In wartime it would have been a disaster, but defence minister Thandi Modise has shrugged off the loss of hundreds of military vehicles in September 2021, saying they were scrap or targets for weapons practice. The vehicles were “decommissioned”, which might mean not even Cuban mechanics could repair them. They were destroyed by a veld fire in Wallmannsthal, an army transport park north of Pretoria.
French fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier is being sued for splashing a 15th-century masterpiece across a collection of clothing. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence is suing after Botticelli’s Renaissance masterpiece, The Birth of Venus, which it owns, was used to adorn T-shirts, leggings and bodices.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will be crowned in Westminster Abbey on Saturday, May 6, next year. The coronation is expected to be a downscaled version of the last one, in 1953, when Queen Elizabeth came to the British throne. The 2023 date was greeted with relief because there were fears of it clashing with another coronation: the FA Cup final, scheduled for Wembley on Saturday, June 3.
