"It's not only about economics; it's not only about finance; it's also about a political, collective destiny amongst countries that have spent centuries fighting with each other and which are determined to stay together."

The BBC has learnt that South African intelligence officers have foiled a third attempt to assassinate the former Rwandan chief of staff, Kayumba Nyamwasa. Two plots to kill the general failed last year after he fled to South Africa, having fallen out with the Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Sources close to General Nyamwasa say the latest plot involved shooting dead his entire family. Rwanda has denied being behind the plot.

The police in Zambia say two people have died in violent demonstrations about the slow pace of vote counting in this week's presidential election. Rioting broke out in two towns in the northern Copperbelt province, a stronghold of the opposition candidate Michael Sata.

Scientists at the Cern laboratory in Geneva say they've measured subatomic particles travelling faster than the speed of light - a result that appears to contradict one of the fundamental laws of physics. The speeds were detected in neutrinos fired from Geneva to another laboratory 700km away. The researchers admit they are baffled by the result and have asked others to independently verify their measurements. If confirmed, the discovery would overturn part of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.

BBC News