South Africa recorded a roughly 16% drop in rhino poaching last year, with 420 animals killed for their horns versus 499 the previous year, the government said on Thursday.

The United States has withdrawn from a climate agreement where rich nations have pledged billions of dollars to help a small group of developing countries switch from coal to green energy sources.

The United States has pulled out of a climate funding deal struck by rich nations to help their developing counterparts transition to clean energy, the programme's first beneficiary South Africa

The U.S. has pulled out of a $9.3 billion climate finance pact between richer nations to help developing countries transition from coal to cleaner energy. ・The U.S. has withdrawn from a $9.3 billion climate finance pact aimed at helping developing countries transition from coal to cleaner energy.

Microsoft will invest an additional 5.4 billion rand ($296.81 million) in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in South Africa, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said on Thursday. Smith also said at an event in Johannesburg that the world's biggest software maker would pay for technical certification exams for 50,

Microsoft will invest $295 million over the next two years in South Africa on AI and cloud infrastructure, and will train 1 million youngsters.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) will invest 5.4B rand (about $296.81M) more in South Africa by the end of 2027 to expand its cloud and AI infrastructure to meet the increasing demand for its Azure cloud services in the region,