A Ugandan man tasked with guarding a Marburg virus-infected mine crept into the underground cove only to be infected with the Ebola-like disease, health officials said on Tuesday. The mine was closed when the epidemic struck the western area situated in a forest reserve, killing one person.
Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to Africa on Wednesday with the message that Germany is keen to step up cooperation with the continent to help combat poverty and disease. The chancellor’s trip to Ethiopia, South Africa and Liberia from October 3 to 7 will focus on economic development, social issues and business ties.
A journalist and two actors were arrested in Zimbabwe during a satirical play making fun of the country’s political situation, press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières said on Tuesday. It said plainclothes police stormed a theatre in central Harare on Friday night during a performance of The Final Push.
A group of elder statesmen, including former US president Jimmy Carter and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, urged all sides in Darfur’s bloodshed to reach a peace deal as they began a tour on Tuesday of the war-torn region. The visit comes days after rebels overran an African Union peacekeeping base in northern Darfur.
There is a probability that the hoax emails allegedly fabricated by former spy boss Billy Masetlha and his two co-accused were created by an amateur, the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court heard on Tuesday. Masetlha and his co-accused are facing charges of fraud amounting to R152 000.
Murder accused Fred van der Vyver’s legal team has told the Cape High Court it wants him to testify in his own defence. The surprise move came on Tuesday afternoon after the state had already delivered its closing arguments, and Van der Vyver’s advocate Dup de Bruyn had begun his.
President Thabo Mbeki was caught off guard on Tuesday when asked questions at a media photo opportunity at the Union Buildings in Pretoria about the possible arrest of police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi. Responding to questions from journalists by asking more questions, Mbeki queried whether it was a president’s job to issue warrants of arrest.
There was still no word on whether Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) veterans would get voting rights at the upcoming African National Congress (ANC) national conference, the MK Military Veterans’ Association (MKVA) said on Tuesday. ”We are trying to get representation at the conference,” said newly elected MKVA president Kebby Maphatsoe.
A music writer who demanded the right to vent his feelings on Radio Heart 104.9 about the rejection of a story he wrote concerning a black musician is to go on trial on a charge of intimidation. David Robert Lewis (39), of Woodstock, appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Forest fires blazed in several areas of Lebanon on Tuesday, including around the ancient town of Deir al-Qamar, a world heritage site. ”Most of Deir al-Qamar is engulfed in thick, black smoke. There’s not one wooded area left. Some villas are ablaze, cars are burnt, the phone and electricity lines are burnt,” resident Joseph al-Itr told Reuters by telephone.