DINNER PARTY INTEL: Cemeteries association set for grave discussions

1. Available for Africa

With the demise of Yevgeny Prigozhin, fellow traveller Viktor Bout says he’s ready to step up in Africa. The Russian arms smuggler, known as the “Merchant of Death”, was released from a US jail in a prisoner swap with basketball star Brittney Griner. Bout tells DefenceWeb he’d like to “apply my expertise” to “enhance economic co-operation with Africa”.

2. Grave discussions

The South African Cemeteries Association’s conference next month is about the afterlife. It was “thrilled” to announce the dates in the “captivating” city of Cape Town, promising a “transformative” event with “distinguished” academics and “esteemed” professionals for “stimulating” discussions. For a meeting about the dead, it sure is alive with adjectives.

3. Dangerous skies

One of the world’s busiest skies is over the US, where there has not been a fatal commercial airliner crash in more than 14 years. Now there are concerns about aircraft safeguards. A New York Times investigation has found that out of 313 air traffic facilities nationwide, only three met staff targets. There were 46 near-misses involving airlines in July, the report said.