Indholdsfortegnelse for 2023-12-13 i Mercury

A war of words has erupted between ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and former ANC Veterans League deputy president Mavuso Msimang. Mbalula accused Msimang, who quit the party last week, of having tendered his resignation through the media and not directly to the ANC. During an address at the Wedela Community Hall on the West Rand at the weekend, Mbalula further accused the veteran of allegedly taking a bribe from Roger Jardine. Mbalula, who has been slammed for some of his recent public statements against ANC veterans, has been calling for veterans to desist “de-campaigning” the ANC by using money to lure their leaders away from the party. On Monday, Msimang said he had sent his resignation letter directly to Mbalula and his assistant, and less than two hours later, his…

Great news for the New Year. I have received positive feedback from very reliable sources on the following issues, which have been bugging us for decades: The economy will begin to spiral exponentially upwards, breaking all previous records, all because the Guptas will be “transponded” back to this country, bringing with them all the money they stole. Ramaphosa will lose the elections for the ANC, signalling an end to all corruption. Past thieves in the government will also be sent to Robben Island to break any stones remaining since our past stalwarts were released. The Zionist diplomats will be removed forever, as a single, perfectly democratic state of “Palesrael” is established, with both flags merged into one. Ugly words and partitions like “West Bank” and “Gaza” will vanish. That new…

The Americans are such a religious nation; or so it seems. After celebrating Thanksgiving Day and splurging on Black Friday they are now getting ready to celebrate the joy of Christmas. Their homes are decorated, the streets and parks lit up and shopping malls are buzzing with Christmas shoppers. Like devout Christians they will attend mass on Christmas morning and go back home and gorge on roast turkey, gammon and champagne. So imbued are the Americans with the spirit of Christmas that almost all films you see on TV at this time of the year have either a Christmas theme or have some Christmas lighting and décor. Yet this very same Christian nation does not want to end the bloody conflict in the Middle East. On the eve of the…

More South Africans are applying for credit cards to help make ends meet in the current cost-of-living crisis, but the vast majority are being declined. Even wealthy consumers are having their opening credit card and personal loan limits reduced as lenders seek to curb risk among this proportion of South Africans who are becoming increasingly dependent on unsecured loans to maintain their living standards. The latest Experian Consumer Default Index (CDIx) for Q3 showed that there has been a 32% rise in the number of people defaulting, a sign that consumers are struggling even more to meet their debt obligations amidst the rising cost of living. While, on a quarterly basis, the composite CDIx remained unchanged, this stability, despite high interest rates and reduced lending across all products, was expected…

A WOMAN, 54, who is going through a divorce told the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, that she wants R120 000 in spousal maintenance because she wants to continue with the lifestyle she had been accustomed to. The couple got married in 1990 and have two children. A divorce was instituted in August 2021, and the wife now wants her husband to financially maintain her until it is finalised. In court papers she said she was unemployed and fully reliant on her husband to provide for all her needs. During the marriage, she had access to a joint account enabling her to draw up to R40 000 per month to buy groceries and personal expenses. However, after the divorce action was instituted, the husband now gives her R1 000 per…

The eThekwini Municipality says most of its beaches are “excellent” or “acceptable” in terms of the level of E. Coli in the water, based on joint test results with the Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology (IWWT) at the Durban University of Technology. The City has also been testing beach water quality with Adopt-a-River and Talbot. On Monday, the City published its joint results with Talbot, which showed that the six sites it tested all recorded exceedingly high levels of E. coli. All six beaches – Ushaka, Point Beach, South Beach, North Beach, Battery Beach, and Country Club Beach – were closed due to unsafe conditions. These results were based on a test conducted on December 7. However, yesterday the City claimed Ushaka and Country Club beaches had tested as…

“Forward Together” was the theme of Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Chen Xiaodong’s speech yesterday at a reception celebrating 25 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations at the Chinese embassy in Pretoria. Chen noted that although China and South Africa are geographically far apart, our two countries enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges which provide a fine example for China- Africa and South-South co-operation. This is evidenced by the frequent state visits, as well as the numerous bilateral mechanisms, such as the Bi-National Commission, the Joint Economic and Trade Commission and the Strategic Dialogue. “We have now together entered a new stage of building a high-level China-South Africa community with a shared future,” Chen said. The second pillar of the “Forward Together” theme is the growth in bilateral…

Israeli forces battled Hamas militants and bombed more targets in the devastated Gaza Strip yesterday as the UN General Assembly was due to vote on a new demand for a ceasefire. More than two months into the war sparked by the October 7 attack, the visiting chief of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, likened Gaza to “hell on earth”. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry charged yesterday that Israeli forces were raiding a hospital in Gaza City, the biggest urban centre, in the north of the coastal territory. “Israeli occupation forces are storming Kamal Adwan hospital after besieging and bombing it for days,” ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said, accusing troops of rounding up men in the hospital courtyard, including medical staff. Israel has accused the Islamist militant group of…

An asylum seeker has died on board a barge housing migrants off the south coast of England, British police and interior minister James Cleverly said yesterday. Earlier refugee charity Care4Calais said an asylum seeker had died on the Bibby Stockholm, a barge moored in Portland, Dorset, and which can house around 500 people. “Tragically there has been death on the Bibby Stockholm barge,” Cleverly told parliament. Dorset police said they had received a report of “a sudden death of a resident on the Bibby Stockholm” yesterday. “Officers are conducting enquiries,” police said. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made cracking down on illegal migration one of his key priorities. As part of that drive, the government is trying to cut the cost of accommodating asylum seekers in hotels by using…

NAIROBI: President William Ruto said yesterday that Kenya was emerging “out of debt distress”, touting his economic policies despite public anger over tax hikes and slashed subsidies as the country marked its 60th independence anniversary. East Africa’s economic powerhouse has been struggling to manage multiple challenges, including depleted government coffers, high inflation and a plunging currency that has sent debt repayment costs soaring. Kenya had accumulated more than 10.1 trillion shillings (R1.2 trillion) in debt by the end of June, according to Treasury figures. Ruto has been on a campaign to slash public debt and “wasteful” government expenditure. He has also cut food and fuel subsidies. | AFP…

ISTANBUL: Türkiye is seeking an explanation from Somalia after the son of its president, Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, left the country following a fatal traffic accident. The son, Mohamed Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, was driving a vehicle belonging to the Somali consulate last month when he hit a motorcycle courier in Istanbul. The Somali president’s son left Türkiye on December 2, after his release from police interrogation, while the motorcyclist, Yunus Emre Gocer, 38, remained in hospital. But after Gocer’s death in hospital on December 6, an international arrest warrant was issued for the Somali president’s son, the Istanbul prosecutor’s office said. | Reuters…

AmaZulu head coach Pablo Franco Martin has dismissed any assumptions that there is concern regarding what he deems a ‘bogus’ three-game losing streak across all competitions. Usuthu are hard at work preparing for the visit of Sekhukhune United to the King Zwelithini Stadium today, following a horrid run of results in both the league and in cup competition. AmaZulu’s most recent defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns came after the side was controversially eliminated from the Carling Knockout by TS Galaxy, after being beaten by Stellenbosch a week before that. The Spanish-born mentor, however, has stated that those results are not a true reflection of his side’s performances in recent weeks, as numerous factors like outstanding goalkeeping from the opposition and poor officiating have denied his side their ‘deserved’ triumphs. “We are…

Türkiye’s football was plunged into crisis yesterday morning after an on-field attack on a referee by a club president, who was mentioned as a possible mayoral candidate for Ankara. The top-flight Super Lig indefinitely suspended matches and a court placed Ankaragucu club president Faruk Koca and two others in pre-trial detention for “injuring and threatening a public official”. Images of Monday night’s incident showed Koca rushing onto the pitch with a group of men and throwing a punch at referee Halil Umut Meler after he had blown the final whistle. Koca appeared to be incensed at Meler for awarding a stoppage-time penalty kick that allowed visiting Caykur Rizespor to leave the capital with a 1-1 draw. Meler fell to the ground and was kicked several times in the ensuing mêlée.…

There was some fighting talk from Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Lesiba Nku before today’s Premiership match against lowly Cape Town Spurs in Pretoria (7.30pm kick-off). Since the match is between the Premiership’s No 1 team and the team that is stone last in the standings, it has the look of a David versus Goliath contest. At least, that is how the speedy Nku views the contest at Loftus Versfeld. “Spurs will be fighting for their lives and we will be fighting to win. We want to win every game,” said Nku, who has been mainly used off the bench in recent times. He has been competing for a place in the run-on XI with the likes of Neo Maema, Gaston Sirino, Junior Mendieta, Lucas Ribeiro Costa, Thapelo Maseko, and Themba Zwane.…

SA A: 298-5 Du Plessis 103*, Hermann 95, Kumar 3-83 in 25, Thakur 1-33 AFTER a rained-out opening day of the unofficial Test match between South Africa A and India A in Potchefstroom, the hosts enjoyed a dominant day with the willow yesterday, losing only five wickets in the process. The chief destroyer was 25-year-old Jean du Plessis (103*) whose approach yesterday made the Indian bowling attack look mediocre. In actual fact, it should have been anything but mediocre with Test bowler Shardul Thakur (1-33) in the visitors’ playing XI. The Indian attack also had Prasidh Krishna (0-34), a quick who is part of India’s 16-man Test squad that will face South Africa in a two-match Test series that is set to start on Boxing Day. However, the right-handed Du…

SOUTH Africa will need R535 billion per year for the next seven years to meet its nationally determined contributions to reduce it emissions between 22% to 33% by 2030. Given the quantum of R131bn as baseline climate finance flows measured from 2019 to 2021, this means we must increase our climate finance investments up to five-fold to reach our goals of a low-carbon and climate resilient economy. These figures are supported by the Presidential Climate Commission Re- port on South Africa’s Climate Finance Landscape which was released on No- vember 29 and commissioned with the Climate Policy Initiative and GreenCape. Through a rigorous review of global best practice in climate finance mapping frameworks to reach its finding and alignment with other climate finance tracking systems, including the National Treasury’s…

A REPORT on eThekwini Municipality’s financial performance has revealed that 8 114 “households” have applied for the debt relief programme, and the City has called for more to apply before the programme ends at the end of the month. City officials said the number of applications was small, noting that the scale of consumer debt and the number of people having their services disconnected for being in arrears showed that more ratepayers needed assistance. Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda gave the update during the last council meeting of the year on Monday, revealing that the value of these applications amounted to more than R780 million. The programme was reinstated a few weeks ago. It has been implemented at least two times before to ease the burden faced by indebted consumers. It benefits…

Effective propaganda requires at least a degree of credibility. But nowhere in his lengthy harangue does Julius Malema provide any indication of how the EFF would provide better governance of KZN (The Mercury, December 7). Cataloguing the failings of the ANC in KZN – from social exclusion and factional battles to housing, crime and unemployment – may project impressive sound bytes but is hardly a recommendation to vote EFF. But where Malema’s attempt to garner votes fails is on the EFF’s own record. He claims “only the EFF is able to govern this province without violence” because “the EFF is the only organisation brave enough to call out thugs for what they are”. But here the commander-in-chief seems to suffer from amnesia. In its March 15 edition the Financial Mail…

More than diamonds and gold, give others the gifts people really want. People want attention. To offer another your full attention is to offer a gift that will not be easily or quickly forgotten. We tend to remember people who valued us enough to offer their undivided attention. People want to be heard. To hear someone without interruption, without being interpreted, without being redirected or corrected, is to offer a priceless gift. We remember those who listen and avoid those who don’t. People want their God-given freedoms acknowledged and honoured. When you consciously disallow anything in your behaviour or attitude to impede another’s freedom, which does not come from you in the first place, you are endorsing a priceless gift. People who have wronged you, and who have expressed their…

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla is taking on those opposed to the National Health Insurance (NHI) plan, arguing that the “status quo in our health system cannot remain” and the huge disparity between the haves and have nots must be ended. Addressing delegates at the Policy Dialogue on Universal Health Care in South Africa yesterday, Phaahla lauded last week’s vote by the National Council of Provinces that placed South Africa firmly on the path of a National Health Insurance scheme. Phaahla said the reforms under the NHI aimed to dismantle the two-tiered healthcare structure, notoriously known for serving the affluent minority while leaving the majority in the lurch. South Africa's current healthcare landscape is marked by stark disparities: 10% of the population controls over 80% of the wealth, and a…

The powers and privileges committee maintained its stance this week, asserting that it would not issue a subpoena to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to testify in the disciplinary hearing involving three EFF MPs. This decision comes despite objections from the EFF’s legal representative, Mfesane ka-Siboto, who expressed concern about Mapisa-Nqakula not being called as a witness and raised issues regarding the committee’s constitution. He made the statement when EFF MPs Ntombovuyo Mente, Khanya Ceza and Nazier Paulsen appeared for their disciplinary hearing for disrupting a parliamentary plenary on August 30, 2022, when President Cyril Ramaphosa was answering oral questions. Their conduct on that day led to them being physically removed and Mapisa-Nqakula referring her report to the committee for investigation and reporting. Advocate Tanya Golden, the hearing’s initiator, said…

EThekwini Municipality speaker Thabani Nyawose’s decision to allocate senior citizen vouchers only to the 111 ward councillors in the City was met with strong opposition during a full council meeting this week. At the meeting in Durban on Monday, some parties raised questions about the fair distribution of the vouchers. The City said the programme was part of an annual social relief initiative. Nyawose said the food vouchers will be distributed to all 111 ward councillors from Friday but will only be available for collection from Monday. “I have received a number of complaints and proposals from PR councillors requesting the speaker to consider giving PR councillors their share or an allocation of a number of vouchers. “They are making allegations that ward councillors distribute these vouchers to members of…

Eight medical students in their sixth and final year of study at the University of KwaZulu-Natal have been awarded bursaries from Bonitas Medical Fund in partnership with the Gift of the Givers. The partnership, which began in 2018, will see an additional investment of R3.3 million into the bursaries, that covers outstanding and current debt, as well as the provision of boreholes at various health facilities. Speaking at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine in Durban yesterday, Lee Callakoppen, principal officer of Bonitas, said there were many students at tertiary level in dire need of financial support. “The SA economy is challenging and parents and students are challenged in terms of just getting themselves through the educational system,” he said. Callakoppen said one of the key imperatives to strengthen…

Dear Mavuso Msimang: the president of the ANC, first, and then the country, has expressed regret that you have chosen to leave the organisation after 60 years. He highlighted that everyone joins the ANC voluntarily, out of choice. And when they wish to leave, they will not be stopped as it is out of choice. The president emphasised that when others leave the ANC, new members join. Thus, there will be no vacuum in the ANC. Let us be frank and admit that there is no so-called principled veteran or stalwart in the ANC. None exists. To understand this, we need to first be clear about the meaning of these words: veteran, stalwart and ... er, hero. A veteran is someone who has been with the organisation for too long.…

Western powers and nations most threatened by climate change fought yesterday against oil producer Saudi Arabia for stronger calls on exiting fossil fuels as negotiators worked past a host-set deadline in UN talks in Dubai. The 13-day COP28 summit in the glitzy metropolis built on petrodollars has debated a historic first-ever global “phase-out” from oil, gas and coal, the main culprits in a planetary crisis of warming. But a draft put forward on Monday by COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber, himself head of the UAE oil company, fell well short, instead presenting reductions in fossil fuels as one of several options. With low-lying island nations warning that their very survival is at risk, negotiators worked through the night and the Emirati hosts promised a new draft to try to find…

El Salvador said yesterday that it would issue bitcoin bonds in the first quarter of 2024, the proceeds of which are expected to finance the construction of a “Bitcoin City” powered by a volcano. “We anticipate the bond will be issued during the first quarter of 2024,” the National Bitcoin Office said on X. Bitcoin became a legal currency in El Salvador, alongside the US dollar, in 2021 at the behest of President Nayib Bukele. The dollar has been legal tender in the Salvadoran economy since 2001. With bitcoin, Bukele sought to make it cheaper for Salvadorans to receive remittances and to provide financial services access to the 70% of people with no bank account. But a poll by the Central American University found that 71% believed the cryptocurrency “has…

PARIS: The French government announced plans yesterday to form a special parliamentary commission aimed at breaking the deadlock over a draft immigration law that was rejected by MPs in a surprise move. Government spokesperson Olivier Veran said that the commission would be put in place “as fast as possible” and that the government hoped to find a compromise with opposition MPs. The bill also includes provisions disliked by left-wing MPs and more liberal aspects that have been criticised by some conservatives and the far right. Although the Senate had adopted the bill, MPs in the National Assembly sent it back to the drawing board. | Reuters…

LONDON: Fashion brand Zara said yesterday that it regretted the “misunderstanding” over an ad campaign featuring statues wrapped in white that triggered calls for a boycott by some pro-Palestinian activists, and it had removed the images. People left tens of thousands of complaints about the campaign on Zara’s Instagram account, saying the images resembled photos of corpses in white shrouds in Gaza. “#BoycottZara” trended on messaging platform X. The images were used “with the sole purpose of showcasing craftmade garments in an artistic context”, said Zara. | Reuters…

Rugby chiefs hailed yesterday’s announcement that Guinness will be the title sponsors of the Women’s Six Nations as a “defining moment” for the game. The Ireland-based brewer, which replaces social media platform TikTok, sponsors the men’s edition and has also extended its backing of that tournament.Its support of the Women’s Six Nations is seen as a landmark development. “This is a defining moment for rugby, with huge potential on the horizon and a genuine opportunity to widen the audience for the sport, to help secure its future,” said Six Nations Rugby CEO Tom Harrison. “The women’s game is the biggest growth engine for rugby, and through this partnership Guinness will help accelerate this.” Guinness’s sponsorship of the Women’s Six Nations will start with next year’s edition. | AFP…

THE PORT ELIZABETH bulk terminal successfully concluded its annual 10-day maintenance shutdown to ensure the seamless handling of manganese for the next 12 months, Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) said in a statement yesterday. “This was a planned initiative carried out in agreement with customers where bulk handling equipment like tipplers, stackers, reclaimers, ship- loaders, feeders and over 10 kilometres of conveyor belt system were all serviced,” it said. Annually, the terminal has capacity to handle six million tons of manganese as the industry continues to grow, with increased global demand. Wandisa Vazi, the managing executive of the Eastern Cape Terminals at Transnet Port Terminals, said it was important to ensure that the maintenance works started as scheduled and that the working environment was safe for employees. “The plant has…

A “pure light, and an even purer heart” is how musician Zahara was described by her family yesterday as they announced her death. Taking to her official Instagram account, they confirmed Bulelwa “Zahara” Mkutukana, 36, had died on Monday “surrounded by family and loved ones”. Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa was one of the first to announce the award-winning singer’s death on social media. “I am very saddened by the passing of @ZaharaSA. My deepest condolences to the Mkutukana family and the South African music industry. The government has been with the family for some time now,” tweeted Kodwa. “Zahara and her guitar made an incredible and lasting impact on South African music.” Paying tribute to her, her family wrote: “It is with heavy hearts and the…

I recently had the opportunity to visit several schools in Gauteng. When I stood up and asked a small group of children about their experience of having a father in their lives, many met me with blank stares. They simply didn’t have a response because they weren’t growing up with one. They had never had a consistent father by their side. The figures back this up. According to Statistics South Africa, half of all children don’t live with their biological fathers. My experience working in correctional services has taught me about the far-reaching implications of this. Absent fathers and crime There’s a clear link between the access and relationship children have with their fathers and how likely they are to commit a crime – either as a child or later…

AN OFFICIAL menu for a state banquet that bears the signature of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong has been auctioned for $275 000 (over R5 million), reports Associated Press. Boston-based RR Auction said the menu was for a banquet held in Beijing on October 19, 1956. It commemorated the first state visit to China by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. The menu was also signed in fountain pen by six influential Chinese statesmen, including Premier Zhou Enlai. The banquet featured foods from both nations and included delicacies such as “Consommé of Swallow Nest and White Agaric”, “Shark’s Fin in Brown Sauce” and “Roast Peking Duck”. “To hold a menu signed by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai is to hold a piece of the past – a piece that tells…

Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke has made damning findings against the Compensation Fund with it obtaining yet another disclaimer of audit opinion for the 2021/22 financial year. Maluleke said she was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion on the entity’s financial statements. “Due to the limitations imposed on the scope of the audit by management, I have disclaimed my opinion on the financial statements. “Had it not been for the legislated requirement to perform the audit of the public entity, I would have withdrawn from the engagement,” she said. The fund had submitted its annual statement for the auditing of its finances a year after the scheduled deadline, a move that impacted the auditing of statements for 2022/23, which are still to…

Limpopo police are investigating after a 39-year-old police officer, based at Giyani, and his wife were found dead in their bedroom. They had been shot. Police spokesperson Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba said that on Sunday night, police received a complaint of a shooting at Hlaneki village. “Upon arrival, police discovered two lifeless bodies of a male and female lying in a pool of blood in their bedroom,” said Mashaba. “The female person had three bullet wounds to the body and the male person had a bullet wound to the head.” The deceased police officer was identified by a family member as 39-year-old Sergeant Melvin Sambo from the SAPS based in Giyani, and his 42-year-old wife Suzan Mhlarhi. Police said the cause of deaths will be determined by the post-mortem results. “The…

PRINCE Simakade Zulu says they have been vindicated by Monday’s court ruling, which declared President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recognition of Misuzulu kaZwelithini as AmaZulu king as unlawful. They will now scrutinise the individuals Ramaphosa will assign to the investigation committee that will have to probe the objections that have been raised. Pretoria High Court Judge Norman Davis on Monday ruled Ramaphosa had not correctly recognised the king in terms of the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act 3 of 2019 (the Leadership Act). “The matter of the recognition of the Isilo of the AmaZulu is remitted to (Ramaphosa) who is directed to act in terms of Sections 8(4) and 8(5) of the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act 3 of 2019 and to appoint an investigative committee as contemplated in that act to…

SOMETHING hungry and evil is craving for the blood of top South African musicians. It was barely bedtime on Monday when news broke that Bulelwa Mkutukana, known as Zahara, had died. Two weeks ago, Zahara’s family posted a statement on her social media accounts stating that the Loliwe singer had been admitted to hospital suffering from “physical pains” and that doctors had been treating her. Zahara shot to fame after she released her first studio album in 2011, titled Loliwe, which went double platinum. Two years later, her second album Phendula also rocked the charts. And she did it again in 2015, with Country Girl, which went triple platinum, and then Nqaba Yam – her fifth album which hit number one on iTunes. The self-taught guitarist scooped 17 South African…

He has been impeached twice, tried to thwart the peaceful transfer of power after losing the 2020 presidential election, faces scores of charges in multiple criminal cases, and his critics warn he is plotting to rule as an autocrat. Yet Donald Trump could still return to the White House. Trump leads his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination by nearly 50 percentage points in national opinion polls, a remarkable comeback for a one-term president who three years ago appeared vanquished and humiliated. Here are four reasons why Trump could win the November 2024 election against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden: The Biden White House argues the economy is in good shape, with unemployment down to a near-historic low of 3.9% from 6.3% when Trump left office and inflation cooling from a…

MOSCOW: Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s location inside the prison system remains unknown and he again did not show up at a court hearing by video link, his spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said yesterday. His allies said that Navalny had been removed from the penal colony where he had been imprisoned since the middle of last year and that his current whereabouts were unknown. They had been preparing for his expected transfer to a “special regime” colony, the harshest grade in Russia’s prison system, after he was sentenced in August to an additional 19 years in prison on top of 11-and-a-half years he was already serving. The process of moving prisoners by rail across Russia’s vast territory can take weeks, with family unable to obtain information about their location and well-being.…

Canberra: The north tropical coast of Australia’s Queensland could be hit with life-threatening flash flooding and destructive wind gusts as tropical cyclone Jasper is expected to make landfall today, the country’s Bureau of Meteorology said yesterday. Tropical Cyclone Jasper, with category 2 strength, was expected to impact the Far North Queensland coast today the Bureau said. Tropical cyclone Jasper may intensify slightly more as it moves towards the coast. It was forecast to cross the coast as a category 2 system and would weaken as it moves inland tomorrow towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. | IANS…