JOHANNESBURG – Shares in South Africa’s largest banks fell on Wednesday, following downgrades from the ratings agency Moody’s. Standard Bank, FNB, Nedbank and ABSA, which is owned by Barclays, were all downgraded on Tuesday and Moody’s warned of more possible ratings cuts. The move comes a week after South Africa’s central bank bailed out the…
NAIROBI – A maximum security prison in Kenya has been the unusual setting for a ceremony awarding a diploma from the University of London. Peter Ouko, an inmate at Kamiti prison in Nairobi, has received a diploma in common law. A former death row inmate, Ouko followed the course online and will now advance to…
NAIROBI – Kenya’s Western-funded anti-terrorism unit has carried out a series of killings and “enforced disappearances” during its fight against militant Islamists, a rights group says. “Horrendous” activities were taking place “right under the noses” of the government, Western embassies and the UN, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. The US and UK fund the unit….
ABUJA – The governors of Nigeria’s 36 states have started greeting one another with clenched fist salutes – not out of revolutionary fervour, but to avoid transmitting the deadly Ebola virus. President Goodluck Jonathan summoned the governors and regional health commissioners to an emergency meeting in the capital, Abuja, to discuss how to stop the…
CONAKRY – Guinea has a declared a national health emergency as it battles to curb the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. This meant tighter border controls, the immediate isolation of anyone suspected to have Ebola and a ban on moving bodies from one town to another, state radio reported. Ebola has killed more than…
NAIROBI – The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified Kenya as a “high-risk” country for the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. Kenya was vulnerable because it was a major transport hub, with many flights from West Africa, a WHO official said. This is the most serious warning to date by the WHO that Ebola…
GENEVA – Untested drugs can be used to treat patients infected with the Ebola virus, the World Health Organization says. The WHO said it was ethical in light of the scale of the outbreak and high number of deaths – over 1,000 people have died in west Africa.. The statement was made after its medical…
PRETORIA – Prosecutors have twisted the facts to discredit South African athlete Oscar Pistorius in his murder trial, his lawyer has said in closing remarks. Barry Roux said the double amputee should have faced a lesser charge of culpable homicide over the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Mr Pistorius denies prosecution claims that he…
PRETORIA – The main prosecutor in the trial of Oscar Pistorius has argued that the South African athlete cannot avoid a conviction for murdering his girlfriend. Gerrie Nel accused the athlete of being a “deceitful witness” who told the court a “snowball of lies”. Mr Pistorius denies murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He says he…
LONDON – US investment in Africa is fighting extremism there, US Secretary of State John Kerry has told the BBC. In an interview with BBC’s HARDtalk, Mr Kerry said stability from business projects was countering extremist ideologies and militant movements. He spoke as more than 40 African heads of state gathered in Washington at the…
