[Daily Maverick] The last legal challenge to the prosecution of former President Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thales has been dismissed by the Constitutional Court. On Friday, the apex court ruled that Thales' attempt to persist in having the prosecution permanently stayed had no chances of success.

[News24Wire] Only offenders who committed petty crimes will be eligible to be included in the 19 000 inmates who will be released on parole to combat the spread of Covid-19 in prisons.

[RFI] South Africa's government will assist the authorities in Madagascar to test and analyse an unproven herbal treatment for Covid-19, according to health minister Zweli Mkhize. Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina is promoting a tea infusion based on the artemisia plant, praising its benefits in treating the coronavirus.

[News24Wire] While at least 19 000 inmates inside South Africa's prisons will be eligible for special parole to curb the spread of Covid-19, those sentenced for a range of serious crimes will not make the cut.

[News24Wire] Police have launched a manhunt for the perpetrators of the murder of an 89-year-old woman in an old age home in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape.

Fans can enjoy a full slate of classic college basketball games, including three national championships, Friday on ESPNU.

ESPN's team of college writers and reporters reflects on the stunning reversals of fortune they have covered during their careers.

Here are the top names seeking new homes (and those sitting out).

Elite college basketball prospect Donovan Clingan has offers to transfer to better programs, but he wants to stay at Bristol Central to break his mother's records.

1 Polish Zloty = 2.0814 Salvadoran Colon

1 Polish Zloty = 8.1821 Nicaraguan Cordoba Oro

1 Polish Zloty = 135.3082 Costa Rican Colon

1 Polish Zloty = 926.6901 Colombian Peso

1 Qatari Rial = 2.4036 Salvadoran Colon

1 Qatari Rial = 9.4489 Nicaraguan Cordoba Oro

1 Qatari Rial = 156.2567 Costa Rican Colon

1 Qatari Rial = 1070.1613 Colombian Peso

Winds are from the West at 13.8 gusting to 21.9 MPH (12 gusting to 19 KT). The humidity is 64%. The wind chill is 19. Last Updated on May 9 2020, 11:55 am EDT.

1 Indian Rupee = 0.1159 Salvadoran Colon

1 Indian Rupee = 0.4557 Nicaraguan Cordoba Oro

1 Indian Rupee = 7.5352 Costa Rican Colon

1 Indian Rupee = 51.6065 Colombian Peso

1 Pakistani Rupee = 0.0548 Salvadoran Colon

1 Pakistani Rupee = 0.2155 Nicaraguan Cordoba Oro

1 Pakistani Rupee = 3.5637 Costa Rican Colon

1 Pakistani Rupee = 24.4065 Colombian Peso

Researchers highlight risk of asymptomatic infection, as Europe begins easing lockdown

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More than 10 times as many people in Germany as thought may have been infected with coronavirus, researchers have said, as Italy led swathes of Europe out of lockdown and officials said the continent’s outbreak was mostly past its peak.

Researchers from Bonn University said on Monday that their preliminary study, based on fieldwork in the town of Gangelt in Heinsberg municipality, which had one of Germany’s highest death tolls, showed the risk of infection by asymptomatic carriers.

Coronavirus has infected more than 3.5 million people and caused nearly 250,000 deaths worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

China’s state broadcaster CCTV attacked the US secretary of state’s “insane and evasive remarks” on the origins of the pandemic. Mike Pompeo said there was “enormous evidence” to show the virus originated in a lab in China.

As Donald Trump presses states to reopen their economies, his administration is privately projecting daily deaths will almost double to about 3,000 by 1 June, according to an internal document seen by the New York Times.

Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, extended the country’s national state of emergency to 31 May, adding that he would consider lifting it earlier if experts decided that was possible based on regional infection trends.

World leaders, with the exception of Trump, stumped up nearly €7.4bn (£6.5bn) to research Covid-19 vaccines and therapies, pledging the money would also be used to distribute any vaccine to poor countries on time and equitably.

Lack of PPE cited as reason for mass infections – with suspicions deaths are not recorded

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For weeks, paramedic Dmitry Seryogin had warned about the lack of coronavirus testing and inadequate protective gear that he and his colleagues were given in the city of Oryol, about a four-hour drive south of Moscow. If a patient did not explicitly warn they had coronavirus, he said, teams handled likely infections in simple masks and gloves.

Then, the inevitable happened. Two of his colleagues fell ill with coronavirus, then five more, and now, Seryogin says, more than a dozen have contracted the virus. The regional governor has confirmed an outbreak at a medical station, saying staff had been quarantined and he had “set the goal of providing everyone with PPE. No matter where they are going, what kind of call”.

Related: Concern as coronavirus threatens Russia's closed ‘nuclear cities’

Fake social media accounts also used to support Ron Paul’s presidential bid and the Occupy movement

Iran’s state broadcaster experimented with using fake social media accounts to influence the outcome of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and other western elections, according to a report from Facebook released on Tuesday.

The Iranian network, one of eight to be suspended for so-called “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” by the social media giant in April, points to efforts by state-linked groups to try to use Facebook to influence foreign democratic contests years before Russia’s alleged campaign against the 2016 US presidential contest.

Victory Day celebrations are cancelled and referendum to reset Putin’s term limits put on hold

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If all had gone to plan, Vladimir Putin would have marked Victory Day in Red Square this weekend, hosting Emmanuel Macron and Xi Jinping as columns of soldiers and artillery passed by to honour the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The 9 May celebrations would have crowned a historic political season in Russia, including a symbolic referendum to amend Russia’s constitution and reset Putin’s term limits, allowing him to remain in the Kremlin until 2036.

Related: Global report: Russia becomes Europe's coronavirus hotspot

Related: 'Painful to see': rise in Russian medics falling prey to Covid-19 as death toll questioned

1 Sierra Leonean Leone = 0.0009 Salvadoran Colon

1 Sierra Leonean Leone = 0.0035 Nicaraguan Cordoba Oro

1 Sierra Leonean Leone = 0.0577 Costa Rican Colon

1 Sierra Leonean Leone = 0.3952 Colombian Peso

It was not clear whether the scientists had found infectious virus or inert fragments, so sexual transmission of the virus still seems very unlikely.

1 New Taiwan Dollar = 0.2931 Salvadoran Colon

1 New Taiwan Dollar = 1.1523 Nicaraguan Cordoba Oro

1 New Taiwan Dollar = 19.0554 Costa Rican Colon

1 New Taiwan Dollar = 130.5054 Colombian Peso

1 Thai Baht = 0.2733 Salvadoran Colon

1 Thai Baht = 1.0744 Nicaraguan Cordoba Oro

1 Thai Baht = 17.768 Costa Rican Colon

1 Thai Baht = 121.688 Colombian Peso

1 Turkish Lira = 1.2345 Salvadoran Colon

1 Turkish Lira = 4.853 Nicaraguan Cordoba Oro

1 Turkish Lira = 80.2552 Costa Rican Colon

1 Turkish Lira = 549.6466 Colombian Peso

1 Singapore Dollar = 6.195 Salvadoran Colon

1 Singapore Dollar = 24.3532 Nicaraguan Cordoba Oro

1 Singapore Dollar = 402.7302 Costa Rican Colon