News in a nutshell

PP's legal lunacy | Sewage seeps into Vaal Dam | Zuma cocks a snook | Queen's death: the end of an era | Climate tipping points | Zelenskyy's 'good news' | Chess world rocked | Corn-bassador appointed

Public purse taker: Public Protector's R146 998 047 legal bill - and the 37 court losses taxpayers paid for

The record of Mkhwebane's failed taxpayer-funded legal campaigns to defend indefensible reports has raised serious questions about the cases she sought to fight – even to the point of legal lunacy.

2022-09-09  |  News24

Sewage seeps into Vaal Dam as Mpumalanga water treatment plants fail

Failing sewerage systems in Mpumalanga municipalities are pouring filthy water onto streets and into the Vaal River catchment system. Gauteng drinking water could be threatened if crisis is not fixed.

2022-09-08  |  GroundUp News

Zuma cocks a snook at press freedom and the justice system as he takes a top reporter to court

What is at stake is more than Karyn Maughan’s innocence or guilt: it is whether South Africans have an open court in which reporters can gather information, canvass all the parties and report freely.

2022-09-08  |  Daily Maverick

News From Our Continent

Burundi president names new PM after coup plot claims

President Ndayishimiye gave no reasons for the replacement but had warned of a coup against his government last week.

2022-09-08  |  Al Jazeera

World News

Queen Elizabeth II: the end of the 'new Elizabethan age'

Britain has gone through unimaginable change culturally and politically during the Queen’s 70-year reign. Her death is bound to prompt Britain’s reflection on its past, present and future.

2022-09-08  |  The Conversation

World on brink of five ‘disastrous’ climate tipping points, study finds

Giant ice sheets, ocean currents and permafrost regions may already have passed point of irreversible change. 'It’s really worrying. There are grounds for grief, but there are still grounds for hope.'

2022-09-08  |  The Guardian

Ukraine seizes the moment with surprise counterattacks; US approves further $675 million in weapons for Kyiv

Ukraine confirmed it had launched a counterattack in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailing 'good news' from there.

2022-09-08  |  CNBC

Trump ally Steve Bannon pleads not guilty in donor fraud case

Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, has been indicted on charges related to Trump’s effort to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. Trump had pardoned Bannon on his last day in office.

2022-09-08  |  Al Jazeera

Health News

Climate change can set back maternal health, says Professor Matthew Chersich

Researchers draw a line between rising global temperatures and negative effects on maternal health. Prof Chersich uses data science to understand effects of heat on mothers and their babies in Africa.

2022-09-08  |  Spotlight

Books

Denouncing the reader

ZoĂ« Wicomb thinks she knows why black South African readers appreciate Damon Galgut’s Booker Prize-winning novel The Promise while many white readers were turned off by it.

2022-09-07  |  Africa is a Country

Sport

Chess world rocked by cheating accusations as prodigy insists he is now ‘clean’

Top US player Hans Niemann denied cheating after beating world No 1 Magnus Carlsen. He said he would strip naked to prove his innocence and said he'd reformed after admitting to cheating as a youth.

2022-09-08  |  The Independent

And Then There's This ...

Meet South Dakota's new corn-bassador, a boy who recently found out that corn is real

An interview with 7-year-old Tariq about his love for corn racked up millions of views and was made into a song. It also saw him dubbed South Dakota's official corn-bassador.

2022-09-07  |  NPR.org

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