News in a nutshell

Insurance firms raided | 'Kill the boer' is free speech | Putin's closest crony's secret SA visit | Russia’s military ineptitude | Spain: Only yes is yes | Advantage England | Black hole remix

Putin’s number two secretly visited South Africa days after Blinken — Ramaphosa professes ignorance

Did the powerful Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, Putin's closest crony and CEO of Russia’s largest oil company, travel to Gauteng to meet top government officials? Or perhaps to discuss oil purchases?

2022-08-25  |  Daily Maverick

Competition body raids eight major insurance firms

The search and seizure operations took place at BrightRock, Discovery, FMI, Hollard, Momentum, Old Mutual, PPS and Sanlam yesterday over alleged collusion and price fixing.

2022-08-25  |  Fin24

Judge rules that 'Kill the boer - Kill the farmer' is not hate speech

Court says chants shouldn't be taken literally. 'It deserves to be protected under freedom of speech. It articulates the failure of government to address issues of economic empowerment,' judge rules.

2022-08-25  |  GroundUp News

News From Our Continent

Angola’s ruling party leading in vote count: Officials

Election officials say early results show a strong lead for MPLA, but opposition says the initial count is unreliable.

2022-08-25  |  Al Jazeera

eSwatini’s King Mswati accused of assaulting yet another wife

Mswati III allegedly assaulted Inkhosikati Sibonelo Mngomezulu for questioning him about the father of Princess Sikhanyiso’s son. The queen’s teeth were allegedly knocked out by the absolute monarch.

2022-08-25  |  The Mail & Guardian

World News

Judge orders redacted affidavit used in Trump search warrant to be unsealed

The document will be unsealed by noon today. In its most complete form, it would disclose important details about the government’s justification for searching Mar-a-Lago this month.

2022-08-25  |  New York Times  | Paywalled

Spain’s ‘only yes means yes’ sexual consent bill expected to become law

The law, under which consent must be affirmative and can't be assumed to have been given by default or silence, was drawn up in the wake of the 'wolf pack' gang rape in 2016.

2022-08-25  |  the Guardian

Six months of war in Ukraine: Five key military takeaways

6 months on: Ukraine’s resistance has forced Russia’s military to a virtual standstill, its image as a fighting force shattered. Russia’s military ineptitude in this war has been staggering.

2022-08-25  |  Al Jazeera

Health News

AIDS 2022: The latest on long-acting HIV prevention and treatment

Elri Voigt summarises some of the latest developments on long-acting therapies for HIV presented at the 2022 International AIDS conference.

2022-08-25  |  Spotlight

Sport

Proteas’ fragile batting crumbles under England onslaught

Today's first hour of play could be the most decisive period of the match. If the Proteas break the Bairstow/Crawley resistance and nab some wickets the game might be alive. SA 151 England 111-3

2022-08-25  |  Daily Maverick

And Then There's This ...

NASA posts what a black hole sounds like. One review: ‘Cosmic horror.’

The 34-second clip set social media ablaze, with many people gobsmacked that anything, let alone what sounds like an eerie, guttural moan, could escape a black hole.

2022-08-25  |  Washington Post

Tweet of the Week ... goes to @VeryBadLlama for this observation:

The entire concept of passports is weird, you try to visit a slightly different piece of the planet you were born on and then somebody goes "woah woah woah, first I need to see a very small booklet".

All bulletins