Africa News

De Beers, majority-owned by Anglo American, will suspend production at the Venetia mine for two years and rephase capital spending on its underground project. The mine accounts for more than 40 percent of South Africa's diamond output and employs about 4,400 staff. Anglo American is seeking to divest its stake in De Beers.

The physical border fence between Spain and Gibraltar was removed at midnight following the signing of an EU-UK treaty on Tuesday, with celebrations occurring overnight into Wednesday 15 July. Gibraltar, which has a population of 38,000 and was ceded to Britain in 1713, sees 15,000 Spanish workers cross the land frontier daily; the treaty ended routine border controls after four years of negotiations and introduced joint UK-Spanish passport checks at the airport and port. Sources confirm these events but differ on their implications for sovereignty, mobility, and security.