Every so often, a pandemic emerges that dramatically alters human society. The Black Death (1347 – 1351) was one; the Spanish flu of 1918 was another. Now there’s COVID-19. Archaeologists have long studied diseases in past populations. To do so, they consider a wide array of evidence: settlement layout, burials, funerary remains, and human skeletons. […]

An orphaned baby zebra spent the night in its rescuer’s childhood bedroom last night, as lockdown regulations and other challenges in Zimbabwe meant it was too late to get the newborn to the Free to be Wild Sanctuary where it is headed. Baye Pigors, who founded the sanctuary in 2014, said at 9pm last night […]

“The last decent meal I had was a month ago … I don’t know how I will pay my [R250] rent this month,” says Munyaradzi, who asked for his surname to be withheld. Munyaradzi is one of a group of Zimbabwean nationals living in South Africa who want to be repatriated. They say making ends […]

With an urgent need for medical supplies and equipment to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, African Union (AU) Member States have called for international cooperation and support. The call was made in a teleconference convened by AU Chairperson President Cyril Ramaphosa. “Lifesaving supplies, including PPEs [personal protective equipment] masks, gowns, and ventilators and other support devices […]

Dear Family and Friends, On an early morning emergency dash to collect supplies I was anxious about venturing out and what I would see. It was Day 5 of Zimbabwe’s 21-day Coronavirus lockdown and I knew that by now people who live hand to mouth and eke out a living selling fruit and vegetables from […]

Across Africa distribution has started of over 1 million Coronavirus test kits and tons of protective clothing donated by the Chinese billionaire founder of the AliBaba Group, Jack Ma. Fewer than 3,000 cases of Coronavirus have been reported across Africa’s 1.2 billion people, a relatively low number in global terms. A possible cause is that […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa, as chairman of the African Union, is leading a teleconference today among African leaders to come up with a coordinated plan for the continent – where 2,746 positive cases have been recorded – on how to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. “Today’s consultative meeting is aimed at developing a common response of […]

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading across the world. For those who catch it, the vast majority will experience mild symptoms, but for a few, it can cause severe disease and death. Some groups – like older people and those with pre-existing health conditions – are more vulnerable when exposed than others. Because of this, […]

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, has taken the world by surprise. The good news is that tremendous scientific and technological advances have permitted scientists to understand a lot about this virus in a short amount of time. Within just two months of the first case, […]

Dear Family and Friends, In the bright light of the moon a pair of owls call to each other across the neighbourhood: Hoo hoo, Whoo hoo. It’s not quite 4.00am but already their dominance of the darkness is being disturbed as Zimbabwe wakes to try and get a head start on the next sixteen hour […]

People readily help each other. We donate blood and food or help old people across the street. Among non-human animals this propensity to help is very rare. There are a few observations of helping behaviours in non-human animals. For example, vampire bats provide food to other group members and save them from starvation. In more […]

Dear Family and Friends, I am writing this letter to you on Robert Mugabe Youth Day (21 Feb), a recently proclaimed public holiday… writes author Cathy Buckle in her latest Letter from Zimbabwe. It’s a beautiful day under a hot sun and bright blue sky but it’s hard to see what our youth have got […]

Egypt announced its first Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case on Friday, making it Africa’s first documented infection. “This is not unexpected and South Africa remains vigilant for cases of COVID-19,” South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) said in a tweet on Saturday. (Watch video below on how ready South Africa is for the […]

If you weren’t lucky enough to be one of the world record-breaking spectators at the Match in Africa on 7 February in Cape Town, South Africa… or if you just want to relive the magic – here are some select video highlights of the celebrity match, and photos of the incredible event that had long […]

Young African actress Nikita Pearl Waligwa, who starred in Disney’s Queen of Katwe, has tragically passed away in Uganda at the age of just 15. According to international reports, she had been suffering from brain cancer. She was first diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2016, but thanks to Queen of Katwe’s director Mira Nair […]

Democratic South Africa has skeletons in the closet that it needs to address. One of these is the death of Dag Hammarskjöld, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) in a plane crash shortly after midnight on 17 to 18 September 1961. The plane went down as it approached Ndola, a mining town in Northern […]

Dear Family and Friends, When I put my fingers into a black china bowl of water in the sink to scoop out what I thought was a leaf, I found myself holding a small black scorpion… writes author Cathy Buckle in her latest Letter from Zimbabwe. A yelp of alarm, a few unrepeatable swear words […]

The deepening of economic growth and the predicament of the country’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) – like Eskom and SAA – are expected to be taking centre stage at the Cabinet Lekgotla being held by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria this week. Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu outlined the government’s […]

A devastating drought that has gripped the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has resulted in 45 million people becoming severely food insecure, a United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP) report has revealed. The record number, made up mostly of women and children, was also attributed to widespread flooding and economic disarray. In the report, […]

The world’s oldest free-ranging black rhino – Fausta – has sadly died at the age of 57 in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania… from suspected natural causes. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority said in a media statement that the eastern black rhino (Diceros birconis michaelli) cow died on Friday evening, 27 December, at 20h29. “Records show […]

The Botswana Government says that the two hunters involved in the “unfortunate incident” in which a collared research elephant was shot, have voluntarily surrendered their professional hunting licenses to the licensing authority, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. Botwana named the hunters as professional hunter Michael Lee Potter, and Kevin Sharp, a citizen hunting […]

Could Victoria Falls dry up? That was the question the BBC’s Stephen Sackur asked last week in a HardTalk documentary about Zimbabwe in which the programme claimed “the effects of severe drought and climate change are having an impact on one of the world’s great natural wonders, Victoria Falls.” The show, which was aired less […]

Namibia’s incumbent President Hage Geingob has won the 2019 presidential election – following Wednesday’s vote – with 56.3% of the vote, the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) said on Saturday Nov. 30, 2019. Geingob, Namibia’s third leader since the sparsely populated and mostly arid country freed itself from South Africa in 1990, was seeking a […]

World-renowned elephant scientists and conservationists have united in an urgent plea to Zimbabwe, China and other countries considering exporting or importing wild-caught elephants for captive use, to abide by an internationally-agreed near-total ban on such activities that takes effect tomorrow, 26 November 2019. The experts’ plea comes in the wake of Zimbabwe exporting at least […]

HARARE – Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga returned home on Saturday after spending four months in China receiving medical treatment for an unknown illness, state-owned media reported. Chiwenga, the 63-year-old former general who led a coup against the late Robert Mugabe two years ago, has spent a large part of the year away from work, […]