Top Stories

Top Stories
South Africans Abroad: Lorch unveiled, jersey number revealed
Thembinkosi Lorch will start a new chapter of his career in Libya with a new jersey number he was handed in by Al-Ittihad.
Top Stories

Top Stories
Men jailed over plot to attack Jewish community
Two men are jailed after planning what police say could have been “the UK’s deadliest terror attack”.

South Africa
IPID disputes City of Ekurhuleni on EMPD theft case
Thulani Magagula says Ekurhuleni was aware of the issue involving the theft of cigarettes by EMPD

South Africa
Egyptian-Born Tactful AI Raises $1 Million to Scale Agentic Customer Experience Platform
UK-registered, Egyptian-founded customer experience platform Tactful AI has raised $1 million in a pre-Series A funding round to expand its end-to-end, AI-driven customer service infrastructure built on agentic AI capabilities. The round was co-led by UAE-based venture capital firm Foras AI and investment firm M Empire. Deep-tech angel investors also participated, including Omar Gabr,...

South Africa
Tunisia Advances Digital Health Reform With AI and National Cloud Strategy
Tunisia’s minister of health, Dr. Mustafa Al-Furjani, met with Assad bin Dyab, president and general manager of Tunisie Telecom, to accelerate the digitalization of healthcare services. The high-level meeting focused on expanding the use of technology to improve quality of care and bring health services closer to citizens. Officials identified several priorities for the next […]

South Africa
Ghana Backs Responsible AI Use in Military at Global REAIM Summit
Ghana has reaffirmed its commitment to the responsible development and use of artificial intelligence, particularly in military and security operations, as global scrutiny intensifies over the impact of emerging technologies on peace and stability. Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs James Gyakye Quayson represented Ghana at the Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (REAIM)...

World
Leak damages 19th Century painting in latest Louvre setback
A catalogue of incidents at the world’s most visited museum have placed museum bosses come under increasing scrutiny.

World
Britain’s High Court says government illegally banned Pro-Palestinian group
In its ruling, the court said an earlier decision to ban the Pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization was “disproportionate.”

World
FBI releases description of suspect in Nancy Guthrie kidnapping
The 84-year-old mother of news anchor Savannah Guthrie disappeared from her Arizona home two weeks ago.

World
Who will police Gaza, and how?
Under President Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan, Arab countries and the European Union are supposed to train a new police force in the Gaza Strip. But U.S. plans have run into serious challenges.

Africa
South Africa to deploy troops to tackle crime gangs
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the army will work with the police to fight organised crime and illegal mining.

Africa
Kenya’s border with Somalia set to re-open after almost 15 years
Somali Islamist militant group al-Shabab has staged several attacks in Kenya, prompting the border to be closed.

Africa
At least 21 dead after boat sinks on Sudan’s River Nile
Search efforts are continuing for the missing passengers, who included children.

Africa
Powerful cyclone kills at least 20 as it tears through Madagascar port
Madagascar’s disaster management says roads are inaccessible with trees uprooted, power poles down and ninety percent of roofs ripped off.

Business
Massive shopping mall in South Africa set for grand opening this year
Boardwalk Mall is undergoing a large expansion, with the mall set to get padel courts and 5-a-side soccer facility.

Business
Hello Kitty designer steps down after 46 years
Yuko Yamaguchi oversaw the feline character’s rise to to global icon status.

Business
Inflation eases in US as prices for used cars fall
Prices rose by 2.4% in the year to January, the latest official figures show, the slowest pace since May.
Business

Politics
In Sona, Ramaphosa signals shift from crisis management to consolidation
For the first time in several years, electricity did not dominate the president’s address

Politics
Truck theft in Putfontein under the spotlight at Madlanga Inquiry
It’s alleged that Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department specialised unit officers stole a truck in 2023

Politics
INFOGRAPHIC | Quotes from President Ramaphosa’s 2026 SONA
President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged the country to unite amid the many issues the country faces.

Politics
Msimanga weighs bid for DA leadership
The Gauteng leader said provincial officials had approached him to pursue the national position

Sport
Sharma secures UAE victory over Canada in T20 World Cup
Aryansh Sharma’s unbeaten 74 bolsters United Arab Emirates’s hopes of qualifying for the T20 World Cup Super 8s with a tense five-wicket win over Canada.

Sport
Red Bull advantage ‘pretty scary’, says Russell
Red Bull’s advantage at the front of the Formula 1 field “has been really eye-opening for a lot of us,” says Mercedes driver George Russell.

Sport
‘Scots motivated to prove they deserve to play best’
Bowler Brad Wheal says proving lower-ranked teams deserve more opportunities is a greater motivation for Scotland than getting one over England.

Sport
Rangers v Hearts, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Goodwin in focus
Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts travel to Ibrox in the game of the weekend, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jim Goodwin are also in focus
Education
San Francisco Teachers End Strike After 4 Days
Public schools are expected to reopen on Wednesday for 50,000 students in the city. Teachers demanded higher wages and health care benefits.

Education
What is the new gender guidance for schools and colleges in England?
Advice on how to respond to students questioning their birth gender has been updated. Here are the key changes
Ministers have released updated guidance on how schools and colleges in England should respond to students who are questioning their birth gender. How is it different to the previous Department for Education (DfE) guidance, released under the Conservatives in 2023?
Continue reading…
Education
Liberia: Rotary Club, Humanity Care Liberia Break Ground for Solar-Powered Well At John Flomo Bakalu High School.
[New Dawn] – In a significant boost to access to safe drinking water and improved learning conditions, the Rotary Club of Gbarnga, in partnership with Humanity Care Liberia, has officially broken ground on a solar-powered well at the government-run John Flomo Bakalu High School in Gbarnga, Bong County.
Education
Manhattan Has Its Own Historian
Harold Holzer, an expert on Abraham Lincoln, is taking over the role of borough historian. He is looking ahead to some significant milestones this year.
Lifestyle
Lifestyle

Lifestyle
2026 SASSA unemployment grant confirmed by Ramaphosa
The long-talked-about 2026 SASSA unemployment grant will finally go ahead, confirms President Ramaphosa at SONA. But how much will it cost?

Lifestyle
SA first as Braille coastal signage arrives at Cape Town nature reserve [pics]
A nature reserve in Cape Town has made history after it unveiled SA’s first Braille coastal environmental education signage.

Entertainment
Floods devastate Moroccan farms after years of drought
Floodwaters have submerged more than 100 000 hectares, destroying crops and displacing families.
Entertainment

Entertainment
Mokwena denies Sundowns tactical leak claims
“Let me state this clearly, Mario has not given me any tactical or confidential information about Sundowns,” Mokwena said.

Entertainment
Chery Tiggo 7 CSH gets a five-star safety rating in crash test
The Tiggo 7 CSH features high-strength steel construction, eight airbags, advanced driver assistance systems, and protected electrified powertrains.

Science/Tech
Crypto Insurance – BDIC Unveils AgentCover Pro to Protect AI-Driven Payments, Stablecoins, and Cross-Chain Transfers
Hong Kong, SAR Central District — BDIC, Blockchain Deposit Insurance Corporation, a crypto insurance provider, today announced the commercial launch of AgentCover Pro, a first-of-its-kind crypto insurance product specifically engineered to protect payments executed by agentic AI systems. Comments from the company detailed how AgentCover Pro delivers modular coverage across agent failures,...
Science/Tech
Bill Introduced To Replace West Virginia’s New CS Course Graduation Requirement With Computer Literacy Proficiency
theodp writes: West Virginia lawmakers on Tuesday introduced House Bill 5387 (PDF), which would repeal the state’s recently enacted mandatory stand-alone computer science graduation requirement and replace it with a new computer literacy proficiency requirement. Not too surprisingly, the Bill is being opposed by tech-backed nonprofit Code.org, which lobbied for the WV CS graduation requirement...
Science/Tech
Meta Plans To Let Smart Glasses Identify People Through AI-Powered Facial Recognition
Meta plans to add facial recognition technology to its Ray-Ban smart glasses as soon as this year, New York Times reported Friday, five years after the social giant shut down facial recognition on Facebook and promised to find “the right balance” for the controversial technology. The feature, internally called “Name Tag,” would let wearers identify people and retrieve information about them...

Science/Tech
Are Waterproof Sneakers Worth It? (2026)
The idea of having warm, dry feet on your wet, snowy run is appealing. But you might not like the trade-offs.

Motoring
5 important things that happened in South Africa’s auto industry this week
These were the five biggest stories in South Africa’s transport industry this week.
Motoring
Motoring
Motoring
Health
RFK Jr. Allies Target States to Overturn Vaccine Mandates for Schools
Proponents of vaccines warn that the efforts will further dismantle the immunization infrastructure and lead to more outbreaks of disease.
Health
4 Months Trapped in a Hospital for an Obsolete Way of Treating Their Disease
Health workers in developing countries know that isolating tuberculosis patients is an outdated and potentially harmful practice, but lack the resources to move away from it.
Health
Senate Questions Health Care Firm for Profiting Off Program Meant for Poor
The program was meant to help hospitals provide for poor patients by offering drug savings. But critics say a Texas company has turned it into a big business, driving up costs for patients and insurers.

Health
NHS waiting list at lowest level in three years
Backlog drops below 7.3m for first time since 2023 in England, but concern over long A&E waits.