CAPE TOWN — At a crowded intersection, traders wind through traffic hawking jerseys, plastic vuvuzela horns and soccer balls made of beads. Motorists, who show their patriotism with rearview mirrors wrapped in South African flags, maneuver past new buses painted in the national colors — green, red, blue, black, yellow and white. The excitement that [...]

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – An Egyptian security official declared the blockade of Gaza a failure Monday and said his country will keep its border with the Palestinian territory open indefinitely. Keeping that crossing point open long term would ease the blockade imposed by Israel three years ago to isolate and punish Gaza’s Hamas rulers. It [...]

LONDON (Reuters) – Nine Turkish activists killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship were shot a total of 30 times and five died of gunshot wounds to the head, Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported on Friday. Autopsy results showed the men were hit mostly with 9mm bullets, many fired at close range, the [...]

CAIRO (AFP) – A Cairo court on Saturday upheld a ruling to strip Egyptian men married to Israeli women of their citizenship in a case that has highlighted national sentiment towards Israel. Judge Mohammed al-Husseini, sitting on the Supreme Administrative Court, said the interior ministry must ask the cabinet to take the necessary steps to [...]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_zJb06JXto HAIFA, Israel – Israeli warships attacked at least one of six ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists and aid for the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing at least two and wounding an unknown number of people on board, an Arabic satellite news channel and a Turkish TV network reported early Monday. The Israeli military spokesman’s office denied [...]

LAGOS, Nigeria – China’s government news agency says three Chinese technicians kidnapped in Nigeria’s restive southern delta have been released. The official Xinhua News Agency quotes an unnamed Chinese diplomat saying the three men were freed Saturday morning. The diplomat said the three men, who worked for a Nigerian steel company, were in good condition [...]

Israel described as baseless on Monday reported findings in a new book that it offered to sell nuclear warheads to South Africa in 1975. Britain’s Guardian newspaper said documents, uncovered by a U.S. academic researching Israel’s ties with South Africa’s then-white minority government, provided the first official documentary evidence that the Jewish state has nuclear [...]

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – An international human rights group said Monday that Ethiopia’s national election was marred by repression and intimidation, while the government said the vote was free and fair. New York-based Human Rights Watch said Sunday’s parliamentary vote was corrupted by pre-election irregularities that included telling voters they could lose food assistance, public-sector [...]

Since gold bullion has essentially doubled in the past five years, you would think that most major gold mining companies would have seen an appreciable rally in their shares, right? Wrong. The economics of gold mines can vary dramatically depending on mining costs as well as the quality of the deposit. A third factor is [...]

Opportunity International Bank of Malawi has launched cell phone banking system – ‘banki m’manja’ – to reach out to the rural folks. The service enables customers to enquire their account balance, funds transfer, merchant payment, mobile top-up, mini-statement and change PIN. OIBM Chief Executive Officer Alexandr-Alain Kalanda said the innovation will ease their rural customers’ [...]