Zim's VP linked to Mugabe assassination plot

Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's vice president, once seen as a possible successor to President Robert Mugabe, has been linked to an alleged plot to assassinate the 90-year-old leader, a state-run newspaper reported on Sunday.

An ally of Vice President Joice Mujuru who was recently ousted from his post as ruling party spokesperson, said the allegations that he conspired against Mugabe are false. Rugare Gumbo, the ousted spokesperson, was identified in The Sunday Mail as a plotter against Mugabe, who has been in power since independence in 1980.

Nigerian army recaptures Chibok, abducted girls' hometown

Abuja - The Nigerian army said on Sunday it had recaptured and "secured" the northeastern town of Chibok, where Islamic militants abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in April.

The army recaptured the town on Saturday evening from Boko Haram militants, spokesperson General Olajide Olaleye told AFP in a text message. "Mopping up ops ongoing. [The] town is now secured," he said.

Leading elder Pogu Bitrus told AFP the town was re-taken in a joint operation with local vigilantes known as the Civilian Joint Task Force, who back up the military in several parts of the northeast where Boko Haram is active.

Christopher Nolan will never make a comedy

Los Angeles - Christopher Nolan will never make a comedy film.

The acclaimed director has revealed that he doesn't think he is cut out for the genre because it is so difficult to make people laugh.

The filmmaker explained: "I would try anything, I think, except comedy or romantic comedy, those are very tough genres to work in."

ISIS claims it beheaded US aid worker

Cairo - Islamic State militants fighting in Iraq and Syria claimed in a video posted online on Sunday that they had beheaded American hostage Peter Kassig.

The video did not show the beheading but showed a masked man standing with a decapitated head covered in blood lying at his feet.

Baby body parts found in parcel headed for US

Bangkok - The body parts of several babies have been found in a parcel destined for the United States, Thai police said on Sunday.

A baby's head, several feet and "sheets of skin" - including one taken from an adult and bearing a large tattoo - were discovered on Saturday after staff at a Bangkok parcel company scanned the package.

"They were not from one body but were in small pieces," Police Major General Chawalit Prasopsin told AFP on Sunday.

"They have been sent for forensic examination to confirm if they were from babies who died after delivery or in the womb," Chawalit said.