Thursday Morning Spice

Major Load Shedding Shift For South Africa – South Africa’s Energy Council will be switching gears and moving away from dealing with load shedding as its key focus to the next challenges in the sector. [businesstech]

WHO Declares Mpox Outbreak A Global Health Emergency – WHO convened its emergency committee amid concerns that a deadlier strain of the virus, clade Ib, had reached four previously unaffected countries in Africa. This strain had previously been contained to the Democratic Republic of Congo. [cnn]

Unemployment Rate Jumps To 33.5%, 8.4 Million South Africans Now Jobless – South Africa’s official unemployment rate increased from 32.9% in the first quarter of this year to 33.5% in the second quarter. [news24]

Cancer Patient Forced To Live In Backyard As Illegal Occupants Take Over Her Home – A cancer sufferer claims she’s been failed by the City of Cape Town, as she has been forced to live in her own backyard after illegal occupants took over the council property she believed she was entitled to, having lived there for 35 years. [iol]

Germany Issues Arrest Warrant For ‘Ukrainian Diver Who Played Part In Nord Stream Explosions’ – The man, last known to have lived in Poland, was one of the divers who allegedly planted explosive devices on pipelines running from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea in September 2022, German media has claimed. [sky]

City Enters Its Annual ‘No Mow’ Period – Certain commons, parks and greenbelts across the metro will be allowed to grow wild during the City’s annual “no mow” period. [tabletalk]

Why Switzerland Is Home To Two Of The World’s Most Liveable Cities – It has been quietly making its case for being one of the best places in the world to live, with multiple cities listed in 2024’s Global Liveability Index and Smart City Index. [bbc]