South Africa news stories on Newser

The Meaning of Caster Semenya

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:43:04 CST

South Africa has rallied around Caster Semenya, but the IAAF still has no idea what to do with her—or the question of gender as a whole. Semenya’s case is particularly personal for South Africans. The country has an unusually high number of intersexed individuals, and apartheid left behind dark...

Semenya Will Keep Medals; Gender Test Confidential

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 7:01:08 CST

South African runner Caster Semenya will keep her 800-meter gold medal from the world championships, and she'll keep the results of her gender tests to herself, the South African sports ministry said today. The ministry also said that the 18-year-old Semenya will be allowed to keep her prize money. "Whatever...

Scientists Find Ancestor to Giant Dinosaurs

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:23:42 CST

Paleontologists in South Africa have found a new dinosaur, a sort of missing link between smaller two-legged creatures that dined on plants and the long-necked carnivorous giants of Jurassic Park . The new species, aardonyx celestae, was 20 feet long and walked on two feet. But crucially, it was able to...

At 40, Sesame Street Hasn't Aged a Bit

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 4:00:00 CST

The first kids who learned the letters of the alphabet from Sesame Street could have grandchildren by now—but Big Bird hasn't aged a day. Using TV to educate preschoolers was a radical concept in 1969, when Sesame Street founder Joan Ganz Cooney and Muppet creator Jim Henson launched their...

Rumors Raise Concerns About Mandela's Health

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:14:14 CDT

Nelson Mandela is increasingly out of the public eye, raising questions about his health. The first black president of South Africa “recently decided to cut back his engagements even further and spend more time with his family,” the head of his foundation tells the...

Skin Has 'Poignant Power'

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 9:59:07 CDT

A true-life tale of the struggles of a dark-skinned girl born to white Afrikaners in '50s South Africa, Skin scored with critics, though some found it a bit too black-and-white. Skin "serves as a stirring allegory for birthright and the assertion of one's identity in the face of oppression," writes...

$5M African Leadership Prize Goes to ... Nobody

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:43:13 CDT

Nobody has won this year's $5 million Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, the committee responsible for picking a winner announced today. That’s an enormous snub to the people eligible for the award, who include former heads of state Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, and...

Strip Club's Ad Pokes Fun at Hermaphrodite Runner

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:43:05 CDT

A strip club’s seemingly obvious reference to the South African runner revealed to be a hermaphrodite is, predictably, drawing complaints—though the club’s owner says his billboard proclaiming “No need for gender testing!” underneath a busty model isn’t a stab at Caster Semenya. Lolly Jackson says the latest promotional blitz...

$20M Diamond Found

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 1:42:14 CDT

A giant diamond experts believe ranks among the top 20 gems ever found has been unearthed at a South African mine. The egg-sized, 500-carat sparkler was found at the same mine where the biggest diamond in history, the Cullinan, was found in the 19th century. The diamond is being analyzed...