CONACKRY – The Ebola outbreak that has killed 78 people in Guinea is “unprecedented”, a medical charity has said. An official with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the spread of the disease across the country made it very difficult to control. The West African state is facing a battle to contain the outbreak after cases…
PRETORIA – The trial of Oscar Pistorius, accused of killing his former girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, was postponed until April 7 because one of two assessors was hospitalized. The assessors will help the judge decide the verdict. South Africa does not have jury trials. Pistorius killed Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year. Of that, there is…
PRETORIA – The prosecution rested its case Tuesday in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius after 15 days and 21 witnesses, setting the stage for the South African sprinter to take the stand in his own defense as soon as Friday. Pistorius is likely to be the first defense witness called. Pistorius, 27, is accused…
PARIS – The son of Equatorial Guinea’s leader has been put under formal investigation in France over money-laundering allegations, his lawyer has said. Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue, his father’s second vice-president, denies embezzling state funds. In 2012, France issued an arrest warrant for him and seized his Paris mansion and several of his luxury cars….
HARARE – President Jacob Zuma should resign within 20 days, EFF leader Julius Malema said yesterday. “Zuma should step down. If he fails to do so within 20 days, the EFF will march to the Union Buildings… and we will not leave the premises until he resigns,” Malema told supporters outside the Sunnyside Police Station…
PRETORIA – The prosecution in the Oscar Pistorius murder case expects to rest early next week, prosecutor Gerrie Nel announced unexpectedly on Wednesday. Nel has only four or five more witnesses to call, he declared to the shock of the courtroom just before lunch on the 13th day of the trial. He requested and got…
JOHANNESBURG – Johannesburg is the most active city on Twitter in Africa, according to a new study released on Wednesday, which analyses activity on the microblogging site on the continent. The How Africa Tweets study was conducted by international strategic communications agency Portland and tracked tweets during the final three months of 2013. The study…
PRETORIA – A friend of Oscar Pistorius has told his murder trial that the athlete “had a big love” for guns. Darren Fresco said that he had been with him on two occasions when a gun had been fired in public. Mr Pistorius once accidentally fired a gun in a restaurant but made him take…
PRETORIA – The pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together — but whose story will be vindicated? After five days and nine witnesses in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial, both the prosecution and defence have started to show their hands. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel is relying on witnesses who were within earshot of Pistorius’s house…
TRIPOLI – The Libyan government says former leader Col Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saadi, has been extradited from Niger and is now in custody in Tripoli. Pictures posted on the internet showed him having his head and beard shaved. Saadi Gaddafi, the former head of Libya’s football federation, fled after his father was killed in the…
