A Belgian court has ruled that a former diplomat can stand trial in connection with the killing in 1961 of Patrice Lumumba, Congo's first prime minister.

Etienne Davignon, now 93, is accused of involvement in the unlawful detention and transfer of Lumumba and of his degrading treatment. Davignon was a trainee diplomat at the time and went on to become a vice-

A senior Zambian government official has said that some political parties were asking prospective female candidates for sexual favours in exchange for selection ahead of August's general election.

"I am going to appeal to all female aspiring candidates to ensure that they record all these cases," Mainga Kabika, the civil service head of the gender division in the president's office, said on Monday.

She did not name the political parties involved.

Zambia has a

A significant and unusually early heatwave is building across the south-western US this week, bringing temperatures more typical of early summer than mid-March.

In Phoenix, Arizona, the National Weather Service (NWS) forecasts temperatures could exceed 100F (38C) as soon as Wednesday, the earliest arrival of triple-digit heat to the city in nearly four decades.

A strong, slow

At least 23 people have been killed and 108 injured by a series of suspected suicide bombings in Maiduguri, marking one of the worst recent attacks on the capital of Borno state.

A post office, a popular weekly market and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital were hit within minutes of each other at around 19:30 local time (18:30 GMT) on Monday, police in the

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he is planning to delay a high stakes visit to China later in March by about a month because of the Iran war.

"We've requested that we delay it a month or so," he told reporters at the White House, adding that it was important that he remained available to oversee the war.

Chinese foreign affairs spokesman Lin Jian said on Tuesday that Beijing and Washington are in talks

The Iran war has already India's liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market.

Now another energy artery is under scrutiny: the country's rapidly expanding network of piped natural gas (PNG) - gas delivered by pipeline to homes and businesses.

Demand for this natural gas comes from fertiliser plants, industry and gas-fired power, as well as city gas networks - which supply PNG to households and CNG (compressed

After he was handed a statuette for best actor at the Academy Awards, Michael B Jordan received another golden prize - a cheeseburger.

The actor, who won for his performance in the vampire-blues film Sinners, stopped by fast food chain In-N-Out Burger after the Hollywood ceremony.

Still dressed in his black suit from the red carpet, the star ate with his award sitting on the table and grinned as he signed paper

Millions in Cuba have been left without power after the national electric grid collapsed on Monday, the country's power operator says.

This the latest in a series of widespread power outages to hit the country, whose chronic fuel shortages have been exacerbated by a recent US blockade on oil shipments to the island.

UNE, Cuba's grid operator, says it is gradually restoring electricity in provinces and cities around the country.

Cuba, an island of around 1