Indholdsfortegnelse for 2021-05-03 i Mercury

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za STEINHOFF International shareholders once again shot down some of the important resolutions during the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday afternoon by voting against three of the five resolutions. The shareholders voted against a proposal to amend the remuneration policy applicable to managing directors with 92.69 percent against while 7.31 percent voted in favour, while 83.77 percent voted against the proposal to adopt the annual accounts for the financial year to end September 2020 and 92.53 percent voted against the proposal to cast an advisory vote in respect of the remuneration report for the year to end September 2020. Peter Wakkie was re-appointed as a member of the supervisory board, with 90.56 percent of the votes backing him, while a proposal…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za AYO TECHNOLOGY Solutions has reached agreements with professional third parties, financial services institutions and trusts that will enable it to do business over the next few months, its board said on Friday. These arrangements form part of a seven-point plan to ensure the sustainability of the business over the next few months after the Gauteng High Court last week denied urgent relief against First National Bank’s plan to suspend banking services to AYO from today. It emerged from court proceedings that AYO had not yet fully exhausted its options with other banks, notwithstanding AYO’s testimony that it awaited feedback from some banking institutions, and that not all banks in the country offered the suite of services that AYO required. Court evidence also suggested AYO could use third…

THE performance of British American Tobacco (BATS) over the past 12 months probably has many investors up in arms, specifically those invested in unit trusts and other savings pro- ducts with significant holdings in BATS, the world’s largest tobacco company based on sales in 2019. From the outside, it seems like a horror story. The Nasdaq-listed BATS is down nearly 5 percent in dollar terms from a year ago, the stock is down by about 13 percent in British pounds on the London Stock Exchange and some 24 percent in rands on the JSE. Over three years, BATS’s share price underperformed the FTSE/JSE All Share Index by 32 percent and the JSE industrial board, as measured by the FTSE/JSE Capped Industrial 25 Index, by more than 27 percent.…

The PRICE of petrol (both 93 ULP and LRP) for May will fall by 9 cents a litre from Wednesday, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said yesterday. The price of 95 ULP and LRP petrol will also fall by 9c litre, while diesel will ease by 31c a litre. The illuminating paraffin price would fall by 23c a litre. The main reasons for the price adjustments were a decline in the average Brent crude oil price to $64.16 from $65.14 a barrel. The vessel that had stuck in the Suez Canal causing a delay for all cargo containers, including oil tankers, was freed, easing fears regarding supply disruptions. “The markets anticipate Opec and Russia will agree to ease production cuts from May during their next meeting,”…

Karen Singh karen.singh@inl.co.za The Road Freight Association (RFA) has condemned the petrol bombing of two trucks on the R59 in Johannesburg. Police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubele confirmed that the trucks were burnt on Saturday night. Makhubele said the suspects shot at the drivers who stopped the trucks. “It is alleged a petrol bomb was thrown and the two trucks burnt next to each other on the R59,” he said. Makhubele said no arrests were made. The truck drivers had escaped uninjured. In 2019, there were a number of attacks on trucks, especially in KwaZulu-Natal. At the time, it was alleged that the attacks were being carried out by local truck drivers who claimed that foreign nationals were being given preference for jobs in the industry. “However, local truck driver organisations…

DS RAJAH | Musgrave IT IS of great concern that the judiciary has been the subject of criticism, especially as it is an anchor to our democracy. It is for good reason that each arm of government – the judiciary, Parliament and the executive – is independent to provide checks and balances and to ensure our liberty and freedom. One must guard against the violation of this principle, as, for example, when a politician makes an indiscreet query about a candidate’s performance for a position in the judiciary. Antagonistic views of the judiciary have been publicly expressed recently. A judge president stated that “judges are steeped in politics”, “use the law and other platforms to disguise their obvious political agenda” and the judiciary is “white male dominated…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff IF A desperate desire to vote Trump out of office accounted for the 20% increase in votes cast compared to the 2016 election (Jane Lawrence, The Mercury, April 30), then there should be no opposition to vote audits affirming Biden’s spectacular victory. But the strident effort of the Democrats and their mainstream media allies to slander and frustrate the vote recount in Maricopa County, Arizona, betrays their sense of confidence in the integrity of the Biden vote. And rightly so as the evidence of voter fraud is just too widespread and too deliberate to ignore. It is common knowledge that Facebook chief executive Zuckerberg broke federal election laws by providing the Democrats with $400 million to bolster their votes in marginal districts. He…

OH BOY, a see-saw on the cliff-edge. Who could have believed at half-time with the Sharks down 23-12 against the Stormers in the opening Rainbow Cup fixture that they could come back to win 33-30? This was drama all the way. It didn’t help the Stormers to collect two red cards and a yellow for dangerous play. In this competition, the red is not quite as lethal as usual. The culprit goes to the sin bin for 20 minutes, after which another player replaces him. But two reds and a yellow meant the Stormers played one man short for 50 minutes out of the 80. It showed. Our guys regrouped and made them pay for it in stirring style. And drama ’til the very last. Well into extra time the…

As the use of private messaging apps such as Messenger surges amid the Covid-19 pandemic, people are demanding that the experience be free from unwanted intrusions, and there be privacy controls and more protection from scams and hacking, according to Facebook. The company said that while it expected to make more progress on default end-to-end encryption for Messenger and Instagram Direct this year, it was a long-term project and it would not be fully end-to-end encrypted until some time in 2022 at the earliest. Facebook said users wanted to know how their data was being used and what data was accessible when they used messaging apps. “We should consider ways to give people more privacy settings and features within our messaging apps,” the company said in a blog post…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za CUTTINGS Beach in Merebank remains closed. The eThekwini Municipality said on Saturday that the beach was temporarily closed “due to suspected sewerage surcharge that the city is currently addressing”. (A sewerage surcharge is a term for when the sewer is full beyond its capacity.) It added that no swimming or fishing would be allowed at the north and south end of the uMlazi Canal. While the city said it suspected that there had been a sewage spill, Desmond D’Sa of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, (SDCEA) said he believed a chemical spill had occurred. D’Sa said he had spent close to five hours at the beach on Saturday. “The spillage was toxic chemicals from some of the businesses there. It was one of the worst spillages…

Thillay Naidoo’s comments on the Indo/Pak conflict and religious legitimacy (The Mercury, April 30), defy logic and reality. Engaging in a futile debate on the emergence of nations and the expansion of religion over the centuries and their influence on the Asian sub-continent is a deadly distraction from the escalating reality on the ground. India is grimly witnessing miscalculation of the pandemic due critically to political arrogance and the illusion of power. In a similar vein, the conflict between two heavily armed nuclear powers cannot be solved militarily. Both sides possess first and second strike nuclear capabilities. Both countries are dominated by military strategists who supremely believe that they will emerge intact after a limited or fully fledged nuclear exchange. Denial of reality has led India to become a…

The raging feud in the Zulu Royal family has pushed the succession battle to another level, with the courts now set to adjudicate on the matters at hand. The first wife’s decision to go to court to challenge the will of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini has deepened divisions and left the Zulu nation in limbo. It may be a while before the next king is named after the involvement of the courts. Prince MisuZulu has been touted as the next in line to be named the king, but the bitter battle would force the government not to at this stage be involved. This is not the first time in the country a royal family has been embroiled in legal disputes over the new king or queen. Other nations have…

A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts back to Earth splashed down off Florida early yesterday in Nasa’s first nighttime ocean landing in more than 50 years. The crew reported feeling well after their arrival back on Earth following a nearly six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Nasa said. The capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off Panama City after a six-and-a-half-hour flight from the ISS, night-vision images relayed by Nasa’s WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft showed. Teams aboard the Go Navigator recovery ship retrieved the capsule and hoisted it on to the deck. It was the first nighttime splashdown for Nasa since the Apollo 8 crew arrived in the Pacific Ocean on December 27, 1968. Commander Michael Hopkins emerged first, followed by fellow Nasa astronaut…

MOSCOW: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, has warned South Korea that their recent failure to stop North Korean defectors from spreading anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets will have consequences. “We regard the manoeuvres by the human scum in the south as a serious provocation against our state and will look into an action corresponding to them,” she said. The Fighters for a Free North Korea said they had flown around 500 000 leaflets and 5 000 $1 bills into North Korea on 10 balloons even though a ban on sending leaflets across the northern border is in place in the South. | Spunik…

Tripoli: More than 600 migrants hoping to reach Europe from Libya have been stopped since Friday, the navy said, as the International Organisation for Migration warned Libya was “not a safe port”. Three groups of illegal migrants were intercepted at sea, mostly citizens from sub-Saharan African nations trying to reach Europe. International agencies have denounced the return to Libya of migrants intercepted at sea, due to the chaotic situation in the country and poor conditions in detention centres. Libya is a major route for migrants trying to reach Europe, and traffickers have thrived in the lawlessness after the 2011 overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. | AFP…

Mike Greenaway The Sharks will be aiming for a much-improved performance on Saturday when they host the Lions after failing to impress their coach in their fortuitous 33-30 victory over the Stormers in the Rainbow Cup opener at the Cape Town Stadium. Sean Everitt was not amused after the Stormers left the Sharks in their starting blocks to race into a 17-0 lead, and then having fought their way back into leading 33-23 , the Sharks spend the last quarter of the match hanging on for dear life. It was probably no-coincidence that when the Sharks staged their comeback, the Stormers were men down after suffering two red cards. “We are not happy with our performance but we will gladly take the result,” Everitt said. “It is the sign of…

Zaahier Adams MAMELODI Sundowns sent an emphatic reminder to any potential title challengers that they are not going to relinquish their Premiership crown without a fight by thumping rivals Orlando Pirates 3-0 at Orlando Stadium yesterday. Having been pushed into second place over the weekend by an energetic AmaZulu, Sundowns roared back into top spot on the league standings by trouncing the Buccaneers. After both teams were unable to create any genuine opportunities during a deary first half that saw the action confined to the middle of the field, the Brazilians turned on the style during the second period. That was primarily due to the enterprise provided by Gift Motupa, who replaced injured striker Kermit Erasmus at half-time. The opening was eventually created when Peter Shalulile volleyed a strike…

4RACING, the business brand launched on Saturday on Champion’s Day at Turffontein that aims to be the face of a transformed horse racing industry, said yesterday that it had appointed Fundi Sithebe as chief executive, effective June 1, 2021. “I am very excited to have been presented with this opportunity and I look forward to engaging with all stakeholders as 4Racing proceeds with the transforma- tion and rebuilding of the South African horse racing industry,” Sithebe said. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administra- tion degree from Midrand University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Business Administration) from Wits Business School. She started her career as a management consultant at Deloitte, focusing on strategy and operations in organisational strategic projects. She was previously chief operating officer of Airports Company…

Nonhlanhla Hlatshwayo and James Mahlokwane The Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal has moved to address teacher shortages, and ordered that 700 teachers – who were identified as being surplus – to report to schools that need more staff. The department said yesterday that it had found that 700 of 961 teachers, who had been identified as surplus in their current schools in terms of the Post Provision Norm (PPN), had not reported for duty at the schools which had shortages. The department said they had a meeting with teachers’ unions on Friday on the matter. “All redeployed and appointed teachers are required to assume their duties from Monday, May 3, 2021. Failure to do so will result in disciplinary action being taken. No school or school governing body is…

PETER WORMAN | Bluff Two articles caught my eye in The Mercury last week. Firstly “Engen refinery plan sparks outrage” and secondly “Thousands protest against racist banks”. In both cases there seems to be a lack of understanding, leaving me to question what the real motive of the protesters is and who stands to gain from it. Whenever I detect a tone in a report that indicates a pugnacious attitude, my hackles rise. It reminds me of the Sophists of Athens at the time of Plato. These people were professional arguers who took on any case for a fee and were a source of irritation to Plato because he maintained that they believed that whoever won an argument was right irrespective of whether they were in actual fact…

Private collectors have a rare opportunity this week to buy some of Napoleon Bonaparte’s DNA when a blood-stained cloth placed over his body during an autopsy goes on sale at an auction to mark the 200th anniversary of his death. The French emperor died on May 5, 1821, aged 51, on the southern Atlantic Ocean island of Saint Helena, to where he had been banished by the British after his defeat in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo. About 360 items will be put on sale on May 5. The blood-stained cloth is estimated to fetch up to e15 000 (R260 000). It comes with a note written in 1875 by the Duke of Bassano, whose father was gifted the bandage by the marquis of Montholon, a military general who…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-leigh.solomons@iinl.co.za ANC MP and former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo says anyone who is questioning his continued party membership should raise it with ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s office (SGO). “I’m the victim here. I received a response from the SGO and I’ve accepted their decision. If anyone is uncomfortable about the decision, they should take it up with the SGO because I can’t do anything about it,” Mahumapelo told Independent Media yesterday. His comment comes after the interim provincial committee (IPC) of the ANC in North West said Mahumapelo remains suspended from the party after he was found guilty of violating its code of conduct. “People shouldn’t be confused because my membership is still in good standing until the outcome of the appeals process. As we speak, I’m…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za THE ANC national working committee (NWC) is set to meet today and it’s expected that the contentious step-aside resolution will form part of discussions. The step-aside deadline for ANC members criminally charged with corruption lapsed on Friday – with no member having stepped aside. In March, the ANC national executive committee (NEC) set a 30-day deadline to those who faced charges. The NWC meeting comes ahead of the ANC NEC meeting, expected to take place this weekend. Among the ANC members facing having to step aside are the party’s secretary-general Ace Magashule – charged over a R255 million Free State asbestos tender; former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede; former Eastern Cape health MEC Sindiswa Gomba; ANC KwaZulu-Natal deputy chairperson Mike Mabuyakhulu and ANC Limpopo treasurer Danny Msiza. With…

Curriculum reform needed to match the skills revolution Higher education institutions have long been considered to be the repositories of knowledge and learning and the structures through which knowledge is produced and disseminated. They have survived sweeping societal changes created by technology – the moveable-type printing press, previous industrial revolutions, information and communication technologies, electronic media and computers. Today, however, higher education institutions appear to be susceptible to technology disruption as much as other information-centric industries such as the news media, magazines and journals, encyclopaedias, music, movies and TV. This can be reflected in the fact that the transmission of knowledge does not have to be tethered to a fixed location or campus. The technical affordability of cloud-based computing, Artificial Intelligence-based learning platforms, massive open online courses, high-quality streaming video,…

Myanmar security forces opened fire on some of the biggest protests against military rule in days yesterday, killing at least seven people, media reported, three months after a coup plunged the country into crisis. The protests, after a spell of dwindling crowds and what appeared to be more restraint by the security forces, were coordinated with demonstrations in Myanmar communities around the world to mark what organisers called “the global Myanmar spring revolution”. “Shake the world with the voice of Myanmar people’s unity,” the organisers said in a statement. Streams of demonstrators, some led by Buddhist monks, made their way through cities and towns across the country, including the commercial hub of Yangon and the second city of Mandalay, where two people were shot and killed, the Mizzima news agency…

The UN says that tens of thousands of people had fled the northern Mozambican town of Palma following jihadist attacks late last month that left dozens dead. Of the coastal town’s 75 000 population, almost half, 30 000, “have moved” since the March 24 raid by militants, said the International Organization for Migration (IOM) chief of mission in Mozambique, Laura Tomm-Bonde. This was in addition to 23 000 who are believed to have moved to nearby Quitunda village, close to a huge gas plant being built by the French energy giant Total. The firm suspended work on the scheme after the attacks. The latest displacement takes the numbers of people uprooted from their homes in Cabo Delgado province to around 700 000, according to government and aid agency…

London: Iran’s treatment of detained dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe amounts to “torture”, Britain said yesterday, after she was convicted anew to a year in prison and banned from leaving the Islamic republic for 12 months. The British-Iranian woman has been held in Iran since 2016 when she was working as a project manager for the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 42, appeared in court late last month to face new charges of “propaganda against the system”, a week after she finished a five-year sentence for plotting to overthrow the regime, accusations she denies. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe has linked his wife’s plight to a British debt dating back more than 40 years for army tanks paid for by the shah of Iran. When the shah was ousted in the 1979 revolution,…

New York: US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s chief executive, Albert Bourla, has said that the company’s Covid-19 oral antiviral pill, which is in early-stage trials, could be ready by the end of the year. The company, which developed the first authorised Covid-19 vaccine in the US with German drugmaker BioNTech, began an early-stage clinical trial for testing a new antiviral therapy for Covid-19 in March. The drug is part of a class of medicines called protease inhibitors and works by inhibiting an enzyme the virus needs to replicate. If clinical trials go well, the drug could be distributed across the US by the end of the year, he said. | IANS…

Manchester United’s Premier League match against Liverpool was postponed yesterday after United fans forced their way into the stadium and stormed the Old Trafford pitch to protest against the club’s owners - the Glazer family. “Following discussion between the Police, the Premier League, Trafford Council and the clubs, our match against Liverpool has been postponed due to safety and security considerations around the protest today,” United said in a statement after the game was called off. “Discussions will now take place with the Premier League on a revised date for the fixture.” Around 200 United fans took to the pitch, some letting off flares and others carrying posters calling for the Glazer family, the club’s American owners, to sell the club. A Premier League statement said: “Following the security breach…

US TREASURY Secretary Janet Yellen on Saturday tamped down concerns that President Joe Biden’s plans for infrastructure, jobs and families will cause inflation, saying the spending will be phased in over a decade. “It’s spread out quite evenly over eight to 10 years,” said Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chairperson. She said the Federal Reserve would monitor inflation and has the tools to address it if necessary. “I don’t believe that inflation will be an issue, but if it becomes an issue, we have tools to address it. These are historic investments that we need to make in our economy productive and fair.” Biden’s plans are paid for by a series of tax increases on the wealthiest Americans, less than 1 percent of the population, and on raising corporate…

Gerry Cupido geraldine.cupido@inl.co.za With all the different shapes, sizes and colours available, the styling opportunities are endless. You can go from conservative to eccentric by simply changing your frames. Here are the hottest trends in optical wear this season: In the clear Transparent frames are the newest and hottest trend in eyewear. Their ability to go effortlessly from casual to formal makes them a must-have in every wardrobe. Add a little more spice with oversized frames or a hint of champagne colouring to double up on other trends. Tortoise shell This is not your grandmother’s pattern – it’s adding new hues and highlights to suit your skin tone, hair and outfits. Keep it retro with a cat-eye frame or classic with a top-half frame. 70s Square There are hints of…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za ETHEKWINI Municipality councillors are facing an investigation after they failed to submit a list of beneficiaries who received food parcels or vouchers from them as part of the Covid-19 social relief programme. The Speaker of the municipality, Weziwe Thusi, said 49 councillors had failed to submit lists and had been referred for an ethics investigation. The figure of those who failed to comply represents almost half of the councillors in the council – there are 110 councillors in eThekwini. It was not immediately clear who the councillors were, however their names have been given to their party whips. Their failure, despite repeated requests to provide the lists, has raised speculation that there might have been fraud in the handing over of the parcels. While delivering her Speaker’s…

Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za THE first wife of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu is fighting for a 50% share of the multimillion-rand royal estate, claiming to be entitled to it by their civil marriage, which she says was in community of property. Queen Sibongile Dlamini has applied for an urgent court interdict seeking to set aside the implementation of the king’s will, which called for the appointment of the recently deceased Queen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini as the regent. Her legal fight appeared to have gained momentum, with a parallel urgent court interdict being sought by her two daughters, who are crying alleged forgery in respect of the will, citing the king’s signature and what they claim is an altered identity number of Prince Mbonisi Zulu. The Mercury has seen the…

PRO VERITAS | Durban ONE CANNOT ignore that more needs to be done to ensure that employers, employees and the general populace are sensitised to the realities of this pandemic, and to further reinforce the obligations of employers and employees in the face of, or event of, an exposure to Covid-19. This is what the Labour Court declared in Eskort Limited v Stuurman Mogotsi and Others (2021) ZALCJHB 53 (March 28, 2021). And yet, there are so many people who deliberately thumb their noses at the protocols and policies in place. That is a criminal offence and they should be prosecuted. In the case I cited, Mr Mogotsi, an employee of Eskort Limited, had tested positive for Covid-19 and despite the fact that he had informed the latter…

I HAVE enough money, time and all the comforts a person could possibly need. I am earning all the money we need for our family. Thank you, but I do not need your get-rich scheme. I am doing very well, thank you. Yes, I have all the time in the world to be with you. There is nothing more to be done today. It has been a good day. I have worked a full day and applied myself as best as I am able and all of what’s left will have to wait for tomorrow. I am quite happy with who I am, who I was, and who I am becoming. Of course I have regrets, I have deep and powerful regrets, and I have tried to make repairs where…

Lorna Charles lorna.charles@inl.co.za THERE has been a rise in aggravated robberies since the lockdown levels have been eased. This is according to Institute for Security Studies (ISS) consultant Dr Johan Burger. He was commenting after robberies last week at the Pavilion shopping centre and another shopping centre, south of Durban. The Pavilion shopping centre general manager Nisha Kemraj confirmed that armed men robbed a jewellery store on Wednesday. “Security responded and this led to a shoot-out with the robbers. Unfortunately, a patron was injured in the leg and taken to hospital. He is reportedly in a stable condition,” she said. Colonel Thembeka Mbele, KwaZulu-Natal provincial police spokesperson, said staff at the jewellery store were accosted by three armed men. “The suspects assaulted them, demanded the safe keys and took a…

JAMES MAHLOKWANE james.mahlokwane@inl.co.za THE government holds a view that there should be a ban on captive breeding, hunting and petting of lions in South Africa. This was said by Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy yesterday during a media briefing in Pretoria, where she released a high-level panel report on the management, breeding, hunting, trade and handling of elephants, lions, leopards and rhinoceros. The report was put together by the panel of conservationists, scientists, department officials, community leaders and economists appointed in 2019. Creecy appointed the experts following a colloquium on captive lion breeding, which recommended an end to lion breeding in South Africa back in 2018. She said, according to the report of the portfolio committee, which was adopted by Parliament, there was a predominant view…

COVID-19 pushed much of the world into the digital realm for everything from schooling and work to religious worship and dating. At the same time, many governments were turning data connections off. Full or partial shutdowns of the internet and social media are increasingly common parts of the “digital authoritarian” toolkit. Many leaders seem threatened by the way digital media make it possible to share information and organise. Research shows that last year saw 156 full or partial shutdowns of Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. South Asia accounts for almost three-quarters of these shutdowns, with India leading the way. Africa was the next most affected region, with 20 shutdowns affecting 12 countries. Disruptions lasted from as short as a day or less, in Burundi, Egypt, and Togo, to nearly…

Israel observed a day of mourning yesterday for 45 people crushed to death at a Jewish religious festival, with flags lowered to half-staff and questions raised about accountability for one of the country’s worst civilian disasters. In accordance with Jewish tradition, funerals were held with as little delay as possible. More than 20 of the victims of Friday’s disaster on Mount Meron were buried overnight after official identification was completed. Witnesses described a stampede and a pyramid of bodies, including several children, in a slippery metal-floored passageway at the annual pilgrimage of ultra-Orthodox faithful to the tomb of a second-century Jewish mystic, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, in northern Israel. “We’re all heartbroken, saddened, shattered into a million pieces. There are no words to describe the feeling of the entire country,”…

India’s new Covid-19 cases dipped marginally yesterday but deaths from Covid-19 jumped by a record 3 689, with one more state going into lockdown as the nation’s creaky health-care system is unable to cope with the massive caseload. Authorities reported 392 488 new cases in the previous 24 hours, pushing total cases to 19.56 million. So far, the virus has killed 215 542 people. India reported a record 401 993 new coronavirus cases on Saturday. Indian hospitals, morgues and crematoriums have been overwhelmed as the country has reported more than 300 000 daily cases for more than 10 days straight. Many families have been left on their own to scramble for medicines and oxygen. Dozens of people have died in the past week due to…

Bangkok: Hundreds of Thai protesters hurled red paint, tomatoes and eggs at a Bangkok court yesterday, demanding the release of all political detainees, including an activist who was hospitalised after a hunger strike. The student activist Parit Chiwarak, known as “Penguin”, has been held on remand since being charged in February under Thailand’s strict royal defamation laws. He faces more than a dozen charges for his role in protests against the government of Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha, which also called for reforms to Thailand’s unassailable monarchy. The king and his family are protected by tough lese majeste laws. | AFP…