A powerful tropical storm made landfall in Mozambique on Thursday evening, battering a coastal city with heavy rain and wind at speeds of up to 170 km an hour and injuring several people. Parts of Mozambique were cut off on Friday because of Cyclone Idai. In Beira, a city of around 500,000 people and a […]

Botswana’s High Court on Thursday postponed its ruling on a case challenging the criminalisation of gay sex, which is being scrutinised by campaigners hoping the law could be overturned. Judge Abednico Tafa told a packed courtroom in Botswana’s capital Gaborone that a decision would be handed down on June 11 after a one-day hearing. George […]

DAKAR – A mosquito-killing drug tested in Burkina Faso reduced malaria cases by a fifth among children and could be an important new tool in the global fight against the disease, researchers said. The drug, ivermectin, is already widely used to treat parasitic infections but had not previously been tested for its effects on malaria […]

JOHANNESBURG – The World Bank will lend Angola $1 billion to fund social security and water projects, their president’s office said on Wednesday. Angola, Africa’s second largest oil producer, has been pushed into an economic crisis by the fall in oil prices since mid-2014. Alongside a $500 million loan agreed earlier, which Angola is set […]

CAPE TOWN – A young lion captured after being on the run for almost a month spent the night in a South African police cell before being moved back to its national park home. And judging by the video below, he wasn’t very happy about it! The juvenile male lion escaped from the Karoo National […]

LONDON – Britain’s Prince Harry and his pregnant wife Meghan are to set up their own household, breaking away from the joint operation they shared with Harry’s elder brother William and his wife Kate, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday. Harry and Meghan, known officially as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have shared staff with […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s popular Standard Bank will cut around 1,200 jobs and close 91 branches as part of efforts to digitise its retail and business bank, it said on Thursday. South Africa’s lenders, like others around the world, have been shuttering branches and trimming their headcount in an attempt to cut costs and adapt […]

ADDIS ABABA – Draped in traditional white mourning shawls, relatives of the Ethiopian victims of ET Flight 302 gathered silently in a hotel conference room in Addis Ababa on Thursday, before boarding buses headed for the crash site. Couples held each other, slumped forward in their chairs, their gazes downcast. Some men held their heads […]

CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s rising debt trajectory will make it difficult to weather a significant global economic downturn, the Reserve Bank deputy governor said, adding it would take at least a decade to bring the debt-to-GDP ratio down to the 30 to 40 percent range. Deputy governor Kuben Naidoo also said on Wednesday that […]

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa – Veteran batsman Hashim Amla has pulled out of the South African One-Day International squad to play Sri Lanka for family reasons, granting a reprieve for opener Reeza Hendricks who had been dropped for the final two matches of the series. “Hashim has asked to be excused from the last two […]

FRANSCHHOEK, South Africa – Step aside Francis Bacon… there’s a pig in South Africa whose art work is selling for a high price, and has even been featured on the face of a watch! UPDATE 17 DEC: Pigcasso’s painting sells for record-breaking price.  Brandishing a paintbrush in her snout, Pigcasso enthusiastically tosses her head to […]

PRETORIA – The Sharks came into the Super Rugby season in bullish mood, hopeful of leading the South African sides in the competition, but back-to-back defeats have exposed a lack of physicality and left them needing to take stock, coach Robert du Preez has said. The Durban-based outfit was brushed aside 37-14 by the Bulls […]

South African Justin Harding claimed his maiden European Tour title with a six-under-par 66 in the final round of the Qatar Masters to win by two strokes at the Doha Golf Club on Sunday. Harding made three birdies in the first four holes and birdied three of the final four to finish 13 under par, […]

LONDON – Meghan Markle said on Friday she hoped the baby she is expecting this spring with Britain’s Prince Harry will follow in her feminist footsteps. The former “Suits” actress made the comment during an International Women’s Day panel discussion at King’s College London. Asked how her “bump” was treating her, Meghan told the audience: […]

WASHINGTON – The government of Zimbabwe under President Emmerson Mnangagwa has failed to bring about political and economic changes needed to improve the country’s reputation, the US State Department said on Thursday. The comments relate to President Donald Trump’s decision this week to extend by one year U.S. sanctions that target more than 100 entities […]

Many new mothers worldwide – including Capetonian mom Ferzanah Essack – express anxiety and guilt about leaving their babies to return to work, and some worry their nations’ maternity policies reflect societies that value productivity over raising children. Ferzanah was one of the mothers interviewed by Reuters for today’s International Women’s Day (8 March). Moms from the United […]

South Africa’s Quinton de Kock top-scored with a fluent 94 as they cruised to a 113-run victory over Sri Lanka and a 2-0 lead in their five-match One-Day International series on Wednesday. South Africa claimed an eight-wicket victory in the opening match on Sunday and were dominant again despite losing their last six wickets for […]

JOHANNESBURG (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned violence against women on Wednesday after a video apparently showing popular singer Babes Wodumo being attacked by her boyfriend went viral, sparking outrage in a country with some of the world’s worst rates of violent crime. The clip released on Instagram showed Bongekile Simelane […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African farmers – Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte – were sentenced to up to 23 years in prison on Wednesday for the murder of Matlhomola Mosweu who was thrown from a moving vehicle after being accused of stealing about R80 ($5) worth of sunflowers. The death of 15-year-old Mosweu in April 2017 […]

MADRID – Holders Real Madrid were sensationally knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday after being thrashed 4-1 at home by an outstanding Ajax Amsterdam who overturned a first-leg deficit to reach the quarter-finals 5-3 on aggregate. The humiliating defeat completed a miserable week for Real, who have monopolised the competition since 2016 and […]

American actor Luke Perry, who rose to superstardom on the teen-oriented 1990s U.S. television drama “Beverly Hills 90210” and then aged into a fatherly role on comic-based “Riverdale,” died on Monday at the age of 52 after suffering a “massive” stroke last week, his publicist said. Publicist Arnold Robinson said Perry died in a Los […]

NAIROBI – Four Americans and their Kenyan pilot were killed when their helicopter crashed just after take-off from a remote island in Lake Turkana in northwestern Kenya, officials said on Monday. The aircraft came down in Central Island National Park at around 8 p.m. on Sunday, Kenya’s National Police Service said on its Twitter feed, […]

CAPE TOWN – South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir will quit the 50-over format after the Cricket World Cup this year, although he said on Monday he will remain available for Twenty20 internationals. Tahir, 39, was not on Cricket South Africa’s list of contracted players for the 2019/20 season and has since revealed he told the […]

JOHANNESBURG – Flyhalf Handre Pollard kicked 20 points as the Bulls inflicted back-to-back defeats on the Lions with a 30-12 Super Rugby victory at Ellis Park on Saturday. The Lions, finalists in the last three Super Rugby seasons, continued their poor start to the campaign with a first home defeat by South African opposition in […]

Olympic 400-metres champion Wayde van Niekerk is unsure whether he will defend his title at the World Athletics Championships in Doha in September, instead of setting his sights on retaining the gold medal he won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Van Niekerk, also the 400m world record holder, has been sidelined for almost 18 […]