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Brazil and South Africa may merge their defence research bases to jointly conquer world markets. In Brazil to attend the III IDB-Brazil Show, Trevor Raman, the Director-General of the Armaments Corporation of South Africa (Armscor), a public company linked to the Department of Defense of South Africa, recalled the partnership between the two countries in the development of technology for creating the A-Darter air-to-air missile. In his opinion, even before the success of the venture, the next step is to strengthen cooperation and seek to manufacture products that are competitive on the world market. "This project was challenging for both...

More rhinos were killed by poachers last year in Africa than ever before. In 2014 the dubious record looks set to be broken again. The black market price for rhino horn is now considerably higher than cocaine. Poachers from Mozambique's poorest villages sneak into South Africa, heavily armed under the cover of darkness. They are here to hunt rhinos. The money they make from just one rhino horn is enough to feed their families for months. It’s a payoff worth risking their lives for. Between 1990 and 2007 poachers killed on average 14 rhinos a year in South Africa. Last...

A disabled boy wants to be able to sue the Cape Town based Foetal Assessment Centre over its failure to inform his mother that he had down syndrome before he was born. The child's mother said that had the Foetal Assessment Centre properly informed her of the risks of down syndrome, she would have terminated the pregnancy. The mother missed the window period to file a claim on her own behalf.

After recently ending its arms embargo against Pakistan, Moscow seems set to go through with a deal to sell MI-35 attack helicopters to the South Asian nation, ostensibly to assist it in its war against Islamist militants. This sale has little precedent; Pakistan and India’s Cold War alliances, with the U.S. and Russia respectively, have largely endured to this day. After 9/11 especially, Pakistan was a major recipient of American aid and military equipment, while India maintained its strategic relationship with Russia by continuing to be its biggest weapons buyer.

The impetus underlying China’s manifold interests in the Middle East remains a topic of close scrutiny. The dramatic social and political changes that are taking root in the region portend a vastly different geopolitical cartography in contrast with previous arrangements. These circumstances yield important implications for the people of the Middle East and foreign powers, such as the United States with longstanding strategic interests in the region. Owing to its notable inroads into the Middle East in recent years, China also is watching regional events unfold with great interest. Due to its increasing demand for Middle Eastern oil and natural...

Several million Zimbabweans left for South Africa and other countries during past economic turmoil. Now, a year after the re-election of longtime leader Robert Mugabe, the country is facing new financial hardships. Zimbabwe's unemployment rate is estimated at 80 percent, pushing many people try to earn a living as street traders.

Denel sees a future for the Rooivalk combat helicopter and is engaging with the Department of Defence and Armscor on the future production of the aircraft, according to Denel Group CEO Riaz Saloojee. Saloojee was speaking during the presentation of Denel’s annual financial results on Friday. “Given the capabilities of this aircraft…there will be a future for this platform,” he said. Denel has acknowledged the “excellent performance of the Rooivalk combat support helicopter during deployment as part of peace support operations in Africa,” where it “made a significant impact on the peace enforcement in the region.” “The successful deployment of...

Almost three years after it announced plans to produce a low-cost, multirole aircraft for military and civilian duties, South Africa’s Paramount Group has completed the first public flight of its AHRLAC design. Paramount Group The advanced high-performance reconnaissance light aircraft’s formal debut was performed at Wonderboom airport in Pretoria on 13 August – just over a month after Paramount unveiled the prototype on 10 July. Flight testing of the type has now reached a total of around 5h, the company says. According to its developer, AHRLAC “integrates designs from attack helicopters, surveillance platforms and reconnaissance aircraft with the ability to...

South African President Jacob Zuma voiced outrage Monday over civilian deaths in Israel’s campaign in Gaza but distanced himself from calls to expel the Israeli ambassador, AFP reported. “We are outraged by the killing of civilians by Israel, some in United Nations shelters,” Zuma was quoted as having told a news conference in Washington where he was attending a U.S.-Africa summit. “We call upon all sides to lay down arms and work towards a negotiated solution that will lead to an internationally recognized and supported two-state solution,” he said. Zuma also condemned the killings of Israeli civilians by the Hamas...

Navi Pillay said Tel Aviv's two-week onslaught on Gaza - which has cost more than 650 Palestinians lives - would be thoroughly investigated. Ms Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the attacks have destroyed houses and hospitals and killed civilians. "These are just a few examples where there seems to be a strong possibility that international humanitarian law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes. "Every one of these incidents must be properly and independently investigated." According to Gaza officials, 475 houses have been destroyed and 2,644 damaged, while 46 schools, 56 mosques...

GENEVA, July 23 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Wednesday launched an international inquiry into human rights violations and crimes that may have been committed by Israel during its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The U.N. Human Rights Council condemned the Israeli assault which it said had involved "disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks", including aerial bombing of civilian areas, collective punishment, and the killing of more than 650 Palestinians. At the end of an emergency session, the 47-member forum adopted a resolution presented by Palestinians by a vote of 29 states in favor, 1 against (the United States) with 17...

Asserting that India's policy on Palestine issue remains unchanged, government on Monday refused to take sides over the Gaza conflict as it said Israel and Palestine should have peace talks and forestalled a resolution in Rajya Sabha which was demanded by the opposition. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said the House should not be divided but send out a joint message that wherever there is violence, it is condemnable and both Israel and Palestine should accept Egypt's offer of peace talks. She was replying to a short-duration debate on Gaza situation during which opposition condemned the violence in Gaza, pressed...

Sergey Glaziev the head of the Russian central bank in her discussion with Vladimir Putin, unveiled an elegant technical solution for this problem and left a clear hint regarding the members of the anti-dollar alliance that is being created by the efforts of Moscow and Beijing. On June 10th, Sergey Glaziev, Putin's economy advisor published an article outlining the need to establish an international alliance of countries willing to get rid of the dollar in international trade and refrain from using dollars in their currency reserves. The ultimate goal would be to break the Washington's money printing machine that is...

South Africa’s ruling party on Thursday issued a statement in which it compared Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza to the actions of the Nazis during World War II. The statement by the African National Congress (ANC) did not mention the rocket attacks from Gaza which led Israel to launch Operation Protective Edge. “The African National Congress (ANC), condemns in the strongest terms, the barbaric attacks on the defenseless Palestinian people of Gaza,” said the statement by the party’s Deputy Secretary General, Jessie Duarte. “As we move towards the month of August and are reminded of [the] atrocities of Nazi Germany, surely...

Johannesburg - Journalists were forced to take off their shoes, and get down on their knees before Venda traditional leaders at a media briefing in Johannesburg on Sunday. The bizarre briefing was over a report by the Sowetan newspaper last week that SABC chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng had been given a wife as a gift. At the start of the briefing by Mudzi Wa Vhurereli ha Vhavenda, a lobby group of Venda traditional leaders and healers, reporters were instructed to remove their shoes and get on bended knees so that they could perform a cultural ritual before beginning. Most...

South African President Jacob Zuma was admitted to a hospital for tests on Saturday, and doctors are satisfied with his condition, his office said. The announcement came two weeks after Zuma was inaugurated for a second five-year term following the election victory last month of the ruling African National Congress party. …

F.W. de Klerk, who served as the last President of apartheid-era South Africa, said on Wednesday that it was unfair to say that Israel is an apartheid state. De Klerk, who is visiting Israel where he received an honorary doctorate from Haifa University, gave an interview to Channel 2 News, in which he was asked about comments recently attributed to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, that Israel would become “an apartheid state” if talks failed. “There are many definitions of apartheid. I do not know what Mr. Kerry meant, but one should be careful about making comparisons,” said de...

The ANC government has received a request from the U.S. was rejected to be part of a U.S. disaster management plan which South Africa $ 10 billion a year (about R100 billion) for ten years would receive. According to the plan would be temporary housing for millions of Americans in South Africa built if the Yellowstone super volcano in the country sooner or later would come to a head. Countries that the U.S. will participate noodlenigingsplan, Brazil, Argentina and Australia. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Sipho Matwetwe, South Africa will not "part of the plan because...

When South Africa buried apartheid with its first all-race election in 1994, the Rev. Desmond Tutu danced with joy as he cast his ballot. He called it "a religious experience, a transfiguration experience, a mountaintop experience." As the country votes Wednesday, here's what he recently told the Sunday Times newspaper: "I didn't think there would be a disillusionment so soon. I'm glad that (Nelson Mandela) is dead. I'm glad that most of these people are no longer alive to see this," a reference to a host of chronic problems such as corruption and poverty. Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate...