MBABANE – Swazi King Mswati III, 45, has chosen 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant Sindiswa Dlamini as his 15th wife. Dlamini was selected at the annual Reed Dance, where thousands of Swazi maidens dance bare-breasted for the king’s pleasure. “I wish to confirm we have a new liphovela (royal fiancée),” announced Hlangabeza Mdluli, the overseer of…
CAIRO – An Egyptian judge has ordered a media blackout during the next phase of the retrial of Hosni Mubarak. Judge Mahmoud el-Rachidi said the sessions, to be held on 19-21 October, would involve national security issues. Mr Mubarak, 85, appeared in court on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011…
LAGOS – Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked nine cabinet ministers amid serious divisions in the governing party. Two weeks ago, seven of the country’s powerful state governors and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar formed a splinter-group in the PDP. They were angry after their allies were disqualified from party elections. BBC Nigeria analyst Naziru Mikailu…
CAIRO – A car bomb has hit Egypt’s intelligence headquarters in the Sinai peninsula, killing four people, state TV says. More than 10 people were wounded in the attack on the building in Rafah, on Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip. The bombing came after at least nine Islamist militants were killed in a major…
NAIROBI – A retired British army colonel has been shot and killed during a robbery at his son’s home in Nairobi, Kenya. Edward Loden, who commanded the unit involved in the Bloody Sunday shootings in Northern Ireland, was on holiday when he was shot on Saturday evening. The attack happened after armed men forced their…
NAIROBI – Kenyan MPs have approved a motion to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC) following an emergency debate. A bill to this effect is expected to be introduced in the next 30 days, after opposition MPs boycotted the vote. The ICC has charged President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto with crimes against…
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s former African National Congress Youth League leader, Julius Malema, has registered a political party to contest next year’s elections. The party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, will seek to redistribute land and nationalise South Africa’s rich mines, he said. He launched the EFF in July but did not say whether it would…
BAMAKO – Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been sworn in as Mali’s new president at the Supreme Court in the capital, Bamako. Before he took his oath of office, transitional leader Dioncounda Traore handed over power at a ceremony inside the presidential palace. Mr Keita, a former prime minister, won last month’s run-off election. The election…
PRETORIA – Former South African president Nelson Mandela has been discharged from hospital, the presidency said yesterday. ”Former president Nelson Mandela has this morning, September 1, 2013, been discharged from the Pretoria hospital where he has been receiving treatment,” said Presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj in a statement. He said Mandela’s condition remained critical and “at…
JOHANNESBURG – The man who bought the Sandton mansion that belonged to former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema has forfeited his R1m deposit after failing to come up with the balance of R5,9 million that he had promised at the auction four months ago. According to reports, Gauteng businessman Norman Tloubatla has been forced…
