LONDON – Perennial chart-topper Ariana Grande has lost the race to top the British singles chart at Christmas – to a blogger who posts about fatherhood and sings about sausage rolls… and is raising money to help feed people suffering from poverty. LadBaby, whose real name is Mark Hoyle, recorded his version of Starship’s 1985 […]

MOSCOW – A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck off Russia’s sparsely populated far east on Thursday, but officials said the threat of a tsunami had passed and no damage was reported. The quake off Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, which was initially measured at magnitude 7.8 by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), before […]

Environmentally conscious consumers often ask me whether a real Christmas tree or an artificial one is the more sustainable choice. As a horticulture and forestry researcher, I know this question is also a concern for the Christmas tree industry, which is wary of losing market share to artificial trees. From seedling to wood chipper And […]

Time Magazine has just announced its “Person of the Year” for 2018, and for once, it isn’t one person. This time it is four people and a newspaper. Collectively calling them “The Guardians”, Time has awarded the accolade to the murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Filipino journalist Maria Ressa who edits the Rappler news website, […]

This is not a South African story, but a human story. An American mother’s post, searching for an airplane traveller – Passenger 2D – has gone viral as the man’s kindness has touched hearts around the world, from the US – where it started – to Australia, from the UK to South Africa. Since Kelsey […]

There’s a post on Facebook that’s going viral… with a story so amazing that it’s hard to believe it’s true… but for once, this story is! Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler were on opposite sides during the Second World War. Their paths crossed on 20 December 1943 and one of them should have been killed… but […]

JAKARTA – A sperm whale found dead in a national park in Indonesia is making headlines around the world for the tragic state, caused by humans, in which it has been found. It had nearly six kilograms of plastic waste in its stomach, park officials said on Tuesday. The plastic include: 115 cups, 25 plastic […]

LOS ANGELES – Stan Lee, who dreamed up Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Hulk, Black Panther and a cavalcade of other Marvel Comics superheroes that became mythic figures in pop culture with soaring success at the movie box office, died at the age of 95, his daughter said on Monday. As a writer and editor, Lee […]

PARADISE, California, USA – Five people died in Northern California when flames engulfed their vehicles as they attempted to flee Paradise, a mountain town north of Sacramento mostly destroyed by one of three wildfires raging across the state, US authorities said on Friday. Nearly 500 miles to the south, a second blaze forced the evacuation […]

MELBOURNE – Cricket Australia (CA) is considering a demand by the players’ union that ball-tampering bans on former captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft be lifted immediately, the governing body’s CEO Kevin Roberts said on Wednesday. CA has come under pressure from the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) to end the bans following the […]

COPENHAGEN – South African police on Monday arrested a Danish woman accused of stealing 111 million crowns ($17 million) of Danish government funds intended for the most vulnerable in society, the Danish state prosecutor for financial crime said. The case, seen by many Danes as a symbol of the decline in confidence in once trusted […]

BEIJING – China unveiled new rules on Monday that would allow the use of rhino horn and tiger parts for some medical and cultural purposes, watering down a decades-old ban in a move conservation group WWF said could have “devastating consequences”. China’s State Council issued a notice replacing its 1993 ban on the trade of […]

Europe made a step forward in the fight against plastic on Wednesday with a move to ban popular throw-away plastic items like straws and cotton buds… and a greater burden to be placed on manufacturers to recycle; all in a bid to help clear up ocean pollution. Under the proposal by European Union (EU) lawmakers […]

Americans are clamouring to buy a $2 lottery ticket that could make them one of the richest people in the world… with a fortune GREATER than South Africa’s gross domestic product! Tuesday night’s Mega Millions lottery jackpot stands at a whopping $1.6 billion!! Wouldn’t it be great if a South African expat, living in the […]

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan – who are currently in Australia – are expecting their first child in the spring of 2019, around a year after their glittering wedding injected Hollywood glamour into the British royal family. Kensington Palace announced Monday morning: “Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased […]

WINDSOR, England – Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank at Windsor Castle on Friday in front of celebrities and Britain’s senior royals including Prince Harry and wife Meghan who wed at the same venue in May. Eugenie, 28, younger daughter of the queen’s third child, Prince Andrew, and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, the […]

WASHINGTON – Rapper Kanye West, with a stream of consciousness speech in the Oval Office and a burst of profanity, defended his support for President Donald Trump on Thursday, to the great delight of Trump himself. The event was billed as a lunch at the White House to discuss prison reform, jobs for African-Americans and […]

Extremely powerful Hurricane Michael crashed into Florida’s northwestern Panhandle coast on Wednesday, flooding towns and ripping up trees with 249 km per hour winds and the potential for a devastating storm surge. Michael, which had caught many by surprise with its rapid intensification as it churned north over the Gulf of Mexico, was the most […]

PALU, Indonesia – The toll from an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia soared on Sunday to 832 confirmed dead, with authorities fearing it will only climb as rescuers struggle to reach outlying communities cut off from communications and help. Dozens of people were reported to be trapped in the rubble of two hotels and a […]

JAKARTA – The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi jumped to 384 on Saturday, authorities said, with many of those killed swept away by giant waves as they played on the beach. Strong aftershocks continued to rock the coastal city on Saturday morning after waves up to six […]

Burt Reynolds, whose good looks and charm made him one of Hollywood’s most popular actors as he starred in films such as “Deliverance,” “The Longest Yard” and “Smokey and the Bandit” in the 1970s and ’80s, has died at age 82. Reynolds died on Thursday morning at the Jupiter Medical Center in Florida, his manager, […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan issued evacuation advisories for more than a million people and canceled hundreds of flights as Typhoon Jebi sliced across the west on Tuesday, cutting power, overturning cars and killing at least six people. Jebi, or “swallow” in Korean, was briefly a super typhoon and is the most powerful storm to hit […]

HONOLULU – Hurricane Lane weakened to a Category 3 storm on Thursday but was already lashing Hawaii with high winds and torrential rains, touching off flash floods, landslides and raging surf as residents hunkered down to ride out the storm. With the storm still spinning in the Pacific Ocean about 180 miles (290 km) southeast […]

The Queen of Pop celebrated her 60th birthday on Thursday 16 August by proving she’s no longer a ‘Material Girl’. Instead of asking for gifts, Madonna asked friends and fans to rather donate to her Facebook fundraiser which is benefiting her Raising Malawi foundation. The non-profit Foundation aims to benefit vulnerable children in the southern African […]

Aretha Franklin, the preacher’s daughter whose powerful voice made her the long-reigning “Queen of Soul” with such hit songs as “Respect” and “Chain of Fools,” died on Thursday at the age of 76, officials said. Franklin, who won 18 Grammys and had some 25 gold records, died at her home in Detroit surrounded by family […]