Nigeria orders probe into 'missing $20bn' of oil money

President Jonathan says the allegations are patently false

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered a forensic audit of the state oil firm following claims that $20bn (£12bn) had gone missing.

Suspended central bank governor Lamido Sanusi caused shockwaves last month when he said that $20bn in oil revenue had not been accounted for.

Mr Jonathan's office denied the claim and said "reputable international firms" would carry out the audit.

Nigeria is one of the world's biggest oil producers.

However, many of its citizens still live in poverty and say they have not benefited from the country's oil wealth.

'Gross misconduct'

Nigeria's oil sector is seen as notoriously opaque and corrupt, correspondents say.

Mr Sanusi was suspended last month after he told a senate committee that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had failed to account for $20bn of the $67bn of oil sold between January 2012 and July 2013.

The presidency said in a statement that Mr Sanusi's suspension had "absolutely nothing" to do with his "patently untrue" allegations.

"But government is making no effort to bury them as he falsely claims," the statement said, adding that foreign firms would carry out the audit.

Nigeria's Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the senate committee also called for an audit after Mr Sanusi presented his evidence to MPs.

Mr Sanusi has said he would challenge Mr Jonathan's decision to suspend him.

Mr Jonathan's office says he was suspended for unrelated "financial recklessness" and "gross misconduct" at the central bank.

The NNPC has denied the money is missing, saying the allegations showed "little understanding of the technicalities of the oil industry".

Mr Sanusi is widely respected in financial circles and was named central bank governor of the year for 2010 by Banker magazine.

Pistorius smashed door 'on stumps'

Day eight of the trial - in 60 seconds

A forensics expert has swung a cricket bat at a toilet door erected in the courtroom at Oscar Pistorius' murder trial in South Africa to demonstrate key pieces of evidence.

Mr Pistorius says he mistakenly shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through the door, believing she was a burglar, then broke it down with the bat.

The prosecution says he tried to beat down the door and then fired the gun.

Mr Pistorius denies intentionally killing Ms Steenkamp in February 2013.

Forensic expert Police Colonel Johan Vermeulen also said he thought Mr Pistorius had hit the door with the bat from a low angle, indicating he was not wearing his prosthetic legs at the time.

This contradicts the athlete's claim that he had been wearing his artificial limbs.

Correspondents say whether or not the athlete was on his prosthetic limbs is important because it could match parts of his story that he accidentally shot Ms Steenkamp, or expose inconsistencies in it.

The damaged toilet door, with four bullet holes, was examined in the courtroom along with a replica of the toilet cubicle.

Forensic evidence on the location from which shots were fired, how they were grouped and their trajectory were presented to the court on Wednesday.

Cross-examining, Mr Pistorius' defence team asked forensic expert Col Vermeulen to kneel and lift his feet, which caused him to wobble.

The defence team claimed that Mr Pistorius therefore would not have been able to balance on his stumps and break down the door using a cricket bat.

Defence lawyer Barry Roux also alleged that police had contaminated the crime scene by stepping on the door.

Col Vermeulen argued that if Mr Pistorius was balanced enough to fire a gun, he could also break down a door with a bat.

The forensics expert argued that the angle and location of the marks on the door suggested that they had been caused by someone much shorter than him.

The defence team argued that a mark on the bottom of the door showed where Mr Pistorius had tried to kick open the door using his prosthetic legs. Col Vermeulen agreed that this was possible.

Oscar Pistorius passed several notes to his lawyers throughout the testimony

"The marks on the door are actually consistent with him not having his legs on and I suspect they must be similar to the height that he was when he fired the shots," he told the court.

The prosecution argues that Mr Pistorius hit the door with the cricket bat before the shots were fired, but the defence claims it was the other way round.

The trial is now halfway through its second week.

Fabricated evidence

Earlier on Wednesday, a friend of Mr Pistorius claimed that the star had driven at 200 km/h (124mph) and that he had taken a picture of the speedometer to prove it.

The defence team alleged that Darren Fresco was himself driving at the time and had therefore fabricated evidence.

On Tuesday, Mr Pistorius' defence team questioned a pathologist's finding that his girlfriend had eaten less than two hours before he killed her.

This contradicts the athlete's account that the pair had been in bed for several hours before the shooting.

Oscar Pistorius shot Reeva Steenkamp through a bathroom door

The state is seeking to convince the court that Mr Pistorius and Ms Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, and reality TV star, had an argument before the athlete fired the shots that killed her.

There are no juries at trials in South Africa, and his fate will ultimately be decided by the judge, assisted by two assessors.

If found guilty, the 27-year-old, a national sporting hero dubbed the "blade runner", could face life imprisonment.

Kenya: Uhuru and Ruto to Take 20 Per Cent Pay Cut

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto are set to take a 20 per cent salary cut.

Addressing journalists after four day retreat with Cabinet Secretaries, President Kenyatta also announced that the Cabinet will take a 10 per cent pay cut.

This he said, was inline with reducing the country's wage bill. The President further added that he will work with other arms of government to ensure that the spending of 400 billion on paying salaries stops stating that this will only leave 200 billion to transform the country.

On the one year scorecard for his government's performance, President Kenyatta said that the government has done well stating that Flagship projects on food security which is the Galana irrigation project are on course. So are transport projects and plans to digitize government.

"The greatest challenge has been settling down due to the synergy required before implementation" the President said.

He added that his government must get security right stating that the budget will improve the conditions of the police force. He announced that the police are set to receive to get life insurance while every police station to have a motor vehicle and a pilot housing programme to start.

West Africa: AU Launches Regional Initiative to Stabilize Sahel

An African Union official says the organization's Mission to Mali and the Sahel (MISAHEL) has launched a cooperation initiative with countries in the Sahel to combat terrorism as part of efforts to stabilize the region.

The special adviser to African Union (AU) special representative for Mali and the Sahel Pierre Buyoya says the AU is implementing the Nouakchott Agreement. Special adviser Issaka Souare says the accord between countries in the region enables security agencies to cooperate with their colleagues in neighboring countries to combat terrorism as well as investigate transnational crimes.

Souare says, "The aim of the agreement is to bring together security agents, those organs and structures that work in the security realm, so that they can work together to mutualize their efforts and their resources to fight against terrorism, and other forms of transnational criminality."

Not much success in the past

Previous regional anti-terrorism efforts enjoyed only limited success before signing the agreement, says Souare. He says MISAHEL has been encouraging countries in the region to unite to combat armed groups who aim to destabilize the region.

"What we needed to do was to break the ice. It was the first time that heads of security intelligence services of the region came together - regularly and openly and frankly, one could argue - to discuss security challenges in the region," said Souare.

"What we are trying is to really move now to have secure communication channels between these [security] services, and then move to have joint patrols."

Souare says it is unlikely that individual countries in the region can separately combat cross boarder crimes and terrorism without the support and cooperation from their neighbors. The Sahel includes portions of Gambia, Senegal, southern Mauritania, central Mali, Burkina Faso, southern Algeria and Niger, northern Nigeria and Cameroon, central Chad, southern Sudan, northern South Sudan and Eritrea.

Joint security has a better chance fo success

"We are departing from the observation that most of the security challenges in the region cannot be faced by one single country," said Souare. "You must collaborate regionally, in order to be able to defeat these challenges."

Souare also says MISAHEL wants to start joint security patrols to combat any upsurge in cross-border crime and terrorism. He says they will consider the initiative successful if the countries themselves take the initiative to fight terrorism at the regional level.

"A good sign of the success of an initiative is when it is actually taken over by the targeted countries, when there is national ownership. Appropriation by the countries of the region is our ultimate aim," said Souare.

"We are trying to spur this cooperation. But slowly and gradually, countries in the Sahel would take over the initiative and will no longer need the direct involvement of the African Union."

Pistorius lawyers quiz key witness

Defence lawyer Barry Roux proposes a 'toilet test' in an attempt to prove a witness' evidence is unreliable

Defence lawyers of South African athlete Oscar Pistorius have resumed questioning a neighbour who told a court in Pretoria that heard a woman's "terrible screams" on 14 February 2013.

Mr Pistorius has pleaded not guilty at the start of his trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

He shot dead the 29-year-old model and reality TV star at his home, saying he mistook her for an intruder.

The neighbour, Michelle Burger, said cries for help were followed by shots.

"She screamed terribly and she yelled for help. Then I also heard a man screaming for help. Three times he yelled for help," Ms Burger told the high court in the capital on the first day of the trial.

She said she called security and then heard four gunshots.

The arrest of the national sporting hero astounded South Africa.

The 27-year-old double amputee won gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and also competed at the Olympics.

Media warned

For the first time in South Africa, parts of the trial are being televised live, although Ms Burger's testimony, in Afrikaans, is being relayed in audio.

Some witness testimony is being excluded from TV broadcasts, although audio of the entire trial is being broadcast.

The court was briefly adjourned as questioning began on the second day of the trial over concerns Ms Burger's photograph was shown on television on Tuesday.

There is heavy rain in Pretoria on the the second day of the trial as Oscar Pistorius arrives at the court

There is huge interest in South Africa and around the world about the trial

South Africa was stunned when the athlete shot dead his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp

Judge Thokozile Masipa warned that no photographs of witnesses from any sources were to be used by the media and any violators would not be "treated with soft gloves".

The BBC's Andrew Harding in court says defence lawyer Barry Roux began his remarks by outlining what he would focus on with Ms Berger's testimony today: Her credibility and reliability.

Central African Republic: UN Recommends Sending More Troops

Anti - Balaka fighters at Bangui´s estate PK9, waiting to attack Muslim IDP convoys passing along the road.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has recommended deploying roughly 12,000 peacekeepers to the Central African Republic. This follows renewed calls from the nation's leadership to help avert a "humanitarian disaster."

In a report to the members of the United Nations Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recommended deploying more peacekeeping personnel in order to help return order to the Central African Republic (CAR). The report proposed sending 10,000 soldiers, plus 1,820 police officers.

The primary task of the UN deployment would be for "the protection of civilians," in its initial stages, according to Ban's report.

CAR is already expecting an increase to the international peacekeeping presence soon. The European Union plans to send 1,000 soldiers to work alongside the 6,000 African Union soldiers already deployed as part of Operation Sangaris.

The French parliament recently approved an enlarged French military operation in CAR, bolstering its numbers by 400 to roughly 2,000 troops. Germany, for its part, has declined to deploy soldiers, but has expressed its willingness to provide logistical support to the mission.

While the deployment up until now has shown "progressive effectiveness," Ban said the UN needed to send in personnel "with the full range of capacities that required to address the deep-rooted nature of the complex crisis now unfolding in the Central African Republic."

Ban also said that the new wave of personnel would "be part of a broader, long-term engagement of the international community," as the UN could not address all of the problems facing CAR.

CAR facing 'humanitarian disaster'

The recommendation to the 15 members of the Security Council followed a plea from CAR's interim president, Catherine Samba-Panza, to provide more support to its civilian population as it struggles to contain ethnic violence.

"I inherited a country on the verge of collapse, with rampant insecurity, a lack of state authority across its national territory and facing an unprecedented humanitarian disaster," the interim president told a women's forum in Kinshasa on Monday.

However, CAR's interim president has repeatedly called for more soldiers, a call which she renewed on Monday.

"Without massive support and assistance from the international community... we will not meet our goal of stabilizing the country and restoring constitutional order within the required timeframe."

Fighting broke out in CAR a year ago when the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebel group overthrew the government. It then installed Michel Djotodia as its president.

Violence escalated again several months later as Christian groups began forming what they described as a self-defense militias against Seleka fighters. The crisis prompted a French and African Union military intervention and, finally, President Djotodia's resignation in January.

12 Years a Slave actress Lupita Nyong'o wins Independent Spirit Award

Lupita Nyong'o's win was one of five awards for 12 Years a Slave

Rising star Lupita Nyong'o won an Independent Spirit award on Saturday for her debut movie role in 12 Years a Slave and told the audience: "Not a bad way to celebrate my birthday."

The Kenyan actress turned 31 a day before the Oscars where she is a front runner for best supporting actress.

12 Years a Slave dominated the Independent Spirit Awards, where it took five prizes.

They included best feature and best director for Britain's Steve McQueen.

Other acting trophies went to Cate Blanchett, for her role in Blue Jasmine, and to Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, for their roles as Aids patients in Dallas Buyers Club.

All three are favourites to win at the Oscars on Sunday night.

Stormy weather

The annual Independent Spirit Awards, which honour low budget film-making, take place in a giant tent on Santa Monica beach.

This year the ceremony was accompanied by strong winds and bursts of heavy rain beating down on the tent.

Angelina Jolie was on hand to congratulate Lupita Nyong'o on her win

12 Years a Slave also won awards for screenplay and cinematography.

Screenwriter John Ridley told the BBC after his win he didn't realise how affecting the story was until he experienced it on the big screen with an audience.

"I had no idea until I saw it in a room with 250 people and felt what they felt at that moment," he said.

Picking up the best director award, McQueen dedicated it to the film's subject Solomon Northup who "inspired me to look and find the truth".

Brad Pitt, who co-produced and starred in the film, said backstage: "I thank Mr McQueen for bringing us all together to tell Solomon's story."

He added: "It's interesting that it took a Brit to ask the questions why more films hadn't been made in America on our history."

Fruitvale Station was named best first feature while Nebraska won a best first screenplay award.

Its writer Bob Nelson, 57, joked that it was the "fulfilment of boyhood dream to be oldest recipient of a first time screenplay award".

He said Nebraska's veteran lead actor Bruce Dern "took a role based on my old dad and made him live again".

The documentary prize went to 20 Feet From Stardom, which shines a spotlight on the world of the backing singers.