Government forces in the Central African Republic say they have halted a rebel advance towards the capital Bangui. A BBC reporter in the city said he saw a military helicopter heading out of the city. Earlier rebels forced their way through a checkpoint 70km north of Bangui. Our reporter says fighting is continuing in Demara and that the atmosphere in Bangui is very tense.
Tributes have been paid to the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe who has died at the age of 82. He was most famous for his first novel Things Fall Apart. Richard Hamilton reports.
Chinua Achebe’s family spoke of the loss of a husband, father and grandfather, describing him as one of the great literary voices of his time. A spokesman for the governor of Nigeria’s Anambra state, where the author’s Things Fall Apart was born, said the world had lost one of its finest writers and Africa had lost a literary gem. A statement from the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory offered its condolences to the family. The centre referred to a previous quote by the former South African president who spent 27 years in jail, in which he said “Professor Achebe was a writer in whose company the prison walls fell down”.
Police in Brazil say 16 people will face criminal charges in connection with a deadly fire at the Kiss nightclub in January. Two hundred and forty-one people were killed when insulation foam caught fire and spread toxic fumes through the packed venue in the southern town of Santa Maria. The singer, the band’s producer, the club’s owners and two officials responsible for fire safety will be charged with manslaughter.