SOUTH AFRICA

A majority of Google mail users were unable to access the service Tuesday afternoon, in a rare widespread outage of the popular Gmail service.

A majority of Google mail users were unable to access the service on Tuesday afternoon, in a rare widespread outage of the popular Gmail service.

South Africa declared support for a proposed tie-up between domestic telecoms operator MTN and India's Bharti Airtel on Tuesday, making the complex cash-and-shares deal more likely to succeed.

South African paper maker Sappi said on Monday it has begun cost-reduction talks at three of its kraft and fine paper mills in South Africa, which may impact 400 staff.

A lead single about a proletarian revolt against the global banking crisis. A teaser campaign involving a worldwide musical treasure hunt. And an album that ends with a three-part, fully orchestrated symphony about an alternative theory of the creation of mankind. Is Muse the only young, stadium-filling rock band that could get away with this?

Demand in the ailing forestry sector has stabilised after a grim start to 2009 but controlling costs will remain a major focus for the foreseeable future, paper company executives said on Tuesday.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (7203.T) is planning to make India an export hub for small cars by 2012, including of a compact car that is being designed in Japan for Indian conditions.

Even as the US lowers the lead levels allowed in paint dramatically, paint with dangerously high lead levels is still being sold for household use worldwide, putting hundreds of millions of young children at risk of permanent brain damage,

South Africa's largest property and casualty insurer Santam Ltd expects underwriting margins to remain under pressure in the second half after a rise in high-value property fire claims hit first-half returns.

Sino Gold Mining Ltd will make an announcement on a potential takeover transaction, it said on Wednesday, amid market talk that Canada's Eldorado Gold Corp could be a bidder.

India's Bharti Airtel and South Africa's MTN hope to finalize by mid-September a deal that could lead to a full merger, with the Indian firm adding another adviser and getting closer to lining up loans, three sources said.

People who've traveled through Africa almost always say it was an amazing and unforgettable experience, yet most others are still either scared or disinterested.

South Africa's MTN Group said half-year adjusted headline earnings per share could fall by between 8.6 and 13.6 percent for the six months to the end of June, worse than market forecasts, it said on Tuesday.

Gold was steady above $950 an ounce on Monday, pausing after touching a one-week high near $960 in the previous session, with investors keeping an eye on the currency market for clues on bullion's direction.

The extension of exclusive talks that could lead to a merger of India's Bharti Airtel and South Africa's MTN Group weakens the probability of the deal closing, UBS said in a research note.

The family of South African runner Caster Semenya who won the 800-meter race on the world championships Wednesday and is under a gender controversy, denied Semenya is a man.

South African athelete, Castor Semenya, is causing much controversy in the world of athletes after she won the women's 800m at the athletics World Championships yesterday with many left wondering about her gender.

India's Reliance Communications has started talks to buy Kuwaiti Zain's African operations, which media say are worth $10 billion, two banking sources said.

Britain's Academy of Contemporary Music is opening its first U.S. branch in Oklahoma City, with ambitious plans to enhance touring opportunities in the region, as well as educate students for a career in the music business.

More countries are seeing a rise in distressed sales of commercial properties in the second quarter, with South Africa, the United States and New Zealand faring worst as the market downturn worsens, a report showed.