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  2. AIHot
  3. US mid-termsHeating up
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Travel: latest posts

WorldTravel

Bomb threats hit at least 4 European flights

Some flights diverted and a Polish airport closed briefly on Tuesday after the threats, which followed one on Monday. No confirmed devices were found, and officials said a threat at Murcia airport in Spain was a hoax.

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Modlin airport in Poland closed for a short time while officers searched a LOT flight. A Wizz Air flight from London to Sofia diverted to Budapest after a bomb threat, the Hungarian defence minister, Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, said.

Bulgaria's interior ministry secretary-general, Lyubomir Nikolov, said a threat came by email for a plane flying from Israel to Sofia. This was according to the BTA news agency.

Officials said the Murcia airport report, about a Ryanair flight from Manchester, proved to be a hoax.

Travel
Aerial view of Le Morne Brabant mountain rising above the turquoise lagoon and peninsula in Mauritius.
Photo: "dronepicr", CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Le Morne, Mauritius: a lagoon beneath a sheer basalt mountain

Le Morne is a quiet peninsula in south-west Mauritius, with a shallow lagoon and a tall rock above it. Go between May and December for dry, cooler weather and steady winds.

Visa: None for tourist stays of up to 90... When: May to December is dry and cooler. Wind for... Budget: $$$

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Travel
Tall orange sand dunes rise above camelthorn trees under a cloudy sky in Sossusvlei, Namibia.
by pvdberg via Pixabay

Sossusvlei, Namibia: red dunes and a white clay pan

Sossusvlei is a clay pan ringed by some of the tallest dunes in the Namib Desert. Go between May and September, when days are dry and mild.

Visa: South African passport holders do not... When: May to September, when it is dry and cooler... Budget: $$

Plan the trip

Travel

Kopfontein border post with Botswana reopens after two days

The Border Management Authority said normal processing at the Kopfontein port of entry restarted on Monday morning. The closure followed infrastructure problems linked to a spillage that affected a nearby residential area.

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The Border Management Authority (BMA) said the port had been shut for two days. Spokesperson Mme Mogotsi gave the update on the reopening.

The port of entry connects South Africa and Botswana.

Older stories are in the archive.

Elections Hot

What you need to know

Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

  1. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll
  2. IEC says local election voting went largely smoothly
  3. IEC says about 12 million had voted by 5pm

See every update

AI Hot

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

  1. Accenture faces accusations over AI report with false citations
  2. CrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups
  3. Google lets schools turn off AI tools but limits Search

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US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

  1. Iran welcomes Democratic wins in US midterm elections
  2. Democrats win US Congress in midterm vote, projections show
  3. Ramaphosa wants US trade deal after AGOA suspension

See every update