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Bangladesh has been hit by major blackouts after a power line connecting the country to India's electricity grid failed, reports say. The blackout began at about noon local time and affected all parts of the country linked to the national grid. Power was restored to parts of the capital within a few hours. Officials said engineers were working to restore supply to the rest of Bangladesh. Bangladesh began importing electricity from India in October last year. The exact cause remains unknown, but the head of the national grid in Bangladesh, Chowdhury Alamgir Hossain, told the Dhaka Tribunenewspaper that the power cut began after a technical glitch at a substation distributing power from India. That had caused all the country's other power plants to close down one by one, he said. Masum-Al-Beruni, managing director of the state-run Power Grid Company, told the Associated Press news agency that he hoped to restore full power to the capital Dhaka by Saturday evening. The high-voltage transm ... Read more »

Tens of thousands of people are attending the funeral of South African football captain Senzo Meyiwa in Durban. Meyiwa, 27, was shot on Sunday, apparently after burglars entered his girlfriend's house near Johannesburg. A suspect appeared in court on Friday and was charged with the murder of the popular goalkeeper. Meyiwa's death shocked South Africa and has highlighted the high rates of violent crime in the country. The funeral is taking place at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Meyiwa's hometown of Durban. Many of the mourners are wearing T-shirts with a picture of Meyiwa, who was widely seen as an inspiring figure. The funeral of another South African sporting hero, former 800m world champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, will also take place on Saturday. Mulaudzi was killed in a car accident the day before Meyiwa's death. Flags at half-mast President Zuma ordered the national flag to be flown at half-mast on Saturday to honour the goalkeeper. South Africa's domestic football league postponed a ma ... Read more »

A split has emerged within Burkina Faso's armed forces over who is leading the country following the resignation of President Blaise Compaore after 27 years in power. The presidential guard's second in command, Colonel Isaac Zida, says he has assumed power as head of state. Earlier, army chief General Honore Traore said he had taken over. Earlier, army chief General Honore Traore said he had taken over. Crowds danced and cheered in the capital Ouagadougou after Mr Compaore's resignation was announced on Friday. It came a day after protesters angry at his attempt to amend the constitution and extend his 27-year hold on the presidency set fire to parliament and government buildings.

Sir Richard Branson has vowed to continue his space tourism venture despite the fatal crash of a Virgin Galactic rocket ship in the US. One pilot died and the other was badly injured when SpaceShipTwo exploded in California's Mojave Desert on Friday. Investigators are on their way to the crash site, north of Los Angeles. Mr Branson, founder of the Virgin Group and a long-time advocate of commercial space travel, said he was "shocked and saddened" but would "persevere". Virgin had hoped to launch commercially in 2015. It has already taken more than 700 flight bookings at $250,000 (£156,000) each, with Mr Branson pledging to travel on the first flight. 'Serious anomaly' SpaceShipTwo was flying its first test flight for nine months when it crashed shortly after take-off near the town of Bakersfield, California. In a statement, the company said SpaceShipTwo experienced "a serious anomaly"after the craft separated from its launcher, an aircraft called WhiteKnightTwo. WhiteKnightTwo landed ... Read more »