LAGOS – The Nigerian navy has seized a foreign-flagged ship carrying arms and ammunition and arrested its 15 mainly Russian crew members. The vessel was intercepted over the weekend by patrol boats, a naval official told AFP news agency. Officials said the boat, belonging to Moscow-based security firm Moran, was carrying rifles and ammunition. Moran…
JOHANNESBURG – A bomb blast used during an escape attempt from a prison van in South Africa’s main city, Johannesburg, has killed three people, police say. The explosion hit a police van returning 36 prisoners to Johannesburg Central prison from court, a police spokesman said. Two prisoners escaped but were recaptured, the spokesman said. The…
KAMPALA – Ugandan police are to increase social-media monitoring because of fears about the spread of “dangerous” information, according to reports. The country’s highest ranking police officer spoke at a gathering of East African police chiefs. Gen Kale Kayihura called on forces to ensure social media “is not misused for crime, worse still for terrorism”….
HARARE – South African rapper Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye has been convicted of murder and attempted murder after driving into a group of schoolchildren in 2010. Magistrate Brian Nemavhidi also convicted Maarohanye of racing on a public road and driving under the influence of drugs. Maarohanye smashed his car into a group of pupils in…
NOUAKCHOTT – Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz has been shot and wounded in what officials say was an accident. He has undergone a successful operation on his arm and is travelling abroad soon for further treatment, they say. Earlier, Communications Minister Hamdi Ould Mahjoub said on national TV that a military patrol had mistakenly opened…
GABORONE – The Botswana High Court has overturned a customary law which prevented women from inheriting the family home. The judge ruled that the law contravened the constitution, which guarantees equality for men and women. Edith Mmusi and her sisters have fought a five-year legal battle after their nephew said he was the rightful owner…
TRIPOLI – The International Criminal Court (ICC) is holding its first public hearing in the case of one of the sons of Libyan leader Col Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam. He is accused of committing war crimes against the rebels who overthrew his father last year. His ICC lawyers are expected to argue he will not receive…
TRIPOLI – Libya’s Prime Minister-elect has been dismissed from his post, after failing for a second time to win parliamentary approval for a new cabinet. Mustafa Abu Shagur had called for the formation of an “emergency government”, consisting of just 10 ministries. The General National Congress (GNC) voted 125 to 44 against the proposal. Seventeen…
JOHANNESBURG – A man has been killed during clashes between striking miners and police at a mine in South Africa’s platinum belt, police say. Spokesman Thulani Ngubane denied accusations that the man had been shot by the police during unrest at an Anglo American-owned mine. This is the latest unrest in South Africa’s mines –…
CAIRO – Ahmed Ezz (C) in court, along with Egypt’s former tourism minister Zuheir Garranah (R), and former housing minister Ahmed al-Maghrabi (L), February 2011 Ahmed Ezz (centre) is one of a range of former senior officials to have faced trial Ahmed Ezz, who was closely associated with former President Hosni Mubarak and his son,…
