BBC News with David Austin
One of the biggest names in world athletics, the South African runner Oscar Pistorius, is facing a murder charge after his girlfriend was shot dead at his home in Pretoria. His girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, a high-profile model, was shot four times in the head and the hand in the early hours of the morning. A nine-millimetre pistol was recovered from the scene. Nick Ericsson has the latest.
He’s going to be spending the night in a police cell in Pretoria. He was first taken to one undisclosed this morning. He was then transported to have medical tests done and forensics. The police have said—they’ve acknowledged they don’t want to rush the process because they don’t want to risk this case being thrown out of court because of bad procedures followed. So Oscar Pistorius originally wanted to appear in court today-- looks like it’s going to happen tomorrow. He may be charged with murder. He’s going to apply for bail, we believe, and we understand that the state is going to oppose that application.
The South African President Jacob Zuma has used his annual state-of-the-nation address to call for unity to end the scourge of rape. Commenting on the gang rape and brutal murder of a 17-year-old girl earlier this month, he said that cruelty to women was unacceptable and had no place in South Africa. Mr Zuma also referred to the killing of 44 striking miners last year, but said that measures had been taken to deal with the strikers’ grievances.
“In particular we agreed to work together to strengthen collective bargaining, to address the housing problems in the mining towns, to support the national infrastructure programme, to address youth unemployment and to identify measures to reduce inequalities.”
New official figures show that the eurozone economy went deeper into recession in the final three months of last year. The European Union statistics office said that output in the zone shrank by 0.6 per cent, a sharp deterioration compared to the previous quarter. The three largest economies, Germany, France and Italy, all contracted by more than had been expected.
Police in Britain have arrested three men in connection with the horsemeat scandal engulfing many European countries. The men were detained at two meat plants on suspicion of fraud. Earlier a company in France accused of selling more than 700 tonnes of horsemeat as beef had its licence suspended by the French authorities. Here’s Hugh Schofield.
The results of a week of investigations remove all suspicion from the Romanian abattoir where the horsemeat originated. The meat left Romania clearly and correctly labelled as horse. It was afterwards that the labels were changed to beef and the Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon said the fault lay with the French company Spanghero. Spanghero has issued a statement saying it only ever dealt in meat it believed to be beef.
World News from the BBC
A business consortium including the billionaire American investor Warren Buffett says it’s buying Heinz, the company best-known for making tomato ketchup and baked beans. Mr Buffett made his fortune investing in mature companies with strong brands. The chief executive of Heinz, William Johnson, said it was a big moment for the company.
“At $28bn this will be the largest acquisition of any company in the history of the food business. Our shareholders have been well rewarded as this transaction is occurring from a position of strength after 30 consecutive quarters of organic top-line growth. It’s a great complement to all who have contributed to the success of this company.”
The confirmation of Chuck Hagel as the next American defence secretary has run into trouble with senior Republicans in the Senate threatening to block it. They are unhappy with Mr Hagel’s past statements on Israel, Iraq and Iran and could delay a vote. The Republicans are also demanding more information on what President Obama was doing during the deadly attack on the US mission in the Libyan city of Benghazi last September. The White House has described the Republicans’ tactic as a bad signal to American allies.
The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, has called for the release of three soldiers arrested in Chile. They were detained in January after crossing the Chilean border carrying an assault rifle. Mr Morales made the call in a speech marking the anniversary of a war in the 19th century in which the landlocked country lost access to the Pacific. It was the first time in decades that a Bolivian leader has marked the anniversary.
A Roman sarcophagus which has been used as a garden flower pot in the north of England has been sold at auction for more than $60,000. A pensioner had owned it for decades unaware of its origins. He decided to call in experts after reading about the discovery of a similar sarcophagus last year. It’s believed the intricately carved marble coffin was made for a wealthy Roman aristocrat in the 1st century AD.
BBC News