Indholdsfortegnelse for 2021-07-07 i Mercury

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za ANGLOGOLD Ashanti yesterday shot up 3.5 percent in intra-day trade after the miner named Alberto Calderon as its new chief executive. Calderon is a seasoned mining executive who served as chief executive at Australian-based commercial explosives maker Orica from 2015 until he stepped down in February this year. He was previously a senior executive at BHP, the global mining and metals giant, and was also chief executive of Colombia’s Cerrejón Coal Company. AngloGold said Calderon would assume the position in September. AngloGold’s chairperson, Maria Ramos, said the appointment followed a comprehensive global search in which it considered several excellent candidates. “We are confident that, in Alberto, we have the right person to lead this company forward and realise its outstanding potential, drawing on his huge leadership…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE cash-strapped Durban Marine World theme park (uShaka) is considering a number of proposals, including “renting” out its aquarium as a wedding reception venue, in an effort to attract visitors as it battles to stay afloat. The management of the entity has also proposed that the facility be used as a film location to help generate much-needed revenue. The proposals are contained in a turnaround plan that was tabled by the entity before members of the eThekwini Municipality’s executive committee last week. The plan details the impact of Covid-19 on operations and the changes the entity has had to make during the country’s second wave of Covid-19 and operating under adjusted lockdown level 3. The theme park has been battling for years to sustain itself financially and…

“LEAVE things – parks, camp sites, picnic areas, beaches, national parks and so on – better than you found them” is, for obvious reasons, a widely used, helpful mantra. When applied, everyone benefits. The communal or public facilities are left clear of litter, things are straightened and tidied, to benefit those who will use them next. Those departing are better off for having increased awareness of the needs of others, even the needs of strangers. It becomes a way of thinking, a lens through which we see the world, all it offers, and what we have to offer it. Exercising such awareness and thoughtfulness leaves us all better off and offers us all a chance to grow. The principle applies also to people, to all encounters, from casual to intimate.…

GLEN CHRISTIE Durban North IT IS obvious in South Africa that there are two laws in this country – one that is applicable to the ANC elite and another for the normal man in the street. We have a lockdown 4 scenario and yet the gatherings at Nkandla of people who are supporting Zuma are doing so illegally and not all wearing masks, just like Zuma’s lawyer Dali Mpofu who one would have thought knows better, yet there is nothing done about it from a law enforcement point of view. I have family living in the UK, Australia and Japan and they can’t believe what they see and read on the electronic media about the goings-on in this country at present. Why are the SAPS not enforcing the laws and…

JOHN GARDENER | Howick ON May 28, my letter appeared on this page, in which I congratulated the management and staff of Umgeni Hospital in Howick for the excellent service I received when I had my first of the two-part Covid jab. I returned the other day, for part two, and wondered whether the light and friendly atmosphere could possibly have survived the ensuing 42 days. Well, it had! From the security guard who kindly offered to help me from my car to the nursing staff who unfailingly showed care and devotion to duty. Indeed, laughter echoed through the corridors as staff engaged in light-hearted banter with patients. It was an uplifting experience and I must once again express my sincere thanks and appreciation to the staff for…

KEN CRITCHLOW Kloof WOW, what a surprise, Zuma is trying every trick in the book to stay out of prison. Zuma should have been jailed years ago. When he was president he did not give two hoots about the poor people living in plastic shelters with no sanitation, no water, no electricity. He was too busy building his massive homestead to house his numerous wives and children . Now that the law has finally taken years to charge him, he cries he has been unfairly treated. All the veterans who have turned up to protect him should also be arrested for aiding and abetting a criminal. The courts have done their job. Now it is time for the police to show some backbone. If this debacle continues, the riot squad…

Xolile Bhengu and Sibusiso Mboto The Department of Health came in for some heavy criticism yesterday after it retracted a statement that caused confusion by advising on the inclusion of eligible pregnant and lactating women on the current Covid-19 vaccine rollout programme. This followed a query by The Mercury on the ambiguous, widely spread circular advising on the inclusion of eligible pregnant women and lactating mothers who had passed the 14-week gestation period, and those contemplating pregnancy, to present themselves for the Covid-19 vaccine. On Tuesday, a follow-up circular was issued titled “Retraction of Circular: Vaccination of Special Groups and Individuals Against Covid-19”. The brief statement said that following the circular on the vaccination of special groups and individuals against Covid-19, there had been numerous comments, queries and submissions that…

Samkelo Mtshali samkelo.thulasizwe@inl.co.za The Imam Haron Foundation and the Apartheid Victim Families Group (AFVG) have hit out at the De Klerk Foundation for its patron FW De Klerk’s comments claiming that it would be unfair for the NPA to apply one standard to apartheid-era crimes and another to crimes perpetrated by anti-government organisations. De Klerk’s comments followed the announcement by the NPA that it had established a special new unit in which experienced former prosecutors would be appointed where there was a shortage of capacity, to specifically look into apartheid crimes. The move was welcomed by the AFVG and the Imam Haron Foundation but De Klerk, through his foundation, warned that if the NPA chose to prosecute only those from the anti-revolutionary side, it would be in clear breach of…

THE government’s Covid-19 temporary employer/employee relief scheme (Ters) will resume later this month for workers negatively affected by the level 4 restrictions put in place a week ago. Parties at the National Economic Development and Labour Council have agreed to resuscitate Ters in principle, according to Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla. He told Independent Media that Ters would be revived to focus on restricted sectors such as vulnerable workers in the liquor, tourism, hospitality, restaurant and travel industries. “This principled agreement is going to the Cabinet and the National Corona- virus Command Council for final approval in the next few days,” Pamla said.…

ASHWIN DESAI 2006. Ashwell Adriaan, a friend through the ages, suggested we write a book on black rugby in Makhanda. I was keen but kept wondering how we would go about writing this story. And then Ashwell showed me a scattering of five or six photographs. They just blew my mind. For there before my eyes was a history that stretched into the late 19th century. As photographs met memories, the barest outlines of past generations came to life. To think I had walked the streets of Joza and Ghost Town in the 1980s and never knew this history. It is no wonder that Barthes tells us “photography has something to do with resurrection”. 2010. I was back at Rhodes University. How do you build an archive when your…

Tropical Storm Elsa was moving past the Florida Keys yesterday heading towards the west coast of the state, where it was expected to make landfall today after dumping heavy rain over Cuba. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the centre of Elsa was about 104km west-northwest of Key West and moving in a north-northwest direction at 17km/h, with maximum sustained winds of 95km/h. A hurricane watch was in effect from Egmont Key, in the Tampa Bay region, to the Steinhatchee River some 290km north along the Gulf Coast. “Elsa could be near hurricane strength before it makes landfall in Florida,” the Miami-based weather forecaster said. After landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast, the storm is forecast to move north-northeastward across the southeast of the US until tomorrow, dropping 5-10cm of…

Hundreds of thousands of people who were victims of a volcanic eruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) North Kivu province in May, remain in urgent need, international aid and development agency Caritas Australia said yesterday. The eruption of Mount Nyiragongo on May 22 in Goma in the eastern DRC killed at least 32 people, displaced over 400 000 and destroyed more than 3 600 houses, as well as schools, markets and water infrastructure. “We’re supporting those displaced by the volcano with essential household items, food and shelter,” Bernice Sarpong, Caritas Australia’s programme co-ordinator for humanitarian emergencies, said in a state- ment. “We’re working with local government and our partners on the ground, with a focus on getting people back into their homes as soon as possible and…

SINGAPORE: A Singapore court has tightened bail conditions for a businessman accused of involvement in a bogus, billion-dollar nickel trading scheme after the prosecution said plans were afoot to help him flee. Ng Yu Zhi, a former MD of trading companies Envy Global Trading and an inactive firm, Envy Asset Management, has been implicated by authorities in a scheme that raised at least S$1.5 billion (R21.4bn) from investors. Police had uncovered a plot involving at least three people to help Ng escape the city-state by land or sea, although the investigations did not show the extent of Ng’s involvement.…

WORLD number one Ashleigh Barty outclassed compatriot Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1 6-3 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals on Friday and set up a meeting with 2018 champion Angelique Kerber. In the first all-Australian women's grand slam quarter-final since the 1980 Wimbledon championships, the 25-year-old Barty produced a calm and composed display on Centre Court. Tomljanovic, who battled past British wildcard Emma Raducanu the night before to reach her first grand slam quarter-final, was nowhere to be seen in a one-sided first set. But the 28-year-old did make more of a match of it in the second, breaking the Barty serve twice. Barty always had another level though and ended Tomljanovic's resistance in little over an hour. In an earlier match, former Wimbledon champion Kerber of Germany put in a strong show…

FORMER Kaizer Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral says his players' confidence and productive pre-season preparations were the secret ingredients behind his team's successful outing in the 27th edition of the Nelson Mandela Cup back in December 2001. Amakhosi became the first South African side to win the Mandela Cup – which is now known as the CAF Confederation Cup. They defeated InterClub Luanda 2-1 on aggregate in the final, despite having only 15 players in the match-day squad for the return leg. “Heading to the final, we had already won three trophies. In the first half of the season, we had a fantastic run, considering how the boys were taking care of themselves and how the team was organised,” Ertugral told Independent Media from Istanbul, Turkey, yesterday. “We had…

VERNON MCHUNU vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za MAJOR repairs and upgrades to Durban’s rail infrastructure will form part of the recovery plan of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), which has been stagnating after suffering billions of rand in losses as a result of corruption, sabotage and vandalism. At least R1 billion has been lost to acts of sabotage to infrastructure – including around the eThekwini municipality – during the past year, bringing the total costs to more than R6bn over the past three years. Adding to the infrastructural woes, Prasa lost R28bn owing to irregular expenditure identified by the Auditor-General (A-G) as having occurred during the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 financial years, resulting in disclaimer audit opinions for those years. As newly-appointed group chief executive Zolani Matthews revealed the extent of damage to…

The global cryosphere – all the areas with frozen water on Earth – shrank by about 87 000km2 a year on average between 1979 and 2016, as a result of climate change, according to a new study. The extent of land covered by frozen water is just as important as its mass because the bright white surface reflects sunlight so effectively, cooling the planet. Changes in the size or location of ice and snow can alter air temperatures, change the sea level, and even affect ocean currents worldwide. The researchers from Lanzhou University in China calculated the daily extent of the cryosphere and averaged those values to come up with yearly estimates. While the extent of the cryosphere grows and shrinks with the seasons, they found that the average area…

VISVIN REDDY ADec Chief Activist YOUR editorial, “Wealth tax can help tackle poverty”, (Mercury, July 6) is well written and puts forward the only viable option available to lead South Africa out of the poverty quagmire we find ourselves in. Unfortunately, such a tax cannot be entrusted to the hands of our politicians. African Democratic Change (ADeC) has included the wealth tax as part of our manifesto for change. This form of taxation was part of the ANC plan to pay for its transformation agenda. The notion stems from the ideals of the Freedom Charter which states that the wealth of the land shall be shared among its people. This proposal was abandoned when a compromise was reached between former president Nelson Mandela and the captains of industry at…

WOW! A blast from the past? There we were, a group of South Africans in a pub in Essex, England, called the Barge Aground. The Barge Aground is one of those homely pubs with a sawdust floor. It’s on Barking Creek, which feeds into the Thames Estuary. Feeling slightly homesick in these nonetheless pleasant surroundings, we were singing a ditty from home: Bathi phuzani! Phuzani, phuzani, webafana… (We say drink! Drink, drink, O boys…) The local Poms were listening in some mystification. Then, just as we finished the umpteenth verse, this fellow (he looked somehow familiar) was among us singing: Igqihane lendlela nguqo ngqothwane… He looked like a Pom but he went right through Miriam Makeba’s Click Song in faultless Pondo, without missing a click. Then he launched into Zulu…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za THE Basic Education Department and its provinces are set to cough up R13.9 million in salaries for 19 Cuban maths and science subject specialists brought into the country in this financial year. This was revealed by Education Minister Angie Motshekga while responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Sicelo Mabika. Responding to similar questions from DA MP Leon Basson, Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said her department was paying R64.6m in salaries to Cuban engineers. Mabika and Basson asked whether the two departments had concluded any employment agreements with any Cuban entity since 2010-11. They asked the details of the Cubans’ employment, including the cost of employing each of the Cubans, among others. In her written response, Motshekga said South Africa and Cuba concluded…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za NON-PROFIT organisation Equal Education (EE) is going back to court to try to force the government to provide meals to all qualifying pupils of the school feeding schemes. EE and the school governing bodies of Vhulaudzi Secondary School and Mashao High School in Limpopo are returning to court against the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and provincial education departments for failing to roll out the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) to every eligible pupil for more than a year. The two schools are represented by SECTION27 and the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC). The non-profit organisations announced yesterday that they were asking for a new court order that declared that education officials had not met their constitutional obligations to provide daily meals to all qualifying pupils, and…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za IN an attempt to kick-start service, the Newcastle Municipality has announced the filling of over 100 posts that have been vacant for more than 18 months after the municipality dismissed its workers. In 2019, the municipality sacked 223 workers – mostly from the community services department – after a violent dispute over unpaid overtime. The fired workers took the matter to the labour court in a bid to appeal the municipal decision. Due to Covid-19 regulations, the matter has been dragging for months, leaving the municipality battling with poor service delivery. The municipality has come under fire from opposition parties and community members, who have complained about poor delivery of services, including refuse collection and infrastructure repairs. One of the workers, who asked not to be named,…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za THE SAPS has approached Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo on guidance as to what to do – in light of the two legal challenges by former president Jacob Zuma not to be jailed. In a letter sent by the State Attorney to Justice Zondo on Monday, the SAPS said it was not inclined to arrest Zuma at this stage. Acting on the instructions of Police Minister Bheki Cele and national police commissioner General Khehla Sithole, the State Attorney said the situation regarding Zuma was unusual. Zuma had five days since the court order to hand himself over and start serving his prison sentence for contempt of court last week. That, however, lapsed on Sunday, and the police had three days to ensure Zuma was delivered to jail.…

In the leading case of Magna Alloys and Research SA (Pty) Ltd v Ellis, the Appeal Court held that restraint of trade clauses are valid and enforceable. However, like any other contractual clauses, they are unenforceable to the extent that such enforcement is contrary to public policy. A contractual clause is against public policy if it is unreasonable, and unreasonably restricts a person’s freedom to trade or to do work. The Magna case further states that whether something is unreasonable is determined with reference to the circumstances of the case, such as those that prevailed at the time the contract was entered into and the circumstances when enforcement is sought. In the recent case of Oomph Out of Home Media v Brien and another, the High Court had to determine…

THE SAPS should be commended for having exercised restraint and avoiding a potential bloodbath outside former president Jacob Zuma’s homestead at Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, over the weekend. Some of Zuma’s supporters clearly broke the law. They gathered outside his home beyond the minimum number of people allowed, failed to wear masks, in violation of the country’s alert level 4 lockdown regulations, and allegedly discharged firearms in public. Legitimately so, the police have been criticised, mocked and accused in some quarters of exercising a selective application of the law. In response to the criticism, Police Minister Bheki Cele said they had decided to exercise restraint to save lives, despite provocation by some of Zuma’s supporters. He said that at least 100 people among the crowd, mobilised from hostels, were heavily armed and…

LEBANON is a few days away from a social explosion, caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab warned yesterday, calling on the international community to save a country in deep economic crisis. The World Bank has called Lebanon’s crisis one of the worst depressions of modern history. The currency has lost more than 90% of its value and more than half of the population has been propelled into poverty. Anger over fuel shortages has spilled into fights at petrol stations and the prime minister appeared to be warning of more unrest. “Lebanon is a few days away from the social explosion. The Lebanese are facing this dark fate alone,” Diab said in a speech at a meeting with ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions in Beirut. Diab has been serving in a…

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump grew concerned with the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell at the end of his presidential term, fearing she might somehow embroil him in the scandal related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a new book by Michael Wolff claims. “Has she said anything about me?”, Wolff claims Trump asked at the time. Wolff’s book, Landslide, claims Trump considered including Maxwell on his list of presidential pardons but she didn’t receive it. Epstein, accused of sex trafficking, was also on good terms with Bill Gates and ex-president Bill Clinton. He killed himself in prison.…

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia yesterday said it rejected “unwelcome meddling” by the Arab League in a long-running dispute with Egypt and Sudan over a mega-dam on a tributary of the Nile River. This came as Egypt slammed the renewed filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), and as the UN Security Council prepared to revisit the row tomorrow. The GERD, on the Blue Nile – and set to be Africa’s largest hydroelectric project – has sparked an almost decade-long diplomatic stand-off between Addis Ababa, Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia says the project is key to its development, but Cairo and Khartoum fear it could shrink their water flow.…

MIHLALI BALEKA mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za SOUTH AFRICA(0)(1) Malinga 68’ BOTSWANA(0)(0) IT wasn’t pretty, even though there were moments of some eye-catching passing, but Bafana Bafana will take some positives from their Cosafa Cup opening performance after defeating neighbours Botswana 1-0 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium yesterday. In the opening game of the tournament in Gqeberha, Eswatini defeated neighbours Lesotho 3-1 as they climbed to the top of Group A. But a narrow win for Bafana ensured that the host nation started on a high note as well. Bafana are yet to recover from their epic failure to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations next year. But by winning the Cosafa Cup, they would show their intentions of turning over a new leaf. What is clear at this point is that…

Aishah Cassiem aishah.cassiem@inl VITOL has declared a force majeure to end operations at Sunrise Energy’s import terminal at Saldanha in the Western Cape as a result of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) shortages. Vitol said in a letter to its customers on June 28 that “it is with great regret that, due to unfavourable weather conditions in the port of Saldanha and at the MBM (multibuoy mooring system), our vessels that are scheduled to replenish stock at the import terminal have been delayed and that we were unable to replenish on LPG stock in tank at the facility.” Vitol’s Mariska de Jongh said the development forced the company to declare a force majeure since performances of the contract had been greatly affected by the weather conditions. Last August, Sunrise Energy’s facility…

Legal clashes over moves to keep him from arrest and imprisonment Kailene Pillay and Sihle Mavuso The jury is out on whether former president Jacob Zuma will be arrested today or whether his incarceration will be delayed until Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Bhekisisa Mnguni hands down his judgment at the end of the week. The Pietermaritzburg High Court heard lengthy arguments from the head of Zuma’s legal team, advocate Dali Mpofu yesterday. Mpofu led the team in filing two urgent applications last week to prevent Zuma’s arrest and imminent jail time. Zuma brought an application to the Pietermaritzburg High Court to interdict the police from arresting him until his other urgent application to the Constitutional Court to rescind its contempt of court judgment is heard next week. Judge Mnguni of…

VIVIENNE ATTWOOD-SMITH Sheffield SIBAYA, the kingdom of fun, has suffered severe blows since closing for lockdown, possibly losing billions of rand. I advocate that we re-open it. Under the modified level 4 lockdown, all eateries and liquor stores have been closed, except for takeaways. Entertainment has been reduced and Sibaya, once the hub of Durban, now a ghostly paradise. A cold wind blows through the high ceilings, where once joy and laughter were heard. Sibaya follows the strictest of protocols when it comes to sanitising and distancing, having only every second machine in operation and prohibiting smoking and drinking at the tables. Also, there are partitions at each table and a maximum of four people allowed. Sibaya should be applauded. We do not have outdoor theme parks such as Disneyland,…

NARENDH GANESH Durban North THE Minister of of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu must be suffering from a severe bout of cognitive dissonance, if not acute delusional paranoia. She is quoted as saying that when she left Nkandla, after spending all of 30 or 40 minutes there, that all was in order – that “there were a few people who were not following health protocols” and that the “commentary by the media was false” and further, when she was assessing the area, “people were following the health regulations”. Without bordering on the cynical or the sarcastic, where do we find the calibre of ministers such as Sisulu, who, in the face of national television visuals, can distort, manufacture and spew gobbledygook like she does? Major television networks carried…

IAN LLOYD Durban North THE press and TV are full of former president Jacob Zuma’s flouting of the judiciary and the law of South Africa. Surely common sense dictates that Zuma will never go to prison. If memory serves me correctly, over the years he has been accused of rape and accepting bribes from foreign companies to place enormous contracts for the supply of unnecessary military equipment. Then there was the Gupta debacle, in his allegedly allowing this Indian family to loot the state of vast amounts of money, said to be R50 billion, which has vanished to Dubai as has the family. When the president of the country is alleged to be involved in corruption it is understandable that other administrators of government, state, towns and state-owned enterprises will consider…

Itumeleng Mafisa Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi says he has proof that there was an attempt to “assassinate” him and that his family was stalked by certain individuals. He was responding to a statement by AfriForum indicating it intended to sue him for “wrongful accusations”. The Mercury’s sister newspaper The Star understands that in 2019 Lesufi made remarks at a media conference that his family was being stalked and that there was a plan by some formations to assassinate him. Lesufi said he is sticking to his story, and had proof of an invasion of his privacy, including bank accounts. He said AfriForum has approached his lawyers to meditate on the matter, but says he had never specifically pointed out who was planning to assassinate him and stalking his…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za RESIDENTS from uMzumbe Municipality, on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, have complained of being ignored by the municipality in their appeal for water supply despite numerous pleas. The residents yesterday disrupted traffic flow by blockading both sides of the N2 with burning tyres and other objects. The protesters, mainly from Mthwalume, Mfazazana and Sihlonyonyeni, said they had grown tired of reporting the problem to the municipality and had opted for protest action. They had initially blocked the R102 overnight, burning tyres and other objects, and then moved to the N2 yesterday morning, affecting activity in Hibberdene. “We have not had running water for over two months in our area and it seems like our plight is not being heard, that is why we embarked on this action…

THE National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has categorised recovered Covid-19 patients who continue to show symptoms for 28 days or more after infection as having long-Covid syndrome. According to a statement released by the NICD, the common symptoms that persist include fatigue, cough, headaches and loss of smell. A study in the UK reported that prolonged symptoms were present in 13% of its patients after one month, 5% of patients in month two and 2% at three months. “The severity of the initial disease is also predictive of long‐Covid, with hospitalised patients and those with abnormal chest auscultation at presentation being more likely to have persistent symptoms at days 30 and 60,” read the NICD statement. It further stated that some symptoms may only start for the first time…

Independent Media’s foreign editor, Shannon Ebrahim, interviews Chinese Ambassador to SA Chen Xiaodong Q: WE HAVE noted that many leaders from the political parties and the government in South Africa attended the celebrations of the centenary of the founding of the CPC (Chinese Communist Party) held by the Chinese Embassy in South Africa. Many of them fondly recalled and thanked the CPC for its support to South Africa’s national liberation movement. In the mid-20th century, the CPC gave strong support to Africa and other developing countries in their struggle for national liberation and independence. What do you think is the significance of this special friendship to the future development of China- Africa relations? A: The CPC strives for the well- being of the Chinese people and human progress. The…

Jakarta: Indonesia said yesterday it was importing emergency oxygen from neighbouring Singapore as hospitals crumbled under the weight of Covid-19, with the Delta variant continuing to wreak havoc around the globe. Faced with the threat of this highly infectious strain which continues to exact a heavy toll in human tragedies and disrupt sports events worldwide, the global vaccination drive is heating up. Yesterday, the US began sending Vietnam two million doses, part of a first batch of 80 million doses that President Joe Biden has pledged to allocate to countries struggling to tame the pandemic. Vaccines are seen as the main hope of breaking a cycle of economy-busting lockdowns in a pandemic that has killed close to four million people, according to an AFP compilation of official data. But concerns…

The public will be urged not to line the route of the Olympic marathon over fears crowds of fans could spread the coronavirus, Tokyo 2020 organisers said yesterday. With less than three weeks before the pandemic-postponed Games begin, concern is growing over a rebound in virus cases in Japan. “In view of the current Covid-19 situation, it will be necessary to reduce the risk of infection by restricting the movement of members of the public,” organisers said about the marathon and race walk events. “It has therefore been decided to ask the public to refrain from spectating along the course.” The marathon was at the centre of controversy in the original build-up to the 2020 Games, when it was moved to northern Sapporo from Tokyo to avoid the capital’s summer…

Washington: Seems like American singer-actor Jennifer Lopez is on cloud nine as she released Cambia el Paso, her new track with Rauw Alejandro on Monday, the title of which translates to “Change the Step”. In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, the 51-year-old singer discussed her latest single with Rauw, revealing that she feels she’s in the “best time of my life”, reported People magazine. “I’m super happy. I know people are always wondering ‘How are you? What’s going on? Are you okay?’ This is it. I’ve never been better,” said Lopez, who split from Alex Rodriguez earlier this year and is now dating ex-beau Ben Affleck. “I want my people who care about me – because I care about them so much – to know I’ve really gotten…

Manila: Philippine security forces have retrieved the cockpit voice and flight data recorders of a military aircraft that crashed in a coconut grove and killed 53 people, a top commander said yesterday. The C-130 Hercules transport plane was carrying 96 people, mostly army graduates, when it overshot the runway on Sunday on landing on Jolo island in the southern Sulu province. Witnesses and survivors told investigators the plane landed “hard” and then bounced twice before taking off again, said Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan, chief of the Western Mindanao Command.…