NAIROBI – Public transport in Kenya is going cashless as buses switch to new electronic fare payments. From now on, the country’s famously chaotic matatus, the minivans and buses that are used widely by Kenyan commuters, have been instructed to change to the new system. But a Tuesday deadline for all buses to implement the…
PRETORIA – Oscar Pistorius did not have a mental disorder when he killed his girlfriend, a psychological report said as his murder trial resumed. This means the Olympic athlete was criminally responsible for his actions when he shot her, the prosecution said. The defence team argued Mr Pistorius was suffering from an anxiety disorder. The…
PRETORIA – A psychiatrist who evaluated Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius in the trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, has suffered a heart attack. But this is not expected to delay the trial, which resumes on Monday, the prosecution say. Mr Pistorius is due to complete a 30-day psychiatric assessment on Friday. The…
WEST AFRICA – “Drastic action” is needed to contain the spread of deadly Ebola in West Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Nearly 400 people have died in the outbreak which started in Guinea and has spread to neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia. It is the largest outbreak in terms of cases, deaths…
KHARTOUM – The Sudanese woman freed from death row has been accused of forging official documents to leave the country, her lawyer has told the BBC. Meriam Ibrahim was detained on Tuesday, a day after a court released her, annulling the death sentence imposed on her for renouncing the Islamic faith. Mrs Ibrahim had emergency…
KHARTOUM – Sudanese woman freed from death row Monday has been arrested with her family at Khartoum airport, sources tell BBC More to follow.
JOHANNESBURG – A five-month platinum strike in South Africa is “officially over”, says the leader of the union behind the strike. Joseph Mathunjwa, the president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), said it had accepted a wage deal. He said the AMCU’s striking members would return to work on Wednesday. The stoppage…
KHARTOUM – A Sudanese woman sentenced to death for abandoning her religious faith has been freed from jail, her lawyer has told the BBC. Meriam Ibrahim’s death penalty was overturned by an appeal court, the official Suna news agency reported. She is married to a Christian man and was sentenced to hang for apostasy in…
NAIROBI – Kenya’s government has urged people to watch World Cup football matches in the comfort of their homes instead of in “crowded and unprotected open places”. The advice comes after two days of attacks on Kenya’s coast earlier this week left more than 60 people dead. They started in Mpeketoni as people were watching…
LONDON – Ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor has asked to serve the rest of his war crimes sentence in Rwanda, claiming that being detained in the UK denies him the right to a family life. Taylor’s wife and children have been unable to visit him in County Durham, lawyer John Jones QC said. He was convicted…
