KAMPALA – A maid in Uganda who was secretly filmed beating a little girl has been found guilty of assaulting the toddler. Jolly Tumuhirwe, 22, told the court she had been driven to attack the 18-month-old because the child’s mother had beaten her – something the mother denied. A video of the assault caused outrage…
CAPE TOWN – UK businessman Shrien Dewani has been discharged on a count of murdering his wife Anni while on honeymoon in South Africa. Western Cape High Court Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso said his application was granted and he was thus found not guilty on five charges. “There is no evidence on which a…
CAIRO – More than 180 supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood have been sentenced to death in Egypt over a 2013 attack on a police station near Cairo. The attack took place on the same day as Egyptian security forces broke up protest camps set up by Brotherhood supporters, leaving hundreds dead. Egypt has been…
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s government has opposed a legal bid by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to claim ownership of her ex-husband Nelson Mandela’s rural home, in an ongoing dispute over his estate. In court papers, Mrs Madikizela-Mandela said that South Africa’s first black president had unlawfully registered the property in his name, reports say. Mr Mandela died…
JOHANNESBURG – South African opposition party leader Julius Malema and 11 of his MPs have been suspended from parliament without pay for heckling the president. During a parliamentary address by President Jacob Zuma in August, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members had chanted “pay back the money”. They were referring to the use of some $23m…
CAIRO – A block of flats has collapsed in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, killing at least 10 people, officials say. Seven people were also injured when the eight-storey building in the western suburb of Matariya collapsed overnight. Emergency services chief Gen Mamdouh Abdul Qader said rescue workers were searching through the rubble for 15 people who…
TUNIS – Tunisians are set to vote in the country’s first presidential election since the 2011 “Arab Spring” that triggered uprisings across the region. More than 25 candidates are in the race, but incumbent Moncef Marzouki and anti-Islamist leader Beji Caid Essebsi are widely seen as the favourites. The poll forms part of political changes…
LAGOS – Dozens of people have been killed in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in north-eastern Nigeria, officials and witnesses say. Gunmen rampaged through the village of Azaya Kura in the Mafa area in Borno state, killing at least 45 people. Shettima Lawan, caretaker chairman of the local government, called it “wicked and…
OUGADUGU – The authorities in Burkina Faso have appointed an army officer, Lt Col Isaac Zida, as transitional prime minister. Col Zida had been among officers who took power when then President Blaise Compaore was forced to resign on 31 October during mass protests. He declared himself head of state but on Tuesday oversaw the…
UOAGADUGU – A framework for a transitional government in Burkina Faso has been agreed after talks between political, military and civil leaders. The plan was agreed unanimously, however a new leader was not named. The transitional body is intended to return the country to civilian rule and prepare for elections next year. The army took…
