South Africa took the new ball in Mirpur at the start and quick bowler Kagiso Rabada finished with 6-46 as Bangladesh went from 283-7 to 307 all out, leaving the visitors a victory target of 106.

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam took all the wickets to fall in his 3-43, but he failed to slow South Africa’s chase as they reached 106-3 in 22 before lunch on the fourth day.

Tony de Zorzi top scored with a quickfire 41 off 52 balls, hitting seven fours.

Fellow opener and stand-in captain Aiden Markram was first to go, bowled by Taijul for 20.

De Zorzi departed in the 16th over trying to play a big shot over long-on, caught by Hasan Mahmud.

David Bedingham was third out caught behind by wicketkeeper Litton Das.

Tristan Stubbs, unbeaten on 30, ensured there were no further alarms.

Rabada finished with 9-72 in the match, having become the fastest bowler to reach 300 Test wickets during the first innings.

Bangladesh lost their last three wickets for just 24 runs inside half an hour, all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz top scoring with 97.

Nayeem Hasan departed lbw without adding to his overnight 16 on the third ball of the day when a rampant Rabada inswinger kept low.

Wiaan Mulder removed Taijul for seven in the fourth over via a thick edge to Stubbs third slip.

Mehidy fell three runs short of his second Test century in the next over when he edged Rabada to Mulder at slip.

South Africa scored 308 in their first innings, powered by Kyle Verreynne’s second Test century, in reply to Bangladesh’s 106 all out on the first day.

Bangladesh have never won a Test against South Africa.

The second and final match of the series begins on October 29 in Chattogram.

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Snyman missed the summer’s Rugby Championship success with a foot injury but has scored two tries in three games this season for new side Leinster.

The 29-year-old is joined in the set-up by utility back Damian Willemse, centre Andre Esterhuizen and fellow second-row Franco Mostert, who were also sidelined for the mid-year campaign.

Fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, locks Salmaan Moerat and Lood de Jager as well as prop Steven Kitshoff are missing, with fitness issues.

“There’s no doubt that there are several unlucky players who could easily have made the touring squad, but unfortunately we could only select 34 players,” head coach Rassie Erasmus said.

“It’s also great to have RG, Franco, Andre, and Damian back in the mix after recovering from their injuries, and we are excited to see what impact they have on the field, especially after their disappointment of missing out on the Rugby Championship.

“Damian, Andre and RG all returned to action in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and have made a strong statement with their performances, and we all know what a work horse Franco is and the quality that he adds to the team, so there’s no doubt they’ll want to make their presence felt against quality opposition,” he added.

The Springboks face Scotland on November 10, England six days later and then Wales on November 23.

Erasmus’ side head north having lost just two games this season, against Ireland and Argentina, a year on from lifting the World Cup last October.

“We are under no illusions about the quality of the opposition we will face, and we have experienced first-hand how their home crowds lift them, much like our passionate supporters, so we know what it will take to be successful over there,” he said.

“Fortunately, we have a squad that believes in themselves and their abilities, and that will be vital as we enter these matches.

“Obviously we’ll take confidence from winning the Rugby Championship, but the reality is that’s now history, and there’s no doubt that will motivate the opposition even more to make a strong statement against us,” he added.

The squad:

Backs (16): Kurt-Lee Arendse, Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie le Roux, Makazole Mapimpi, Canan Moodie, Damian Willemse; Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Andre Esterhuizen, Jesse Kriel; Manie Libbok, Handre Pollard; Jaden Hendrikse, Cobus Reinach, Grant Williams.

Forwards (18): Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (capt), Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Marco van Staden, Jasper Wiese; Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert, Ruan Nortje, RG Snyman, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Thomas du Toit, Vincent Koch, Frans Malherbe, Ox Nche, Gerhard Steenekamp.

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The visitors took the lead, reaching 140-6 in 41 overs in reply at stumps at Mirpur, with Wiaan Mulder and Kyle Verreynne not out for 17 and 18 respectively.

Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat but four of their top six batsmen failed to reach double figures, with opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy top-scoring with 30 on a lively pitch.

Seamers Rabada, Mulder and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj took three wickets apiece for South Africa.

Bangladesh were teetering at 40-4 when Rabada bowled Mushfiqur Rahim on 11, as the South African celebrated reaching the 300-wicket landmark.

He managed the feat in 11,817 balls, the fastest of all time, beating Pakistan’s Waqar Younis (12,602 balls).

Rabada soon made it 301 Test wickets, removing Litton Das for one, with Bangladesh crumbling, all out for 106 in 40.1 overs.

Rabada said he was “really surprised at how the wicket played out”.

“Test cricket should offer a fair contest between bat and ball, where bowlers get something if they bowl well, and batters can score if they apply themselves,” he said.

“With 16 wickets on day one, I’d say it’s leaning towards the bowlers,” he added.

‘Still in our hands’

Right-arm seamer Hasan Mahmud brought Bangladesh the first success in the first over after the innings change, removing South African captain Aiden Markram for six off seven deliveries.

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam — Bangladesh’s main seamer in the absence of Shakib Al Hasan — then boosted his team after he bagged a five-for, to become only the second Bangladeshi to take 200 wickets in Tests after Shakib.

“Many bowlers have 200, or 300-400 wickets,” Taijul said. “But we don’t play many Test matches — still, I’m one of the Bangladeshi bowlers who have 200 wickets, and I’m happy for this.”

He kept the team’s spirits up, saying it was possible the match was “still in our hands” to win.

The Test is the first international cricket fixture in Bangladesh since a student-led revolution toppled autocratic premier Sheikh Hasina in August.

Bangladesh are missing all-rounder Shakib after security fears forced him to cancel plans to return home.

Shakib announced his retirement from international cricket last month but said that he wanted to play one last red-ball series at home.

The 37-year-old was also a former lawmaker in the government ousted by the revolution, making him a target of public anger.

Bangladesh have never beaten South Africa in a Test. The second Test begins in Chattogram on October 29.

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The short-story writer and novelist is best known overseas for her Man Booker Prize-winning The Vegetarian, her first novel translated into English.

The 53-year-old, who also became the first Asian woman author to win the Nobel, was chosen “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life”, the Swedish Academy said last week.

Han’s win has created a sensation in South Korea, with the websites of major bookstores and publishing houses crashing after it was announced, as tens of thousands rushed to order her books.

As of Wednesday morning, at least 1.06 million copies, including e-books, had been sold since the Nobel prize announcement on 10 October, three major bookstores and online retailers,Kyobo, Aladin and YES24, said.

“Han Kang’s books are experiencing unprecedented sales. 

“This is a situation we have never seen before,” Kyobo spokesperson Kim Hyun-jung said.

Online bookstore Aladin said Han’s victory had not only led to a staggering 1 200-fold increase in the sales of her books compared with the same period last year, but dramatically boosted the sales of South Korean literature as a whole.

Since her win, “the overall sales of Korean literature increased by more than 12 times compared to the previous year”, it said.

Sales of two books Han recently mentioned she was reading — Inventory of Losses by Judith Schalansky and Atlas de Botanique Élémentaire by Jean-Jacques Rousseau — had also surged, according to Aladin.

Kyobo Book Centre said, while it did not have exact figures, Han’s books had seen dramatically higher sales compared with other Nobel prize winners.

“We have been in the publishing industry for a while, but this whole situation feels very surreal, even to some of us,” a Kyobo employee said.

South Koreans have been overjoyed by the news, with Han’s alma mater, Seoul’s Yonsei University, displaying banners that read: “Congratulations to the proud Yonsei alumnus, Han Kang, on winning the Nobel Prize in Literature.”

In her hometown of Gwangju —where a massacre occurred in 1980 that inspired Han’s acclaimed novel Human Acts — a congratulatory banner was hung on a building fired on by a military helicopter at the time.

Local reports said some printing houses had been operating at full capacity on the weekend to meet the demand for Han’s books.

“I’ve never been this busy since I joined the company in 2006,” an Aladin employee said.

“But it’s all been very happy.” — AFP

Over the last two years, various liquids have been thrown at iconic paintings in the gallery on Trafalgar Square, including Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” and John Constable’s “The Hay Wain”.

From Friday, the gallery said all liquids would be banned, except baby formula, expressed breast milk and prescription medicines.

The attacks “have caused physical damage to the artworks, distress to visitors and staff alike, and disruption to our mission to ensure great art is available for everyone, everywhere to enjoy,” it said.

Theatrical attacks on paintings and sit-in protests at the National Gallery have been a way for activists to protest the climate crisis and other causes, arguing that art is “worthless” if the climate and human life are threatened.

Last week, two people were arrested after pasting a photo of a bloodied mother and child in Gaza over a Picasso painting, calling for an arms embargo on Israel.

Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” has been the target of two attacks.

Three people from the Just Stop Oil group threw soup at the painting in September, after two other JSO activists were jailed for committing a similar act in 2022.

The pair who targeted “Sunflowers” two years ago were sentenced to 20 months and two years in prison.

Just Stop Oil and Youth Demand on Wednesday wrote an open letter to the National Museum Directors’ Council, offering to meet them at the Gallery for talks.

It said its protests were part of a proud tradition dating back to the Suffragette movement, and its actions “cause small amounts of damage and disruption” to highlight global warming and the dangers of fossil fuels.

“The arts are unsuccessful in refuting climate denial. Politics has failed us. Resistance is our only remaining option,” the groups said.

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Argentina, who trailed 27-7 at half-time, paid dearly for ill-discipline. Flanker Pablo Matera received a red cards and brothers Mateo and Santiago Carreras were both sin-binned.

Wing Cheslin Kolbe, hooker Malcom Marx and centre Jesse Kriel also crossed the tryline for the Springboks, whose only previous title in the competition came five years ago.

Scrum-half Jaden Hendrikse, a surprise choice as goal-kicker, slotted two conversions and a penalty. Substitute playmaker Handre Pollard kicked three conversions.

Fly-half Tomas Albornoz scored all the Argentine points as he converted his own try before a capacity 45,000 crowd at Mbombela Stadium.

South Africa completed the six-round southern hemisphere championship with 24 points. Then came outgoing title-holders New Zealand (16 points), Argentina (14) and Australia (five).

Nine-time winners New Zealand completed a disappointing campaign with a 33-13 victory over Australia in Wellington earlier on Saturday.

Before the match in Mbombela the spotlight was on two Springboks — lock Eben Etzebeth and fly-half Manie Libbok — for different reasons.

Etzebeth became the most-capped Springbok with 128 Test appearances, edging ahead of fellow lock Victor Matfield, who retired in 2015 after playing in 127 internationals.

The 32-year-old played the entire 80 minutes and was his usual industrious self for the four-time Rugby World Cup champions.

A missed penalty by substitute Libbok last weekend allowed Argentina to edge South Africa 29-28 in South America and delay the outcome of the Championship.

His miss triggered a wave of social media criticism, but Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus showed his faith in the playmaker by promoting him from the bench to start in Mbombela.

Hendrikse promoted

Erasmus took the goal-kicking duties away from Libbok, though, promoting Hendrikse to take kicks at the posts for the first time. He succeeded with three of six attempts.

Meanwhile, Libbok impressed with ball in hand and several ambitious cross-field kicks almost led to tries.

South Africa applied relentless pressure from the kick-off and it paid off after eight minutes when Fassi dived over and Hendrikse converted.

Argentina could not get out of their half and fell further behind six minutes later when Du Toit dived over several bodies and scored. Hendrikse converted again.

When the Pumas finally moved into Springbok territory they were rewarded as slick handling sent Albornoz over between the posts on 19 minutes and he added the extra points.

The seven-point gap did not last long as Hendrikse slotted a penalty. After wing Mateo Carreras was sin-binned, Fassi and Kolbe scored but Hendrikse failed to convert either try.

After a dominant first-half performance, especially in the scrums, the Springboks turned round with a 27-7 lead.

Argentina also lost star back Santiago Chocobares to a leg injury on 26 minutes. Lucio Cinti took his place at inside centre.

When full-back Santiago Carreras was yellow carded, Argentina were down to 13 men and Marx, Du Toit and Kriel scored tries, all of which Pollard converted.

South Africa now take a break until early November when they travel to Europe for Tests against Scotland, England and Wales.

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Margaret Maritz was born on September 27, 1906, according to a copy of her identity card shown to journalists by a charity that helped to organise the party in Touws River, 180 kilometres (110 miles) northeast of Cape Town.

The document has not been independently verified but if confirmed would make Maritz older than Japanese national Tomiko Itooka who was born on May 23, 1908 and is listed by the US-based Gerontology Research Group as currently the world’s oldest living person.

Flanked by two of her 14 children, Maritz blew out a candle on a large pink birthday cake at the party in the small town.

“She talks about her life as a young woman, (saying) you must respect your mother and your father. She didn’t drink, she didn’t smoke,” a senior nurse at the home, Gregory Elroy Adams, said.

“We must be grateful,” said one of her daughters, Liza Daniels, 67. “I don’t know if I will reach that age one day. But for me it’s a very, very big privilege to have a mother that reaches this age.”

According to the Guinness World Records website, the oldest verified person is French national Jeanne Calment, who died in August 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.

“Several people have been claimed to be older than Jeanne, but there has never been enough evidence to authenticate them,” it says.

The oldest known South African died in March 2023 just two months before turning 129.

Johanna Mazibuko was born on May 11, 1894 according to her identity papers, although these were not confirmed as authentic by authorities.

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“An Israeli strike targeted two floors in a residential building in the Ghobeiri area,” the security source said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to discuss sensitive matters.

The Israeli military said it had struck the Lebanese capital but did not immediately give further details.

“The IDF (military) conducted a targeted strike in Beirut. Details to follow,” it said.

An AFP photographer at the site of the strike said the strike had destroyed two floors of a building located in a densely-packed residential area, also damaging nearby cars.

On Monday, Israel said it had launched a “targeted strike” on Beirut.

Hezbollah said Ali Karake, its third-in-command, was alive and had moved to safety after a source close to the group told AFP the strike had targeted him.

Hezbollah and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire since the Gaza war erupted last October.

But on Monday, Israel launched devastating strikes across Lebanon’s south and east, killing more than 550 people according to the Lebanese health ministry — the deadliest single-day toll since Hezbollah and Israel went to war in 2006.

The attacks came after coordinated communications devices explosions that killed 39 people and wounded thousands on Tuesday and Wednesday last week.

Those were followed by a deadly strike on Friday on south Beirut, with leading Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil among the dead.

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Juan Lopez, 46, was gunned down as he left church on Saturday in the northeastern town of Tocoa, his widow Thelma Pena told AFP.

Castro condemned the “vile murder” in a post on the social media platform X late on Saturday and said she had ordered an investigation.

“Justice for Juan Lopez,” Castro wrote.

Lopez, who belonged to the ruling Libre party, campaigned against open-pit iron ore mining in a forest reserve in the vicinity of Tocoa, where he worked in the town hall.

In an interview with AFP in 2021, Lopez discussed the risks that he said environmental activists face in this poor and violent Central American country.

“If you start defending common interests in this country,” he said, “you clash with major interests.”

“If you leave home, you always have in mind that you do not know what might happen, if you are going to return,” said Lopez.

At a recent news conference, the activist called for the resignation of Libre officials caught on video negotiating bribes with drug traffickers in 2013.

That video recently ensnared Carlos Zelaya, a brother-in-law of the president. He resigned his seat in congress after admitting he took part in that meeting with drug gangsters.

The UN country representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Isabel Albaladejo, urged investigators to consider “possible reprisals” against Lopez for his demand for a local mayor to resign for alleged links to organised crime.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had ordered protective measures for Lopez due to threats against him and other environmentalists from Tocoa.

Fellow rights defender Joaquin Mejia paid tribute to the environmentalist, calling him “a comrade committed to social change.”

Mejia accused authorities of failing to “fulfil their obligation” to protect Lopez.

Honduran Attorney General Johel Zelaya said the “reprehensible” murder would not go unpunished, and paid tribute to Lopez’s activism.

“His life was an example of struggle. He never gave up in his incessant battle, hand-in-hand with the people to preserve natural resources,” Zelaya said on X.

The NGO Global Witness says Honduras is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for environmental activists.

In 2023 it was ranked third in the world for the number of killings of such activists at 18, tied with Mexico. The top two were Colombia and Brazil.

The organisation said that from 2012 to 2023, 148 environmental campaigners were killed in Honduras.

They include Berta Caceres, a high-profile opponent of a controversial hydroelectric dam who was murdered in 2016.

A council of Indigenous organizations co-founded by Caceres said that the Honduran state and Castro’s government were “responsible for this new murder by not guaranteeing Juan’s life.”

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The trial in a federal court in northern Virginia follows a separate case where a judge last month found Google’s search business to be an illegal monopoly.

This new battle, also brought by the US Department of Justice, focuses on ad technology – the complex system determining which online ads people see and their cost.

The US government specifically alleges that Google controls the market for publishing banner ads on websites, including those of many creators and news providers.

“Google has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful means to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies,” the complaint states.

Government lawyers will claim Google has used its financial power to acquire potential rivals and corner the ad tech market, leaving advertisers and publishers with no choice but to use its technology.

They seek to have Google divest parts of its ad tech business.

‘Lifeblood’ to information

Google dismisses the allegations as “fundamentally misguided” and says they violate “principles of antitrust law that help drive economic growth and innovation.”

“The case is also wrong on the facts, which Google looks forward to demonstrating,” the company said in a court filing.

The company argues that the case is based on an outdated version of the internet, ignoring ads placed in search results, apps, and social media platforms.

Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, Senior Analyst at Emarketer, said that while the market in question is small compared to the entire advertising ecosystem, it’s “the lifeblood to a lot of important information sources for the public.”

“I’m not sure that I have a lot of sympathy…for the argument that publishers” should be satisfied with fewer options to do business, she added.

The trial is expected to last at least six weeks and call on dozens of witnesses, with Judge Leonie Brinkema presiding.

Her decision on whether Google has broken antitrust law will come months after the trial. If found at fault, a separate trial would decide how Google should comply with the judge’s conclusion.

Analysts at Wedbush Securities said that the economic impact of the trial will be limited for Google no matter the outcome.

The business that the government is asking Google to sell accounted for less than 1 percent of operating income this year, they estimated.

Similar investigations into Google’s dominance of the ad tech business are ongoing in the European Union and Britain.

Meanwhile, the earlier search case has entered the remedy phase, with the US government expected to propose an overhaul of Google’s search engine business in the coming weeks.

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