SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa's Reserve Bank left its repo rate unchanged on Thursday and struck a dovish note as it balanced its concerns for domestic economic growth with an expected increase in inflation stemming from a sharply weaker rand.

A global banking crisis will erupt unless Europe properly deals with Greece's debt problems, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Wednesday, notably hardening his criticism of European authorities.

Zambia held presidential elections Tuesday, but two days later only 85 of the country's 150 constituencies have reported results, sparking wide-scale unrest in the country and again bringing up fraud allegations. While all eyes are on Zambia, one nation's gaze is especially fixed: China.

Talk is cheap that the U.S. is merely in slow-growth mode more than two years after the official end to the recession, says Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted the collapse of the U.S. housing market and predicted the 2008 recession.

The much-anticipated release of the next version of the iPhone, presumably the iPhone 5, has been hotly debated. But if what former vice president and current Apple Inc. board member Al Gore believes is true, consumers can expect the new iPhones to be here in October.

A meeting of emerging economies on Thursday will consider a Brazilian proposal to buy European bonds to help crisis-hit euro zone countries, South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Wednesday.

The former vice president and environmental campaigner, Al Gore gave a clue about the launch of the new iPhones when he said that they will be coming in October.

Several hundred South African former miners have launched court proceedings against Anglo American Plc in London, the latest in a wave of lawsuits and compensation claims over lung disease that could cost the gold industry billions.

Gold Fields, the world's fourth largest gold miner, said on Wednesday it had made a non-refundable down payment of $66 million for an option to acquire a 60 percent interest in an undeveloped gold-copper deposit in the Philippines.

Libya will likely name a new government within 10 days, interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said, raising hopes of political progress in the fractured country weeks after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.

The African Union officially recognized the National Transitional Council as the legitimate government of Libya. South African President Jacob Zuma made the announcement on Tuesday.

The number of people employed in South Africa's formal sector increased slightly in the second quarter, with the mining and retail sectors among those that added jobs.

Gold Fields, the world's fourth largest gold producer, has upgraded the mineral resource estimate for its Chucapaca joint-venture project in Peru by 35 percent to 7.6 million ounces.

The new BCCI president N. Srinivasan on Monday ruled out any formal inquiry into the team's abysmal performance on their tour of England.

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) delayed presenting to parliament a widely criticised state-secrecy bill that makes the jailing of whistleblowers legal, lawmakers said on Monday.

Madagascar will arrest exiled former president Marc Ravalomanana if he returns to the Indian Ocean island, a senior cabinet minister said a day after signing a road map aimed at holding elections within a year.

South Africa's main mine workers union said on Friday separate wage talks with Exxaro Resources and Impala Platinum , the world's second-largest platinum producer, had deadlocked but strike action was not imminent.

South African energy minister Dipuo Peters said on Thursday she had signed off on a proposal for new nuclear power plants, likely worth tens of billions of dollars, and said it would be presented to cabinet soon.

South African President Jacob Zuma will appoint a commission to investigate a multi-billion dollar arms deal, his office said on Thursday, in a new probe into corruption allegations against several companies and top officials including Zuma himself.

Gadhafi told the world that his four-year-old girl died during the Regan-era bombing raids on Libya in 1986. But is she alive, living in Tripoli as a doctor?

One of the most powerful weapons in a South African politician's arsenal may be silenced after a court ruled this week that songs once used to rally support against apartheid could be considered hate speech in the country's new democracy.