AI & Courts: A Johannesburg High Court judge says South Africa’s judiciary must keep governance over AI tools used in decision-making, stressing human oversight and independent reasoning after AI-related citation errors were flagged in a family-law case. Critical Minerals Push: Trade and Industry Minister Parks Tau urges US investors to fund South Africa’s refining, processing and manufacturing of platinum group metals, manganese and chromium, proposing an investment platform and a SA–US working group to turn mineral talks into projects. Infectious Disease Research: UCT leads a R95m pan-African programme to give scientists advanced microscopy and training to study TB, malaria and Buruli ulcer, using machine learning to speed discovery. Malaria Financing: African leaders call for stronger domestic funding and multisector action to accelerate malaria elimination as global support falls short. Cybersecurity: Sophos reports ransomware recovery costs South African organisations about R17m on average, with median ransom demands dropping but the financial hit still heavy. Climate Risk (El Niño): New modelling warns El Niño could drive about 1,200 extra heat deaths in South Africa by February 2027, prompting calls for early protective measures. Transport & Trade Tech: Transnet starts selecting a private partner to expand manganese export capacity via a new 25-year terminal at Ngqura, aiming to cut road-haul volumes. Eskom Governance: Minister Ramokgopa confirms Dr Mteto Nyati to continue as Eskom board chair as “Eskom 2.0” planning shifts to longer-term generation, grid expansion and investment.