South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The embattled leader was found guilty of contempt after he failed to appear before an inquiry probing wide-ranging allegations of corruption during his nearly nine-year tenure.

Zuma, 79, is accused of enabling the plunder of state coffers during 2009 to 2018, his stay in office.

He was not in court for the ruling and has been given five days to present himself at a police station. If he fails to do that the police minister must order his arrest, the court directed.

In a strongly worded majority judgment handed down by Justice Sisi Khampepe of the Constitutional Court, she described Zuma’s statements as “outlandish” and “intolerable”. “The Constitutional Court can do nothing but conclude that Zuma is guilty of the crime of contempt of court,” judge Khampepe said.

Judge Khampepe said that Zuma attempted to corrode the legitimacy of the Constitutional Court by conducting a “politically motivated smear campaign” against it, the commission and the judiciary. “No person is above the law whatever his rank or condition,” she said, continuing: “An act of defiance in respect of a direct judicial order has the potential to precipitate a constitutional crisis. If with impunity litigants are allowed to decide which orders they wish to obey, and which they wish to ignore, then our Constitution is not worth the paper on which it is written.”

The court also said that the sentence could not be suspended. The Commission of Enquiry, which is investigating allegations of corruption and bribery at state and parastatal institutions, had asked that Zuma be sent to prison for two years. Zuma has repeatedly denied the allegations. Zuma has repeatedly said that he would rather go to jail than cooperate with the Commission.

“The Constitutional Court holds that it is disturbing that (Zuma), who twice swore allegiance to the Republic (of South Africa), its laws and the Constitution, has sought to ignore, undermine and in many ways destroy the rule of law altogether,” the judge said.

The Constitutional Court went to great lengths to safeguard Zuma’s rights. Consequently, there is no sound nor logical basis on which Zuma can claim to have been treated “unfairly or victimised”, the judge said.

“His attempts to evoke public sympathy through unfounded allegations fly in the face of reason and are an insult to the Constitutional dispensation for which so many women and men fought and lost their lives. The majority finds itself faced with little choice but to send a resounding message that this kind of recalcitrance and defiance is unlawful and will be punished,” Khampepe said.

The judge said it was important for the sentence to be effective to maintain the public’s confidence in the judiciary. A minority judgment by two judges on the seven-member panel agreed that Zuma was in contempt of court but said that a punitive sentence would be inappropriate, as the Commission should refer Zuma’s contempt to the Public Prosecutor’s office.

Zuma, who was ousted as President just a few months before his second term ended three years ago by his own African National Congress party, is also facing other criminal charges that have been going on for over a decade. He is required to hand himself over within five days to the police station at either his rural homestead in Nkandla or in central Johannesburg, where he also has a home.

Zuma has been named as a central figure in the allegations of corruption of over 50 billion rands involving the three Gupta brothers, allegedly because of their closeness to him.

Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta have been accused of siphoning billions of rands from the state-owned corporations through their alleged proximity to Zuma.

The Indian-origin businessmen, who arrived in South Africa from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh in the 1990s, also allegedly announced appointments to the Cabinet well before Zuma himself did so.

Zuma’s two children are also alleged to have benefited from the Guptas, who are in self-exile in Dubai. The South African government has initiated their extradition. In a separate legal matter, Zuma pleaded not guilty last month in his corruption trial involving a major arms deal from the 1990s.

-With agency inputs

Expressing concern at United Nations (UN) over information and communication technology misuse for terrorist propaganda and radicalisation, India called on the attention of the UN member states on the possibility of weaponised drones for terrorist purposes on Monday. India also slammed Pakistan for spreading false narratives and making baseless allegations against it.

VSK Kaumudi, Special Secretary (Internal Security), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), while speaking at a UN high-level conference of heads of counter-terrorism agencies, said, “Being a low-cost option and easily available, utilisation of these aerial/sub-surface platforms for sinister purposes by terrorist groups such as intelligence collection, weapon/explosives delivery and targeted attacks have become an imminent danger and challenge for security agencies worldwide.”

“The possibility of the use of weaponised drones for terrorist purposes against strategic and commercial assets calls for serious attention by the member states,” he added.

Kaumudi also slammed a vitriolic diatribe by the Pakistan delegation, accusing it of “peddling false narratives and making baseless allegations against India”.

“For a nation that engages in sectarian violence against its own minorities and harbours a deep sense of insecurity and orchestrated hatred for India, there is nothing new that we could have expected from this delegation. 7th review of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS) is over and Pakistan’s false narrative was summarily negated by the UN membership,” he said.

He added that the international community should call upon Pakistan to take effective, verifiable and irreversible actions against terror outfits operating on the territory under its control and not take the high road of morality which is only laden with mines of falsehood.

“Covid-19 and the subsequent isolation has further accentuated the impact of the internet on people making them vulnerable to radicalisation and recruitment by terrorist groups. Spreading terrorist propaganda through the use of “indulging video games” is another strategy that was deployed by terrorist groups during the pandemic,” Kaumudi said.

The Secretary also suggested a multipronged approach to tackle the global threats emanating out of misuse of new technologies particularly aiming towards terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism. “The transborder nature of this threat calls for collective and unified action by the international community, without any excuse or exceptions, ensuring that those countries which provide safe havens to terrorists should be called out and held accountable,” he said.

He also mentioned that India has put in place an elaborate CT and security architecture besides introducing a series of measures in the cyber-space encapsulating counter-radicalisation and de-radicalisation strategies. “The Government of India stands fully committed to the fight against terrorism and has been fully supportive of the United Nations efforts in this regard,” he remarked.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday held a discussion with the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab over the progress in Afghanistan and the situation in Myanmar.

Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar said they discussed the state of the world, regional issues, Covid-19, and climate action. “Met the UK Foreign Secretary @DominicRaab this morning. Reviewed the progress of our bilateral Road Map. Discussed the state of the world, regional issues, Covid and Climate Action,” he tweeted on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Raab said London and New Delhi’s friendship is invaluable as the two countries tackle common challenges together from Covid-19 to climate change. Jaishankar and Raab are in Rome to attend the G20 ministerial meetings.

Raab tweeted, “At the G20 today @DrSJaishankar & I spoke about the UK-India 2030 Roadmap, progress in Afghanistan & the situation in Myanmar. The UK Flag of United Kingdom & India Flag of India friendship is invaluable as we tackle common challenges together, from Covid-19 to climate change, so we can #BuildBackBetter.”

NEW DELHI: As per sources, social media reports claiming that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met certain Taliban leaders are “completely false, baseless, and mischievous.”

“We have seen social media reports claiming that EAM has met certain Taliban leaders. Such reports are completely false, baseless and mischievous,” a source said. Some reports floating on social media claimed that Jaishankar met some Taliban leaders who assured that the outfit’s future relations with India will not be based on Pakistan’s wishes.

During the UNSC Debate on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan last week, Jaishankar had called for a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire to ensure reduction in violence in Afghanistan and said that terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries must be dismantled immediately for enduring peace in the war-torn country. Jaishankar had said there needs to be zero tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border terror acts. He had said it is equally important to ensure that the territory of Afghanistan is not used by terrorist groups to threaten or attack any other country and those providing material and financial support to terrorist entities must be held accountable. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that he has asked the pope to come to Canada to apologise for the Catholic Church’s role running residential schools for indigenous children, after the remains of nearly 1,000 people were found in unmarked graves near two of the former schools.

“I have spoken personally directly with His Holiness Pope Francis to press upon him how important it is not just that he makes an apology but that he makes an apology to indigenous Canadians on Canadian soil,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa.

“I know that the Catholic church leadership is looking and very actively engaged in what next steps can be taken.”

Trudeau said that he was “terribly saddened” by the new discovery, adding that it was a “shameful reminder of the systemic racism, discrimination and injustice that indigenous peoples have faced — and continue to face — in this country.” Several protests erupted across Canada after the 215 graves were found, culminating in the toppling of a statue of Egerton Ryerson, one of the key figures behind Canada’s residential school system.

Cowessess First Nation said on Thursday some 751 unmarked graves had been found at the site of Marieval Residential School in Saskatchewan, just weeks after 215 unmarked graves were discovered at a former school in British Columbia.

The residential school system, which operated between 1831 and 1996, removed about 150,000 indigenous children from their families and brought them to Christian residential schools, mostly Catholic, run on behalf of the federal government. A federal commission’s report found the residential school system enacted cultural genocide on Canada’s indigenous people.

“I have heard directly from many Catholics across this country who want to see the church play a positive role in this,” Trudeau added.

Earlier this month, Pope Francis stopped short of a direct apology but said he was pained by the discovery of the remains of 215 children and called for respect for the rights and cultures of native peoples.

According to analysts, a unusual mention in North Korean state media of leader Kim Jong Un’s ‘weight-loss’ could be intended to further a ‘propaganda’ amid food shortages.

On Friday, the tightly controlled state media quoted an unidentified resident of Pyongyang as saying that everyone in North Korea was heartbroken after seeing images of Kim looking “emaciated”.

In recent state media images Kim appeared to have lost weight, as the analysts noted the strap on his fancy watch was tighter, and his face thinner than before. Some observers say Kim — who is about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and has previously weighed 140 kilograms— may have lost about 10-20 kilograms.

“If outside observers picked up on the change in Kim’s appearance, you can bet your bottom dollar that the North Korean people noticed it, too, and more quickly,” Reuters quoted Christopher Green, a Korea specialist at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

whether Kim’s weight loss is due to illness, or whether he decided that it was time to get fit, the saga is obscure— and the intention behind the state media coverage is unknown.

“It is a little strange that they would show him in such ill-fitting clothes, as the optics do seem to emphasise his weight loss,” Jenny Town, director of the U.S.-based 38 North project, which monitors North Korea, told Reuters.

The dictator has admitted a “tense” food situation that could worsen if this year’s crops fail, aggravating economic problems amid strict self-imposed border and movement restrictions that have slowed trade to a trickle.

“The most likely reason they would mention his declining weight in this way would, in my opinion, be related to ongoing COVID-19-related border measures,” said Chad O’Carroll, CEO of the Seoul-based Korea Risk Group.

“Regardless of the motivation for Kim’s rapid weight loss, it seems there is propaganda value in showing that even the leader of North Korea is enduring the same food shortages that are hitting the country at the current time.”

The dictatorship may have intended from the beginning to emphasise the fact that Kim is working hard for the people at a time of widespread hardship, or its messaging may have been an unintended consequence of Kim’s inevitable appearance, Christopher Green, a Korea specialist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, told Reuters.

“What matters is that the North Korean regime will have received word from its many, many, many informants that Kim’s condition was a talking point among ordinary people,”

“From there it is a simple matter to respond by designing a propaganda strategy to use the existing public discussion to the regime’s advantage.”

Nevertheless, the dictator’s apparent weight loss is more likely an attempt to improve his health, rather than a sign of illness, according to Hong Min, a senior analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification.

Kim’s weight loss has become the talk of the town after the unidentified resident of Pyongyang expressed his grief.

“Seeing respected general secretary (Kim Jong Un) looking emaciated breaks our people’s heart so much,” the man said in an interview aired by state broadcaster KRT on Friday.

“Everyone is saying that their tears welled up,” he said.

Washington: Two MacBook Pro models and one Mac mini are expected to arrive within the fourth quarter of this year, with all three machines fueled by American tech giant Apple’s much-talked-about M1X chipset.

According to The Verge, reports suggest that both the M1X MacBook Pro models, which can likely include a 14-inch and a 16-inch version, alongside a Mac mini, will be launched in late October or early November. Since Apple did announce its M1-running MacBook products last year on November 10, this prediction could hold merit, but a lot can happen within the coming months. From what’s known, both the M1X MacBook Pro models are expected to feature mini-LED screens a bit like the M1 iPad Pro.

Unfortunately, Apple has run into supply issues with this particular component, and to mitigate those problems, the company has reportedly added another supplier to assist with production slowdowns.

Even then, Apple isn’t expected to start out production of the new portable Macs until late 2021, and since the Mac mini can’t be announced as a standalone product since it’ll deduct the spotlight from the MacBook Pro family, it’ll likely be unveiled alongside the 14-inch and 16-inch notebooks.