poteet, a close friend of Isaacman.

‘Challenging training’

The quartet has undergone intensive training: some 2 000 hours in a simulator, centrifuge sessions, scuba diving, skydiving and climbing the Cotopaxi volcano in Ecuador.

“I can tell you without a doubt, this has been some of the most challenging training that I’ve ever experienced,” said Poteet, who flew fighter jets for 20 years in the US Air Force.

The mission has three main objectives, in addition to the 40 or so experiments that will be conducted on board.

The first is to reach an altitude of 1 400km, the furthest distance for a space crew since the Apollo lunar missions.

Since those missions included only men, Gillis and Menon will become the two women to have traveled the farthest from Earth.

By comparison, the International Space Station is located at an altitude of about 400km. The distance between the Earth and Moon is 380 000km.

A second objective for the mission is to conduct a laser communication test between the ship and SpaceX’s Starlink satellites.

But above all, once in a lower orbit, the astronauts will carry out the first commercial spacewalk, to be broadcast live on the mission’s third day.

Since the Dragon capsule has no airlock, the whole spacecraft will be exposed to the vacuum of space when the hatch is opened.

Two passengers will remain on board while the two others venture outside, with each pair having a turn spacewalking.

They will perform movements to test their new space suits, including what Isaacman called a “hands-free demonstration,” all while still being linked to the capsule.

So much to ‘explore’

The space suits are based on those already used by SpaceX, but have been developed to withstand extreme temperatures and are equipped with cameras.

“Someday, someone could be wearing a version” of the suit as they are “walking on Mars,” Isaacman said, adding that it “feels like a huge honour to have that opportunity to test it out on this flight.”

A second similar Polaris mission is planned after this trip, and then a planned third trip will be the first crewed flight on SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket, currently under development and ultimately intended for trips to the Moon and Mars.

Isaacman praised the private sector’s role in helping “unlock this last frontier.”

“I’d certainly like my kids to see humans walking on the Moon and Mars and venturing out and exploring our solar system,” he said.

“We haven’t even scratched the surface yet,” he said, adding: “There’s so much to go out and explore and discover along the way.”

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Statistics New Zealand reported that population growth was a modest 0.1 percent in the second quarter, with the population of 5.3 million growing by a meagre 7 000.

New Zealand ranks highly as a place in the world to live

Although New Zealand ranks highly in lists of the most desirable places in the world to live and work, in recent years the record numbers of arrivals have been matched by departures.

The kiwi, New Zealand’s national bird is famously flightless, but New Zealand’s people are anything but.

In the year to June, more than 130 000 people left the country, including about 45 000 to neighbouring Australia alone.

Commentators have blamed slow economic growth, high living costs and a housing crisis that has made it difficult for young New Zealanders to get on the property ladder.

In a recent research paper, Gareth Kiernan – a forecaster with Wellington economics consultancy Infometrics – said Australia has become particularly attractive.

The pandemic may have created a backlog of people wanting to leave for what Kiwis call their “OE” – overseas experience.

Emigration brain drain

But Kiernan believes there is something more at work.

“The lure of higher incomes and more affordable living costs in Australia has been seen as a key driver of the increasing flow of people,” he wrote.

Four decades ago, then New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon joked that New Zealanders who left for Australia raised the IQ of both nations.

New Zealand’s Reserve Bank has gone from worrying about immigration stoking inflation to an emigration brain drain.

At its August meeting the central bank warned “slowing net immigration” – along with tight monetary policy and government austerity – could be “dampening demand”

The bank noted fewer people were arriving and more were leaving “partly in response to weakening economic and labour market conditions”.

That trend, it said, was likely to intensify in the coming year, “before recovering as labour market conditions in New Zealand eventually improve”.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Maga, a 74-year-old woman who like many Indonesians had one name, raised concerns when she did not return home on Wednesday, prompting a search by relatives.

‘Constricted and bitten by the snake’

She was found dead presumably “because of being constricted and bitten by the snake”, said Supriadi, police spokesman in Palopo city in South Sulawesi province.

He told AFP the snake in question was a four-metre (13-foot) python.

The woman was found with bites on her head and legs near her family home after going to work in a field, said Awaluddin, head of Padang Lambe district in Palopo.

She was found in Padang Lambe by her daughter with the snake just metres from her body, Awaluddin told AFP.

Locals beat the snake to death and said the woman had been swallowed up to her shoulders and vomited out, he added.

Rare

Deaths by large constrictors are considered rare, but several people in Indonesia have been killed by pythons in recent years.

As reported by The South African website, last month, a woman was found dead inside the belly of a snake after it swallowed her whole in Siteba village, in South Sulawesi province.

In June a woman was found dead inside the belly of a reticulated python in another district of South Sulawesi.

And last year, residents in the province killed an eight-metre python, which was found in a village eating a farmer it had killed.

Similar incidents were also reported on Sulawesi island in 2018 and 2017.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Glynn Simmons, who is black, served more time behind bars before being exonerated than any other inmate in US history, according to The National Registry of Exonerations.

Simmons was released last year after serving a total of 48 years, one month and 18 days in prison.

‘Framed for murder’

On Monday, councillors in Edmond, Oklahoma, voted to proceed with a settlement for Simmons to resolve claims against the city and one of the detectives who helped put him away, public records showed.

Lawyers for Simmons said the payment represented a “partial settlement” of his lawsuit “against the cities and police who falsified evidence… to frame him for murder.”

“Mr. Simmons spent a tragic amount of time incarcerated for a crime he did not commit,” said lead attorney Elizabeth Wang.

“Although he will never get that time back, this settlement with Edmond will allow him to move forward while also continuing to press his claims against” Oklahoma City and a leading detective.

A spokesperson for Edmond declined to comment when approached by AFP.

Simmons and another man, Don Roberts, were sentenced to death in 1975 for the murder the previous year of a 30-year-old liquor store clerk during a robbery in Edmond.

Their sentences were later commuted to life in prison.

Simmons and Roberts were convicted solely on the basis of the testimony of a teenage customer who was shot in the head during the robbery, but survived.

She picked them out of a police lineup but a subsequent investigation cast significant doubt on the reliability of her identifications.

Both men had said at trial that they were not even in Oklahoma at the time of the murder.

US District Court Judge Amy Palumbo threw out Simmons’s conviction in July last year. He was officially declared innocent in December.

Roberts, Simmons’s co-defendant, was released from prison in 2008, according to The National Registry of Exonerations, a project run by three US universities.

Does R130 million make up for 48 years spent in jail?

Let us know by clicking on the comment tab below this article or by emailing info@thesouthafrican.com or sending a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1

You can also follow @TheSAnews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest world news.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Just like the 70 other young women who have paid their £7.50 (R175) fee, she has just one aim: to find her ideal housemate.

London plagued by high rents and scant choice

It is a small price, they say, to fast-track a search process that can otherwise take months in a city plagued by high rents and scant choice.

Losing no time, the women get down to question-and-answer sessions with prospective housemates about preferred neighbourhoods, professions, backgrounds and hobbies, trying to speak to as many people as possible in two hours.

Despite the time limit, the atmosphere is relaxed. Loud chatter and laughter is interspersed with the sound of cocktail shakers at work behind the bar.

Wright, 25, lists her three preferred neighbourhoods, “Greenwich, Walthamstow and Lewisham”, while another attendee stands next to a taped-up sign saying “East” for those looking to rent in east London.

Both wear blue wristbands to indicate that they are first looking to find flatmates, and then a place to live in.

Fewer wear purple bracelets, for those who already have somewhere to rent and are on the hunt for people to move in.

“I think it’s particularly unique in London that you have people in their 30s and 40s in house shares. I don’t really think it’s a situation people particularly want to be in, it’s a situation which people just found themselves forced into,” says Rachel Moore, co-founder of the event organiser Girlies Guide.

Many participants cannot afford to rent a flat in London on their own, even on seemingly comfortable budgets of up to £1 500 (R35 000) per month.

‘New phenomenon’

“If you want a nice flat by yourself, it’s basically around like £1 500 to £1 800 or £2 000 per month,” notes Ioanna, a 22-year-old intern from Greece.

In shared accommodation, renters can find a room for under £1 000.

With London in the grip of spiralling rents, more and more young professionals have found themselves sticking to houseshares rather than branching out on their own.

“This is a new phenomenon,” according to Antonio Mele, associate economics professor at the London School of Economics.

Higher interest rates have put pressure on landlords, prompting them to raise rents or even sell up.

The result is fewer places to rent and higher prices.

Britain’s new Labour government has vowed to try to ease the crisis by relaxing planning restrictions to build more new homes.

A shortage of suitable sites as well as potential opposition to development plans, however, mean that could take years to achieve.

On average, renters spend between 35 and 40 percent of their income on rent, says Mele, who expects that proportion to rise over coming years.

London appeal

Sharing the cost of place to live has therefore become a necessity for many – although finding a good match is not easy.

“You send out lots of messages and you don’t get lots of replies,” says Megan Brewer, 35, who moved to London from Sydney.

Taking advantage of the situation, some unscrupulous landlords are turning living rooms into bedrooms or dividing rooms into two.

“What is advertised as a room might only be acceptable as a storage in other European countries,” adds Mele.

“You have no windows, only the bed fits in and they are advertised for crazy amounts of money.”

Moore and co-founder Mia Gomes struggled with the rental market before launching their “speed dating” events for housemates.

“When we’ve gone to look at properties, the landlord will tell us, I’ve seen 30 other groups today, and the property’s only been on the market for a day or two,” says Gomes.

“You end up getting into bidding wars for a property and end up paying way over what the property’s even worth.”

But for many, living in London with its thriving jobs market and cultural life is still worth it – despite the difficulties.

“I’ll have to cut down on my savings. But I think that is a good trade-off”, adds Wright, “I’m in my 20s. I want to live life, be out there.”

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Police said that Kodam Pranay Kumar was detained on Monday and sent to jail after “other videos in his mobile phone confirmed” that the bird he’d cooked for his curry dish video was indeed a peacock.

Jailed for 14 days

The colourful birds are protected under stringent wildlife laws.

“He is now in jail on 14 days remand under the Wildlife Protection Act and now the court would decide whether he’d remain inside or get a bail,” Akhil Mahajan, police superintendent in southern state of Telangana told AFP.

Investigators are also trying to ascertain how and where Kumar managed to get a peacock for the video, which has since been removed from his channel.

The video showed him cooking peacock curry, “a stunt allegedly pulled to attract more views”, The Times of India reported.

“However, the response was far from what he might have anticipated,” it added.

“Social media users condemned the video, accusing Kumar of promoting illegal wildlife consumption and disrespecting a national symbol”.

The Indian peacock holds a special symbolic importance

The Indian peacock, identified with its vibrant blue colour and a regal wingspan among males, holds a special symbolic importance in India.

The throne of the country’s Mughal ruling dynasty was also called the Peacock Throne because it featured bejewelled peacocks, once present in huge numbers across parts of northern Indian plains.

Rapid urbanisation and habitat loss in the last few decades have significantly reduced their numbers in the wild, with stringent punishment and fines under the wildlife laws now protecting them from hunting or harm.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

“Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend Kamala Harris. We told her we think she’ll make a fantastic President of the United States, and that she has our full support,” Obama said on social media platform X.

“At this critical moment for our country, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she wins in November. We hope you’ll join us.”

Biden bows out

The influential former leader was one of the last Democratic heavy hitters to offer his endorsement, with Harris having already received the backing of President Joe Biden on Sunday to take his place on the ballot.

Obama’s backing will add to the growing momentum behind Harris’ campaign, which has enjoyed a groundswell of support since she announced her 11th-hour candidacy.

Harris, 59, jumped into the election after weeks of turmoil over 81-year-old Biden, who bowed out after a dismal debate performance against Trump accelerated concerns over his mental capacity and persistently low polling numbers.

The country’s first woman vice president — who is seeking to make history again in November — launched a blistering attack on Trump and his “extremist” Republicans as she addressed teachers Thursday.

The momentum appeared to catch Trump off guard, with the bombastic Republican refusing to schedule a debate with Harris, saying Thursday night it would be “inappropriate” until she was officially named the Democratic nominee.

“Democrats very well could still change their minds,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.

Harris, a former top prosecutor for California, chided her opponent on X, saying: “What happened to ‘any time, any place?'”

She had previously said of a potential September 10 face-off: “I’m ready. So let’s go.”

Union endorsement for Kamala Harris

The first union to endorse Harris – the American Federation of Teachers – applauded at their convention in Houston as Harris warned that the country was witnessing a “full-on attack” by Trump’s Republicans on “hard-won, hard-fought freedoms.”

“While you teach students about democracy and representative government, extremists attack the sacred freedom to vote. While you try to create safe and welcoming places where our children can learn, extremists attack our freedom to live safe from gun violence,” she said.

The speech came with Harris facing increasingly extreme rhetoric from Trump, who on Wednesday called her a “radical left lunatic” and claimed – entirely falsely – that she was in favour of the “execution” of newborn babies.

Trump, who at 78 is the oldest presidential nominee in US history, has promised he will “not give one penny” of federal funds to schools with vaccine mandates. Every public school in America has such mandates.

© Agence France-Presse

The Guardian reported on Wednesday that wildfires near the Canadian town of Jasper have forced more than 25 000 to flee one of the country’s largest national parks as multiple blazes and thick smoke descended on the Rocky Mountain community.

The report said the town is home to 5 000 full-time residents, alongside 5 000 seasonal workers.

The request for urgent assistance came from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) in terms of the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Canada and South Africa. 

The MOU signed in 2019, provides for exchanging wild land fire management resources between the two countries. 

The WOF have been on five deployments to Canada between 2015 and 2023 based on the MoU.

The five deployments include the historic deployment of 860 firefighters and management in 2023, one of the largest deployments of international firefighters to Canada. 

The organisation said they have since finalised the deployment list of firefighters and management. 

The team is currently at Kishugu Training Academy in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, for a training camp for final preparation before departure.

The group will depart for Canada via a charter arranged by the CIFFC on Friday, 26 July, from the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport and are expected to be there for 39 days. 

Flying the SA flag high

“We extend our best wishes to the team as they embark on their deployment to Canada to help put out the fires raging in Alberta. 

“They go to Canada to raise the South Africa flag and share their expertise and camaraderie with colleagues from other Canadian provinces and countries.”

The team includes pump-trained firefighters with valid yellow cards, with more than three years of firefighting experience and physically fit. 

Meanwhile, 30% of the selected firefighters in the first deployment are women, including three members of the management team, which the WOF believes highlights its commitment to diversity and inclusion.

In addition, several of the team members have previous international firefighting experience, which further enhances their expertise in tackling complex fire situations.

“We are proud that South Africa is again able to assist Canadian firefighting teams in their battle to bring the wildfires under control. The extensive experience and training of these firefighters will significantly enhance efforts to effectively suppress and manage the wildfires in Alberta.”

Local operations

The WOF has since reassured all their partners and stakeholders that this deployment will not have any impact on South African firefighting operations. 

“Every one of our 200-plus firefighting bases in South Africa will continue to provide firefighting and fire prevention services to our partners and landowners.” 

The organisation said they will still have just over 5 000 firefighters available at these bases throughout South Africa.

“Should there be major wildland fire activities in our winter fire season provinces, we will, as we have done in the past, be able to deploy our Western and Eastern Cape firefighters to these hotspots. No partner and landowner will be left without any firefighting operations from Working on Fire, and we urge you to communicate with us directly should you have any enquiries.” 

WOF is an expanded public works programme (EPWP) aimed at providing work opportunities to young men and women. 

The programme, funded by the Department of Environmental Affairs, recruits participants from marginalised communities and trains them in fire awareness and education, fire prevention and fire suppression skills.

The South African website wishes the firefighters a safe journey.

Assange, 53, returned to his native Australia in June after a deal was struck to end his 14-year legal struggle with the US Department of Justice.

He has shunned the spotlight since his reunion with wife Stella at Canberra Airport in Australia’s capital.

Simply captioned “Family photo!”, Stella released a picture on social media overnight showing a smiling Assange on a beach with young sons Gabriel and Max.

The photo did not specify a location, although local media said it appeared to be somewhere in Australia.

Lawyer Stella, who married Assange while he was locked up in London’s Belmarsh prison, has previously said he would use his freedom to “swim in the ocean every day”.

“He plans to sleep in a real bed. He plans to taste real food. And he plans to enjoy his freedom,” she told reporters in Australia shortly after his arrival.

Julian Assange became a hero to free speech campaigners

She previously posted a photo on July 3 – Assange’s birthday – showing the couple in a forested area with the caption: “Free!”.

Assange spent more than five years in Belmarsh fighting extradition to the United States on charges under the 1917 Espionage Act.

He had already lived for seven years in Ecuador’s London embassy to escape extradition to Sweden over sexual assault charges, which were eventually dropped.

Assange had published hundreds of thousands of confidential US documents on the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website from 2010.

He became a hero to free speech campaigners but a villain to those who thought he had endangered US security and intelligence sources.

The material he released through WikiLeaks included video showing civilians being killed by fire from a US helicopter gunship in Iraq in 2007.

Assange pled guilty in a US Pacific island court to a single count of revealing military secrets.

Under a plea deal, he was sentenced to time already served and allowed to walk free.

The US Justice Department has banned Assange from returning to the United States without permission.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Major US air airlines initially grounded all flights over a communication issue – though American Airlines later said it had reinstated its flights.

Airports across the world said check-in systems were down and services were being handled manually, with delays likely.

Microsoft said in a technical update on its website that the problems began at 21:00 (SA time) on Thursday, affecting users of its Azure cloud platform running cybersecurity software CrowdStrike Falcon.

“We recommend customers that are able to, to restore from a backup from before this time,” the US software giant said.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on social media platform X that customers had been “impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts”.

“The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed,” he said.

Shares in CrowdStrike slumped by 20 percent in pre-market trading.

‘Common cause’

From Amsterdam to Zurich, across all continents, airports were reporting problems with their check-in systems.

“I’m just in limbo as to how long I’ve got to wait here,” flight passenger Alexander Ropicano told AFP, as he waited at Sydney Airport in Australia.

The 24-year-old, flying to Brisbane to see his girlfriend, said the airline told him to “wait until the system is operational again”, but there is no indication how long that could be.

Media companies were also struggling with Britain’s Sky News saying the glitch had ended its morning news broadcasts and Australia’s ABC similarly reporting a major “outage”.

Some banks reported difficulties in processing digital payments, mobile phone carriers were disrupted and customer services in a number of companies were down.

The global nature of the failure prompted some experts to call for greater resilience in networks and question the reliance on a single provider for such a variety of services.

“We need to be aware that such software can be a common cause of failure for multiple systems at the same time,” said software engineering professor John McDermid from Britain’s York University.

“We need to design infrastructure to be resilient against such common cause problems,” he added.

Flights re-established

Airports and airlines were the most dramatically affected, with US airlines grounded early on Friday.

All flights “regardless of destination” were grounded because of a “communication issues”, the FAA said in a notice to airlines.

However, American Airlines later said that as of 11:00 (SA time) “we have been able to safely re-establish our operation”.

“We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience,” the airline said.

Major airports including Berlin, which had earlier said all flights had been suspended, said flights were gradually resuming after the “technical issue”.

All airports in Spain were experiencing “disruptions” from an IT outage, the airport operator Aena said.

Hong Kong’s airport also said some airlines had been affected, with its authority issuing a statement in which it linked the disruption to a Microsoft outage.

The UK’s biggest rail operator warned of possible train cancellations due to IT issues.

Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator said the “large-scale technical outage” was caused by an issue with a “third-party software platform”.

France’s cybersecurity agency ANSSI said it was “fully mobilised” to identify and support those affected.

“There is no evidence to suggest that this outage is the result of a cyberattack,” the agency said.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Estimated to be 150 million years old, Apex is said to be “among the most complete skeletons ever found,” according to the auction house.

It measures 11 feet (3.3 metres) tall and 27 feet long and counts 254 fossil bone elements of an approximate total of 319.

The previous auction record of $31.8 million for a dinosaur skeleton was set in 2020 for a Tyrannosaurus Rex nicknamed “Stan.”

Sotheby’s had expected Apex to fetch between $4 million and $6 million, but the price quickly skyrocketed as telephone bidders deluged the sale, prompting gasps and clapping in the auction room.

After the record-breaking sale, the auctioneer asked her colleague Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s global head of science, “do you need a cigarette?”

Increasing demand for the sale of dinosaur remains

Apex was discovered in May 2022 on the private land of paleontologist Jason Cooper. The auction house says it has collaborated with Cooper to “document the entire process, from discovery and excavation to restoration, preparation and mounting,” in order to guarantee the “highest standards and transparency.”

In 2022, Christie’s auction house had to withdraw a T-rex skeleton a few days before auction in Hong Kong, due to doubts about its authenticity.

Wednesday’s auction follows an increasing trend for the sale of dinosaur remains.

Stegosaurus skeletons are already on display around the world, but according to Sotheby’s, Apex is 30 percent larger than Sophie, the most complete stegosaurus on public display to date, which is housed in the Natural History Museum in London.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

The remains of the obscure, five-metre long, beaked creature were found near a river mouth in southern Otago province on July 4, government researchers said.

It was identified by marine-mammal experts from New Zealand’s Department of Conservation and the national museum, Te Papa, as a male spade-toothed whale.

‘This is huge’

A DNA investigation has been launched to confirm its classification, the scientists said.

“Spade-toothed whales are one of the most poorly known large mammalian species of modern times,” said the conservation department’s coastal Otago operations manager, Gabe Davies.

“Since the 1800s, only six samples have ever been documented worldwide, and all but one of these was from New Zealand,” Davies said in a statement Monday.

“From a scientific and conservation point of view, this is huge.”

The find was fresh enough to offer the first opportunity for a spade-toothed whale to be dissected, the conservation department said.

The species is “so rare next to nothing is known about them”, it said.

‘International importance’

The body of the whale has been placed in cold storage and genetic samples have been sent to the University of Auckland as curators of the New Zealand Cetacean Tissue Archive.

It may take several weeks or months for the DNA to be processed and a final identification confirmed.

“The rarity of the whale means conversations around what to do next will take more time because it is a conversation of international importance,” the conservation department said.

The species was first described in 1874 from just a lower jaw and two teeth collected from the Chatham Islands off the east coast of New Zealand.

That sample, along with skeletal remains of two other specimens found in New Zealand and Chile, enabled scientists to confirm a new species.

But because so few specimens have been found and there have been no live sightings, little is known about the spade-toothed whale and it is classified as “data deficient” under New Zealand’s Threat Classification System.

The first intact specimen was from a mother and calf stranding in Bay of Plenty in 2010, the New Zealand conservation department said.

A further stranding in 2017 in Gisborne added one more specimen to the collection.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Siriati, 36, had gone missing after she left her house on Tuesday morning to buy medicine for her sick child, police said, prompting relatives to launch a search.

Her husband Adiansa, 30, found her slippers and pants on the ground about 500 metres from their house in Siteba village, South Sulawesi province.

‘Very large belly’

“Shortly after that, he spotted a snake, about 10 metres from the path. The snake was still alive,” local police chief Idul, who like many Indonesians has one name, told AFP.

Village secretary Iyang told AFP that Adiansa became suspicious after he noticed the python’s “very large” belly. He called the villagers to help cut open its stomach, where they found her body.

Such incidents are considered extremely rare, but several people have been swallowed by pythons in recent years.

Woman found dead last month

Meanwhile, a woman was found dead last month inside the belly of a reticulated python in another district of South Sulawesi.

Last year residents in the province killed an eight-metre python, which was found strangling and eating one of the farmers in a village.

A 54-year-old woman was found dead in 2018 inside a seven-metre python in Southeast Sulawesi’s Muna town.

And the year before, a farmer in West Sulawesi went missing before being found being swallowed by a four-metre python at a palm oil plantation.

As South Africa commemorates three decades of democracy, we stand at a juncture that calls for both reflection and celebration.

This milestone is not just a marker of time but a testament to the resilience, unity, and indomitable spirit of the South African people.

Thirty years ago, South Africa emerged from the long shadows of apartheid, a dark chapter characterised by systemic oppression, inequality, and racial segregation.

The historic transition to democracy in 1994 signalled a new dawn, embodied by the principles of equality, justice and reconciliation.

The visionary leadership of Nelson Mandela, who became a global symbol of forgiveness and inclusivity, guided our nation towards a future built on democratic ideals.

The journey to democracy was fraught with challenges.

It required immense sacrifices, unyielding courage, and a steadfast commitment to the ideals of freedom and equality.

The struggles of the past are a poignant reminder of the enduring spirit of the South African people and their determination to construct a society founded on dignity, respect, and opportunity for all.

As we celebrate 30 years of democracy, it is vital to acknowledge the progress made and the work that remains.

South Africa has seen significant advancements in social justice, economic development, and political stability.

However, challenges such as poverty, inequality, and unemployment still persist, necessitating continued efforts to build an inclusive and prosperous society.

At this pivotal moment, I, His Excellency Jeremiah Kingsley Mamabolo, South African High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, alongside Bassim Haidar, recently appointed Honorary Consul of South Africa by President Cyril Ramaphosa, extend a heartfelt invitation to our community.

SA expats invited to service of thanksgiving

We invite you to join us in a service of thanksgiving to reflect on our shared achievements and reaffirm our dedication to democracy, equality, and justice.

This service of thanksgiving, to be held on Tuesday, 16 July, graciously hosted with the kind permission of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, is a significant occasion to bring together individuals from diverse backgrounds to celebrate South Africa’s journey.

It is a time to honour the sacrifices made for freedom, acknowledge our progress, and recommit to the ongoing work of nation-building and reconciliation.

As we gather to celebrate 30 years of democracy, let us draw inspiration from the unity and resilience that have defined our nation’s journey.

Let us renew our commitment to creating a society where every South African can live with dignity, opportunity, and hope.

On behalf of Bassim Haidar and myself, I warmly invite all interested community members to attend this special service.

There are only a limited amount of tickets remaining and we encourage you to apply.

Together, let us celebrate the triumph of democracy and the promise of a brighter future for all South Africans.

GET YOUR FREE TICKETS

Should you wish to attend the service, click HERE to register your interest.

Space is limited, guests will be selected on a first come, first served basis.

France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain all tied second for most powerful, with its citizens able to visit 194 visa-free travel destinations out of 227 around the world.

Each year, Henley & Partners releases their Passport Index, which essentially ranks the travel documents from all the different countries in the world and determines their power.

By ‘power’, the index refers to the ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

According to the factsheet:

“the index’s scoring system was developed to give users a practical, and reliable overview of their passport’s power. Each passport is scored on the total number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free. For each travel destination, if no visa is required, then a score of 1 is allocated for that passport. This also applies if passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) upon entry.”

South Africa’s passport comes in at number 52.

According to this position, South African passport holders can travel to 108 countries visa-free.

TOP 5 COUNTRIES ON THE LIST

According to the latest rankings, here are the most powerful passports in the world:

Among those scaling the soaring Himalayan mountain this year was a team not aiming for the 8 849-metre (29 032-foot) peak, but risking their own lives to bring some of the corpses down.

Mount Everest clean-up

Five as yet unnamed frozen bodies were retrieved – including one that was just skeletal remains – as part of Nepal’s mountain clean-up campaign on Everest and adjoining peaks Lhotse and Nuptse.

It is a grim, tough and dangerous task.

Rescuers took hours to chip away the ice with axes, with the team sometimes using boiling water to release its frozen grip.

“Because of the effects of global warming, (the bodies and trash) are becoming more visible as the snow cover thins,” said Aditya Karki, a major in Nepal’s army, who led the team of 12 military personnel and 18 climbers.

More than 300 people have perished on the mountain since expeditions started in the 1920s, eight this season alone.

Many bodies remain. Some are hidden by snow or swallowed down deep crevasses.

Others, still in their colourful climbing gear, have become landmarks en route to the summit.

Nicknames include “Green Boots” and “Sleeping Beauty”.

‘Death zone’

“There is a psychological effect,” Karki told AFP.

“People believe that they are entering a divine space when they climb mountains, but if they see dead bodies on the way up, it can have a negative effect.”

Many are inside the “death zone”, where thin air and low oxygen levels raise the risk of altitude sickness.

Climbers must have insurance, but any rescue or recovery mission is fraught with danger.

One body, encased in ice up to its torso, took the climbers 11 hours to free.

The team had to use hot water to loosen it, prising it out with their axes.

“It is extremely difficult,” said Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa, who led the body retrieval expedition.

“Getting the body out is one part, bringing it down is another challenge”.

Sherpa said some of the bodies still appeared almost as they had at the moment of death – dressed in full gear, along with their crampons and harnesses.

One seemed untouched, only missing a glove.

The retrieval of corpses at high altitudes is a controversial topic for the climbing community.

It costs thousands of dollars, and up to eight rescuers are needed for each body.

A body can weigh over 100kg, and at high altitudes, a person’s ability to carry heavy loads is severely affected.

‘Turn into a graveyard’

But Karki said the rescue effort was necessary.

“We have to bring them back as much as possible,” he said.

“If we keep leaving them behind, our mountains will turn into a graveyard.”

Bodies are often wrapped in a bag then put on a plastic sled to drag down.

Sherpa said that bringing one body down from close to Lhotse’s 8,516 metre peak – the world’s fourth-highest mountain – had been among the hardest challenges so far.

“The body was frozen with hands and legs spread,” he said.

“We had to carry it down to Camp Three as it was, and only then could it be moved to be put in a sled to be dragged.”

Rakesh Gurung, from Nepal’s tourism department, said two bodies had been preliminarily identified and authorities were awaiting “detailed tests” for the final confirmation.

The retrieved bodies are now in the capital Kathmandu, with those not identified likely to be eventually cremated.

Missing mountaineers

Despite the recovery efforts, the mountain still holds its secrets.

The body of George Mallory, the British climber who went missing during a 1924 Everest attempt on the summit, was only found in 1999.

His climbing partner, Andrew Irvine, has never been found – nor has their camera, which could provide evidence of a successful summit that would rewrite mountaineering history.

The clean-up campaign, with a budget of over $600 000, also employed 171 Nepali guides and porters to bring back 11 tonnes of rubbish.

Fluorescent tents, discarded climbing equipment, empty gas canisters and even human excreta litter the well-trodden route to the summit.

“The mountains have given us mountaineers so many opportunities,” Sherpa said.

“I feel that we have to give back to them, we have to remove the trash and bodies to clean the mountains.”

Today, expeditions are under pressure to remove the waste that they create, but historic rubbish remains.

“This year’s trash might be brought back by the mountaineers,” said Karki.

“But who will bring the old ones?”

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Lauren Dickason will begin her sentence at a mental health hospital in the custody of the state, a court official at Christchurch High Court told AFP, for the triple killings.

In a statement to local media after her sentencing, Dickason said she had “failed” her children and her husband, who has since moved back to South Africa.

“I take responsibility for taking our three beautiful girls from this world,” she said.

“I would like to take this opportunity to convey the deepest and most sincere remorse for the extreme pain and hurt cause to my children and my family by my actions.”

Justice Cameron Mander did not impose a minimum non-parole period in sentencing Dickason, who escaped life imprisonment which is the usual penalty for murder in New Zealand.

Family had moved to New Zealand from South Africa

Dickason was found guilty last August on three counts of murder having smothered her two-year-old twins Maya and Karla and first daughter Liane, six.

The killings took place in September 2021 at their home in Timaru while her husband was out to dinner with colleagues. He found the bodies of his children when he returned home.

The family had moved to New Zealand from South Africa just weeks before.

‘Argued a defence of insanity and infanticide’

During last year’s trial, Dickason admitted killing the girls, but had argued a defence of insanity and infanticide, triggered by the stress of the move.

Under New Zealand law, infanticide is a defence for a mother who causes the death of her child when, “at the time of the offence, the balance of her mind was disturbed”.

Dickason’s lawyer had argued that a mental health unit was the most appropriate place for her, according to local media reports.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Stella Assange said the end of his years-long legal drama that saw him board a plane from London to Bangkok on Monday had been a “whirlwind of emotions”.

“I’m just elated. Frankly, it’s just incredible,” she told BBC radio.

“We weren’t really sure until the last 24 hours that it was actually happening.”

Who is Stella Assange?

Sara Gonzalez Devant was born in 1983 in Johannesburg in South Africa to a Spanish mother and a Swedish father of Cuban heritage.

She changed her name first to Stella Moris in 2012 and later to Stella Moris-Smith Robertson.

On 23 March 2022 the couple were married in a ceremony that took place in Belmarsh Prison.

Julian Assange was freed from London prison

Assange was on Monday freed on bail from a high-security prison in southeast London.

He had been held there for five years as he fought extradition to the United States which sought to prosecute him for revealing military secrets.

He has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defence information, according to a document filed in court in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific where the hearing is expected to take place.

Assange said the plea deal involved her husband pleading guilty to the single charge.

“The charge concerns the Espionage Act and obtaining and disclosing national defence information,” she said.

“The important thing here is that the deal involved time served that if he signed it, he would be able to walk free,” she added.

Julian Assange paid for flight

A charter plane flew the 52-year-old Australian publisher from London to Bangkok, where it made a scheduled stop to refuel.

From there it is set to fly to Saipan, the capital of the US territory where Assange is due in court on Wednesday morning.

“What there is, is an agreement in principle between Julian and the Department of Justice, and that has to be signed off by a judge in these Northern Mariana territories… in the Pacific Ocean where he is going to be headed,” she said.

“He will be a free man once it has been signed off… and that will happen some time tomorrow.”

Stella Assange told Britain’s domestic Press Association news agency that her husband was paying $500 000 for the flight taking him from London to Australia.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

“Julian Assange is free,” WikiLeaks wrote on X of its founder, who had been detained in Britain for five years as he fought extradition to the United States which sought to prosecute him for revealing military secrets.

He has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defence information, according to a document filed in court in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific.

A charter plane flew Assange, 52, from London to Bangkok, where it had been scheduled to stop for refuelling.

AFP journalists saw it touch down at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport at around 07:30 (SA time).

From there it is scheduled to fly to Saipan, capital of the US territory where Assange will appear in court on Wednesday morning.

Retiring to South Africa?

Julian Assange is expected to be sentenced to five years and two months in prison, with credit for the same amount of time spent behind bars in Britain.

This means he could return to his native Australia, where the government said his case had “dragged on for too long” and there was “nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration.”

Or is South Africa an option for a peaceful retirement for Assange, considering his wife, Stella, is South African?

The publisher was wanted by Washington for publishing hundreds of thousands of secret US documents from 2010 as head of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

Since then Assange became a hero to free speech campaigners and a villain to those who thought he endangered US security and intelligence sources.

US authorities wanted to put Assange on trial for divulging military secrets about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange was indicted by a US federal grand jury in 2019 on 18 counts stemming from WikiLeaks’ publication of a trove of national security documents.

Former vice president Mike Pence slammed the plea deal on X as a “miscarriage of justice” that “dishonors the service and sacrifice of the men and women of our Armed Forces.”

Extradition battle

WikiLeaks released a short video of Julian Assange speaking with people in what appeared to be an office and then boarding a plane.

Assange’s family expressed deep gratitude for his freedom, including his mother Christine Assange who said in a statement carried by Australian media that she was “grateful that my son’s ordeal is finally coming to an end.”

His wife Stella meanwhile thanked campaigners, writing on X that “words cannot express our immense gratitude.”

Assange met his wife while he was holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy, then married her in a ceremony in prison. They now have two young children.

Announcement of the deal came two weeks before Assange was scheduled to appear in court in Britain to appeal a ruling approving his extradition to the United States.

Julian Assange had been detained in the high-security Belmarsh prison in London since April 2019.

He was arrested after spending seven years in Ecuador’s London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault that were eventually dropped.

The material he released included video showing civilians being killed by fire from a US helicopter gunship in Iraq in 2007. The victims included two Reuters journalists.

The United States has accused Assange under the 1917 Espionage Act. Supporters have warned this means he could be sentenced to 175 years in prison.

The British government approved his extradition in June 2022.

Plea deal was not entirely unexpected

In the latest twist to the saga, two British judges said in May that he could appeal against his extradition to the United States.

The appeal was to address the question of whether, as a foreigner on trial in America, he would enjoy the protections of freedom of speech accorded under the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

The plea deal was not entirely unexpected. President Joe Biden had been under growing pressure to drop the long-running case against Assange.

In February the Australian government made an official request to this effect and Biden said he would consider it, raising hopes among Assange supporters that his ordeal might end.

Emma Shortis, senior researcher at The Australia Institute think tank, told AFP that both Canberra and Washington had a “recognition that this had to end.”

“There was just no way this wasn’t becoming an issue for the (US-Australia) alliance,” Shortis said.

On the streets of Sydney, Nish Veer, a 41-year-old IT business manager, told AFP that Assange had “did something that angered a lot of people, obviously… but after time you just go should anyone be held in that sort of way?”

64-year-old retiree John Blanco said he was “very happy” Julian Assange was returning to Australia after so many years.

“I think he’s gone through hell, to be honest with you.”

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

“Julian Assange is free,” WikiLeaks wrote on X of its founder, who had been detained in Britain for five years as he fought extradition to the United States which sought to prosecute him for revealing military secrets.

He has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defence information, according to a document filed in court in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific.

Australian government responded that Julian Assange’s case

Assange is scheduled to appear in the US territory on Wednesday morning local time.

He is expected to be sentenced to 62 months in prison, with credit for the five years and two months he has served in prison in Britain. This means he could return to his native Australia.

The Australian government responded that Assange’s case had “dragged on for too long” and there was “nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration.”

The publisher, now aged 52, was wanted by Washington for publishing hundreds of thousands of secret US documents from 2010 as head of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

During his ordeal Julian Assange became a hero to free speech campaigners around the world and a villain to those who thought he endangered US national security and intelligence sources by revealing secrets.

US authorities wanted to put Assange on trial for divulging military secrets about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The plea bargain agreement will presumably end Assange’s nearly 14-year legal drama.

Assange was indicted by a US federal grand jury in 2019 on 18 counts stemming from WikiLeaks’ publication of a trove of national security documents.

Extradition battle

WikiLeaks released a short video of Assange speaking with people in what appeared to be an office and then boarding a plane.

According to Thai officials, the plane carrying Assange was expected to refuel and resupply in Bangkok before carrying on to Saipan, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Assange’s family expressed deep gratitude for his freedom, including his mother Christine Assange who said in a statement carried by Australian media that she was “grateful that my son’s ordeal is finally coming to an end.”

His wife Stella meanwhile thanked campaigners, writing on social media platform X that “words cannot express our immense gratitude.”

Assange met his wife while he was holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy, then married her in a ceremony in prison. They now have two young children.

Announcement of the deal came two weeks before Assange was scheduled to appear in court in Britain to appeal a ruling approving his extradition to the United States.

Assange had been detained in the high-security Belmarsh prison in London since April 2019.

He was arrested after spending seven years in Ecuador’s London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault that were eventually dropped.

The material he released included video showing civilians being killed by fire from a US helicopter gunship in Iraq in 2007. The victims included two Reuters journalists.

The United States has accused Assange under the 1917 Espionage Act. Supporters have warned this means he could be sentenced to 175 years in prison.

The British government approved his extradition in June 2022.

In the latest twist to the saga, two British judges said in May that he could appeal against his extradition to the United States.

The appeal was to address the question of whether, as a foreigner on trial in America, he would enjoy the protections of freedom of speech accorded under the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

The plea deal was not entirely unexpected. President Joe Biden had been under growing pressure to drop the long-running case against Assange.

In February the government of Australia made an official request to this effect and Biden said he would consider it, raising hopes among Assange supporters that his ordeal might end.

Emma Shortis, senior researcher at The Australia Institute think tank, told AFP that both Canberra and Washington had a “recognition that this had to end.”

“There was just no way this wasn’t becoming an issue for the (US-Australia) alliance,” Shortis said.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

The work by Thomas Taylor, who was just 23 years old in 1997 when he painted the iconic image of the young boy with the lightning bolt scar and the round glasses, is expected to fetch from $400 000 to $600 000 at Sotheby’s.

Global phenomenon

Taylor was working at a children’s bookstore in Cambridge, England, when he was tapped by publisher Barry Cunningham at Bloomsbury to paint the image for J.K. Rowling’s book, which was to be released in London on June 26, 1997.

He was one of the first people to read the book, getting an early copy of the manuscript to inform his artwork, according to Sotheby’s books specialist Kalika Sands.

“So he knew about the world before anybody else and it was really up to him to think of how he visualised Harry Potter,” Sands told AFP.

Rowling and Taylor were unknown when the book was released, and few expected it would become a global phenomenon.

Only 500 copies of the first edition were printed, and 300 of them were sent to libraries, according to Sotheby’s.

But the book soon became a runaway bestseller.

Twenty-seven years later, the so-called “Potterverse” features Rowling’s seven original books, a blockbuster film franchise, a critically acclaimed stage play and video games.

More than 500 million copies of the books have been sold in 80 languages.

Magical beginnings

“It’s exciting to see the painting that marks the very start of my career, decades later and as bright as ever,” Taylor, now a children’s book author and illustrator, said in a statement released by Sotheby’s.

“As I write and illustrate my own stories today, I am proud to look back on such magical beginnings,” Taylor said.

The first time the illustration was offered at auction at Sotheby’s in London in 2001, it only fetched £85 750 – but only four of the books had been published at that time.

The illustration is part of a collection of manuscripts and rare book editions going up for sale that also features works by some of literature’s great heavyweights, including Edgar Allan Poe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.

The collection belonged to surgeon Rodney Swantko, who died in 2002 at the age of 82.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL – NVIDIA BECOMES BIGGEST COMPANY IN WORLD

DAILY MAIL – IS NOTHING SACRED TO THE ECO CLOWNS?

THE JERUSALEM POST – NO RETURN TO NORTH BEFORE SEPT. 1

THE WASHINGTON POST – TEHRAN ON TRACK TO TRIPLE OUTPUT OF ENRICHED URANIUM

THE GUARDIAN – REEVES PLEDGES TO CLOSE GENDER PAY GAP ‘ONCE AND FOR ALL’ IF LABOUR WINS

CHINA DAILY – XI: ENHANCE POLITICAL LOYALTY IN MILITARY

THE JAPAN TIMES – PM CHALLENGED TO DISSOLVE LOWER HOUSE

THE TIMES OF INDIA – CANADA PARL PAYS TRIBUTE TO SLAIN SIKH SEPARATIST

Want to catch up on the latest international and South African news?

Then, stay glued to The South African website and read all news worldwide, including newspaper front pages.

The Just Stop Oil protest group said a pair of its activists had “decorated Stonehenge in orange powder paint” to demand that the UK’s next government legally commit to phasing out fossil fuels by 2030.

Footage posted on social media showed the activists, wearing “Just Stop Oil” branded T-shirts, spraying at least two of the megalithic monuments with the orange substance from a small canister.

The group said on social media they had used “orange cornflour” and claimed it “will soon wash away with the rain”.

Wiltshire Police said in a statement it had “arrested two people following an incident at Stonehenge this afternoon”.

“Officers attended the scene and arrested two people on suspicion of damaging the ancient monument.

“Our inquiries are ongoing and we are working closely with English Heritage,” the police added, referring to the public body that cares for hundreds of the country’s historic places, including Stonehenge.

The incident comes in the middle of the UK’s general election campaign, ahead of voters going to the polls on July 4.

‘Disgraceful’

It drew immediate condemnation from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who called it “a disgraceful act of vandalism to one of the UK’s and the world’s oldest and most important monuments”.

“Just Stop Oil should be ashamed of their activists,” he added.

Just Stop Oil said it had chosen to stage the action on the day before the Summer Solstice festival, when crowds gather at the site to celebrate the northern hemisphere’s summer solstice.

A spokesperson for the group said that although the Labour party, which is widely expected to win next month’s election, has vowed not to issue any new oil and gas drilling licences, “we all know this is not enough”.

“We have to come together to defend humanity or we risk everything. That’s why Just Stop Oil is demanding that our next government sign up to a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030,” the spokesperson added.

“Failure to commit to defending our communities will mean Just Stop Oil supporters… will join in resistance this summer, if their own governments do not take meaningful action.

“Stone circles can be found in every part of Europe, showing how we’ve always cooperated across vast distances – we’re building on that legacy.”

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

The arrivals come as political parties in Britain campaign for a general election on July 4 at which immigration is one of the major issues.

Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had pledged to “stop the boats” but faced obstacles to his plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The 882 people who made the crossing bring the total for 2024 to 12 313, according to Home Office provisional figures.

Migrant crossings 18% higher than in 2023

The figure for crossings so far this year is 18 percent higher than for the equivalent point last year, when the figure stood at 10 472.

Around 15 boats were detected by authorities on Tuesday.

Sunak’s controversial law allowing irregular migrants to be deported to Rwanda was finally passed in April after months of parliamentary wrangling.

But after calling a general election last month the premier was forced to concede that deportations would only take place “after the election” if he was re-elected.

The Conservatives are trailing badly in the polls to Keir Starmer’s Labour Party which has promised to scrap the Rwanda scheme, branding it a gimmick that won’t work.

There were 29 437 arrivals across the whole of 2023, a drop of 36 percent on a record 45 774 arrivals in 2022.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

The incident occurred on Friday evening after police were called to a sighting of a cow in a residential area of the small town of Staines-upon-Thames in southern England.

Surrey Police on Sunday said that the officer driving the car had been “removed from frontline duties pending the outcome of these investigations”.

Police car hit the cow twice

Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp of Surrey Police said: “I fully appreciate the distress our handling of this incident has caused and will ensure that it is thoroughly and diligently investigated.”

Images published on social media and in the British press showed a police car hitting the animal twice. The cow ended up with its head and upper body trapped under the police car.

WARNING: The following clip contains upsetting footage

“I can think of no reasonable need for this action. I’ve asked for a full, urgent explanation for this. It appears to be unnecessarily heavy handed,” Home Secretary James Cleverly wrote on X, formally Twitter.

On Saturday, police said that after several unsuccessful attempts to recover the cow and taking public safety into account, a decision was made to intercept the cow using the police vehicle.

The 10-month-old cow, christened “Beau Lucy”, was examined by a vet and reunited with its owner who said the animal was “doing better”.

The RSPCA has released a statement on the “upsetting and distressing footage” and said it “urgently contacted” police as soon as it was made aware of the incident.

“All animals should be treated with respect,” the charity added.

“Together we can create a better world for all animals.”

TV presenter and conservationist Chris Packham posted on X: “I don’t know where to start with this.

“But it’s surely illegal and must be investigated and prosecuted. What sort of monster rams a calf? Twice?”

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

The 36-year-old Asian elephant named Jamjuree gave birth to an 80kg male at the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal north of Bangkok on Friday night.

Mother attacked her new arrival

But when a second, 60kg female calf emerged 18 minutes later, the mother went into a frenzy and attacked her new arrival.

“We heard somebody shout ‘there is another baby being born!'” said veterinarian Lardthongtare Meepan.

An elephant keeper, also known as a mahout, moved in to prevent the mother from attacking her newborn, and took a blow to his ankle in return.

“The mother attacked the baby because she had never had twins before – it’s very rare,” said Michelle Reedy, the director of the Elephant Stay organisation, which allows visiting tourists to ride, feed and bathe elephants at the Royal Kraal centre.

“The mahouts who are the carers of the elephants jumped in there trying to get the baby away so that she didn’t kill it,” Reedy told AFP.

Jamjuree has now accepted her calves, who are so small that a special platform has been built to help them reach up to suckle.

They are also being given supplemental pumped milk by syringe, said Lardthongtare.

Twin elephants are rare, forming around only one percent of births, according to research organisation Save the Elephants, and male-female twin births are even more unusual.

Mothers often do not have enough milk for both calves and the pair might not have survived in the wild, said Reedy.

“Whether the rest of the herd may have intervened – they may have, but the baby may have been trampled in the process,” she said.

Reedy said many of the 80 elephants at the centre were rescued from street begging, a practice that became increasingly common after a logging ban in 1989 that left mahouts working in the industry with their elephants seeking alternative income.

The practice, which was outlawed in 2010, involved the animals performing tricks like playing with footballs or carrying baskets of fruit.

Between 8 000-11 000 Asian elephants remain in the wild

Some elephants at Royal Kraal carry tourists to the nearby ruins and temples of Ayutthaya, the historic former capital of Siam.

Many conservation groups oppose elephant riding, arguing it is stressful for the animals and often involves abusive training.

The centre argues the rides allow the animals to socialise and exercise, and promote conservation of the species, which is endangered in Southeast Asia and China.

Only about 8 000-11 000 Asian elephants remain in the wild, according to the WWF.

The animals were once widespread, but deforestation, human encroachment and poaching have decimated their numbers.

The twin calves, whose father is a 29-year-old elephant named Siam, will be named seven days after their birth, in accordance with Thai custom.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

New legislation will be introduced to parliament this month to remove the agriculture sector from a new emissions pricing plan, it said.

New Zealand has 25 million sheep

“The government is committed to meeting our climate change obligations without shutting down Kiwi farms,” said Agriculture Minister Todd McClay.

“It doesn’t make sense to send jobs and production overseas, while less carbon-efficient countries produce the food the world needs.”

The New Zealand economy is driven by agriculture with around 10 million cattle and 25 million sheep roaming the nation’s pastures.

Just under half of New Zealand’s emissions come from agriculture, with cattle the main culprits.

Cattle burps and flatulence emit methane gas while livestock urine leaks nitrous oxide into the atmosphere.

The previous centre-left Labour government had targeted livestock in its drive towards reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

But the plan to tax livestock emissions, announced by then prime minister Jacinda Ardern in 2022, sparked nationwide protests by farmers fearing it would hurt profits.

The new centre-right government, which came to power late last year, said it would remove agriculture, animal processors and fertiliser companies from the emissions pricing scheme, due to start in 2025.

Farmers welcomed decision

It wants to help farmers lower emissions through technology without reducing production or exports, the agriculture minister said.

A new “pastoral group” would be set up to tackle biogenic methane emissions in the sector, he added.

Farmers welcomed the decision.

But environmental groups rounded on the government, which also announced plans at the weekend to reverse a five-year ban on new oil and gas exploration.

“From pouring oil, coal and gas on the climate crisis fire, the government has now put half of our emissions which come from agriculture into the industry-led too-hard basket,” said Greens co-leader Chloe Swarbrick.

Greenpeace accused the government of “waging an all-out war on nature”.

“In the last few days, the coalition government has clearly signalled that the most polluting industries, industrial dairy, and new oil and gas exploration, are free to treat our atmosphere like an open sewer,” said Greenpeace spokesperson Niamh O’Flynn.

At the weekend, thousands of people also protested in New Zealand’s biggest cities against the new government plans to let major infrastructure projects bypass some environmental regulations.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

The smash-and-grab took place at around 05:15 on Avenue Montaigne, according to the police source, who added that the extent of the damage had yet to be determined.

“The individuals used a first vehicle to enter the establishment, smashing the window, before fleeing in a second vehicle, taking some of the shop’s merchandise with them,” the source added.

The criminals set fire to the ram car before fleeing, but firefighters brought the blaze under control, the police source said.

Four thieves involved in Chanel robbery

According to a source close to the case, four people are suspected of having taken part in the attack.

The value of damage and losses was being assessed, the public prosecutor said.

In May, robbers armed with a long weapon snatched jewels from the Harry Winston shop near the Champs-Elysees before making their escape on motorbikes.

The suspects are still at large, and the loss is estimated at between €6 million and €10 million, according to a source close to the investigation.

In the northern French city of Lille, thieves repeatedly ram-raided luxury stores to steal handbags and other valuables last year.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

The jury found him guilty on each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a payment meant to silence porn star Stormy Daniels.

Donald Trump likely to receive probation

He could in theory be sentenced to four years behind bars for each count but is more likely to receive probation.

The 77-year-old Republican, who was released without bail, is now a felon – a historic and startling first in a country where presidents are frequently described as the most powerful man in the world.

Trump, however, is not barred from continuing his battle to unseat President Joe Biden in November – even in the unlikely event he goes to prison.

His lawyer, Todd Blanche, said his team was eying an appeal “as soon as we can.”

And Donald Trump himself voiced immediate defiance.

“I’m a very innocent man,” Trump told reporters, vowing that the “real verdict” would come from voters on election day. He branded the trial “rigged” and a “disgrace.”

Biden’s campaign issued a statement saying the trial showed “no one is above the law.”

It added that “the threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater.”

Judge Juan Merchan set sentencing for July 11 – four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Donald Trump is due to receive the party’s formal nomination.

The 12-member jury had deliberated for more than 11 hours over two days before the foreman read out the unanimous conclusion within a matter of minutes.

Merchan thanked the jurors for completing the “difficult and stressful task.”

Their identities had been kept secret throughout proceedings, a rare practice more often seen in cases involving mafia or other violent defendants.

Trump also faces federal and state charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Biden, and for hoarding secret documents after leaving the White House.

However, those trials – on far weightier alleged crimes – are unlikely to get underway before the presidential election.

Election conspiracy

Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130 000 payment to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election, when her claim to have had sex with him could have proved fatal to his campaign against Hillary Clinton.

The trial featured lengthy testimony from the adult performer, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford and who described to the court in graphic detail what she says was a 2006 sexual encounter with the married Trump.

Prosecutors successfully laid out a case alleging the hush money and the illegal covering up of the payment was part of a broader crime to prevent voters from knowing about Trump’s behavior.

Cohen, who was the key witness as a tainted former aide who had turned on his old boss, called the verdict “an important day for accountability and the rule of law.”

Donald Trump has denied any sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels, but did not testify in his own defence. His lawyers argued that any payments made to the performer were entirely legal.

Campaigning from courthouse

The trial has distracted Trump in his campaign to unseat Biden.

However, he milked the media attention throughout.

Shortly after the verdict was issued, Trump’s campaign put out a fundraising appeal, titled “I am a political prisoner!” He also announced he would make a public statement to journalists early Friday.

Keith Gaddie, a political analyst and professor at Texas Christian University, said the political impact of the shocking events has yet to be determined.

“It probably doesn’t move a lot of votes, but in particular states with particular swing votes, it could matter around the margins. So in particularly tight races, it can tip things back from one direction to the other,” he said.

Trump, who made his name as a brash real estate mogul before a stunning ascent to the nation’s highest office in the 2016 election, most likely faces probation, because he is a first-time convict.

An appeal is all but certain, but could take months to complete.

Should he win the presidency he will not be able to pardon himself, given that the case was brought not by the federal government but by the state of New York, where only the governor could clear his name.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

The attack, which Palestinian officials said killed 45 people, triggered global outrage and an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

“The South African Government joins the international community in condemning the deplorable and brutal attacks on innocent civilians after Israeli forces bombed a tent camp housing displaced Palestinians,” the foreign ministry said.

Israel has dismissed ruling

It noted that the strike came two days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to end its military offensive in Rafah.

The ICJ’s ruling was issued last week as part of a case brought by South Africa alleging that the Israeli military operation in Gaza amounts to “genocide”.

Israel has dismissed the ruling, insisting that the court had got it wrong.

“What we are witnessing today bears testimony to South Africa’s assertions,” the foreign ministry said.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the strike a “tragic accident” but also vowed to push on with the military campaign to destroy Hamas over the October 7 attack and bring home all the hostages.

The Gaza war broke out after the October attack on Israel by Hamas that resulted in the deaths of more than 1 170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.

At least 36 096 people killed in Gaza

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36 096 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

The Sunday night strike that killed dozens in the displaced persons camp was targeting two senior Hamas members, the Israeli military said.

But Pretoria said it showed that the issuance of international arrest warrants to bring to justice those responsible for “heinous crimes” committed during the war was “becoming more urgent”.

“It is the collective duty of the international community to ensure that atrocities of this nature are duly prosecuted,” the foreign ministry said.

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Karim Khan said earlier this month he had applied for arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders over the conflict.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Eighteen-year-olds would either choose to join the military full-time for 12 months or spend one weekend every month volunteering in their community over a year, under the plans announced late on Saturday.

Mandatory national service

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the scheme would “create a shared sense of purpose among our young people and a renewed sense of pride in our country”.

“This new, mandatory national service will provide life-changing opportunities for our young people, offering them the chance to learn real world skills, do new things and contribute to their community and our country,” he said in a statement.

Despite Sunak saying it would be mandatory, his interior minister James Cleverly told Sky News on Sunday that there would be no criminal sanctions for any young person who refuses to take part.

The Conservatives, in power since 2010, estimate the scheme will cost around £2.5 billion a year, with the first teenagers taking part in September 2025.

Young people who choose to sign up for a placement in the forces would “learn and take part in logistics, cyber security, procurement or civil response operations”, the Tories said.

‘Headline-grabbing attempt’

Volunteering could include helping local fire, police and NHS services as well as charities tackling loneliness and supporting elderly, isolated people, the party added.

Political commentators viewed the announcement as a headline-grabbing attempt to draw clear dividing lines between the Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party, which enjoys double-digit leads in opinion polls.

Labour, led by Keir Starmer, branded the announcement an unserious, “desperate” unfunded pledge from a party “bankrupt of ideas”.

Britain had national service between 1947 and 1960, with men between the ages of 17 and 21 serving in the armed forces for 18 months.

Several European countries, including Norway and Sweden, have some form of temporary conscription.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

He was 53.

Spurlock died of cancer in New York, his family confirmed in a statement.

Craig Spurlock, the filmmaker’s brother, said: “Morgan gave so much through his art, ideas, and generosity.

“The world has lost a true creative genius and a special man. I am so proud to have worked together with him.”

Spurlock rose to fame with his 2004 documentary Super Size Me, where he exclusively ate at McDonald’s for 30 days to investigate the rise of obesity in the US.

This is a breaking news story …

“She quietly passed away as if asleep while I caressed her,” Atsuko Sato wrote on her blog, thanking the fans of her shiba inu called Kabosu – the face of the “Doge” meme.

“I think Kabo-chan was the happiest dog in the world. And I was the happiest owner,” Sato wrote.

Estimated her age at 18

As a rescue dog, Kabosu’s real birthday was unknown but Sato estimated her age at 18, past the average lifespan for a shiba inu, with her birthday celebrated in November.

In 2010, two years after adopting Kabosu from a puppy mill where she would otherwise have been put down, Sato took a picture of her pet crossing her paws on the sofa.

She posted that image – with the fluffy shiba inu giving the camera a beguiling look – on her blog, from where it spread to online forum Reddit and became a meme that bounced from college bedrooms to office e-mail chains.

The memes typically used goofy broken English to reveal the inner thoughts of Kabosu and other shiba inu “doge” – pronounced like pizza “dough” but with a “j” at the end.

The picture also later became an NFT digital artwork that sold for $4 million and inspired Dogecoin, which was started as a joke by two software engineers and is now the eighth-most valuable cryptocurrency with a market capitalisation of $23 billion.

‘Unbelievable’ events

Dogecoin has been backed by hip-hop star Snoop Dogg, “Shark Tank” entrepreneur Mark Cuban and Kiss bassist Gene Simmons.

But its most keen supporter is probably the billionaire Musk, who jokes about the currency on X – sending its value soaring – and hails it as “the people’s crypto”.

Dogecoin has also inspired a plethora of other cheap and highly volatile “memecoins”, including spin-off Shiba Inu and others based on dogs, cats or Donald Trump.

Kabosu fell ill with leukaemia and liver disease in late 2022, and Sato said in a recent interview with AFP in her home of Sakura, east of Tokyo, that the “invisible power” of prayers from fans worldwide helped her pull through.

The 62-year-old Sato said she had become so used to “unbelievable” events that, when Tesla boss Musk changed the icon for Twitter, now X, to Kabosu’s face last year, she “wasn’t even that surprised”.

Donated large sums

“In the last few years I’ve been able to connect the online version of Kabosu, all these unexpected things seen from a distance, with our real lives,” she told AFP.

A $100 000 statue of Kabosu and her sofa crowdfunded by Own The Doge, a crypto organisation dedicated to the meme, was unveiled in a park in Sakura in November last year.

Sato and Own The Doge have also donated large sums to international charities, including more than $1 million to Save the Children. The NGO says it is “the single largest crypto contribution” it has ever received.

“The Doge is the most popular dog of the modern era,” said Tridog, a pseudonymous member of Own The Doge, describing Kabosu as “the Mona Lisa of the internet”.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

South Africa has petitioned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for emergency measures to order Israel to “cease its military operations in the Gaza Strip” including in Rafah city, where it is pressing an offensive.

The rulings of the ICJ, which judges on disputes between states, are binding, but it has no power to enforce them – it has ordered Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine to no avail, for example.

‘Genocide’ in Gaza

But a ruling against Israel would increase the international legal pressure after the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor said on Monday he was seeking arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders.

In hearings last week, South Africa charged that what it described as Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza had hit a “new and horrific stage” with its assault on Rafah, the last part of Gaza to face a ground invasion.

The Rafah campaign is “the last step in the destruction of Gaza and its Palestinian people”, argued Vaughan Lowe, a lawyer for South Africa.

“It was Rafah that brought South Africa to the court. But it is all Palestinians as a national, ethnical and racial group who need the protection from genocide that the court can order,” he added.

Ground assault

Lawyers for Israel hit out at South Africa’s case as being “totally divorced” from reality and that made a “mockery” of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention it is accused of breaching.

“Calling something a genocide again and again does not make it genocide. Repeating a lie does not make it true,” top lawyer for Israel Gilad Noam said.

“There is a tragic war going on but there is no genocide,” he added.

Israeli troops began their ground assault on parts of Rafah early this month, defying international opposition including from top ally the United States, which voiced fears for the more than one million civilians trapped in the city.

Israel has ordered mass evacuations from the city, where it has vowed to eliminate Hamas’s tunnel network and its remaining fighters.

The UN says more than 800 000 people have fled.

‘Genocide Convention’

It is the fourth time South Africa has appealed to the court, with Israel accusing the country of abusing the procedure.

In a ruling that made headlines worldwide, the ICJ in January ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent genocidal acts and enable humanitarian aid to Gaza.

But the court stopped short of ordering a ceasefire and South Africa’s argument is that the situation on the ground – notably the operation in the crowded city of Rafah – requires fresh ICJ action.

South Africa says that Israel is acting in contravention of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, claims strongly denied by Israel.

The court rejected a second South African application for emergency measures over Israel’s threat to attack Rafah. South Africa made a new request in early March.

The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the death of more than 1 170 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Out of 252 people taken hostage that day, 128 are still being held inside the Gaza Strip, including at least 37 who the army says are dead.

More than 35 709 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out, according to data provided by the health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza.

Fighting has raged around the far southern city of Rafah but a resumption of fighting has also been reported in the northern Jabalia area, where Hamas forces have regrouped.

The South African website will update readers on the outcome of the ruling.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Climbers usually take days to reach the top of the 8 849-metre (29 000-foot) mountain, spending nights on its different camps to rest and acclimatise.

Reclaimed her world record

But Lama, who is in her thirties, shaved more than 11 hours off the previous best that had stood since 2021. It means she has reclaimed her own world record.

“She started (from the base camp) at 15:52 on May 22, summited 6:23 am May 23,” Khim Lal Gautam, chief of the tourism’s department field office at the base camp, told AFP.

Earlier this month, when Lama was still at base camp, she said in a post on Facebook that she was “100 percent sure” she would reach the top of “the Mother Goddess”.

In 2018, Lama clinched the record for the fastest ascent by a woman by climbing Everest in 39 hours and six minutes.

That record was broken in 2021 by Ada Tsang Yin-hung from Hong Kong, who conquered the mountain in 25 hours and 50 minutes.

Nepali climber Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa holds the record for the fastest ascent of Everest, reaching the summit in 10 hours and 56 minutes in 2003.

‘Inspiration’

Lama is also a guide and helicopter long-line rescuer – a job that entails flying in while dangling from a rope to help extract injured climbers when the terrain is too dangerous for aircraft to come in close or land.

She has climbed some of the highest peaks in the world, including Manaslu and Cho Oyu, both also in the Himalayas.

“She is very courageous and determined… and trained hard for her summit,” fellow woman mountaineer Maya Sherpa said.

“Her record is an inspiration for other Nepali female climbers.”

Lama’s successful ascent came as a Kenyan climber was confirmed dead on Everest and the search continues for three other missing climbers, one British and two Nepali.

Reopened the Tibetan route to foreigners

Earlier this month, two Mongolian climbers went missing after reaching Everest’s summit and were later found dead, as was the tragic case of a Kenyan climber this week.

Nepal has issued more than 900 permits for its mountains this year, including 419 for Everest, earning more than $5 million in royalties.

More than 500 climbers and their guides have already reached the summit of Everest after a rope-fixing team reached the peak last month.

This year, China also reopened the Tibetan route to foreigners for the first time since closing it in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring, when temperatures are warm and winds typically calm.

Last year, more than 600 climbers made it to the summit of Everest, but it was also the deadliest season on the mountain, with 18 fatalities.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Ireland’s leader said his nation would recognise Palestine as a state but did not specify timing, while leaders of Norway and Spain said their nations would do so as of 28 May.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store made the announcement in Oslo, Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid and Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris in Dublin.

Israel recalls ambassadors over recognition of Palestinian state

Israel immediately announced it was recalling its envoys to Ireland and Norway for “urgent consultations”.

“Today, I am sending a sharp message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not go over this in silence,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, adding that he planned to do the same with he Spanish ambassador.

The Israeli foreign ministry had earlier posted a video message addressed to Ireland on the social media platform X warning that “recognising a Palestinian state risks turning you into a pawn in the hands of Iran and Hamas”, adding the move would “only fuel extremism and instability”.

Israel has said plans for Palestinian recognition constitute a “prize for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the war in Gaza, which began on 7 October when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel.

‘Only alternative’

But Norway – which has played a key role in Middle East diplomacy over the years, hosting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at the beginning of the 1990s which led to the Oslo Accords – said recognition was needed to support moderate voices amid the Gaza war.

“In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands killed and injured, we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike: Two states, living side by side, in peace and security,” Store said.

“Recognition of Palestine is a means of supporting the moderate forces which have been losing ground in this protracted and brutal conflict,” he said.

“This could ultimately make it possible to resume the process towards achieving a two-state solution and give it renewed momentum,” he added.

Spain’s Sanchez said in parliament in Madrid: “Next Tuesday, May 28, Spain’s cabinet will approve the recognition of the Palestinian state,” he said, adding that his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu was putting the two state solution in “danger” with his policy of “pain and destruction” in the Gaza Strip.

And Ireland’s Harris hailed a “historic and important day for Ireland and for Palestine.”

For decades, the formal recognition of a Palestinian state has been seen as the endgame of a peace process between Palestinians and their Israeli neighbours.

The United States and most Western European nations have said they are willing to one day recognise Palestinian statehood, but not before agreement is reached on thorny issues like final borders and the status of Jerusalem.

But after Hamas’s 7 October attacks and Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza, diplomats are reconsidering once-contentious ideas.

In 2014, Sweden, which has a large Palestinian community, became the first EU member in western Europe to recognise Palestinian statehood.

It had earlier been recognised by six other European countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania.

Hamas’s 7 October attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Hamas also took 252 hostages, 124 of whom remain in Gaza including 37 the army says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 35,647 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

© Agence France-Presse

UK-based Anglo American has already knocked back two attempts by the Australian giant, which has until 18:00 (SA time) on Wednesday to up its offer, walk away, or launch a hostile takeover at enormous risk.

Far-reaching consequences

Any deal between two of the world’s largest resources companies would fundamentally reshape the sector, with far-reaching consequences for commodities markets and the global energy transition.

The latest bid sits at $43 billion, which would rank as one of the largest mining deals ever seen.

MineLife analyst Gavin Wendt said Anglo American’s disinterested board had kept the larger competitor at bay for now.

“Firstly, the biggest challenge for BHP so far is Anglo’s unwillingness to engage within the context of a very tight timeline,” Wendt told AFP.

“Anglo has already rejected two non-binding proposals from BHP, based on valuation and complexity.”

BHP claims to be the largest mining company in the world with a market value of around $148 billion.

Its desire to buy its longtime rival, which has a market value of about $36 billion, first came to light in late April.

It is a high-stakes gambit from the company nicknamed the “Big Australian”.

If BHP ends up walking away from the negotiating table on Wednesday, UK financial laws would prevent it from tabling another offer for at least six months, Wendt said.

Difficult path

A hostile takeover, seen as the least likely outcome, would preclude BHP from looking at Anglo American’s books – and force it to swallow underperforming parts of the company it would rather cast off.

“At this stage, the path for BHP seems difficult in terms of negotiating with Anglo’s board, which might mean it tries to generate interest directly with Anglo’s biggest shareholders,” Wendt said.

That is a pathway fraught with complicated geopolitical considerations.

Anglo American is based in London, has lucrative projects across South America, and lists South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation among its largest shareholders.

BHP’s interest is largely stoked by its hunger to secure a reliable copper supply.

Anglo American’s South American copper holdings include four of the largest copper mines in the world.

An electrical conductor used in wiring, the metal is seen as a bedrock of emerging clean energy industries.

It is a crucial component in the manufacture of solar panels, electric vehicles and rechargeable batteries.

“They are trying to grow their copper exposure because the future demand is expected to grow in coming years, and there are signs the global supply seems to be drying up in some places,” said Moody’s Ratings senior analyst Saranga Ranasinghe.

Copper mine

Saxo Bank head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen said it was easier to buy an existing copper mine than to dig one from scratch.

“Hence the reason why miners are more interested in growing through acquisitions and consolidation rather than through investments into new projects,” he said.

“The latest example being BHP Group’s so far futile attempt to acquire Anglo American.”

BHP did not reply to a request for comment from AFP.

Anglo American said: “UK laws restrict us from commenting ahead of the deadline.”

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

As reported by The South African website, South African billionaire Koos Bekker’s The Newt in Somerset will sponsor this year’s Chelsea Flower Show.

Opens to the public in west London on Tuesday

The annual exhibition of horticultural excellence and innovation opens to the public in west London on Tuesday, with more than 150 000 visitors expected.

King Charles III, a lifelong environmentalist who once admitted talking to his plants, got a sneak peek on Monday, in a behind-closed-doors visit with wife Queen Camilla.

The 75-year-old monarch, who is being treated for cancer, visited a garden created by and for children – a first in the show’s 111-year history.

The Chelsea Flower Show, organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), has in recent years become increasingly focused on sustainable development and biodiversity.

This year, the biggest gardens have had to submit their plans in advance, so they could be scrutinised for issues such as water usage, waste and materials.

Adaptations made as a result have led to a 20-percent reduction in their carbon footprint, according to the RHS.

Since last year, all exhibited gardens must be able to be transferred in whole or in part to decorate schools, hospitals or other public spaces throughout the country.

Water use

Among the 35 gardens competing in four categories this year is one focusing on water harvesting to combat drought.

An elegantly curved sloping roof pavilion harvests water and redirects it to be stored, while the plants were selected for their resilience to either drought or flooding.

The Water Aid Garden “is like a giant sponge”, its designer Tom Massey told AFP.

“All the water is drawn up, it’s utilised, all the hard landscaping is open and permeable as well to allow water to pass through and soak into the garden.”

Another garden was designed to play an active role against flooding, adaptable to different water levels, with a channel and drainage system, as well as reservoirs to act as water basins.

“A garden more climate- and flood-resilient does not have to be a compromise on either its form or function,” said its designer Naomi Slade.

Co-designer Ed Barsley said that increases in extreme weather events such as heavy rain, flooding, drought and wildfire left many people anxious.

“As individuals they can feel powerless to make a difference. But gardens are hugely powerful tools,” he added.

Experiment

One of the gardens on display this year uses only recycled materials from previous editions of the Chelsea Flower Show.

A mild winter and an early spring, followed by a cold snap, has forced some gardens to review their plans.

Designer Anne-Marie Powell said she had given up on local hawthorns as they were already wilted, and certain types of irises.

“Climate change is proving a huge challenge for us,” she told AFP.

But she added: “There is a massive opportunity to rethink and experiment.”

The result is plants that are not normally a feature at the Chelsea Flower Show.

“People really need to adapt, they need to experiment,” she added.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

The Guardian, BBC and CNN websites all confirmed the ruling.

Two London High Court judges granted Assange permission to appeal, having previously asked Washington to provide “satisfactory assurances” about free speech protections at any US trial.

Published hundreds of thousands of secret US documents

Those submissions were presented at a hearing on Monday, which the 52-year-old Australian did not attend.

Assange is wanted by Washington for publishing hundreds of thousands of secret US documents from 2010 as head of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.

Had he lost at Monday’s hearing, Assange – who has become a figurehead for free speech campaigners – could have been swiftly extradited after a five-year legal battle.

Instead, he will now face another court battle in his long-running legal saga, after the UK government approved his extradition in June 2022.

Assange’s South Africa-born wife Stella said outside court that the ruling “marks a turning point” and that “we are relieved as a family that the court took the right decision.

“Everyone can see what should be done here. Julian must be freed,” she added.

Human rights monitor Amnesty International called the ruling “a rare piece of positive news for Julian Assange and all defenders of press freedom”.

“The USA’s ongoing attempt to prosecute Assange puts media freedom at risk worldwide. It ridicules the USA’s obligations under international law, and their stated commitment to freedom of expression,” said Simon Crowther, legal adviser at Amnesty.

Cheers for Julian Assange

In written submissions for the hearing, Edward Fitzgerald, representing Assange, accepted as “unambiguous” US government assurances that he would not face the death penalty.

But he queried whether his client could rely on the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which covers freedom of speech and freedom of the press, at trial.

James Lewis, representing the US government, told the court Assange’s conduct was “simply unprotected” by the First Amendment.

It does not apply to anyone “in relation to publication of illegally obtained national defence information giving the names of innocent sources to their grave and imminent risk of harm”, he submitted.

Dozens of Assange supporters gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London early on Monday, many wearing T-shirts bearing Assange’s face, and cheered as news of the decision filtered through.

“This man’s life is at stake,” 83-year-old sculptor Jenny West told AFP.

“He represents all other journalists, it’s a pressing humanitarian situation,” she added.

Case ‘rigged’: supporter

Assange has been detained in the high-security Belmarsh prison in London since April 2019.

He was arrested after spending seven years holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault that were eventually dropped.

US authorities want to put Assange on trial for divulging US military secrets about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He is accused of publishing some 700 000 confidential documents relating to US military and diplomatic activities, starting in 2010.

The United States has accused Assange under the 1917 Espionage Act, which his supporters warn mean he could be sentenced to 175 years in prison.

UK courts approved the extradition request after the United States vowed that Assange would not go to its most extreme prison, “ADX Florence”, nor be subjected to the harsh regime known as “Special Administrative Measures”.

His supporters have criticised the legal proceedings he has faced.

“It is abundantly clear of course that the process in the court in the United Kingdom is corrupt. The case is rigged against Julian,” Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief, told reporters last Wednesday.

Assange’s supporters say his health is fragile and the Council of Europe this week voiced concern about his treatment.

The United States indicted Assange multiple times between 2018 and 2020 but President Joe Biden has faced domestic and international pressure to drop the case filed under his predecessor Donald Trump.

Biden indicated recently that the United States was considering an Australian request to drop the charges.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

The 81-year-old’s fortune was boosted by “strong touring, a valuable back catalogue and even a little help from Beyoncé”, who covered the Beatles song “Blackbird”, said the Rich List, considered the definitive guide of the UK’s wealthy.

Paul McCartney, whose net worth was estimated at £1 billion, has bucked the trend, with the amount of billionaires in the UK falling from a peak of 177 in 2022 to 165 this year.

This is partly due to plans by the government to scrap the “non-dom tax status” from next year, the system whereby people do not pay UK tax on their overseas earnings.

King Charles III’s personal wealth grew

“Non-dom” has been a political issue for many years, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Indian wife Akshata Murty claiming the status, meaning she was not required to pay tax on her shareholding in Infosys, the Bangalore-based IT company co-founded by her father.

However, she said she would pay UK tax on that income after coming under political pressure.

That move has not hit the family’s fortune, with the couple seeing their shares grow in value by £108.8 million to nearly £590 million over the past year, giving the couple a net worth of £615 million, according to the list of 350 individuals and families.

King Charles III’s personal wealth was also estimated to have risen by £10 million to £610 million, thanks to a boost in the net worth of his properties.

Gopi Hinduja the richest in UK list

Those faring less well include chemicals tycoon Jim Ratcliffe, who bought a stake in Manchester United earlier this year, inventor James Dyson and Virgin entrepreneur Richard Branson, who all saw their multi-billion pound fortunes decrease.

The list is topped by Indian-born investor Gopi Hinduja and his family for a third successive year.

The head of the Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group has an estimated fortune of £37 billion.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse

Daniel Graham entered a not guilty plea to causing £622 191 (R14.4 million) worth of damage to the sycamore tree at Sycamore Gap, which had stood for more than 200 years in the Northumberland National Park.

The tree, located in a dramatic dip in the landscape and which featured in the 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves”, was found felled in September last year, causing national outrage.

Graham also denied causing £1 144 (R26 520) worth of damage to Hadrian’s Wall, the ancient Roman fortification which stretches 73 miles (118km) from northwest to northeast England.

He appeared before a court in Newcastle upon Tyne with Adam Carruthers, 31, who did not enter pleas to the same charges. Both wore balaclavas to hide their identities as they arrived and left court.

Both were released on unconditional bail until a further hearing on June 12.

The tree won the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year in 2016

The tree, which was a symbol of northeast England, won the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year in 2016 and was a key attraction photographed by millions of visitors over the years.

It was found felled after storms, with white paint marks on its stump, as if cleanly cut, AFP reporters at the scene said at the time.

Efforts are now under way to see if the tree can be regrown from its stump or saplings from its seeds.

Hadrian’s Wall was begun in 122 AD during the reign of emperor Hadrian, and marked the boundary between Roman Britannia and unconquered Caledonia to the north.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse