BOTSWANA

A record number of large scale ivory seizures will be recorded globally in 2011, pointing to a surge in elephant poaching in Africa to meet Asian demand for tusks for use in jewelry and ornaments, a monitoring group said Thursday.

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will look into a mysterious space ball, which dropped onto an African village in Namibia in mid-November. The hollow ball is reportedly made of a metal alloy known to man.

Julius Malema elected to high-ranking ANC position despite his troubled political status.

The occasional sheep seeks respite from a sun that has scorched rocks black in this semi-desert region that South Africa hopes will host the world's most powerful radio telescope.

Chinese and Indian appetite for diamonds will fuel demand growth of more than 6 percent a year over the next decade and almost double the size of the market, far outpacing supply increases limited by a lack of new mines, Bain & Company said in a report.

Chinese and Indian appetite for diamonds will fuel demand growth by more than 6 percent a year over the next decade and almost double the size of the market, far outpacing supply increases limited by a lack of new mines.

t the closing of the deal, Anglo-American will have an 85 percent in stake in De Beers, the largest diamond distributor in the world.

About one-in-six people in Botswana (or 17 percent) is HIV-positive.

Eight foreigners were killed in a Botswana plane crash when the plane caught fire shortly after takeoff.

Women who use contraception injections double their likelihood that they will contract an HIV infection or transmit it to their male partners according to a new research.

Major cities in Iran, India, Pakistan, and Mongolia rank among the worst on the planet for air pollution, while major cities in the United States and Canada are among the cleanest, according to a new World Health Organization survey.

Diamond producer De Beers said on Friday it had signed a new 10-year contract for the sorting, vaulting and sales of the diamond production of Debswana, its joint venture with the government of Botswana.

Leila Lopes, Miss Angola 2011, beat 88 contestants Monday night to take home the Miss Universe crown.The 25-year-old beauty hopes to use her new role to help the people of Angola (which is situated in south-central Africa, on the Western coast).The pageant was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the native language is Portugese. Since Angola is a former Portugese colony, Lopes was able to wow the crowd by speaking the local language.Lopes is a business student from the town of Benguela...

Lopes a business student was born in the Benguela Province, Angola. She beat out about 21 others in her home country in order to represent Angola in São Paulo, Brazil.

The 5 ft 10 1/2 inches tall beauty is also the fourth African woman to win the title. The last African to win is Mpule Kwelagobe, Miss Universe 1999 from Botswana. Other winners came from Namibia (1992) and South Africa (1978).

Leila Lopes is the second black African woman and the fourth black woman in the world to win the Miss Universe title. Lopes is also the first ever from her home country Angola to get crowned “Miss Universe.”

Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, has prostate cancer which has spread to other organs.

Toronto-based IAmGold Corp. said Wednesday it received $34.2 million for the sale of its Mupane Gold Mine in Botswana to Galane Gold Ltd

China's fast-growing consumerism and lax policing of ivory laws are the latest threats to wild elephant populations, said an author of a recent report on endangered species.

Tanzanian authorities have seized as many as 1,041 elephant tusks on the island of Zanzibar, in the largest ivory haul in a year, reports say.

South Africa's ruling African National Congress on Friday charged controversial youth leader Julius Malema with sowing divisions in its ranks and bringing the party into disrepute.