YOKOHAMA, Japan – Winger Kenki Fukuoka produced two pieces of individual brilliance as a high-paced Japan advanced to the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals – where they’ll face South Africa next weekend – for the first time with a 28-21 victory over Scotland at Yokohama on Sunday. The win ensured Japan finished top of Pool A […]

TOKYO – Japan sent tens of thousands of troops and rescue workers on Sunday to save stranded residents and fight floods caused by one of the worst typhoons to hit the country in recent history, which killed 18 people and briefly paralyzed Tokyo. There were also 13 people missing, public broadcaster NHK said, as Typhoon […]

KOBE, Japan – South Africa midfield back Damian de Allende is unlikely to abandon his conservative playing style any time soon with the World Cup quarter-finals a week away and defences adept at shutting down attacking options out wide. Inside centre de Allende has been given the green light by his coaches to play more […]

TOKYO – One of the most powerful typhoons to ever hit Tokyo paralyzed the Japanese capital on Saturday, leaving millions confined indoors and streets deserted as fierce rain and wind killed two, flooded rivers and threatened widespread damage. And just after the storm hit, an earthquake also shook Tokyo. (See Update at bottom of page.) […]

JOHANNESBURG – Hiking through fields and along dirt roads, South African rape survivor Leilani Kuter finished a more than 700 kilometer walk on Saturday across a country unfortunately known for violence against women. Kuter walked 27 kilometers for 27 days to mark 27 years since she survived a brutal rape, raising money along the way […]

VIENNA – Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge made athletics history on Saturday when he became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours, stretching the limits of human endeavour and passing a milestone few thought could be reached for decades if at all. Guided by green laser beams shone onto the road and helped […]

TOKYO – Two men were killed, over 60 people were injured and more than six million people were advised to evacuate Tokyo in Japan as a powerful typhoon bore down on the Japanese capital on Saturday, bringing with it the heaviest rain and winds in 60 years. (UPDATED 16h30 SA time from 1 fatality to […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended his warmest congratulations to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali of Ethiopia on being awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. Prime Minister Ahmed has been recognised by the Nobel Committee “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict […]

South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers has won the 2019 Rallye du Maroc in a Toyota vehicle, in what was crucial preparation for the 2020 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. The 47-year-old South African ensured that he goes into the world’s toughest off-road race in January on a big high with a comprehensive victory margin of […]

Since Zimbabwe’s land reform of 2000 – when around 8 million hectares of formerly large-scale commercial farmland was distributed to about 175,000 households – debates about the consequences for food security have raged. A standard narrative has been that Zimbabwe has turned from “food basket” to “basket case”. This year, following the devastating El Niño […]

The City of Cape Town in South Africa has announced it is banning all fireworks during public celebrations like Diwali, Guy Fawks and New Year’s Eve, after pressure from the public. Cape Town’s safety official Alderman JP Smit said in a statement Friday that this year Cape Town will no longer have special ‘designated firework […]

KOBE, Japan – South Africa are not quite where coach Rassie Erasmus wants them to be heading into the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals next week, he said on Friday, but they are training under pressure to replicate knockout rugby. South Africa have finished runners-up in Pool B after they lost 23-13 to the All Blacks […]

OSLO – Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his peacemaking efforts with Eritrea. Ethiopia and Eritrea, longtime foes who fought a border war from 1998 to 2000, restored relations in July 2018 after years of hostility. The prize, worth nine million Swedish crowns, or around $900,000, will […]

South African former President Jacob Zuma will stand trial on corruption charges relating to a $2.5 billion arms deal after court denied him a permanent stay of prosecution on Friday. The ruling by Judge Jerome Mnguni in the Pietermaritzburg High Court paves the way for Zuma’s trial to start on Oct. 15. Zuma, who was […]

A South African expat, Brian Smith, has been charged with the murder of a woman in Alaska in the USA. Smith’s arrest for first degree murder followed the discovery by a female passerby of a memory card lying on the ground in Fairview neighbourhood in Anchorage. The card contained 12 incriminating videos and 39 graphic […]

LONDON – The doorbell rings to the tune of the British national anthem “God Save the Queen”, and Prince Harry opens the door to find Ed Sheeran on the threshold. Both men have red hair and beards. “It’s like looking in the mirror,” the prince quips before ushering the pop star inside. This is the […]

Seventeen-year-old schoolgirl Michaela Booyson was battered to death with a pickaxe in the early hours of Sunday morning in Mossel Bay. She was allegedly killed for her pair of Nike sneakers. SA Women Fight Back, the movement which began following the senseless murder of Meghan Cremer two months ago in Cape Town, is calling on […]

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has confirmed that two elderly women were found murdered in a retirement home in Port Elizabeth this morning. The news shook Port Elizabeth with SAPeople member Eileen Trew revealing: “I’m in Port Elizabeth. This morning’s news is a shock for our City and the elderly. Two women were murdered […]

Refugees sitting outside the offices of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cape Town say they have been victims of xenophobia in South Africa and the UNHCR should help them settle elsewhere. Carine Kavira, who says her brother was shot dead in a 2012 xenophobic attack, says she won’t leave the UNHCR […]

A renowned psychologist and specialist in surviving hate crime and violence in South Africa was brutally killed on Sunday in Johannesburg by a gang of armed robbers who broke into her home through the roof. Leading scholar Dr Mirah Wilks was ambushed and attacked by the men who had waited until her husband Frank left […]

TOKYO – Rugby World Cup organisers were forced to call off matches for the first time in the tournament’s 32-year history on Thursday – eliminating Italy as a result – saying the risk from Typhoon Hagibis made hosting them an impossibility on safety grounds. Italy’s game against New Zealand in Toyota and England’s match against […]

With temperatures beginning to soar, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has warned that water restrictions will remain in place in several of South Africa’s provinces. With persisting drought conditions, the department said the majority of the country continues to report reasonable to poor veld and livestock conditions. Just today an urgent notice was […]

South African expat tennis player Kevin Anderson has announced the birth of his and Kelsey’s first child, a baby daughter born over 10 days ago. In a short message on social media on Wednesday evening (SA time), Kevin said: “We are so happy to say that Keira O’Neal Anderson joined us on Sept 27th.” The […]

The South African government has emphasised its commitment to protecting the rights of foreign nationals residing in South Africa. This comes amid media reports of foreign nationals allegedly staging a sit-in at the offices of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Cape Town (see news below). The Western Cape Refugee and Migrant Forum […]

South Africa’s popular Ndlovu Youth Choir and SA flutist (flautist) Wouter Kellerman have been nominated for the Hollywood Music in Media Awards for their brilliant rendition of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ (watch below.) The Ndlovu Youth Choir, from Limpopo, recently returned from an incredible run in America’s Got Talent (AGT) where they made it […]