1 Iraqi Dinar = 0.0154 South African Rand

1 Cayman Islands Dollar = 22.0152 South African Rand

1 Swiss Franc = 18.8993 South African Rand

1 CFA Franc BCEAO = 0.0303 South African Rand

1 Vietnamese Dong = 0.0008 South African Rand

1 Macedonian Denar = 0.3229 South African Rand

1 Zambian Kwacha = 0.0035 South African Rand

1 South Korean Won = 0.015 South African Rand

1 Jordanian Dinar = 25.8644 South African Rand

1 Lebanese Pound = 0.0121 South African Rand

1 Bahraini Dinar = 48.5244 South African Rand

1 Chilean Peso = 0.0222 South African Rand

1 Maldivian Rufiyaa = 1.1836 South African Rand

1 Malaysian Ringgit = 4.2341 South African Rand

1 Nicaraguan Cordoba Oro = 0.5334 South African Rand

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 10.2222 South African Rand

1 Estonian Kroon = 1.2867 South African Rand

1 Danish Krone = 2.6669 South African Rand

1 Fiji Dollar = 8.145 South African Rand

1 New Zealand Dollar = 11.2637 South African Rand

1 Croatian Kuna = 2.6448 South African Rand

1 Peruvian Nuevo Sol = 5.3988 South African Rand

1 Dominican Peso = 0.3334 South African Rand

1 Papua New Guinean Kina = 5.3495 South African Rand

1 Brunei Dollar = 12.9848 South African Rand

Twenty-five countries attracted high-ticket investment deals at the Africa Investment Forum

The EU is considering a broader mandate for the EBRD, and its president, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, believes its model would work in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the world’s fastest growing mobile phone market, but how can telecoms companies make the most of the huge opportunities the region provides?

Having opened new production facilities in Rwanda and South Africa, Mara Phones is looking to alter Africa's mindset from being a 'consumer' to being a 'manufacturer'. 

Continued African development could hinge on public finance reforms.

The Egyptian capital Cairo led Africa in 2018, attracting 10 foreign business services investment projects, in its strongest performance since 2012. Joshua Crawford reports.

Join the experts on Friday 17 April, 1pm, to learn more about these impacts, the different national responses to the pandemic and the potential mitigation strategies applicable to the solar industry....

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Each year, thousands of South Africans die from the consequences of coal-fired power generation. The respiratory disease COVID-19 is exacerbating the country's health crisis.

Member States (53) reporting COVID-19 cases (57,746) deaths (2,151), and recoveries (19,351) by region: Central (5,165 cases; 202 deaths; 1,580 recoveries): Burundi (19; 1; 7), Cameroon (2,265; 108; 1,221), Central African Republic (143; 0; 12), Chad (260; 27; 50), Congo (274; 10;...

  The BEE Commission’s report 2018, between 2017 and 2018, had no significant change in the levels of transformation, with black ownership reflecting a decline to 25.2% from 27% and current management control still sitting at 38% for blac...

The state-owned carrier has been fighting for its survival since December.

Wealthier African countries tend to impose more stringent rules, which have cost the continent $65 billion.

The African Union (AU) said it has held discussions with officials from Madagascar to find out more about a herbal drink recently touted by the island nation’s president as a possible treatment for Covid-19.According to a statement issued on Tuesday, AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Amira El Fadil held a meeting with the chargé d’affaires of Madagascar’s embassy in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on April 30, at which it was agreed that more information would be provided about the…

Benin drops 17 places in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index, following the withdrawal from a key document of the African Charter of Human and People's Rights.

Across Africa, centuries-old cultural traditions are being foregone in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen governments impose restrictions on gatherings and other practices around death and burial. Francesca Lynagh reports.

Across Africa, centuries-old cultural traditions are being foregone in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen governments impose restrictions on gatherings and other practices around death and burial. Francesca Lynagh reports.

Title: Switch From U.S. to African Diet May Lower Colon Cancer Risk in Blacks
Category: Health News
Created: 4/28/2015 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/29/2015 12:00:00 AM

Title: AHA News: Being an African American 'Superwoman' Might Come With a Price
Category: Health News
Created: 2/11/2020 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/12/2020 12:00:00 AM

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious hemorrhagic viral disease of domestic and wild pigs that is responsible for serious economic and production losses. It is caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV), a large and complex icosahedral DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family. Currently, there is no effective treatment or approved vaccine against the ASFV. pS273R, a specific SUMO-1 cysteine protease, catalyzes the maturation of the pp220 and pp62 polyprotein precursors into core-shell proteins. Here, we present the crystal structure of the ASFV pS273R protease at a resolution of 2.3 Å. The overall structure of the pS273R protease is represented by two domains named the "core domain" and the N-terminal "arm domain." The "arm domain" contains the residues from M1 to N83, and the "core domain" contains the residues from N84 to A273. A structure analysis reveals that the "core domain" shares a high degree of structural similarity with chlamydial deubiquitinating enzyme, sentrin-specific protease, and adenovirus protease, while the "arm domain" is unique to ASFV. Further, experiments indicated that the "arm domain" plays an important role in maintaining the enzyme activity of ASFV pS273R. Moreover, based on the structural information of pS273R, we designed and synthesized several peptidomimetic aldehyde compounds at a submolar 50% inhibitory concentration, which paves the way for the design of inhibitors to target this severe pathogen.

IMPORTANCE African swine fever virus, a large and complex icosahedral DNA virus, causes a deadly infection in domestic pigs. In addition to Africa and Europe, countries in Asia, including China, Vietnam, and Mongolia, were negatively affected by the hazards posed by ASFV outbreaks in 2018 and 2019, at which time more than 30 million pigs were culled. Until now, there has been no vaccine for protection against ASFV infection or effective treatments to cure ASF. Here, we solved the high-resolution crystal structure of the ASFV pS273R protease. The pS273R protease has a two-domain structure that distinguishes it from other members of the SUMO protease family, while the unique "arm domain" has been proven to be essential for its hydrolytic activity. Moreover, the peptidomimetic aldehyde compounds designed to target the substrate binding pocket exert prominent inhibitory effects and can thus be used in a potential lead for anti-ASFV drug development.

The development of pastoralism transformed human diets and societies in grasslands worldwide. The long-term success of cattle herding in Africa has been sustained by dynamic food systems, consumption of a broad range of primary and secondary livestock products, and the evolution of lactase persistence (LP), which allows digestion of lactose...

Samantha M. Logan, Kama E. Szereszewski, Nigel C. Bennett, Daniel W. Hart, Barry van Jaarsveld, Matthew E. Pamenter, and Kenneth B. Storey

Mole-rats are champions of self-preservation, with increased longevity compared to other rodents their size, strong antioxidant capabilities, and specialized defenses against endogenous oxidative stress. However, how the brains of these subterranean mammals handle acute in vivo hypoxia is poorly understood. This study is the first to examine the molecular response to low oxygen in six different species of hypoxia-tolerant mole-rats from sub-Saharan Africa. Protein carbonylation, a known marker of DNA damage (hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine), and antioxidant capacity did not change following hypoxia but HIF-1 protein levels increased significantly in the brains of two species. Nearly 30 miRNAs known to play roles in hypoxia-tolerance were differentially regulated in a species-specific manner. The miRNAs exhibiting the strongest response to low oxygen stress inhibit apoptosis and regulate neuroinflammation, likely providing neuroprotection. A principal component analysis using a subset of the molecular targets assessed herein revealed differences between control and hypoxic groups for two solitary species (Georychus capensis and Bathyergus suillus), which are ecologically adapted to a normoxic environment, suggesting a heightened sensitivity to hypoxia relative to species that may experience hypoxia more regularly in nature. By contrast, all molecular data were included in the PCA to detect a difference between control and hypoxic populations of eusocial Heterocephalus glaber, indicating they may require many lower-fold changes in signaling pathways to adapt to low oxygen settings. Finally, none of the Cryptomys hottentotus subspecies showed a statistical difference between control and hypoxic groups, presumably due to hypoxia-tolerance derived from environmental pressures associated with a subterranean and social lifestyle.

They are among the earliest enslaved African people brought to the Americas.

South African Breweries, one of the world's largest brewers, says it may have to destroy 400 million bottles of beer as a result of the country's ban on alcohol sales that is part of its lockdown measures to combat the spread of COVID-19.