More than half a thousand vultures, almost all of them endangered species, died from feeding on the poisoned carcasses of three poached elephants in central Botswana, it was reported last week, in what was one of the biggest wildlife poisoning incidents of its kind since 2013. Among the 537 vultures found dead at the site […]

Five African commercial banks – including Standard Bank and Absa – have partnered in a $375 million financing deal to build a new diamond mining vessel for a subsidiary of Anglo American’s diamond unit De Beers. Nedbank Namibia, RMB Namibia, Standard Bank, ABSA and Bank Windhoek agreed to provide 80% of the funding for the […]

HARARE – Zimbabwe must have a new currency by the end of the year, according to President Emmerson Mnangagwa who argued on Friday that this would help stabilise prices and inflation, which is at a 10-year high. The southern African nation in February removed an unrealistic peg for its electronic dollars and surrogate bond notes […]

The new season of Survivor is the battle of the superfans! Here’s an awesome opportunity to watch a FULL episode, and get hooked on all the intrigue on the Island of Secrets. Survivor SA: Philippines was so outrageously good that our expectations are super high this season. If you live in South Africa, Kenya or […]

Wildlife near cities face many dangers. Some are easy to detect, such as when new developments destroy natural habitat. Others are less obvious. For example, rat poisons are a useful tool for controlling a common household problem. But many who use them don’t realise that they have dangerous side effects for wildlife. Rat poisons are […]

Zimbabwean cricket legend turned singer, Henry Olonga, walked onto The Blinds stage… and “smashed it out of the park” (in the words of The Voice Australia) with this rendition of Anthony Warlow’s  ‘This is the moment’. Watch the video below. The 42-year-old, who is married to an Australian, played 30 tests and 50 One Day […]

GABORNE – Former Botswana President Ian Khama quit the ruling party on Saturday as a policy feud with his hand-picked successor deepened, threatening to split the party that has ruled the country since independence in 1966. Khama handed power to his then-deputy Mokgweetsi Masisi last year after serving as president of the diamond-rich southern African […]

Algeria – the nation where malaria was discovered – is officially free of malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, making it the third African country to eliminate one of the world’s leading killer diseases. With no recorded cases of malaria in three consecutive years, Argentina was also declared malaria-free – the second […]

If you’ve always wanted to visit Mount Kilimanjaro, but just can’t be asked to actually get fit enough to climb it… you could be in luck! Tanzania wants to boost tourist numbers by putting a cable car on Africa’s tallest mountain, and is currently in talks about the project with a Chinese and a Western […]

HARARA – Zimbabwe has started rolling power cuts lasting up to eight hours that will also hit mines, a schedule from the state power utility showed on Monday, after reduced output at both the largest hydro plant and ageing coal-fired generators. The power cuts will add to mounting public anger against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government […]

Two French soldiers were killed in an overnight operation to rescue four hostages in the Sahel region of Africa, the French Élysée Palace said on Friday. According to a Reuters report, the hostages are now all safe. They include a US woman, a South Korean citizen and two Frenchmen. The French tourists had been kidnapped […]

Across the world, migratory animals like wildebeest – which rely on movement to find food, water and calving grounds – are under threat. This is mainly because their migration routes are being cut off by fences, settlements, farms, roads and other developments, and the areas where they roam are getting smaller. The animals also face […]

An unusual selfie taken by a ranger at Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo has helped the Park raise much needed awareness and funds to protect more animals. The photo, which included two orphaned gorillas – Ndakazi and Ndeze –  striking very human-like poses, was taken by ranger Mathieu Shamvu, an anti-poaching […]

PEMBA, Mozambique – Headmaster Ernesto Parivos, like thousands of people across his province in Mozambique, is watching for any signs that flood waters have eased as food supplies dwindle. Cyclone Kenneth barreled into the province of Cabo Delgado last week, knocking out power at Parivos’ School for Teachers of the Future, damaging 11 college buildings […]

Proud South Africans turned out in force yesterday for the famous London Marathon in the UK… and were not disappointed by the results, with the top three winning positions being hogged by athletes from the African continent in both the men’s and women’s categories. The race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge who led from […]

PEMBA, Mozambique – Rains grounded aid flights in northern Mozambique for a second day on Monday, hampering efforts to reach survivors of Cyclone Kenneth as the death toll there jumped to 38. Rescuers managed to use a brief break in the downpours to send one helicopter packed with aid to the island of Ibo, where […]

The United Nations will grant Mozambique and the Comoros Islands $13 million in emergency funds to help provide food and water and repair damage to infrastructure, the organisation said late on Sunday, after the second cyclone in a month slammed into the region. Cyclone Kenneth crashed into the northern province of the southern African nation […]

Rescuers were racing to help people caught in fast-rising floodwaters in Mozambique’s cyclone-hit city of Pemba on Sunday, as houses collapsed in one neighborhood and heavy rain raised fears of worse to come. Cyclone Kenneth slammed into the northern province of Cabo Delgado on Thursday, flattening entire villages and killing at least five people. It […]

Rescuers were moving in to help people trapped by rapidly rising floodwater in the northern Mozambique city of Pemba on Sunday, home to 200,000 people, a United Nations (U.N.) spokesman said, as Cyclone Kenneth dumped more rain on the region. The storm slammed in to the province of Cabo Delgado on Thursday, killing five people, […]

The United Nations said on Friday it will investigate allegations that survivors of Cylone Idai in Mozambique are being forced to have sex with community leaders for food. The community leaders – believed to be linked to the ruling Frelimo party – demanded money from survivors to have their names included on aid distribution lists, […]

Cyclone Kenneth killed at least one person and left a trail of destruction in northern Mozambique, destroying houses, ripping up trees and knocking out power, authorities said on Friday. Officials said thousands have been left homeless, and warn of heavy rains to come. (UPDATE: Cyclone Kenneth brings floods to Mozambique, death toll rises to 5) […]

The largest uncut diamond in recent history has been unearthed in a mine in Botswana. It’s larger than a tennis ball, and second only to South Africa’s famous Cullinan Diamond. The announcement was made Thursday by Lucara Diamond Corp which found the treasure at its Karowe mine in Botswana, beating the Canadian company’s own record […]

Unfortunately Cyclone Kenneth has stayed on course and has battered northern Mozambique on Thursday with gusts of up to 280 km per hour after killing three people on the island nation of Comoros overnight. Impoverished Mozambique is still recovering from another powerful tropical cyclone (Idai) which made landfall further south last month, flattening the port […]

Tanzania on Tuesday denied blocking the publication of a critical International Monetary Fund report that accuses President John Magufuli’s government of undermining economic growth with “unpredictable and interventionist” policies. In the leaked report, seen by Reuters last week and which the IMF said was not made public after Tanzanian authorities did not consent to its […]

Violent winds of up to 140 kph lashed the East African island nation of Comoros overnight, killing three people, authorities said on Thursday, as tropical Cyclone Kenneth swept towards flood-battered Mozambique and southern Tanzania. The region was pounded by Cyclone Idai last month; the storm and subsequent flooding killed more than 1,000 people in Mozambique, […]