MAPUTO – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will grant Mozambique a $118.2 million credit facility to help it rebuild infrastructure after a devastating cyclone that killed hundreds of people and flattened whole villages, the lender said on Friday. The IMF said in a statement that this will be a zero-interest, 10-year loan. More than 1,000 […]

British former marathon runner Paula Radcliffe believes the verdict of a legal case involving Olympic champion Caster Semenya could open the door for transgender athletes to claim an unfair advantage in women’s sport. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is expected to rule this month on whether the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s government has had to bring forward the bailout of state power firm Eskom, after it rushed 5 billion rand ($355 million) to the struggling utility earlier this month to avert a default and said more cash could be needed soon. Eskom supplies more than 90 percent of electricity in Africa’s most […]

When Ohio University integrative biologist Nancy Stevens peered into a drawer in the wooden cabinets on the top floor of a Nairobi museum in 2010, she saw a chunk of rock containing massive teeth and knew she had come across something important. The overlooked fossils stored at the National Museums of Kenya belonged to one […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa faces escalating unrest if the governing African National Congress (ANC) party retains power in next month’s election and fails to introduce major reforms, Mmusi Maimane – leader of the country’s biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) – said on Thursday. In the most hotly contested election since the end of […]

South Africa’s national cricket team is loaded with match-winners and, with a little bit of luck, can end their World Cup agony at this year’s 50-over tournament in England, fast bowler Dale Steyn has said. See the full squad at bottom of page. South Africa’s World Cup adventures have ended prematurely in unfortunate circumstances on […]

Hundreds of thousands of people are still in need of aid after Cyclone Idai battered Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi in March. More than 1,000 people have been reported killed by the storm, the flooding it caused and heavy rains before it hit. The World Bank estimates the affected countries will need over $2 billion to […]

JOHANNESBURG – Ratings agency Moody’s warned South Africa again on Tuesday that growing government debt linked to bailouts of state firms would continue to pressure the country’s investment grade status. Moody’s was the last of the big three ratings agencies to give South Africa an investment-grade rating, so markets are sensitive to any pronouncement it […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African police have intercepted 167 rhino horns believed to be destined for Southeast Asia, in one of the biggest such hauls ever in the country. Two suspects, aged 57 and 61, were arrested with the horns on Saturday, police said on Sunday. They had been tipped off about the suspects’ vehicle. “The […]

Johanna Ditsela lives in Alexandra within sight of the gleaming skyscrapers of South Africa’s main financial district, Sandton, but has existed in squalor for 30 years. Unemployed and in her 50s, she picks her way along a stream full of sewage, dead rats and empty beer bottles to reach the cramped concrete and corrugated iron […]

Pope Francis, in a dramatic gesture after an unprecedented retreat at the Vatican, knelt to kiss the feet of South Sudan’s previously warring leaders on Thursday as he urged them to not return to a civil war. Dropping to his knees, he appealed to the men – President Salva Kiir, his former deputy turned rebel […]

WASHINGTON – Using a global network of telescopes to see “the unseeable,” an international scientific team on Wednesday announced a milestone in astrophysics – the first-ever photo of a black hole – in an achievement that validated a pillar of science put forward by Albert Einstein more than a century ago. Black holes are monstrous […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s rand firmed below the 14.00 threshold on Wednesday for the first time in six weeks as a softer dollar boosted investor appetite for emerging markets. On the bourse, the financial and retail sectors topped the JSE after S&P Global Ratings stable economic outlook, while miner Sibanye-Stillwater took a blow after selling […]

JOHANNESBURG – Soon many more motorists around the world will be driving Nissan vehicles produced in South Africa. The SA arm of Nissan will spend R3 billion ($213 million) equipping its local plant to build the Japanese carmaker’s new Navara model, the unit’s boss said on Wednesday. Capacity at Nissan’s plant in Rosslyn, near Pretoria, […]

New Yorkers have been warned by doctors at the Nassau University Medical Center to take caution against a drug-resistant, sometimes fatal superbug fungus that has infected hundreds of people in the tri-state area and nationwide. It’s believed that many cases in New York may have links to hospitals in a handful of countries including South […]

Tanzania plans to ban the production, importation, sale and use of all single-use plastic bags by July, to help tackle pollution from non-biodegradable waste… which will be a relief to South African expats in the country who have long voiced concern over the mounting plastic bag crisis, with winds blowing thousands of discarded plastic bags […]

A South African court has ruled that Mozambique’s former finance minister Manuel Chang can be extradited to the United States, where he is wanted on charges related to a $2 billion debt scandal, one of Chang’s lawyers said on Monday. The ruling will effectively serve as a recommendation for South Africa’s justice minister, who has […]

HARARE – Zimbabwe is to start paying compensation this year to thousands of white farmers who lost land under former president Robert Mugabe’s land reform nearly two decades ago, the government said, as it seeks to bring closure to a highly divisive issue. Two decades ago Mugabe’s government carried out at times violent evictions of […]

Stormers captain Siya Kolisi has been rested from his side’s final match of their dismal Super Rugby Australasian tour against the Melbourne Rebels on Friday. Kolisi will return to South Africa along with the injured duo of outside back SP Marais (hip) and lock Chris van Zyl (back), with centre Dan Kriel and hooker Chad […]

An American tourist and her driver have been rescued unharmed after being kidnapped in a national park in southwestern Uganda last week, the Ugandan authorities said on Sunday. Kimberley Sue Endecott, 35, was abducted by gunmen in Queen Elizabeth National Park, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, on April 4. The kidnappers […]

PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron wants to declare April 7 as a national day of commemoration of the Rwandan genocide, his Elysee office said in a statement on Sunday. The presidency made the announcement as the Rwandan government started commemorations marking the 25th anniversary of the genocide against Tutsi and moderate Hutus, raising the […]

Scientists have unearthed fossils in a coastal desert of southern Peru of a four-legged whale that thrived both in the sea and on land about 43 million years ago in a discovery that illuminates a pivotal stage in early cetacean evolution. The 13-foot-long (4-meter) mammal, named Peregocetus pacificus, represents a crucial intermediate step before whales […]

HONG KONG – Hong Kong authorities said they seized 82.5 kilograms of rhino horn and cut pieces worth $2.10 million, the biggest haul in five years, as the Chinese controlled territory tries to tackle growing trafficking in endangered species. The move comes after seizures by Hong Kong earlier this year of 40 kilograms of rhino […]

JOHANNESBURG – Woolworths Holdings launched a limited edition makeup line in collaboration with Beyonce’s make-up artist Sir John on Thursday, seeking to strengthen its private label brand in its first international collaboration. The South African department chain has invested heavily, like its peers, in its beauty business by partnering luxury international brands such as House […]

CAPE TOWN – South African Rugby has turned a corner and recorded a small post-tax profit of R2-million ($141,122.35) in 2018 thanks to aggressive cost-cutting and an increase in revenue, reversing heavy losses from the previous two years. SA Rugby managed to keep its expenses in line with projections, but enjoyed a 9.5 percent rise […]