Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday heard the state’s case to lengthen the jail term of double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius for murdering his girlfriend. Here is a timeline of events following the shooting of Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013. – …
Read More »UN, Colombia sign key anti-cocaine pact
Vienna, Austria | AFP | The UN and Bogota signed a major pact Friday to uproot Colombia’s booming cocaine business, as part of ongoing peace efforts between the government and drug trade-controlling rebels. The deal worth $315 million dollars (270 million euros) aims to wean farmers off growing coca — …
Read More »Prosecutors lobby for longer Pistorius sentence
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African prosecutors will argue Friday for Oscar Pistorius to be given a longer jail sentence, saying the six years he is serving for the murder of his girlfriend was “shockingly low”. The National Prosecution Authority will present its case to a one-day hearing at …
Read More »Mugabe calls for return of death penalty
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday called for the return of the death penalty, after more than 50 people applied for the vacant position of hangman. Capital punishment is on the statute book in Zimbabwe, but no one has been executed since 2005 when the country’s …
Read More »Deaths, numerous injuries in New York truck crash
New York, United States | AFP | Several people were killed and numerous others injured in New York on Tuesday when a suspect plowed into cyclists and pedestrians in Lower Manhattan, and rammed another vehicle on Halloween, police said. The man left the vehicle holding up fake guns, before being …
Read More »Wanted: Zimbabwe hangman — 50 people apply
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | At least 50 people want to become Zimbabwe’s hangman, a job that fell vacant over a decade ago, officials said Tuesday, stressing that applicants were “very interested” in the role. The country, which has an unemployment rate of more than 90 percent by some measures, last …
Read More »Tanzanian opposition figure out of intensive care after attack
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzanian opposition figure Tundu Lissu, who was shot and critically injured at his home last month, is now out of intensive care, his party CHADEMA said Tuesday. Lissu, who was attacked on September 7, left the unit at a hospital in Nairobi last week, after having …
Read More »Monaco poor box thief caught red-handed
Nice, France | AFP | In Monaco, home to the super-rich on the French Riviera, a worker at the cathedral was caught literally red-handed stealing from the poor box. In early 2016, a newly arrived priest at the cathedral started to suspect the sexton of pilfering after noticing a drop …
Read More »Suspect practised before Kim Jong-Nam murder, court told
Shah Alam, Malaysia | AFP | One of the women on trial for murdering the North Korean leader’s half-brother was filmed on CCTV apparently practising on another person two days before the assassination, a court heard Tuesday. Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong was filmed at the airport where Kim Jong-Nam was killed …
Read More »Two killed in vehicle ambush on Kenya coast
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Two university employees were killed and two police officers and a driver injured Tuesday morning when unknown gunmen fired on a vehicle close to Diani, a popular coastal tourist resort in Kenya. The car was transporting officers and staff members from Diani to the Technical University …
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