Discovery Metals, the AIM-listed miner that has investment sage George Soros as a shareholder, is looking to raise $150m in loans and new shares later this year.

Alexander McCall Smith is a one-man literary industry. He has sold 40 million books, travels obsessively and churns out four or five new novels a year. But what he really likes are Belgian shoes, saddleback pigs and leisurely strolls around his beloved Edinburgh neighbourhood

Africa is full of hope and potential, maybe more so than any other continent

Priced out of the legitimate alcohol market, the poor are turning instead to deadly homebrews

Pay £400 less in Turkey

Elixir Holidays is offering deals at the luxurious Elixir Art Hotel on the sleepy Bozburun Peninsula. Departing 1 May for seven nights, pay £890 for flights, transfers and B&B.

Go to: elixirholidays.com

AIG parties on despite the bonus furore

AIG can run, but it can't hide. After reading all about President Obama's displeasure about the huge bonus payouts made by the insurer, British holidaymakers in Tenerife this week were a little surprised to find 200 AIG staff indulging in a no-expenses-spared knees-up at the island's top five-star hotel.

Mma Ramotswe's latest assignment as Botswana's only lady detective leads her into unfamiliar terrain after a footballing kingpin sets her to work.

In the week that the world throws a whole lot of carbon in the air travelling to Copenhagen for the international climate change conference, one of the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) sustainable leaders announced that it has tapped the improved sentiment among small-cap investors.

De Beers, the world's largest diamond miner, is set to launch a rights issue to raise up to $1bn (£601m).

Today: For the Caribbean closer to home, make for Vinopolis in London, where the Caribbean Tourism Organisation is hosting a showcase with food, music, drinks and an appearance by Levi Roots (caribbean.co.uk).

Author's first foray into opera recasts Shakespearean characters as baboons

Botswana's President Ian Khama secured a new five-year term today, extending his rule over the world's largest diamond producer, after his governing BDP party swept to victory in a parliamentary election.