Russia prepared Tuesday to take possession of heavy military hardware held by Wagner as Moscow moved to bring the mercenary group under its control after its aborted mutiny. The uprising at the weekend sparked Russia’s most serious security crisis in decades, raising questions over President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power as his campaign in Ukraine […]

Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio looked on course for re-election on Monday 26th June 2023 after the electoral commission said he had a clear lead with 60 per cent of the votes counted. Bio had garnered 55.86 per cent of ballots cast, more than the 55 per cent required for victory after Saturday’s first […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday accused Ukraine and its Western allies of wanting Russians to “kill each other” during a revolt by mercenaries of the Wagner group, which stunned the country with an aborted march on Moscow over the weekend. In his first address to the nation since the rebels pulled back, Putin said […]

England cricket chiefs have promised to “reset” the game after an independent report on Tuesday 27th June 2023 said not enough had been done to tackle institutional racism and sexism in the game. The England and Wales Cricket Board set up the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket in 2021 to look at issues of […]

Springbok 2019 Rugby World Cup winner Sibusiso Nkosi quit the Bulls on Monday after a troubled season with the Pretoria franchise. ALSO READ: What the Springboks lineup will look like against the Wallabies A Bulls statement said they and Sibusiso had mutually agreed to terminate his contract one year before it was due to expire. After moving […]

Al-Shabaab jihadists have killed five civilians, some by beheading, in eastern Kenya, a witness and a police source told AFP on Sunday 25th June 2023. The attack occurred on Saturday around 7:30 pm (1630 GMT) in the villages of Juhudi and Salama in Lamu county, close to the Somali border, the source said. “Five people […]

Human rights activists from across North Africa have condemned Europe’s migration policy, one year after at least 23 people died trying to cross into the Spanish enclave of Melilla. The Maghreb Social Forum on Migration (FSMM) made their appeal after the group gathered for annual talks in Nador, a northeast Morocco town near the border […]

Russian state television on Monday broadcast footage of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu inspecting Russian troops, in his first public appearance since a failed mutiny by Wagner forces. ALSO READ: Sudan: Wagner Group involvement in Africa Shoigu — the target of fierce criticism by the mercenary group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin — went to a command post for Russian […]

South Africa’s energy minister was accused of failing to back the country’s energy transition on Sunday 25th June 2023 after he “snubbed” a billion-dollar green hydrogen deal launched in partnership with the Netherlands and Denmark. The country’s biggest opposition party said energy minister Gwede Mantashe had not signed an agreement on the fund, which was […]

The amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism draws its name from the Zulu word for dung beetle — a diligent species that fulfils a crucial role. The tiny South African non-profit specialises in delving into political corruption — “digging dung and fertilizing democracy,” its editor-in-chief, Sam Sole, said with a chuckle in a recent interview with AFP. Sole, […]

Former Ireland lock Jean Kleyn can dream of playing in his second successive Rugby World Cup after he was cleared to play for the country of his birth, defending champions South Africa. ALSO READ: Former Irish lock Jean Kleyn cleared for Springbok selection The 29-year-old qualified for Ireland through residency having played for Munster from 2016 and […]

Cheetahs put a season of financial hardship behind them on Saturday to be crowned South African rugby champions with a 25-17 home win over Pumas in the Currie Cup final. ALSO READ: Ruan Pienaar gets the plaudits for Currie Cup glory Centre Reinhardt Fortuin, wing Cohen Jasper and scrum-half Rewan Kruger scored a try each and 39-year-old fly-half […]

The CAF Africa Super League will kick off two months late in October and have only eight clubs instead of the planned 24, CAF president Patrice Motsepe said on Sunday. South African billionaire Motsepe told public broadcaster SABC in Johannesburg that the competition name may be changed as some sponsors are unhappy with the word ‘Super’. […]

South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber has plenty of captaincy options when it comes to stand-ins for injured skipper Siya Kolisi during the Rugby Championship in July. AFP understands centres Lukhanyo Am and Damian de Allende, prop Steven Kitshoff, lock Eben Etzebeth and loose forwards Pieter-Steph du Toit and Duane Vermeulen are in the running. ALSO READ: Rugby […]

The Titanic inspired a tear-jerking blockbuster and expeditions to its watery gravesite — including a fatal one this week — but viral TikTok videos peddle a stunning conspiracy theory: the ship never sank. More than a century after it went down in the North Atlantic Ocean, wild myths and urban legends about the luxury liner […]

A MOTHER’S EXCITEMENT OVER THE ARRIVAL OF HER NEWBORN BABY GIRL IN 2018 INSPIRED HER TO TRANSFORM OLD CLOTHES INTO MATCHING OUTFITS FOR HERSELF AND HER DAUGHTER. That marked the beginning of Dineo Cheonyane’s thriving venture, Reitu Hand Crafts. Cheonyane (32) credits her daughter for the motivation to start her business, which derives its name […]

A “catastrophic implosion,” such as that believed to have destroyed the Titan submersible, would have happened with incredible force and speed given the crushing water pressure on the floor of the ocean. DID YOU KNOW | What is the most common name for a newborn BOY in South Africa? The remains of the Titanic rest on the seabed in […]

A “catastrophic implosion,” such as that believed to have destroyed the Titan submersible, would have happened with incredible force and speed given the crushing water pressure on the floor of the ocean. DID YOU KNOW | What is the most common name for a newborn BOY in South Africa? The remains of the Titanic rest on the seabed in the […]

Debris discovered on the ocean floor suggests the missing submersible near the wreck of the Titanic suffered a “catastrophic loss” of pressure, the US Coast Guard said on Thursday. DIARISE | When is the next long weekend in South Africa? “Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families,” Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters in Boston. “On behalf of […]

Ethiopia is preparing to launch the fourth filling of its mega-dam reservoir on the Blue Nile, the country’s deputy prime minister announced Thursday 22nd June, 2023, despite opposition from its downstream neighbour Egypt. The massive $4.2 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been at the centre of a regional dispute ever since Ethiopia broke […]

A year after the conclusion of a groundbreaking probe into state graft under ex-leader Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s top judge and civil groups on Thursday berated a lack of urgency to prosecute. ALSO READ | When is the next public holiday in South Africa? On June 22, 2022, the final of a series of damning reports from a […]

Copper-rich Zambia, the first African country to default on its debt during the Covid pandemic, is looking to seal a China-backed deal to restructure its debt during a two-day global finance summit Paris this week. Here are five things to know about the southern African nation of 19.6 million inhabitants, which is a key target […]

Beijing logged its hottest June day since records began on Thursday, the national weather service said, as swathes of northern China sweltered in 40-degree heat. ALSO READ | When is the next public holiday in South Africa? Scientists say rising global temperatures – caused largely by burning fossil fuels – are aggravating extreme weather worldwide, and many countries in Asia have experienced […]

Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that women can challenge state laws punishing abortion, regardless of whether they are pregnant. A court press release said Wednesday that the “mere fact of being a woman or person with the capacity to gestate is sufficient” to legally challenge local laws. ALSO READ | US Supreme Court to step in on abortion […]

Netflix’s $2.5 billion investment in South Korea is an “opportunity” for local business, the streaming giant’s CEO said Thursday, as he played down a dispute with local internet companies over network usage. South Korea is one of Netflix’s biggest suppliers of television series and films, and boss Ted Sarandos said it was “investing for the long […]