Jan 12 (Reuters) – The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Monday that would renew Washington’s preferential trade program for some African countries through 2028.

SYDNEY, Jan 13 (Reuters) – The director of one of Australia’s top writers festivals resigned on Tuesday saying she could not be party to silencing a Palestinian author and warning government moves to ban protests and slogans in the aftermath of the Bondi mass shooting threatened free speech.

Christoff Becker, one of four Pretoria teenagers convicted of the murder of a homeless man in a crime which outraged the nation, is back in the news.

Red carpet arrivals and late-night celebrations frame the mood and moments of the 83rd Golden Globe Awards.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube hailed the Class of 2025 for achieving South Africa’s highest-ever National Senior Certificate pass rate of 88%, with a record 345,000 bachelor’s passes despite challenges in gateway subjects.

Discovery Health’s systems hiccup turned routine claims into nasty ‘you owe us’ notices for 16,507 members, with some demands climbing toward R80,000. After MediCheck lit the fuse and the Council for Medical Schemes began asking questions, Discovery has backtracked, promising refunds and no 2026 benefit pain, but questions remain about governance, controls and accountability.

WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Republicans expressed concernon Monday about the Trump administration’s threat to indict Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, as two lawmakers threatened to retaliate by blocking President Donald Trump’s central bank nominees and a third called for the federal probe to end quickly.

HOUSTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Two China-flagged supertankers that were sailing to Venezuela to pick up debt-paying crude cargoes amid the U.S. oil embargo on the OPEC country have made u-turn and are now heading back to Asia, LSEG shipping data showed on Monday.

South Africa enters the new year with hints of a firmer footing, along with reminders of how fragile the recovery remains. Business Maverick chatted to a few of the minds at the very top – leading business CEOs – to find out their thoughts about the year ahead.

For a brief moment, the big PC brands turned away from shoving needless AI into everything and remembered that people use computers to do and build things.

In the middle-class story of the holidays, what made Discovery Health’s reimbursement error utterly bizarre was that it publicly defended its flawed legal stance when it never had a case.

Journalists are seldom specialists, so any investigation into a complex sector like fishing needs to begin as an in-depth conversation with the most knowledgeable person you can find.

Carlos Da Rocha, the DA councillor for Bez Valley, has transformed a graffiti-covered van into a mobile protest advocating for accountability in Johannesburg. Through this unconventional tactic, Da Rocha, now in his third term, believes he is effectively pressuring the city to take action and is committed to doing ‘anything for [his] community’, even if it means breaking the rules.

There are many moving parts to this unfolding saga, which explains why copper is so high on the radar screens of mining boardrooms — and why so many governments have classified it as ‘critical’.

For months, South Africans have been told that Eskom has “paused” or “stayed” its legal challenge against the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) over the granting of electricity trading licences to five private electricity traders.