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Explanation: Namibia has some of the darkest nights visible from any continent. It is therefore home to some of the more spectacular skyscapes, a few of which have been captured in the above time-lapse video. Visible at the movie start are unusual quiver trees perched before a deep starfield highlighted by the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. This bright band of stars and gas appears to pivot around the celestial south pole as our Earth rotates. The remains of camel thorn trees are then seen against a sky that includes a fuzzy patch on the far right that...

Mysteries come in many forms: ancient, modern, unsolved, and unexplained. But the world's most mysterious buildings are a physical force to be reckoned with. They've become popularized on websites full of user-generated and editor-curated like Abandoned-places.com, weburbanist.com, and AtlasObscura.com, an exhaustive database of the unusual. "In an age where it sometimes seems like there's nothing left to discover, our site is for people who still believe in exploration," says AtlasObscura.com cofounder Joshua Foer. Our definition of mysterious is broad and varied. Some buildings on our list are being eaten alive by the earth, such as a lava-buried church in the...

Almost four years since the signing of the global political agreement (GPA) that brought Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) into a lopsided power-sharing arrangement with Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF, the country is once again heading towards elections, now expected within a year. The GPA has achieved some stability, enabling modest progress on reform, but an array of problems remain. Spoiler behaviour, especially by Zanu-PF, has not been adequately dealt with, although the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), as co-guarantor with the African Union of the political agreement, has consistently rejected Zanu-PF efforts to fast-track elections without reforms. The EU will...

A newly discovered water source could supply half of Africa's driest sub-Saharan country with 400 years of water, reports Matt McGrath of BBC. The new aquifer – called Ohangwena II – flows under the border between Angola and Namibia, covering an area of about 43 miles by 25 miles on Namibia's side. The water is up to 10,000 years old and cleaner to drink than many modern sources. Project manager Martin Quinger told BBC that the stored water could last 400 years based on current rates of consumption. Currently the 800,000 people living in the northern part of the country...

Killer virus red alert as more die April 11, 2005 By Own Correspondents and Sapa-AFP Pretoria/Uige: South Africa has begun implementing precautions against the deadly Marburg haemorrhagic fever, which has claimed the lives of 193 of the 218 people infected in Angola in the worst outbreak of the disease yet. South Africa's precautions follow a World Health Organisation (WHO) warning to countries neighbouring Angola that they should go on the alert. The WHO said late last night that 360 people were being monitored in Angola, where the disease broke out in October. A severe haemorrhagic fever akin to Ebola, the...

Residents in northern Namibia, on the southwest coast of Africa, have reported being terrorized by a bizarre dog-pig hybrid creature. The animal is said to be mostly white and unlike anything the villagers have ever seen, with a doglike head and the broad, round, nearly hairless back and shoulders of a giant pig. The beast was spotted chasing and attacking dogs, goats and other domestic animals in this arid region not far from the Kalahari desert. As often happens when rumors of monsters spread in rural areas around the world, some locals have taken extra safety precautions, such as traveling...

A large metallic ball fell out of the sky on a remote grassland in Namibia, prompting baffled authorities to contact NASA and the European space agency. The hollow ball with a circumference of 1.1 metres (43 inches) was found near a village in the north of the country some 750 kilometres (480 miles) from the capital Windhoek, according to police forensics director Paul Ludik. Locals had heard several small explosions a few days beforehand, he said. With a diameter of 35 centimetres (14 inches), the ball has a rough surface and appears to consist of "two halves welded together". It...

A mysterious metal ball reportedly fell from space , landing in a grasslands area of the African nation of Namibia. So far experts claim the object is not of alien origin. It has two bumps on each end, appears to be hollow and weights about 13 pounds. Namibia's National Forensic Science Institute Director Paul Ludik said the sphere is 3.6 feet around and is made out of a "sophisticated" alloy that is not unknown to modern science, although it has no identifying markings to link it with a country or a company. So far that's about all we're told. But...

Terrorists operate in Namibia: NamRights‎ Informante - Nov 2, 2011 Written by Hilma Ndapandula Himotha The human rights organisation NamRights claims that some of the country’s highest political office holders tolerated and protected operations of at least two militant Islamic terrorist groups n Namibia. NamRights director Phil ya Nangoloh claims that his organisation is in possession of credible information that members of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militias as well as Somali al-Shabab jihadists have been operating in Namibia for several years. In a press release that NamRights published yesterday, ya Nangoloh demands from President Pohamba to clearly deny or confirm such...

An estimated 11 billion barrels in oil reserves have been found off Namibia's coast, with the first production planned within four years, mines and energy minister Isak Katali announced Wednesday. The finding could put Namibia on par with neighboring Angola, whose reserves are estimated at around 13 billion barrels and whose production rivals Africa's top producer, Nigeria. ... Namibia has long been seen as a potential new source of oil, hampered by a lack of exploration to determine the extent of its reserves. Its offshore geology is similar to Brazil, which is seeing a boom in oil.

Police have arrested the head of airport security at Namibia's main airport on charges he planted a dummy explosive device in luggage destined for a German flight earlier this week, Germany's interior ministry said yesterday. Citing Namibian authorities, an interior ministry spokesman said the man was arrested for having placed a bag containing a simulated detonator on a luggage conveyor belt, and that he had admitted to doing so. -snip- "The suspect was identified using CCTV footage. On the footage the suspect was seen handling the parcel," he said. "We do not know if the suspect was working alone or...

WINDHOEK, Namibia — A senior Namibian aviation security officer has been arrested in connection with a mock bomb found Wednesday in a laptop case at the airport here, the nation’s police commander said on Saturday. But the investigation into how the device, which was made by a California company to test airport security, ended up at an airport halfway around the world was just beginning, said the commander, Lt. Gen. Sebastian Ndeitunga. He gave no indication that any evidence pointed to a terrorism plot.

Police have found a suspected bomb in a parcel bound for Germany at an airport in Namibia, officials said on Thursday.

Police in Namibia have intercepted a suspicious object with a detonator and a running clock in luggage on an Air Berlin plane en route from the country's capital, Windhoek to Munich. Germany's Federal Crime Office (BKA) said it was not clear if the object found during loading of the Airbus jet yesterday was an ignitable explosive. Germany stepped up security measures after saying it had received intelligence pointing to a planned attack in the country towards the end of this month. Security was stepped up at potential targets such as train stations and airports.

Eldest son of the Chinese president Hu Jintao faces questioning in connection with a multi-million pound corruption investigation in Namibia. Three people have been arrested in the country on charges of fraud, corruption and bribery involving a government contract with the state-owned Chinese company Nuctech, a world leader in scanning technology. Hu Haifeng, 38, was the president of the firm until last year, when he was promoted to being the party secretary of Tsinghua Holdings, the group which controls Nuctech and 30 other companies. The investigation centres on a £34 million deal Namibia signed with Nuctech to provide it with...

One more week for the "art" theme, this time the desert and coastal landscape of Namibia, again from Frantisek Staud.

A decision to allow the trophy-hunting of endangered elephants in Namibia has angered conservation groups. Trophy permits have been issued for the killing of six bull elephants by the government's Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET). Conservationists estimate there are about 400 elephants in the Kunene region It will allow any big game hunter willing to pay about $40,000 the right to hunt and shoot a bull elephant in Namibia's north-west desert region. But opponents say killing bull elephants in an already endangered population is unsustainable and risks pushing the desert elephant towards extinction. The elephants, who spend their lives...

Israeli diamond merchants active in West Africa, responding to the report in Haaretz on Monday that defense officials are worried Hezbollah terrorists will target Israeli communities there, said the Lebanese movement enjoyed the strong support of locals. "The big problem for Israelis in West Africa is that there are countries whose diamond industry is controled by Lebanese locals, a majority of whom openly support Hezbollah," a source in the Israeli diamond business said Monday. "In effect, these are countries which are known as Hezbollah states," he added. Israeli companies that deal in diamonds, agriculture, communications and security operate mainly in...

Remember Joe Wilson? He's the diplomat who went to Niger to investigate Bush administration claims that Saddam Hussein had tried to buy yellowcake uranium, a raw material used in building nuclear bombs, from Africa. He wrote in a July 6, 2003, New York Times op-ed that he had spent the previous February in Niger, "drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people ... associated with the country's uranium business. It did not take long to conclude that it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place." A story that has to be the most underplayed...

WINDHOEK (Reuters) - North Korea's number two leader ended a trip to Namibia, a leading uranium producer, on Sunday saying he would strengthen ties with the country. North Korea, under pressure to declare its nuclear programmes, and Namibia said they signed a memorandum of understanding on diplomatic consultations. Kim Yong-nam, president of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, started an African tour on Thursday in Namibia, the world's fifth-largest uranium miner. In a joint statement issued by Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba's office, the countries "expressed satisfaction" that their ties have grown. North Korea watchers said the search for business...