Mail & Guardian

Beckham battles

The son of popstar-turned fashion designer, Victoria Beckham and renowned soccer player, David Beckham, has exposed his family for their apparent disapproval of his marriage. Brooklyn Beckham, aged 26, said he refused to reconcile with his family,...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

100+ The decrease in the number of murders in Mexico between September 2025 and December 2025, according to President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government. Government officials announced the sharp decrease in homicide rates, though no official statistics...

Pop battle

A K-Pop record label is suing a former member of the band NewJeans following a year of disagreements in which the band accused the company of mistreatment, The Guardian reports. The record label, Ador, filed a 43.1 billion won (R487 million) lawsuit...

CYRIL’S WINNERS AND LOSERS

The year of Labubu Labubu, the ugly-cute elf-monster that became 2025’s most luxurious and desired toy, will continue to reach new heights of fame. Last month, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Sony Pictures had acquired the screen rights to...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

20 The number of years that the leader of Sudan’s Janjaweed militia was sentenced to prison after the International Criminal Court found him guilty of numerous crimes he committed to help authorities stamp out rebellion against the Sudanese...

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120,000 The value of snails stolen from a French farm in Bouzy, near Reims, the BBC reports. Thieves reportedly broke into the farm overnight into Monday last week and stole the entire establishment’s end-of-year stock. 48 The number of video...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

23 The number of children who died from malnutrition within the period of a month in war-torn Sudan, according to a report by the Sudan Doctors Network. The deaths, which occurred between 20 October and 20 November in the cities of Dilling and Kadugli...

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120 The number of people injured— including 100 police officers and 20 protesters—as Gen Z demonstrators clashed with police in Mexico City and across the country to protest corruption and drug violence on Saturday, The Guardian reports. The protests...

51

The age of an Egyptian artefact that was stolen and illegally exported to the Netherlands, most likely during the upheaval of the 2011 Arab Spring. The artefact, which depicts a senior official from the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III between 1479–1425...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

$125M 23 The amount of funds raised by wealthy donors and private donations to continue critical aid after President Donald Trump’s administration cut foreign aid, the Associated Press reports. The plan to raise funds after the closure of USAID sought...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

36 The number of months that 26 protesters were sentenced to prison in the Ivory Coast after demonstrating against the exclusion of opposition candidates from the upcoming elections, the Associated Press reports. The demonstrations, which took place...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

The amount of money a county in Wyoming, US, agreed to pay to a librarian after she sued for being dismissed over her commitment to keeping 2SLGBTQ-themed books on library shelves, reports. In 2021, certain community members asked that 2SLGBTQ+themed...

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The number of chickens the Netherlands is expected to kill following a bird flu outbreak at a poultry farm in the country’s north, The Independent reports. The outbreak comes amid a seasonal uptick in bird flu around the world. 10 The number of...

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2 The age of a Nepalese girl child who has been chosen as the country’s new living goddess, the Associated Press reports. Aryatara Shakya was chosen as the new Kumari, or virgin goddess, thereby replacing the incumbent, who becomes a mere mortal upon...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

11 The number of charges of aggravated sexual assault that Australian Glenn Gary Cameron pleaded guilty to after committing a series of rapes in the early 1990s, The Guardian reports. Cameron, who has at least eight known victims, mostly lured Asian...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK87

The number of “carbon major” entities, including business and government entities, that have contributed to about half of the increase in intensity of heatwaves that occurred between 2000 and 2023, according to a study published in the journal Nature...

Matador’s last dance

A tradition with millennia-old origins is facing its end in Colombia, as the Constitutional Court upheld a law banning bullfighting on Thursday. According to the Associated Press, it also bans cockfighting as part of efforts to protect animal rights....

ZILLE: THUMBS UP FOR JOBURG

Hero hacker While driving his Tesla vehicle in Florida in the United States, in 2019, a finance executive dropped his phone and opted to pick it up while the car drove on autopilot. Tragically, the vehicle crashed into a parked vehicle, killing a...

Flotilla to Gaza

Nine South Africans join convoy carrying antibiotics, baby formula, bandages and staple food

IN BRIEF

AI hallucinations An Australian lawyer leading a defence team for a teenager accused of murder apologised for filing court submissions with fake quotes and case citations generated by AI, CBS News reports. The spurious court submissions filed by...

IN BRIEF

AI chatbots gaslight users AI chatbots are leading people into states of psychosis, Futurism reports. In a Wall Street Journal investigation, thousands of public conversations between AI chatbots and people were collated, with dozens of examples...

IN BRIEF

Bionic woman After being paralysed for 20 years, the first woman to receive Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain implant was able to write her name by using thought alone, The Debrief reports. Audrey Crews, who lost the ability to move at 16, became a...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

35 The number of kilometres cut off from this year’s Tour de France after news emerged of a disease outbreak among cattle living within the planned routes, Sky News reports. Organisers cut two out of five climbs, reducing the race distance from 130...

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25 The number of babies trafficked to Singapore from Indonesia by a baby trafficking syndicate that was busted by Indonesian police last week, the BBC reports. Indonesian police arrested 13 suspects in the cities of Pontianak and Tangerang and...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK $200m

The value (equal to R3.5bn) of the contract awarded to Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, XAI, by the US government, The Express Tribune reports. The government awarded XAI the contract, along with other companies such as Google, Anthropic...

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140 The number of people identified as Argentina’s “stolen grandchildren” after being taken from their mothers during the 1976 to 1983 military dictatorship, France24 reports. At the time, babies were stolen from activist mothers, who were abducted...

Gamblers mourn money

About 47 000 people in Norway were falsely led to believe that they had won large sums of money after trying their luck in the national lottery, CTV News reports. Ole Fredrik Sveen was one of the thousands of people who received a message from the...

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145 The number of people who reported being pricked with syringes during a country-wide celebration of World Music Day in France last weekend. According to a news report by CBS, social media posts preceding the celebrations called for women to be...

P 3 360

Kim Engelbrecht’s age on 20 June. The actor, best known for her role in the series shares her birthday with soccer star Itumeleng Khune and Australian-american actor Nicole Kidman The new cost in pesos (equivalent to R2 497) of 3GB of data in Cuba...

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Mary-kate and Ashley Olsen’s age on 13 June. The American teen titans of the Nineties and Noughties celebrate their birthday with Canadian comedian Tim Allen and Captain America actor Chris Evans The number of elephants Zimbabwe will cull to...

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The number of Black American skulls returned to New Orleans, US, from Germany after they were sent to the European country in the 19th century for pseudoscientific phrenological research. The 19 individuals died of natural causes at a hospital in New...

Calls for Shivambu’s head to roll

The umkhonto wesizwe (MK) party is again facing pressure from within its ranks to remove secretary general Floyd Shivambu, as well as other leaders. A top-level leadership overhaul has been proposed in a 29-page strategy document circulating among...

Cyril survives the circus

Napalm Girl The debate regarding the authorship of a world-renowned photograph has resulted in the World Press Photo organisation suspending its recognition of the photographer, The Guardian reports. The photo, colloquially known as Napalm Girl and...

MH17 case closed A vessel of tragedies

The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) found Russia responsible for firing at a Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and causing the death of 298 people more than a decade ago, Associated Press reports. In 2016, A Dutch-led...

9May

Sho Madjozi’s age on 9 May. Known for sporting braids inspired by Fulani and Tuareg women and dressing in traditional Tsonga attire, the South African rapper and singer broke traditional beauty standards while appealing to audiences worldwide. The...

From CIA son to Russian soldier Snaps of shame

A Russian news outlet has revealed the son of an American CIA agent and an Iraq war veteran has died while fighting for Russia against Ukraine, Newsweek reports. In an obituary posted on a funeral home’s website, Michael Gloss is described as a...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

9% The number of UK women, when questioned in 2024, who expressed that they (1 in 11) would rather be men, according to research by the Policy Institute at King’s College London. The number has significantly decreased since 1947, when 37% (4 in...

Lama’s fate sparks fury

A crowd of Tibetan Buddhists and activists surrounded China’s embassy in India to protest the mysterious death of a Buddhist spiritual leader in Chinese police custody, UCA News reports. Tulku Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche was a high lama, or spiritual guru,...

Row over The power Skyfall: plan to of music: The disarm the The eternal dangers security legacy of of space industry Riky Rick junk The crisis continues Bitter harvest

Croc chaos A Chinese court is burdened with the unusual task of auctioning off 100 tonnes of live crocodiles for four million yuan, the South China Morning Post reports. The Guangdong Hongyi Crocodile Industry Company, a reptile farm established by Mo...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

5 The number of men in Belgium, including three bar owners, who were arrested in connection with a case where 41 women were raped and sexually assaulted after their drinks were spiked between December 2021 and December 2024, the BBC reports. Police...

MISSING

Minister’s secret past Iceland’s minister for children and education has resigned from her job following reports of her relationship with a minor which resulted in her pregnancy 36 years ago, CNN reports. Minister Ásthildur Lóa Thórsdóttir was 22 and...

Double standard? Sudan link in SA-UAE arms deal

Lessons from the past How Donald Trump was weaponised

‘Bad child’ sues school A university student from Connecticut in the United States is suing her former high school after announcing that she is illiterate. When Aleysha Ortiz was a preschooler in Puerto Rico, her mother was aware that she suffered...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

103 The number of years since Egypt gained independence from Britain, following increased nationalism. The UK declared Egypt as independent on 28 February 1922 and the country was recognised as the Kingdom of Egypt on 15 March The age at which...

The Battle for the Gulf

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says her country is waiting for a new response from Google after the tech giant renamed the Gulf of Mexico on its maps service, Associated Press reports. The country requested that the tech giant alter the name from...

SA opts for quiet diplomacy

The government this week redoubled its diplomatic efforts to forge common purpose with G20 nations as US President Donald Trump signalled he would continue to sideline the country. Trump repeated his claims that the government is fuelling race hatred...

Modesty over luxury

Uruguay’s president-elect Yamandú Orsi told journalists he would continue living in his humble beachside abode instead of the three-storey presidential palace in Prada, Montevideo, Associated Press reports. Orsi, the left-wing politician elected in...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

The number of people injured on a flight from Nigeria to the US due to a “technical issue” and “unexpected aircraft movement”, The Guardian reports. The Boeing 787-800, which belongs to United Airlines, made an em ergency return back to Lagos at 03:22...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

The number of years since Steve Jobs introduced Apple’s revolutionary Macintosh computer, two days after releasing a commercial titled 1984 for the computer. The ad referenced George Orwell’s dystopian Nineteen Eighty-four novel, where a totalitarian...

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€10m The amount of money a deceased French man named Roger Thiberville left to a town named Thiberville. Besides his name, the man shared no connection with the town and only ever visited it once. With no descendants, the 91-year-old, who worked as a...

In the wake of a tragedy Winter woes

The FBI in New Orleans, US, is continuing to uncover details about the American man who drove a truck into a crowd and opened fire on police as residents in the southern city enjoyed New Year celebrations. According to a report by Associated Press,...

A resolution like no other

In January 2024, a woman from Down Under began the year determined to keep her family growing, asking the supreme court for permission to harvest her late husband’s semen to conceive a child. The Guardian reported that the 62-year-old woman’s husband...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

Swift’s16 The number of non-consec- utive weeks that Taylor 57 Jamie Foxx’s age The Tortured Poets Department on 13 December. has spent at number one on the The American Billboard 200 chart. The album singer and actor returned to the top spot after a...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

The age in years of the footprints that belonged to two different species of human ancestors found in Lake Turkana, Kenya, according to a study published in the journal Science last week. Using stratigraphy, dating and 3D imaging technologies,...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

20 The number of hours a Lithuanian kayaker in his 60s had his leg stuck between the rocks of a river in the Australian state of Tasmania while he was submerged in water, WION reports. When rescue workers struggled to pull his leg out from between the...

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The number of years unhappy US voters can spend on a cruise around the world should they want to escape an America ruled by Trump, Sky News reports. A Florida-based cruise company offered multiple packages for disgruntled voters including the One-year...

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24 The number of years since the Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 came into effect in South Africa on 15 November 2000. The Act acknowledged any marriage concluded under any tradition, system of religion, and personal or family law. It also allowed...

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The percentage of African people who wish to migrate abroad, according to a recent survey conducted by Gallup. The number is the highest across the globe, in contrast with Southeast Asians, who show the least desire to migrate at 9%. West African...

The man who waited 19 days for an ‘emergency’ operation

as part of their daily routine. Unfortunately, on 21 October, the two blue-throated macaw siblings named Lily and Margot opted not to return, leaving zookeepers scratching their heads and appealing to the public for assistance. On the sixth day of the...

Man wakes during organ donor op

A recent report by Science Alert details the case in 2021 of an American man who showed signs of life during a procedure to harvest his heart for donation. The man, 36-year-old Anthony Thomas “TJ” Hoover II, was driven to hospital by his family after...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

107 The number of elephants that have contributed to the increase in herd population at Kenya’s Mwea National Reserve since 1979, VOA reports. The population increase is owed to successful conservation efforts over thirty years and low poaching rates...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

33 The number of years since American lawyer Anita Hill testified on 11 October that supreme court justice Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her. Hill testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee during Thomas’ confirmation hearings. Hill also...

European map makeover

Italy and Switzerland are in the final stages of an agreement to readjust their borders based on geographical changes linked to climate change, Sky News reports. Their shared border crosses through the Alpine mountains, which has changed because...

NUMBERS OF THE WEEK

503 The number of lives lost to floods in Chad since extreme weather began affecting the country in July. The severe flooding has destroyed 212 111 houses, flooded 357 832 hectares of fields and drowned close to 70 000 heads of cattle, according to...

Quiet clubbing in Kenya

A nightclub in Nairobi has decided to embrace quiet clubbing after receiving a notice of closure from the city county, Nairobi Wire reports. Residents in Kilimani complained about the excessive noise pollution from Quiver Steak House, a club located...