Zuma trial to proceed as judge calls delays 'Stalingrad defence'

A South African judge has ordered that former president Jacob Zuma's long-running corruption trial must move forward, after years of delays that he described as a "Stalingrad defence" tactic. Judge Nkosinathi Chili set a date for the case related to the 1999 arms deal, rejecting repeated legal challenges that had stalled proceedings. The term "Stalingrad defence" refers to a strategy of making endless court challenges to delay a trial, named after the brutal World War II battle where Soviet forces fought street by street. Zuma faces charges of corruption, fraud, and racketeering over the multibillion-dollar arms purchase. His lawyers had argued for further postponements, but the judge ruled that the case had waited long enough.