Bad news for Rishi Sunak. UK PM, 

15 ministers may lose seats in 2024 general poll: Report

Only five cabinet ministers, Jeremy Hunt, Suella Braverman, Michael Gove, Nadhim Zawawi and Kemi Badenoch, would be safe, The Independent report added.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves 10 Downing Street in London. (AFP file)

ByAniruddha Dhar, 

New Delhi

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and 15 of his cabinet ministers may lose their seats in a general election “wipeout”, The Independent reported citing polling data.

Besides Sunak, deputy prime minister Dominic Raab and health secretary Steve Barclay, foreign secretary James Cleverly, defence secretary Ben Wallace, business secretary Grant Shapps, Commons leader Penny Mordaunt and environment secretary Therese Coffey could also lose their seats at the general election expected in 2024, an exclusive seat-by-seat analysis found by Focaldata polling for Best for Britain.

Only five cabinet ministers, Jeremy Hunt, Suella Braverman, Michael Gove, Nadhim Zawawi and Kemi Badenoch, would be safe, The Independent .eport added.

The poll shows all other Tory MPs in the current cabinet are at risk of losing their seats to Labour, except Raab, who would lose to the Liberal Democrats in Esher and Walton, and Scottish secretary Alister Jack, on course for defeat by the SNP in Dumfries and Galloway.

A new analysis shared with The Independent on 10 crucial “bellweather” seats shows that Labour is on course to take all 10.

“Sunak’s cabinet deserves nothing short of a wipeout,” the news website quoted Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, a group campaigning for internationalist values and for closer ties with the EU, as saying.

Despite the predicted setback for Sunak’s party, analysis by Best for Britain has revealed that Labour’s massive lead over the Tories could be more fragile than previously thought.

Sunak, the first person of Indian origin to become the British prime minister, meanwhile, is under increasing pressure including from members of his Conservative Party to improve wage offers to healthcare staff.

Sunak on Sunday said the government was willing to have conversations with union leaders about pay, despite ministers previously refusing to reopen talks about this year's deal.

Election needed now to give public a say on Tory ‘failure’ – Starmer

David Lynch, PA Parliamentary Reporter

Thu, 5 January 2023

A general election should be called “straight away” to allow the public to have their say on 13 years of Tory “failure”, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The Labour leader claimed he is ready for an election and he criticised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s “weak and low ambition” proposals for the year ahead, as he made a speech setting out his own party’s agenda for 2023.

Asked whether he is prepared for a snap poll, Sir Keir said: “We are now ready for an election and I put the party on that basis some time ago.

“As to when that election will be, your guess is as good as mine. I think it should be straight away.

“After 13 years of failure, of failure on our economy – growing the economy has been far too slow over the past 13 years – our public services are on their knees, they did huge damage last autumn to our economy.

“I think people are entitled to say, ‘We don’t want any more of this, we should have a general election as soon as possible’.”

His call for an election comes as the Conservatives continue to lag behind Labour in the polls, with the cost of living and the crisis in the NHS impacting the public.

Sir Keir also criticised Mr Sunak’s five-point plan for governance, set out in his own new year speech on Wednesday.

Among his commitments, the Prime Minister pledged to reduce inflation by half, address NHS waiting lists, and tackle the small boats crisis.

The Labour leader said of Mr Sunak: “I thought his promises were weak and low ambition. Inflation is the biggest example of that. So you get inflation down to a rate lower than is already predicted, it is not a big promise to the British public.

“The idea that after 13 years of failure you can come along in the 13th year and say ‘I have got five new promises please give us one more chance’, I just feel is so far removed from reality.”

In response to a question from Sky News, Sir Keir said addressing the NHS workforce is “central” to resolving issues in the health service, adding the current situation is another example of “sticking plaster” politics.

Ukrainian liturgy returns to historical Kyiv monastery after 300 years of ban


Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. 

Photo by Vitaliy Stelmakh (Depositphotos)

2023/01/07 -
Article by: Bohdan Ben
Edited by: Alya Shandra

During the Christmas service on 7 January in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, this largest Ukrainian monastery became a place for the Ukrainian church and Ukrainian liturgy for the first time since the 18th century.

This happened after the state rescinded its lease agreement with the Russian-backed Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which had hitherto held services in two major churches of the monastery, and allowed the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine to hold a Christmas service in one of them:

The Kyiv Pechersk Monastery holds a symbolic place in Ukrainian history. From here, Ukrainian medieval and renaissance church tradition and culture spread to Moscow in the 12-17th centuries. In particular, Yuri Dolgorukiy, the founder of Moscow, is buried here.

However, the monastery became subordinated to the Russian Orthodox church with the expansion of the Russian empire to Ukraine while Ukrainian independent churches were outlawed in the Russian empire and the USSR. As part of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Church Slavonic language was Russified and resembled Russian.

Kyiv Metropolitan Epiphany

The Ukrainian-language liturgy was not sung in the monastery for nearly 300 years — until 2022.

“Today we celebrate the second birth of both this cathedral church and our Pechersk Lavra itself because the spirit of the dirty teachings of the ‘Russian world’ is leaving them. And the spirit of true service to the holy Orthodoxy and the Ukrainian people is returning,” said Kyiv Metropolitan Epiphany, the leader of the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, when he finished his first Christmas liturgy in the Lavra’s Dormition Cathedral on 7 January 2023.

The Ukrainian church tradition survived bans in the Russian Empire. After Ukraine’s independence in 1991, independent Orthodox churches splintered off from the one subordinated to the Moscow Patrarchate, but existed in a schismatic state, i.e. were not recognized by the rest of world Orthodoxy.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014, the movement for official Ukrainian Orthodox church independence accelerated, until Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew bestowed official autocephaly on a united Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

It quickly became the most popular denomination in Ukraine. Following Russia’s full-scale war in 2022, 54% of Ukrainians professed their allegiance with the OCU, a July poll showed.

The Moscow-affiliated church lost believers, with 4% of Ukrainians answering that they are its faithful in 2022, down from 15% in 2020. However, it still used to rent some of the country’s main churches until 2022, when the lease agreement was terminated.

The return of the Ukrainian church to Kyiv’s main monastery is both a symbolical and very practical step. This is one of the oldest monasteries in Ukraine. After Ukraine lost its autonomy in the 18th century, Moscow’s control over the Lavra was one of the main tools to also subordinate Ukraine culturally and destroy its own tradition.

The Dormition Cathedral of The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is famous for its frescoes. Source: Lavra.ua

These times are now gone, when on 7 January 2023 the Ukrainian-language liturgy to melodies of Ukrainian composers sounded in the Dormition cathedral of the Lavra.

“The Pechersk Lavra is taking confident steps today to preach the peace of God, not the ‘Russian world,’ to be a true house of prayer, to serve the Ukrainian people as an example of piety and good deeds,” said Kyiv Metropolitan Epiphany in his sermon. “We thank you, dear brothers and sisters, to all who dreamed of Ukrainian prayer in this holy place, of its liberation from the captivity of the ‘Russian world.’ Your prayers and your position supported our state in this difficult but completely correct decision [to take the Lavra from the Russian-controlled church and return it to Ukrainian].“

The Metropolitan also said that today “all Ukrainian saints celebrate together with us the possibility to pray in this holy place,” including Kyivan Prince Volodymyr who baptized Rus and Petro Mohyla who developed the Lavra in the 17th century, before it was taken by Muscovy.

“Today marks 950 years since the time when, according to tradition, the Mother of God called the builders of this church from Constantinople to Kyiv, so that a church could be built here on the bank of the Dnipro. The architects called it similar to heaven. We have renewed this spiritual connection between Kyiv and Constantinople, between the Church of Rus-Ukraine and the Mother Church of Constantinople,” Kyiv Metropolitan Epiphany said.

Notably, after the liturgy, a choir from the Ukrainian Carpathian mountains also performed ancient Ukrainian carols in the church. These carols have lots of pagan motives, describing how the sun and stars are rejoicing at the beginning of the New Year and how they will bring a good harvest, peace, and happiness to the people. It highlights the peculiarity of Ukrainian tradition which, together with folk motives in choir singing has integrated many other pagan rituals into Christianity.


https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1611860732924104711


The Pechersk Lavra was founded in Kyiv in 1051 by monks Anthony and Theodosius. Founded as a cave monastery, it quickly became the largest in Ukraine complex of churches. Rebuilt in the 15th century, the monastery became a famous center of Christianity and education in Ukraine under the rule of Kyiv metropolitan Petro Mohyla (1633-1647).

However, when the emerging Russian empire consolidated its power over northern Ukraine, the monastery became subordinated to the Russian Orthodox church in 1688 and remained in that status until 2022.

While initially, Kyiv was the metropolitan center of the Orthodox church in both what is now Ukraine and Russia, it lost its status after the disintegration of Rus and the empowerment of Moscow. To make a long story short, since 1596, three church wings were present in Ukraine — one subordinated to Moscow, another to Rome, and yet another independent, although all maintained a similar Orthodox liturgy.

With Ukraine’s state independence in 1991, the Ukrainian autocephalous (independent) orthodox church quickly became more popular than the Moscow-led church in Ukraine. In 2018, the Ukrainian church received a Tomos of independence, which meant it was recognized as equal by all other world orthodox churches.

Until 2022, the Russian-led church still rented from the state several key historical church buildings in Ukraine, including the Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv.

However, since the Moscow-led church today has almost 10 times fewer believers than the independent Ukrainian church and has actively cooperated with Russia during its 2022 war against Ukraine, the Ukrainian government decided to cancel lease agreements and transfer the church buildings to the Ukrainian independent church.

Currently, the public discussion is whether the Russia-led church should be outlawed in Ukraine at all — a move supported by half of Ukrainians according to a recent poll.

Edited by: Alya Shandra

FDA Approves Second Drug for Alzheimer Disease, Despite Safety Concerns

Approval of Leqembi comes after controversial approval in 2021 of Aduhelm, which met with criticism over concerns about that drug's effectiveness, safety, pricing



FRIDAY, Jan. 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a second drug for Alzheimer disease, Leqembi (lecanemab-irmb), despite reports of rare brain bleeds linked to use of the drug in some patients.

Leqembi, made by Eisai and marketed by Biogen, will be only the second drug for Alzheimer disease to receive FDA approval in the past 18 months; the agency's speedy approval of the drug Aduhelm in June 2021 generated controversy in the medical community over its lack of effectiveness, brain bleed concerns, and hefty price tag.

And not every patient would stand to benefit from Leqembi, stressed the Babak Tousi, M.D., from the Cleveland Clinic. He led the portion of the clinical trial that was conducted at the Cleveland Clinic. "The trial was designed for patients in the earlier stage of Alzheimer's disease, people with mild cognitive impairment or early stage of dementia," Tousi noted.

The results of the 18-month trial, which involved about 1,800 patients, gained wide attention when they were published late last year in the New England Journal of Medicine, Tousi noted. In the trial, early-stage Alzheimer disease patients who took Leqembi showed a 27 percent reduction in their mental decline compared with patients in the placebo arm of the trial. The drug's users also showed less evidence of amyloid protein plaques in their brain compared with nonusers.

Still, the deaths of two patients enrolled in the trial cast a cloud on these hopeful findings. Both died from brain hemorrhages that seem linked to the use of Leqembi.

A 65-year-old woman with early-stage Alzheimer disease recently died from a massive brain bleed that some researchers link to lecanemab, according to a report published Nov. 27 in ScienceInsider. The woman suffered a stroke as well as a type of brain swelling and bleeding that has been previously seen with such antibodies, the report noted. Emergency physicians at Northwestern University Medical Center in Chicago treated the woman with a tissue plasminogen activator. She immediately had substantial bleeding throughout her brain's outer layer. The woman died a few days later, according to the case report. The death follows that of an 80-year-old man who was taking part in lecanemab's phase 3 clinical trial. His death was linked to a possible interaction between the experimental drug and the blood thinner apixaban.

The clinical trial also showed that 2.8 percent of participants who took the drug had a symptomatic side effect called amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), which involves swelling in the brain. ARIA was not seen among any participants who got the placebo.

"Lecanemab clearly did what it was designed to do -- it removed amyloid plaque," Tousi, who heads the Clinical Trials Program at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Brain Health, told HealthDay. "The results demonstrated all the downstream effects we hoped would happen in terms of reduction of biomarkers and less clinical decline on several functional and cognitive measures. So, this difference will likely translate to a longer period of independent living for patients."


More Information

Second Death in Trial of Experimental Alzheimer Drug Raising Concerns ›

Lecanemab Reduced Markers of Amyloid in Early Alzheimer Disease ›

FDA OKs Marketing of New Test to Help Diagnose Alzheimer Disease ›

NASA Rover Discovers Gemstone On Mars

David Bressan

FORBES
Contributor
I deal with the rocky road to our modern understanding of earth

Jan 7, 2023

A terrestrial opal from Australia.

A research team using new methods to analyze data from NASA's Curiosity, a rover operating on Mars since 2012, was able to independently verify that fracture halos contained opal, on Earth a gemstone formed by the alteration of silica by water.

The study finds that the vast subsurface fracture networks would have provided conditions that were potentially more habitable than those on the surface.


In 2012, NASA sent the Curiosity rover to Mars to explore Gale Crater, a large impact basin with a massive, layered mountain in the middle. As Curiosity has traversed along the Mars surface, researchers have discovered light-toned rocks surrounding fractures that criss-cross certain parts of the Martian landscape, sometimes extending out far into the horizon of rover imagery. Recent work finds that these widespread halo networks served as one of the last, if not the last, water-rich environments in a modern era of Gale Crater. This water-rich environment in the subsurface would have also provided more habitable conditions when conditions on the surface were likely much more harsh.



Selfie of Curiosity rover with Martian rocks in the background.

As part of a new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, led by former Arizona State University NewSpace Postdoctoral Fellow Travis Gabriel, now a research physicist for the U.S. government, archival data from several instruments were examined and showed considerable anomalies near light-toned rocks earlier in the traverse. By happenstance, Curiosity rover drove right over one of these fracture halos many years ago, long before Gabriel and ASU graduate student and co-author Sean Czarnecki joined the rover team.


Looking at the old images, they saw a huge expanse of fracture halos extending far into the distance. By applying new methods for analyzing instrument data, the research team found something curious. These halos not only looked like halos found much later in the mission, in completely different rock units, but were similar in their composition: a whole lot of silica and water.


"Our new analysis of archival data showed striking similarity between all of the fracture halos we've observed much later in the mission," Gabriel said. "Seeing that these fracture networks were so widespread and likely chock-full of opal was incredible."


Observing drill cores taken at the Buckskin and Greenhorn drill sites many years into the mission, scientists confirmed that these light-toned rocks were very unique compared to anything the team had seen before.

In addition to looking back through archival data, Gabriel and his team went searching for opportunities to study these light-toned rocks again. Once they arrived at the Lubango drill site, a bright-toned fracture halo, Gabriel led a dedicated measurement campaign using the rover's instruments, confirming the opal-rich composition.

Opal-rich halos as seen crosscutting the bedrock extend into the subsurface of Mars.

MALIN SPACE SCIENCE SYSTEMS/NASA/JPL-CALTECH

The discovery of opal is noteworthy as it can form in scenarios where silica is in solution with water, a similar process to dissolving sugar or salt in water. If there is too much salt, or conditions change, it begins to settle at the bottom. On Earth, silica falls out of solution in places like lake and ocean bottoms and can form in hot springs and geysers, somewhat similar to the environments at Yellowstone National Park.

Since scientists expect that this opal in Gale Crater was formed in a modern Mars era, these subsurface networks of fractures could have been far more habitable than the harsh modern-day conditions at the surface.

"Given the widespread fracture networks discovered in Gale Crater, it's reasonable to expect that these potentially habitable subsurface conditions extended to many other regions of Gale Crater as well, and perhaps in other regions of Mars," Gabriel said. "These environments would have formed long after the ancient lakes in Gale Crater dried up."

The significance of finding opal on Mars will have advantages for future astronauts, and exploration efforts could take advantage of these widespread water resources. Opal itself is made up of predominantly two components: silica and water - with a water content ranging from 3 to 21 percent by weight - with minor amounts of impurities such as iron. This means that if you grind it down and apply heat, the opal releases its water. In a previous study, Gabriel and other Curiosity rover scientists demonstrated this exact process. Combined with growing evidence from satellite data that shows the presence of opal elsewhere on Mars, these resilient materials may be a great resource for future exploration activities elsewhere on Mars.

Material provided by the Arizona State University.

7.0-Magnitude Quake Strikes Pacific Nation of Vanuatu

January 08, 2023 
Agence France-Presse

Vanuatu


SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA —

Frightened villagers fled to higher ground fearing a tsunami when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck late Sunday just off the coast of the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu.

The violent quake's epicenter was in the sea just off the northern bay of the largest island Espiritu Santo, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the archipelago's capital Port Vila.

Kayson Pore, a 22-year-old student from the village of Hog Harbour in Espiritu Santo, said he was looking for crab on the beach with half a dozen friends when the earth shook.

"It was very huge," Pore told AFP by telephone.

"We were right on the sea, we were looking for crab on the coast," he said.

"We ran for our lives and then we ran to our homes."

At his home in the village of about 1,000 people, the quake had knocked objects to the ground, breaking cups in the kitchen, Pore said.

"People were moving to higher ground," he added, for fear of a tsunami tidal wave.

But Pore said he had seen no structural damage to homes in his village.

The shallow quake hit around 11:30 pm local time (1230 GMT) around 27 kilometers (17 miles) deep, according to the US Geological Survey, which placed it about 25 kilometers from the Espiritu Santo village of Port-Olry.

People could feel the quake as far away as Port Vila, on the island of Etafe, said Natasha Joel, a receptionist at the Grand Hotel and Casino in the capital.

However, the tremor was "a bit small" there and no guests were evacuated from the hotel, she said.

A tsunami warning was initially issued for Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands but cancelled about an hour and a half after the quake.

'A Big One!'

"Tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to one meter above the tide level are possible for some coasts of Vanuatu," the NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii said.

Waves smaller than 0.3 meters were possible for New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands, it added.

The French embassy in Vanuatu advised people to stay away from the coasts in a post on its official Facebook page.

Residents reported on social media that there had been damage.

"A Big One!!" one person posted on Facebook. "Lots of things broken all around."

New Zealand's National Emergency Management Agency said there was no tsunami threat to its country.

Vanuatu is part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide, and experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

The Solomon Islands, an island nation just north of Vanuatu, was hit in November with a 7.0-magnitude quake, though there were no reports of serious injuries or major structural damage.

In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami on Indonesia's Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.

Vanuatu is ranked as one of the countries most susceptible to natural disasters like earthquakes, storm damage, flooding and tsunamis, according to the annual World Risk Report.

Large majority of Moroccans do not trust govt on socioeconomic crisis: poll

The New Arab Staff
08 January, 2023

A 2022 opinion poll has shown that most Moroccans are dissatisfied with government performance on the country's cost of living crisis. They're also disappointed with the opposition.


The kingdom witnessed a number of protests last year as socioeconomic conditions worsened for many [Getty/archive]

A large majority of Moroccans do not trust their government or the opposition, and feel that political parties in the country are not fit for purpose, a 2022 opinion poll has shown.

The poll, carried out by the Moroccan Centre for Citizenship (CMC) NGO between 20 October and 12 November, showed that 82 percent of respondents said they do not trust the current government, led by Aziz Akhannouch since 2021.

Another 77 percent expressed their lack of confidence in opposition parties, while 81 percent think political parties in general are not doing enough.

Nearly half, at 48 percent, attributed political parties’ failure to the spread of nepotism and clientelism in Morocco, while 19 percent thought they were distant and disconnected from citizens.

Eighteen percent thought it was due to a decline in the country’s democracy.

The study, published on Saturday, reveals great dissatisfaction with the government’s performance throughout last year with regards to managing the economy and cost of living crisis.

A large majority of 95 percent of respondents said they were unhappy with how the government has handled price hikes in fuel and other basic commodities, while 93 percent believe the government is not taking measures to protect the country’s middle class.

Like most economies in the region, Morocco are reeling under inflation that has seen the price of basic goods skyrocket.

The premier, Akhannouch, owns one of Morocco’s biggest fuel distribution companies, Afriquia Gaz, which put him at the centre of controversy.

He came in first place when respondents were asked who was the most person they thought contributed to the Moroccan citizens’ loss of confidence in their government, with nearly half – 49 percent - naming him.

AMDH: Morocco's human rights deterioration is 'systematic'

Basma El Atti

The tourism-reliant economy also took a heavy hit throughout the coronavirus pandemic, as the government imposed strict entry laws, as well as tight rules on businesses in the hospitality industry.

An oil importing economy heavily dependent on trade with Europe, Morocco is also more exposed to global shocks, especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

Morocco has also suffered from its worst drought in decades, exacerbated by scorching temperatures and decreased rainfall, leading to heightened water shortages.

Many have tried making the dangerous journey to Spanish enclaves Ceuta and Melilla, in an attempt to reach Europe, along with other African migrants escaping conflict, persecution or poverty.

On corruption, the CMC poll revealed that 91 percent were displeased with how Akhannouch’s government has handled corruption cases, 90 percent were unhappy with the reforms in the judiciary and education system, and 88 percent were unsatisfied with social dialogue in the country of 37 million people.

SOUTH AFRICA /  ZA

“Workers are tired — get your act together,' Cosatu warns ANC


08 January 2023 - 13:36
Amanda Khoza

Presidency reporter

Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi says the union is tired of waiting for the ANC to get its act together

Image: Screenshot/Amanda Khoza Twitter

Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi has read the ANC the riot act saying workers are growing impatient and putting the organisation on notice until it gets its act together.

“Workers were very clear in 2021 in the local elections. They have put the entire movement on notice. Workers are saying to the ANC today: dismantle the factions, remove incompetent deployees, unite the ANC and rebuild its structures,” said Losi.

She was delivering a message of support during the party’s 111th birthday celebration where president Cyril Ramaphosa is delivering the party’s January 8 statement.

The celebration is taking place at the Dr Petrus Molemela stadium in Mangaung in the Free State.

Losi said: “While we welcome our achievements, we cannot afford to be complacent or arrogant as workers to survive the many crises that are crippling our nation.

“The ANC’s 55th national conference as well as the SACP and Cosatu congresses have been concluded. Our mandate of members, workers and the public is very clear.

“Workers are tired of the factionalism and corruption that is dividing the movement and that many leaders are guilty of.

“President, we are deeply worried that while the workers support the step-aside resolution, it appears that we are backtracking on this. We cannot compromise on matters of principle and that of the rule of law.”

Losi said those who have been charged and convicted for criminal offences must step aside.

“We cannot have leaders with criminal convictions and expect society to respect collective bargaining and honour their wage agreement.”

She added that workers want a sane, credible and clean ANC.

“We need a united alliance if we are to turn the nation around. We are facing our greatest challenge since 1994 and the heart of addressing this is fixing the state.”

She said the inability of countless municipalities to provide basic services is causing many companies to close and further impoverishing communities.

“Workers are angry that when they blow the whistle in Vhembe, Gauteng, Eastern Cape and here in Mangaung, they are assassinated and no one is brought to justice.”

Workers were also tired of politicians promising to end load-shedding.

“We need action and results,” said Losi.

TimesLIVE

HIS HELL IS FULL OF BLACK VOLK

Prosecuted S.African ex-apartheid minister dies: statement

Issued on: 08/01/2023 - 

Adriaan Volk oversaw a brutal police crackdown on opponents of white rule while he was former law and order minister 

Johannesburg (AFP) – Adriaan Vlok, a feared minister under South Africa's apartheid system and one of its few high-ranking officials to be prosecuted, died Sunday aged 85 in a hospital near Pretoria, his family said

The former law and order minister, who oversaw a brutal police crackdown on opponents of white rule, "passed away early this morning in the Unitas Hospital in Centurion, after a short illness," a family spokesman said in a statement.

In the late 1980s, Vlok oversaw bomb attacks on churches and trade unions seen as hostile to white-rule.

"I believed that apartheid was right," he told AFP in 2015. "It was our job to make people fear us."

In his old age he said he had changed his mindset, and sought redemption by handing out food to the poor in a township -- settlements outside cities designed to segregate non-whites.

In 2007, Adriaan Vlok was given a 10-year suspended sentence for attempting to murder a prominent opposition figure.

He had sought to kill Reverend Frank Chikane -- then head of a leading anti-apartheid organisation -- some 18 years earlier by rubbing poison on clothes in the priest's luggage at Johannesburg airport.

"I feel ashamed of many things I have done," he said at his sentencing, admitting that his commitment to the racist regime was "a mistake."

The former minister has publicly apologised to his victims, even symbolically washing Chikane's feet.

His detractors insisted it was a crude stunt to avoid revealing the extent of the abuses committed by the police.

To shed light on the atrocities committed by the regime, the government of Nelson Mandela set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

It guaranteed amnesty for those responsible for political violence in exchange for full confessions.

But few took part in the exercise.

Few cases of apartheid-era abuses have resulted in a trial and many critics say it is an "unfinished mission" to heal the wounds of the past.

SOUTH AFRICA   ZA

Attempted Murder On Eskom CEO André de Ruyter Confirmed


12 hours ago 2 min read

Eskom CEO André de Ruyter has survived an attempt on his life after an assassin laced his cup of coffee with cyanide in mid-December.

De Ruyter confirmed to the publication that he reported the attempted murder to the South African Police Service (SAPS) on Thursday, 5 January 2023.

He said the case could be assumed to be under investigation.

The attempted assassination happened at Megawatt Park on Tuesday, 13 December 2022 — the day after De Ruyter submitted his resignation as CEO to the Eskom chairman, Mpho Makwana.

However, he noted that his resignation only became public knowledge the day after the poisoning.

De Ruyter is serving his notice period at Eskom, which will see him helm the state-owned power utility until 31 March 2023.

Citing a source external to Eskom, EE Business Intelligence reported that De Ruyter shook uncontrollably, became weak, dizzy, and confused, and repeatedly vomited after drinking from the poisoned cup.

The CEO’s security detail rushed De Ruyter to a doctor after he collapsed. He was diagnosed with cyanide poisoning and received the necessary treatment.

According to the report, subsequent tests confirmed significantly elevated levels of cyanide in his body.

This is not the first time an Eskom executive’s safety has been at risk.

In November 2022, the Hawks and contracted investigators traced and arrested a 27-year-old suspect with “overwhelming evidence” reportedly linking them to a bomb threat against Eskom chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer.

Oberholzer received the bomb threat from an anonymous and unregistered cellphone number in May last year, which he immediately reported to the SAPS.

Cyanide poisoning’: Eskom CEO André De Ruyter opens attempted murder case

De Ruyter reportedly fell sick after his cup of coffee was laced with cyanide.

Eskom CEO, André de Ruyter speaks during an interview on 15 November 2021. Picture: Gallo Images/Rapport/Deon Raath

---

Outgoing Eskom chief executive officer (CEO) André de Ruyter has opened a case of attempted murder, according to reports.

De Ruyter registered the case on Thursday, 5 January.

“The case can be assumed to be under investigation,” he told energy expert Chris Yelland.

According to EE Business Intelligence, De Ruyter fell sick after his cup of coffee was laced with cyanide at his Megawatt Park office in Sunninghill, Johannesburg.

ALSO READ: André de Ruyter under investigation for ‘irregularity’ at Eskom

After tests were conducted, it was confirmed that De Ruyter got cyanide poisoning, and was subsequently treated by a doctor.

READ MORE

Daily news update: ANC's Mashatile 'ready', another tanker crash and André De Ruyter case

The incident took place on 13 December last year, which was a day after De Ruyter resigned as Eskom CEO.

News about De Ruyter’s resignation was publicly confirmed on 14 December.

His last day at Eskom will be 31 March 2023.

Bug found

The incident following the bugging of De Ruyter’s car last year.

In October, Eskom confirmed that a sophisticated bug was found under the driver’s seat when Ruyter was cleaning his vehicle.

READ MORE: Experts fear De Ruyter has become the target of criminal networks

Although a security researcher dismissed the “sophisticated NSA-level” bug as nothing “particularly intricate nor something advanced nation-state clandestine services would use”.

“Honestly, it looks like a gate remote,” Co-author of the OWASP Application Security Verification Standard and Blackhat review board member Daniel Cuthbert told tech publication My Broadband.

The Citizen’s efforts to reach the police by phone for comment were unsuccessful.

                     

 

A Full Circle Moment for Ghanaian Artist Foster Sakyiamah        

A new exhibition by Accra’s ADA\Contemporary Gallery is the latest affirmation that Ghanaian artist Foster Sakyiamah is a talent on the rise. Known for taking the subjects of Old Master paintings and reimagining them with African women, bold colors, and vivid patterns, he creates works that are familiar and utterly new at the same time. One of the major works in the collection is “Akosua As Desire,” which is influenced by Gauguin’s 1892 painting “The Seed of the Areoi.” It shows a Ghanaian lady whose Black body is painted in red skin seated in the nude and holding what looks like a mango while sitting on a table covered with cloth to convey independence, a sense of nurturing, and femininity. A second painting that also received the Sakyiamah spin is Vermeer’s 1665 painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring.” He tells OkayAfrica that the paintings were created to “discuss and celebrate women” through his gaze, in what he calls “empowering objectification.”

OKAYAFRICA