13 h. ago Evil father who admitted raping his newborn baby to death threatens to kill his wife if he is not jailed

A sick South African father who admitted to murdering his one-week-old baby daughter after he violently raped her while her mother was out has threatened to kill her if he is not jailed.  

Events

14 h. ago Scientists hope a newly discovered flower will return after rain in West Texas

Scientists who want to learn more about a tiny, newly discovered flower in West Texas are hoping it will bloom again in a couple of weeks after rain finally fell in the area

Science

18 h. ago Prince Harry's 'wild child' ex Chelsy Davy was never seen as a suitable royal bride... but her new life

Chelsy Davy, now 39, has re-entered the public eye more than a decade after her split from Prince Harry as she shared a glamorous Mother's Day picture from South Africa.

Politics

18 h. ago Man who raped newborn baby to death makes chilling threat to its mother

Hugo Ferreira, 37, from South Africa, sexually assaulted his one week old daughter after her mum went to buy her some nappies from the shop. He murdered her because she kept crying

Events

26 h. ago ‘They started nibbling at its head’: the bold plan to rid an island of albatross

South Africa’s Marion Island is a breeding ground for the birds, but their chicks are being eaten alive by rodents. Now, the world’s largest operation to eradicate the invasive species is about to get under wayBy 2015, scientists knew from camera trap evidence that mice were attacking albatross chicks on Marion Island, but no one had ever witnessed it first-hand on the small volcanic outcrop off the coast of South Africa. So, when researchers Stefan and Janine Schoombie came across a badly wounded wandering albatross chick in a relatively accessible part of the island, they resolved to return at night. After hiking for 30 minutes in the dark, Stefan started quietly setting up his camera equipment behind a rock. “We were expecting to have to stalk, but the mice were climbing all over us,” he says.It didn’t take long for the mice to start feeding on the albatross chick. “The bird was a complete fluffball,” says Janine. “So, they just climbed up its back and started nibbling at its hea...

Politics

29 h. ago Gary Barlow comes face to face with 'terrifying' tiger shark at sea for new ITV series

After a successful first series in South Africa, Gary Barlow is back, fronting a second season of his Wine Tour in Australia. But filming was completely derailed by a tiger shark.

Events

54 h. ago Scientists hope hungry weevils from Louisiana can tackle South Africa's invasive water plants

South Africa is unleashing weevils imported from the United States in a bid to fight off the sprouting growth of Salvinia minima, an alien species of aquatic plant native to South America that is choking up dams and rivers

Events

62 h. ago Scumbag dad rapes and kills newborn baby as wife went to buy daughter nappies

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT: The South African evil father gave a sickening reason for sexually assaulting his newborn daughter who died while her mother was buying nappies for her at the shops

Events

67 h. ago Vile father rapes newborn baby to death while wife out buying daughter nappies

Hugo Ferreira, 37, from South Africa, issued a sickening reason for sexually assaulting his newborn daughter. She was brutally murdered when her mum went to the shops

Events

67 h. ago ‘Canary in the coalmine of totalitarianism’: how Columbia went from a home for Edward Said to a punching bag for Trump

The university had a history of being a home for cutting-edge discourse on Palestine – until it capitulated to the administration’s demands Last week, Columbia University announced that it would cave to demands by the Trump administration and adopt sweeping measures against pro-Palestinian activity on campus, including new restrictions on protest and the takeover of an academic department from faculty control.The news sent shock waves across higher education institutions nationwide for what appeared a stunning capitulation to attacks on academic freedom and the independence of the department of Middle Eastern, south Asian and African studies, or Mesaas, which became a scapegoat for what the administration viewed as a pro-Palestinian climate on campus. It was also a remarkable turn of events for a university that had for years been a home for cutting-edge academic discourse on Palestine, beginning with the scholarship of Edward Said, a leading Palestinian intellectual. Continue readi...

Politics

69 h. ago ‘The physics community has never split like this’: row erupts over plans for new Large Hadron Collider

Ambitious project could soak up funding for subatomic physics for decades, say opponentsScientists are refining plans to build the world’s biggest machine at a site beneath the Swiss-French border. More than $30bn (£23bn) would be spent drilling a 91km circular tunnel in which subatomic particles would be accelerated to near light speeds and smashed into each other. From the resulting nuclear debris, scientists hope they will then find clues that would help them understand the detailed makeup of the universe.It is an extraordinarily ambitious project. However, it is also a controversial one – for many scientists fear the machine, the Future Circular Collider (FCC), could soak up funding for subatomic physics for decades and leave promising new research avenues starved of resources. Continue reading...

Events

2 d. ago New 3D technology could soon bring surgeons closer to patients in Africa's most remote regions

A groundbreaking initiative could soon be bringing surgeons closer to patients in Africa's remote corners where the doctor-to-patients ratio is among the lowest in the world

Science

3 d. ago Rebels agree to a ceasefire with African coalition troops departing from eastern Congo

M23 rebels in control of key areas of eastern Congo have agreed to a ceasefire with African coalition peacekeepers who announced their withdrawal even as the conflict between the insurgents and Congo’s government continues

Events

3 d. ago Wildlife charity faces damages claim over elephant project in Africa linked to 12 deaths

Rural communities on the border between the African countries of Malawi and Zambia are threatening to sue an international animal conservation group for death and destruction caused by the relocation of more than 260 elephants to their area

Events

3 d. ago ‘We live in both worlds’: how teachers of Gullah Geechee herbal medicine are cultivating tradition

Classes on ‘hoodoo’ connect new generations eager to explore their roots with elders in the South Carolina communityWith their eyes downcast in reflection, dozens of people dressed in white crossed a bridge to pay respect to their ancestors last October. They carried flowers, herbs and photos of their loved ones to lay at the foot of an altar on a tiny strip of land in the middle of a pond. For the last few years, this ritual at the start of the annual Gullah Geechee herbal gathering on Johns Island, South Carolina, has served as a link between the living and the dead. “It gives them a sacred space to connect with the land,” the gathering’s founder, Khetnu Nefer, said about the attendees, and to “connect with our communal ancestors”.Held on Nefer’s family’s land, a stretch of 10 acres (four hectares) of flat grass surrounded by woods, the gathering educates attendees on the herbal traditions of the descendants of west Africans enslaved on the Sea Islands along the south-east US. Ove...

Society

4 d. ago Meet Elon Musk's rival billionaire tech bro wielding JD Dunce White House influence

Like Musk, Thiel grew up in South Africa, made a fortune from PayPal and is a big backer of Donald Trump, but the similarities don't stop there as the pair push their influence in the White House

Science

5 d. ago Jockeys protest and meeting called off after rider suspended over explosive TV interview

Grant Van Niekerk was stood down at Durbanville after making complaints about South African racing’s governing body, resulting in a riders’ protest and the cancellation of the fixture

Events

5 d. ago Boy, 7, loses arm in crocodile attack in front of horrified family on fishing trip

Johandre Blom was pulled underwater as he played in the shallows of the Roodekopjes Dam, near Brits

Events

5 d. ago Prince Harry and Lesotho's Prince Seeiso resign from African charity over dispute among leadership

Prince Harry has resigned as a patron of an African charity he co-founded nearly 20 years ago in memory of his late mother, Princess Diana

Politics

5 d. ago Don’t just blame Trump – Democrats paved the way for this campus crackdown | Musa al

Both parties are responsible for the mess facing Columbia and other institutions. It’s time for their leaders to take a standDonald Trump trying to cow higher education institutions into submission using the power of the purse. The administration has withheld $400m in federal funds from Columbia University and has vowed to remove even more if its demands are not met.Columbia has an endowment of $14.8bn and an annual operating budget of $6.6bn. The cuts amount to roughly 6% of its annual budget – a non-trivial share. In order to keep it, Columbia was instructed to adopt a number of illiberal measures: it must put its Middle East, South Asia and Africa Studies department into academic receivership; change its admissions policies to reduce admits of people from those regions and admit more Jewish students;and grant campus police more power to surveil, detain and remove people from campus without following the usual due process. It must accept permanently heightened restrictions on camp...

Politics