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Forensic tests carried out by an expert for Oscar Pistorius' murder trial are being rigorously challenged by the state prosecutor in South Africa. Roger Dixon's sequence for the shots that killed the athlete's girlfriend contradict that of a police ballistics witness and pathologist. Mr Pistorius denies intentionally killing Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day last year. He says he fired in fear at a toilet door, mistaking her for an intruder.

The prosecutor at the Oscar Pistorius murder trial has suggested the South African athlete is using his emotions "as an escape". He broke down in tears four times on Monday and has also vomited in court. "Now you trying to be emotional and it's not working," said prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

Key points *. South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is cross-examined for a second day *. Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel says of Steenkamp relationship: 'It was all about you Mr Pistorius' *. Mr Pistorius denies murder, saying he shot Ms Steenkamp by mistake, thinking she was an intruder *. Mr Pistorius denies "picking" on Reeva Steenkamp, amid testimony on her phone messages *. Mr Pistorius says he does not know how a firearm went off in a restaurant *. All times BST Live text Reporting: Jasmine Coleman Richard Irvine-Brown Sitala Peek Welcome to our live coverage of the second day of Oscar Pistorius' cross-examination on charges of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. 08:20 The 27-year-old athlete, who competed at both the London 2012 Paralympic Games and the Olympics, is charged with murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp - a charge he denies. 08:28 Gerrie Nel is known as "the bull terrier" in court circles for his ruthless and me...

Oscar Pistorius faced a second day of tough cross-examination Oscar Pistorius has faced a second day of intense cross-examination at his trial in which he was accused of being selfish, reckless and a liar. Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel focused on the athlete's character, enthusiasm for firearms and version of events before he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Oscar Pistorius recounts the shooting Continue reading the main story Pistorius trial Pistorius testifies Harding: Tough start Week four round-up Question of character South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has described the moment he fired the shots which killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his home. He told his trial in Pretoria he had heard noises from the toilet and thought an intruder was coming out. "Before I knew it, I had fired four shots at the door," he said. The trial of the athlete, who could face life imprisonment if convicted of murder, was adjourned until Wednesday after he broke down crying.

10 Nigerians were hospitalised while 25 shops owned by Nigerians have been looted following attacks by organised gangs in South Africa. The President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Ikechukwu Anyene, said the attack began last week in Johannesburg and later spread to Pretoria this week. He said commercial taxi drivers, led the attack against Nigerians in Pretoria while unknown gangs attacked Nigerians in Johannesburg.

Council members eulogised the late South African president. The Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday devoted the first session of its meeting to a tribute to former South African President, Nelson Mandela. Mr. Mandela died on December 5 at the age of 95.

The lawmakers extolled Mandela’s virtues. Members of the House of Representatives in Abuja on Wednesday paid tributes to late former South African President, Nelson Mandela, and extolled his qualities during his life time.

Ministers took turns to eulogise the late South African leader. The Nigerian government on Wednesday honoured late Nelson Mandela as the Executive Council of the Federation, FEC, paid tribute him. Twenty two ministers who were present at the Council meeting, spent over an hour taking turns to pay their tribute which rounded off with Vice President Namadi Sambo’s tribute. They also observed a minute silence in honour of the late Madiba, the first black President of South Africa.

The anti-apartheid icon will be buried in his ancestral home. South Africa’s former president and respected anti-apartheid leader, Nelson Mandela, who passed away Thursday night, will be buried on Sunday, December 15, President Jacob Zuma announced Friday afternoon.

Mandela died on Thursday night in South Africa.‪ President Barack Obama has ordered all United State flags to be flown at half-mast Thursday night to sunset on Monday in honour of South Africa anti-apartheid leader, Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday as tributes from world leaders and notable people all over the world continue to pour in.

Mandela died on Thursday. President Goodluck Jonathan has declared three days of national mourning for former South African President, Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday.

Obasanjo first met Mandela when the latter was in prison in 1986. A former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, said the death of Nelson Mandela, the first black South African President, meant the world has lost a leader. Mr. Obasanjo, speaking from his hilltop mansion in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Thursday night, said his earliest contact with the former South African leader was when the latter was in prison in 1986, a meeting he described as ‘memorable.’ Mr. Mandela was in prison for 27 years and released in 1990.

Ex-wife says Mandela communicates with facial gestures. The South African Government said on Monday that Nelson Mandela remained in a stable but critical condition more than two months after doctors treated him for lung infection. The former president

Diversity is a key feature of South Africa, where 11 languages are recognised as official, where community leaders include rabbis and chieftains, rugby players and returned exiles, where traditional healers ply their trade around the corner from stockbrokers and where housing ranges from mud huts to palatial homes with swimming pools. The diverse communities, however, have not had much representation for long. Until 1994 South Africa was ruled by a white minority government which was so determined to hang onto power that it took activists most of the last century before they succeeded in their fight to get rid of apartheid and extend democracy to the rest of the population. The white government which came to power in 1948 enforced a separation of races with its policy called apartheid. It dictated that black and white communities should live in separate areas, travel in different buses and stand in their own queues. At a Glance *. Politics: The ANC scored its fourth election vict...

A South African man found guilty of the rape and brutal murder of a 17-year-old girl has been sentenced to two life terms in prison by a court near Cape Town. State prosecutors had requested this sentence - without parole - for 21-year-old Johannes Kana. Anene Booysen died in February, hours after she was mutilated in a case that caused national outrage. South Africa has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world. 'Shocking and inhumane' The BBC's Nomsa Maseko at the court in Swellendam, 220km (136 miles) from Cape Town, says Kana's uncle clapped his hands and laughed as the judge announced the sentence. "This is a joke," he said, adding that the system was unjust. Many of those attending the trial feel justice has been served, our correspondent says. But some in the community have raised questions about whether Kana was the only person involved in the attack as Ms Booysen told police before she died that there were several assailants, ou...

Johannesburg - New technology is being rolled out across licence testing centres in Gauteng in an attempt to fight fraud and corruption. A new electronic system for learner's licence tests had replaced the booklet system at eight testing centres in the province, transport MEC Ismail Vadi said on Tuesday. Candidates now wrote their test electronically and received the results immediately, Vadi told reporters in Johannesburg. The system could randomly select from 1000 questions while applicants were busy writing the test. He said the previous system had been easy to manipulate. Driving schools had had access to the test books, and some had even prepared answers for their clients. "You came here almost briefed and knowing the answers by heart," Vadi said. "We now have a computerised system with over 1000 questions. These are processed automatically, so not the examiner or any other official is aware what the computer will generate as a question." Vadi said ...

Cape Town - Thandi Maqubela and her business associate Vela Mabena could not have planned her husband's murder in a 76-second phone call, the Western Cape High Court heard on Tuesday. Randall Titus, for Mabena, rejected the State's idea that Maqubela was galvanised to kill her husband Patrick Maqubela and planned his death in the short phone call on Thursday, 4 June 2009. "It beggars belief that this is the State's theory," he said in closing argument. Both have pleaded not guilty of suffocating the acting judge with cling-wrap in his Sea Point, Cape Town, apartment on Friday, 5 June 2009. Maqubela has also pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud and forgery regarding her husband's alleged last will presented at the Johannesburg office of the Master of the High Court. A flurry of calls The State had remarked that a flurry of phone calls between Thandi Maqubela and Mabena the day of the acting judge's death was "suspicious". Maqubela made sh...

Johannesburg - It is time for government to shape the country's future decisively and stop blaming the past, former ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa said on Tuesday. "We are... a government, and placing the blame on the past, apartheid, race, and other external factors does not wash anymore. It is time for solutions of which we are the architects and it is time to shape our future decisively," Phosa said in a speech at the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation conference in Johannesburg. "Let us begin by making sure that every rand of public money that is spent makes a tangible impact on development and upliftment of our people." Corruption scourge Corruption and non-service delivery were serious concerns. "If we fail to address the income gap and alleviate poverty, we will have other consequences. Ours will be a perpetually volatile society, open to flare-ups from time to time, and growing disenchantment among the voters with those they have voted into power....

Johannesburg - Authorities in Madagascar are appealing for calm after the tourist island deaths of two Europeans and a local man who were attacked by a mob that reportedly suspected them of organ-trafficking. France has confirmed that a French national was among the dead and has urged local authorities to clarify the circumstances of what happened on the island of Nosy Be on Thursday morning. The Italian news agency ANSA says an Italian with both Italian and French passports was also killed. Media in Madagascar say the attack happened after residents discovered a boy's mutilated body on a beach. The reports cite witnesses as saying the two Europeans were paraded through villages, beaten and burned on a beach. Nosy Be is a major tourist destination near the northwest coast of Madagascar.