The government will remove regulatory hurdles to invest in new electricity infrastructure. Loadshedding has almost brought South Africa's economic growth to a standstill.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a national "state of disaster" over the country's rolling power shortages. Energy provider Eskom says its ageing coal-fired power plants cannot keep up with demand and it's been imposing scheduled cuts. The blackouts are weighing on business activity and South Africa's economic growth.

In November 2022, thousands of young Chinese people took to the streets to protest repeated Covid-19 lockdowns, constant PCR tests and to demand greater freedom. The movement was stifled in a few days and authorities abandoned their strict zero-Covid policy. But if China's youth took the risk to voice their anger, it's because their frustration goes well beyond Covid rules. FRANCE 24's Lou Kisiela, Antoine Morel and Yan Chen report.

Pretoria's Western allies are upset by South Africa hosting upcoming joint naval exercises with Russia and China. Historical ties between Moscow and the ruling ANC may explain President Ramaphosa's stance.

South Africa has begun military exercises with both China and Russia as part of a routine army drill. The joint training has drawn immense criticism from the West, coming nearly one year on from the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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Estonia wants Brussels to find and fund more ammunition for Kyiv. The European Commission believes its recent experience with COVID vaccines will work for much-needed missiles for Ukraine.

A Russian ship loaded with hypersonic missiles will take part in joint naval drills with China off South Africa's eastern coast this week. But a Russian commander denied there were plans to fire the weapons.

South Africa captivated a home crowd with their run to the Women's T20 World Cup final. With women's cricket on the rise around the world, the time is now for Cricket South Africa to finally get on board.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has accused China of obstructing US efforts to find the cause of the coronavirus pandemic. He said his agency believes COVID-19 spread due to a lab accident in the city of Wuhan.

US officials are divided over the origins of the 2019 coronavirus but some still think it escaped from a Chinese lab. China denies the lab leak theory.

South Africa's police service is coming under intense criticism for allegedly doing little to tackle the country's rampant gun violence. But the police say that they are taking citizens' concerns seriously.