Tuesday, June 2 2020
THE BIG ISSUES
LEADING THE AGENDA
News FREE
Blues, booze and thieves with tunnel vision: ...
Monday was marked by frustration, tears and jubilation as the country lurched into lockdown level 3
Graeme Hosken
Senior reporter
6 min read
News FREE
A very clean takeoff: airports back in action, ...
Acsa says it’s doing its best to make travellers feel at ease, with more security and monitors to answer questions
Philani Nombembe
Journalist
3 min read
SMART NEWS
IN ONE TAKE
If your heart’s in art, keep your eye on this child prodigy
Cape Town’s Eli Williams is just 11 years old and already his work is in the hands of a collector
Claire Keeton
Senior features writer
5 min read
News FREE
What on Earth? Damage to satellites as world’s magnetic field weakens
Radiation hazard, and later complete pole reversal, will follow
Tanya Farber
Senior science reporter
2 min read
News FREE
We’d rather miss a grade than dig a grave, say parents
Terrified moms and dads explain to Times Select why their kids won’t be back in class – no matter what the minister says
Orrin Singh
Reporter
4 min read
Baby whisperer’s neighbour gets nappy ending to sleepless nights
Cape man gets legal relief after 15-year spat with Marina Petropulos over renovations that damaged his home
Philani Nombembe
Journalist
2 min read
IDEAS
FEEDING YOUR MIND
EDITORIAL | Slack response to Covid betrays the hard lessons of HIV
Many citizens seem to believe they are immune, missing the cold parallel between two very different pandemics
Sunday Times Daily
Editorial
3 min read
Five, four, three, bam! Suddenly the virus fight is up to each of us
With stage 3, Covid-19’s existence in SA has been splintered into 58 million personal experiences
Tom Eaton
Columnist
4 min read
They don’t have dandelion roots, but they speak tooth to power
A column to satisfy your inner grammar nerd
Sue de Groot
Deputy features editor: Sunday Times
4 min read
WORLD
THE NEWS YOU DON'T NORMALLY GET TO HEAR
Wanted: more virus. Ebbing covid is bad news for ...
As the first wave wanes, low transmission rates may scupper trials, so scientists desperately need new hot spots
By Kate Kelland and Julie Steenhuysen
4 min read
LIFE
ALL THE OTHER THINGS THAT MATTER
The People’s Dialogue: uniting good folk, burying monopolies
An extract from Michael Beaumont’s ‘The Accidental Mayor: Herman Mashaba and the Battle for Johannesburg’
By Michael Beaumont
15 min read
Let logic prevail when you load up on workspace tech
Click in silence, toggle seamlessy between devices or charge ahead with your mousepad
By Nafisa Akabor
2 min read
Attention collectors: US museums may now sell their artworks
In an unprecedented move, pandemic-hit curators will not be penalised if they sell artworks for the next two years
By Sanet Oberholzer
2 min read
Blast from the past: Knoetze’s disappointing date with Tate
Today in SA sports history: June 2
David Isaacson
Sports reporter
3 min read
SNAPSHOT
6 things you need to know
Thieves tunnel in, steal R300,000 in booze
Solid concrete was no deterrent for thieves who tunnelled into a Johannesburg liquor store during lockdown, stealing R300,000 in whisky, brandy, gin, ciders, vodka and beer. Shoprite said the theft from the Shoprite LiquorShop in Newtown Junction took place during lockdown levels 4 and 5, when the sale of alcohol was prohibited. The manager discovered the theft, and a large hole in the floor, on Friday when she returned to prepare for the store’s reopening under level 3 on Monday. "The suspects avoided the mall’s main entrance and instead used electrical and stormwater tunnels beneath the shopping centre to gain access to an area beneath the store. They then tunnelled through the solid concrete floor directly into the shop,” said Shoprite. It is unclear how the thieves knew where to tunnel, nor how long it took to get through the thick concrete floor, but they returned a few times to steal a large amount of stock.
It’s the return of the croon-a-virus
As sacred as the pub is to Britons and the church to Americans, Japan's karaoke boxes are once again throwing open their doors to anyone - regardless of ability - who has the urge to sing. While the Japanese government still recommend that karaoke boxes remain closed out of concern that people singing in enclosed spaces are more likely to share the coronavirus, the vast majority of cities and prefectures across the country on Wednesday gave operators the green light for the crooning to resume. – © Telegraph Media Group Limited (2019)
Hawks arrest trio who ‘sold land on behalf of chief’
An undercover Hawks operation has led to the arrest of three suspects who were allegedly selling parcels of land illegally in the Vuwani area of Limpopo for R3,500 each. They allegedly impersonated a chief in the village, outside Thohoyandou. “The team caught the suspects in the act” on Saturday, the Hawks said. The suspects are expected to make their first appearance in the Vuwani Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of fraud and impersonation.
Ewe won’t believe this cotton-picking idea
A Singaporean minister has sheepishly admitted to saying cotton came from animals rather than plants in a slip-up during an interview that triggered bleats of mockery online. Trade and industry minister Chan Chun Sing made the error in a video interview on Saturday while attempting to explain tiny Singapore's reliance on foreign trade. He gave face masks - which are widely used in the city state to fight coronavirus - as an example, suggesting there were not many components that Singapore could produce itself. “[We] don't have too many sheeps in Singapore to produce cotton," he said. - AFP
Forex airport smuggler hit with R1.2m order
More than R1m in foreign currency, smuggled in a secret luggage compartment by a passenger at OR Tambo International Airport, has been forfeited to the state. The forfeiture order against Abdul Qadir Yousuf, 47, was granted by the South Gauteng High Court, the Hawks said on Monday. Yusuf was arrested by customs authorities in February 2019 at the airport's check-in area bound for Dubai. "Upon searching his luggage, authorities discovered $68,468 and €1,500 in a secret compartment," said Capt Ndivhuwo Mulamu. He was charged with contravening the Customs and Excise Act, and money laundering. "He was found guilty and sentenced to two years' imprisonment or a R15,000 fine by the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court in November [2019] in line with the provisions of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA)."
Talkie walkies kicked to the kerb
It’s seen the world over: pedestrians glued to their phones while walking, causing collisions and sometimes accidents. No more, says one Japanese city. Officials in Yamato city, near Tokyo, have submitted a bill to the city assembly to stop people from using their phones while walking. "The number of people using smartphones has rapidly increased and so have the number of accidents" in the densely populated area, city official Masaaki Yasumi said. ”We want to prevent that," he said, adding if passed it would be the first such ban in Japan. There would be no punishment, but “we hope the ban will raise more awareness about the dangers”. - AFP
