South Africa | featured news

An African company recovers a rare blue diamond, thought to be worth $10m (£6.5m), from its mine in South Africa.

A series of studies released today show that a long-extinct South African creature had an intriguing mix of human and apelike traits. But scientists say they still haven’t figured out where it fits on our evolutionary family tree. The human branch of the evolutionary tree, called Homo, is thought to have arisen from a group of ancient species called australopithecines. The newly studied species is a member of this group, and so its similarities to humans are enticing for tackling the riddle of how Homo appeared.

A judge on Thursday eased the unusually tight bail restrictions on Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee Olympic runner who is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Feb. 14 in one of the most sensational cases in South Africa’s recent judicial history.

Leaders of the five BRICS nations fueling global economic growth plan the creation of a development bank in a direct challenge to the World Bank that they accuse of Western bias.

A South African cardinal on Monday apologized for offending victims of child abuse when he described pedophilia as an illness and not a crime in a media interview. Victims' rights groups and others said the comments by Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, the Catholic Archbishop of Durban, comments were insensitive, especially given perceptions the Catholic Church has not done enough to root out abuse.

The father of "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius – the Olympic star accused of murdering his girlfriend – has been accused of racism after he claimed the family needed guns to protect themselves because they could not rely on South Africa's police.

South Africa suspended eight police officers on Friday after the death of a man they had bound to a vehicle and dragged through a busy street in a videotaped incident that has further blackened the reputation of the police.

The episode, caught on cellphone video, has prompted anger because of its brazen and outsize cruelty.

Oscar Pistorius was to hold a private memorial service Tuesday for the girlfriend he is charged with murdering. Slain model Reeva Steenkamp was cremated and mourned at a family service last week while Pistorius was in custody during a weeklong hearing on whether he should be released on bail.

There are several key points where testimony at the Oscar Pistorius bail hearing conflicted between the prosecution and the defense....