All posts tagged: South Africa

Tap to Pay on iPhone Launches in South Africa

Tap to Pay on iPhone Launches in South Africa

Published by skeptic

Apple today announced that Tap to Pay on iPhone is now available in South Africa, allowing merchants to accept contactless payments using only their iPhone and a partner-enabled iOS app. The feature lets businesses of any size accept contactless credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, and other digital wallets at checkout. Merchants prompt customers to hold their card, iPhone, Apple Watch, or other digital wallet near the merchant’s device, with the payment completed via NFC technology. No additional hardware or payment terminal is required. iStore Pay and Yoco are the first payment platforms in South Africa to support the feature. The launch supports Mastercard and Visa, with American Express support coming soon. Tap to Pay on iPhone first launched in the United States in February 2022 and has been expanding steadily ever since. A major wave of rollouts across 2025 brought the feature to dozens of new markets, including 18 new countries in May, five more European countries in September, and launches in Singapore and Hong Kong in December. Malaysia followed in April 2026, and …

Evacuation Flights Leave Tenerife After Cruise Ship Virus Outbreak

Evacuation Flights Leave Tenerife After Cruise Ship Virus Outbreak

Published by Sam Flores

By Corina Pons and Victoria Waldersee TENERIFE/MADRID, May 10 (Reuters) – Groups of passengers and crew disembarked from a ⁠cruise ⁠ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak on Sunday ⁠to be evacuated to their home countries where they will isolate according to national protocols to prevent further spread of the ​disease. Government planes carrying Spanish and French nationals landed in Madrid and Paris on Sunday afternoon, where the passengers were transported to hospital, according to the two countries’ governments. One of the five French passengers showed ‌symptoms during the repatriation flight, French Prime Minister ‌Sebastien Lecornu said on X. Planes to Canada, the Netherlands, Turkey, the UK, Ireland, and the United States were due to depart by 2030 local time (1830) on Sunday, with the final flights departing ⁠on Monday by 1900 ⁠local time. The passengers will be tested upon arrival and then either taken to local hospitals or quarantine facilities ​or transported home for isolation. The World Health Organization has recommended a 42-day quarantine for all passengers from the boat from Sunday, its director …

South Africa’s top court revives impeachment inquiry against president | Politics News

South Africa’s top court revives impeachment inquiry against president | Politics News

Published by Sam Flores

The scandal centres on a large sum of foreign currency stolen from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farmhouse in 2020. Published On 8 May 20268 May 2026 South Africa’s highest court has cleared the way for the revival of impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa, ruling that parliament’s decision to block an inquiry four years ago was inconsistent with the constitution. Ramaphosa avoided impeachment proceedings in 2022 after his governing African National Congress (ANC) party used its parliamentary majority to reject a recommendation by an independent panel that he face an inquiry into the theft of a large sum of cash from his farmhouse two years earlier. The scandal, dubbed “Farmgate”, sparked accusations that he had failed to properly account for the source of the money hidden in a sofa. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list On Friday, the Constitutional Court’s Chief Justice Mandisa Maya said: “The vote of the National Assembly taken on 13 December 2022 … is inconsistent with the Constitution, invalid, and it is set aside.” The court ordered that the independent …

Cash-strapped Egyptians Zamalek eye record CAF Cup prize money | Football News

Cash-strapped Egyptians Zamalek eye record CAF Cup prize money | Football News

Published by Sam Flores

Zamalek travel to Algeria’s USM Alger on Saturday for the first leg of their Confederation Cup final on Saturday. Published On 8 May 20268 May 2026 Financially embattled Egyptian club Zamalek will pocket a record $4m CAF Confederation Cup prize if they beat Algerian outfit USM Alger in the two-leg final. USM host the first match on Saturday in front of a 50,000 crowd and the return game is set for Cairo on May 16 in a showdown between former winners of the competition. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Zamalek lifted the trophy, the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League, in 2019 and 2024. USM won in 2023. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) recently announced 100 percent increases in the prizes for the winners and runners-up to $4m and $2m, respectively. The decision was a timely boost for Zamalek, the second most successful club in CAF competitions with 13 titles, but battling with reported debts of $6.5m. Egyptian media say the team, popularly known as the White Knights, owe clubs …

I’m A Celebrity ‘facing huge shake-up with remote new location’

I’m A Celebrity ‘facing huge shake-up with remote new location’

Published by Sam Flores

I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! is reportedly heading to a new location swapping the Australian jungle for the remote wilderness of Canada. The ITV show – hosted by Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly – has long been filmed Down Under with two series being shot in Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic and the new all stars spin-off heading to a different continent for I’m a Celebrity … South Africa. However, a new report suggests the show will now be heading to Canada for another iteration featuring a new format pairing celebrities together to tackle trials and survive in the wilderness toegther. A source told The Sun newspaper: “This has all been very hush-hush, but everyone involved is really excited to get cracking with filming. “The scenery will be stunning and the action explosive. Imagine the tension of two stars paired together, forced to eat, sleep, breathe and work together in constant near proximity. “There will likely be fireworks and already some pretty big names are in the mix to appear.” The …

Three people evacuated from hantavirus-hit cruise ship in the Atlantic | Health News

Three people evacuated from hantavirus-hit cruise ship in the Atlantic | Health News

Published by Sam Flores

Three people have died from the disease so far, but the WHO says the risk to the public is still ‘low’. Emergency crews have evacuated three people from a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, the United Nations’ health agency says, as experts confirm it to be a rare strain that can be transmitted between humans. Two sick crew members and one other person who had been in contact with one of the confirmed cases were removed on Wednesday from the MV Hondius off Cape Verde, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list They later boarded flights at the airport in the country’s capital, Praia. One of the two planes landed in Spain’s Canary Islands on Wednesday, but it was unclear which of the evacuees were onboard. At least one of the planes was due to go to Amsterdam, but no arrival in the Canary Islands had been confirmed by the authorities. About 150 people from 23 countries had been reported on board the …

Nigel Farage: Germany’s AfD is a ‘mixed bag’

Nigel Farage: Germany’s AfD is a ‘mixed bag’

Published by Sam Flores

LONDON — Nigel Farage described the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a “mixed bag,” as the British politician eyes gains in crunch U.K. elections next Thursday. Germany’s AfD has an “utterly respectable and decent” cultural stance — but its ties with dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin are “very, very difficult,” the right-wing Reform UK leader told Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner for his podcast series MD Meets. Axel Springer is the owner of POLITICO. Centrist German politicians have accused the AfD of using its rising influence to act as a mouthpiece for Putin inside Germany — a claim AfD leaders strongly deny. Several AfD members traveled to Sochi in Russia last November to attend a summit on cooperation between Europe and the BRICS — the group of major emerging economies that includes Russia as well as Brazil, India, China, and South Africa. “I think the pro-Putin stuff … I find it hard to understand,” Farage, a key architect of Brexit, said. “I do find this tie with some of those dictators very, very difficult,” he said, …

South Africa to deport Robert Mugabe’s son over firearm offence | Courts News

South Africa to deport Robert Mugabe’s son over firearm offence | Courts News

Published by Sam Flores

Bellarmine Mugabe was also fined $36,000. Published On 29 Apr 202629 Apr 2026 A magistrate has ordered that the youngest son of the late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is to be deported immediately from South Africa after pleading guilty to two offences earlier this month. A court in Johannesburg on Wednesday ordered Bellarmine Mugabe to pay a fine of $36,000 or face a two-year prison sentence for brandishing a toy gun in a manner that created the impression it was real, as well as for being in the country illegally. Mugabe was arrested on February 19 alongside his cousin, Tobias Matonhodze, after an employee at his home in the affluent Johannesburg suburb of Hyde Park was shot in the back. Mugabe and Matonhodze were initially charged with attempted murder. After a failed plea deal, Mugabe, 28, admitted to being in South Africa illegally and to pointing a toy gun in a separate incident, while Matonhodze, 32, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other charges. Matonhodze, who was sentenced to three years in prison, also admitted …

Star evicted from I’m A Celebrity days before final

Star evicted from I’m A Celebrity days before final

Published by Sam Flores

Pussycat Dolls singer Ashley Roberts has been evicted from I’m A Celebrity… South Africa. The American singer, who lasted 12 days in the camp after previously coming runner-up in the 2012 series in Australia, was evicted after being the slowest to complete a puzzle during a challenge. Speaking to presenters Ant and Dec after being evicted she said: “I’m very gutted I didn’t see it til the end. In my head I was like, I know this is challenging and tough. I mean, y’all stepped it up a few notches. Speaking about her fellow campmates, which included former Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt, actress Beverley Callard, and Olympian Sir Mo Farah, she said: “I loved them all. Everybody had their own magic. “I feel really lucky being through this crazy experience with the group that I had.” She said the all-star series was “really tough” compared with her first stint on the show in 2012. She said: “The challenges and trials were really tough. It wasn’t just one eyeball, it wasn’t just one smoothie. I mean, Craig (Charles) did …