The spectre of an emerging Arab-Israeli bloc that could tilt the Middle East balance of power further away from Iran is driving the Islamic Republic to pursue nuclear talks with world powers with renewed determination, officials and analysts said.

Indonesia's president ended a trip to Ukraine and Russia by saying he hoped for progress reintegrating global food and fertiliser supply lines disrupted by the conflict, and offered to be a diplomatic bridge between the two nations.

Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in on Thursday as a US Supreme Court justice, making history as the first black woman on the nation's top judicial body.

"The fuel levy story has become very messy over time and is no longer an option we can consider, among others," says transport minister Fikile Mbalula.

The family of Democratic Republic of Congo's murdered independence hero Patrice Lumumba buried his only known remains, a tooth, in the capital Kinshasa on Thursday, 61 years after his death at the hands of Belgian-backed secessionist rebels.

The assault trial of EFF leader Julius Malema and MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi resumes in the Randburg magistrate's court on Friday.

Weighing in on continued stage 6 load-shedding, Koko said it had little to do with striking Eskom workers.

US basketball player Brittney Griner goes on trial in Russia on Friday on drug charges that could see her face up to 10 years in prison in a case caught up in the fraught relations between Moscow and Washington.

"Access to electricity isn’t a codified constitutional right, but the argument can be made that the blackouts impact access to other rights, and therefore, there has been a violation," said Phumzile Van Damme.

Ukraine on Friday celebrated driving Russian forces from the strategic Black Sea outpost of Snake Island while struggling to hold off intense assaults in the eastern industrial city of Lysychansk.

Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says it's time for Cape Town and Johannesburg to end their reliance on Eskom-generated power.

One trial and a study found blood from those who recovered from Covid-19 did not help at all. However, another trial looking at people with exceptionally high antibodies gave enough hope for it to be re-examined.

Eskom says stage 4 load-shedding is in effect until 4pm on Friday, instead of the heightened stage 6 that had been announced.

Here’s what’s hot in the latest edition of the Afrikaans digital weekly

Ukraine updates.

Part of the problem is lack of integration between home and school life that turns crèches into little more than babysitting facilities, according to a study

The Nelson Mandela Boulevard in Cape Town was closed to traffic on Thursday evening after a MyCiti bus landed on top of a car.

Former president Thabo Mbeki is delivering an inaugural lecture on late former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda.

‘Someone offered me Jägermeister. It was the person who died on the table,’ says Nkululeko Alam

Six non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have condemned home affairs minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi’s attack on the Helen Suzman Foundation .

Load-shedding in Johannesburg is like manna from heaven for thieves - it allows them to know where to steal cables.

Alleged cybercrime kingpin James Aliyu was arrested in a luxury Sandton estate on Wednesday in connection with almost R196m in alleged romance scamming and business email compromise fraud.

The National Prosecuting Authority says it will oppose bail in the matter of the two suspects arrested for allegedly kidnapping Refiloe Malope in Limpopo.

A former police constable accused of fatally shooting three people, including a policeman, at New Somerset Hospital appeared virtually in the Cape Town magistrate's court on Thursday.

The seventh Southern African Customs Union summit has been held to deliberate and reflect on the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The controversial PPE businessman has filed for leave to appeal the Special Tribunal ruling

Two company directors accused of defrauding the SA Revenue Service appeared briefly before the Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court on Thursday.

The Polokwane high court on Wednesday sentenced a Pakistani national, Ashan Fraz Cheema, 33, to life imprisonment for the murder of schoolteacher Mohlale Precious Magabane on December 23 2018.

President says in affidavit that he will answer Mkhwebane’s questions on Phala Phala to acting PP

The lawyer of a controversial church leader who is facing charges of fraud and corruption has denied taking part in the elaborate scheme to have the clergyman’s wife declared dead.