S Africa’s minister who flouted lockdown rules sent on leave
Johannesburg: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday placed on special leave a minister seen lunching at a friend’s house in violation of the coronavirus lockdown.
Ramaphosa has ordered a three-week national lockdown to try to brake the virus, which has infected 1,749 people, killing 13 of them, according to an official tally. But a picture posted on Instagram on Sunday showed Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams having lunch with five other people at the home of a former deputy minister earlier that day.
“President Ramaphosa has placed the Minister on special leave for two months,” the presidency said in a statement. Ramaphosa has “accepted the minister’s apology for the violation but was unmoved by mitigating factors she tendered,” it said.
“The nation-wide lockdown calls for absolute compliance on the part of all South Africans,” Ramaphosa was quoted as saying. “None of us — not least a member of the national executive — should undermine our national effort to save lives in this very serious situation,” said Ramaphosa. “No-one is above the law.”
Last month, just two days into the lockdown, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu was forced to issue an apology after she posted a video on her Instagram account, joking about how she was struggling to stay home. (AFP)
No press, no family: Space crew set for launch during pandemic
Almaty: A three-man space crew finished preparations on Wednesday for a mission to the International Space Station, which is going ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency and NASA’s Chris Cassidy will blast off from Kazakhstan for a six-month mission at 08:05 GMT Thursday. But with journalists and relatives unable to travel to Baikonur due to restrictions related to COVID-19, the traditional farewell press conference broadcast by Roscosmos had a more distant and sombre feel.
“Instead of talking only to some cameras we would be talking to some people right now,” said Cassidy, who is readying for his third stint in space. Cassidy, 50, admitted that the crew was “affected” by their families not being able to be in Baikonur for their blastoff to the ISS.
“But we understand that the whole world is also impacted by the same crisis.” Quarantine and isolation from the rest of the world are not new habits for astronauts. The glass barrier that separates them from media and loved ones during regular pre-launch events is specifically meant to protect them from potential infection.
This time, however, their isolation has been “even more thorough”, said Ivanishin, after the crew opted out of visits to sites in Moscow during their training an hour outside the city.
Thursday’s launch will be the first time a manned mission uses a Soyuz-2.1a booster to reach orbit, after Roscosmos stopped using the Soyuz-FG rocket last year. The newer boosters have been used in unmanned launches since 2004. (AFP)
Eggcessive price hikes for Easter treats in Italy
Milan: The price of Easter chocolates and cakes have spiked online in Italy, a consumer protection group warned on Tuesday as the country prepares to celebrate the upcoming holiday in lockdown.
Price hikes of up to 168 percent on Easter treats have been seen online, Federconsumatori said, calling on the government to crack down on price gouging. Italy, one of the world’s coronavirus hotspots, has imposed strict confinement measures and Italians are restricted to shopping at the stores closest next to them. Online shopping and delivery has exploded as people avoid going out.
Prices on festive items purchased by many Italians for Easter, an important holiday in the Catholic country, have only risen modestly in stores, however, according to Federconsumatori. The price of a “Colomba di Pasqua,” a Panettone-like cake in the form of a dove eaten at Easter costs on average 9.69 euros (USD 10.50) in a physical store but can reach prices of 19.90 euros or even 19.99 euros online, the group said in a statement.
The same phenomenon has been seen with chocolate eggs, which have seen an average 37 percent markup online versus stores. Some prices have been marked up as much as 168 per cent, said Federconsumatori, which called the price hikes “unacceptable”.
“Not only will families have to face a subdued Easter and often full of anguish and suffering, but they will also have to deal with the economic repercussions that this emergency is already causing, which make the price increases of food and typical products even more serious, as well as the speculative attitudes of some online sellers,” the group said. (AFP)