Mandela breathing without difficulty

Nelson Mandela is breathing without difficulty, South Africa's presidency has said, as he spends a third day in hospital with a lung infection.

Mr Mandela, 94, was comfortable and was continuing to respond to treatment, the statement said.

It said Mr Mandela had developed a pleural effusion - excess fluid in the lungs which had been drained to enable him to breathe more easily.

There are no details yet on how long he will remain in hospital.

After Mr Mandela was admitted to hospital late on Wednesday, President Jacob Zuma said people "must not panic".

The former president first contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while detained on windswept Robben Island.

His lungs are said to have been damaged while working in a prison quarry. This latest spell in hospital is his fourth in just over two years.

Mr Mandela served as South Africa's first black president from 1994 to 1999 and is regarded by many as the father of the nation for leading the struggle against apartheid.

'Thoughts and prayers'

The statement read by presidential spokesman, Mac Maharaj, on Saturday said that Mr Mandela had been admitted to hospital "due to a recurrence of pneumonia".

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Nelson Mandela: Key dates

• 1918 Born in the Eastern Cape
• 1943 Joins African National Congress
• 1956 Charged with high treason, but charges dropped
• 1962 Arrested, convicted of sabotage, sentenced to five years in prison
• 1964 Charged again, sentenced to life
• 1990 Freed from prison
• 1993 Wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1994 Elected first black president
• 1999 Steps down as leader
• 2004 Retires from public life
• 2005 Announces his son has died of an HIV/Aids-related illness

• Mandela's defiant freedom speech

It said: "Doctors advised that due to the lung infection, former President Mandela had developed a pleural effusion which was tapped. This has resulted in him now being able to breathe without difficulty.

"He continues to respond to treatment and is comfortable."

The statement said the presidency "would like to acknowledge and thank all who have been praying for, and sending messages of support for, Madiba and his family."

Madiba is Mandela's clan name and is widely used to refer to him.

On Friday, Mr Mandela's ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, told public broadcaster SABC that he was "doing well".

"He's responding very well to treatment," said Ms Madikizela-Mandela at a church service in Soweto.

The hospital Mr Mandela is attending has not been disclosed.

Last December Mr Mandela was treated for a lung infection and gallstones - his longest period in hospital since leaving prison in 1990. In February, he was treated for a stomach condition.

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Pneumonia

• Causes inflammation of one or both lungs in the chest, usually due to infection
• Disrupts process whereby oxygen is taken into the body and carbon dioxide removed
• Interruption of oxygen to the tissues can be fatal, but modern antibiotics are good treatment
• Can lead to pleural effusion - excess fluid accumulating between the two pleural layers, the space that surrounds the lungs

• Health notes: Pneumonia

When asked whether people should prepare for the inevitable, Mr Zuma told BBC News: "In Zulu, when someone passes away who is very old, people say he or she has gone home. I think those are some of the things we should be thinking about."

But he stressed that Mr Mandela had been able to handle the situation "very well" so far.

BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding says South Africans have been praying for the recovery of Mr Mandela, who remains a moral beacon in the country despite withdrawing from public life almost a decade ago.

Despite his long imprisonment, Mr Mandela forgave his former enemies and as president urged South Africans of all races to work together and seek reconciliation.

In 1993 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

His main home is in Qunu, a small rural village in Eastern Cape province, where he says he spent the happiest days of his childhood.

However, doctors said in December he should remain at his home in the Johannesburg neighbourhood of Houghton to be close to medical facilities.

Are you in South Africa? What is your reaction to President Zuma's comments? Send us your comments using the form below.

N Korea in 'state of war' with South

North Korea has said it is entering a "state of war" with South Korea in the latest escalation of rhetoric against its neighbour and the US.

A statement promised "stern physical actions" against "any provocative act".

North Korea has threatened attacks almost daily since it was sanctioned for a third nuclear test in February.

However, few think the North would risk full-blown conflict. It has technically been at war with the South since 1953 as no peace treaty has been signed.

An armistice at the end of the Korean War was never turned into a full treaty.

'Taking threats seriously'

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Analysis

Lucy WilliamsonBBC News, Seoul

Over the past few weeks, there's been an ever-growing war of words between the two sides, and this latest statement in particular has made the Koreas' neighbours nervous.

Tensions have built quickly since the UN Security Council imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea. The fact that Pyongyang's only major ally, China, backed the sanctions - and even helped to frame them - has left the North's regime feeling more isolated than ever. Some believe its current hardline rhetoric is in part to send a warning to Beijing not to antagonise it.

Most analysts believe that Pyongyang is unlikely to start a full-blown war with South Korea or its key ally, the US, but that other kinds of provocations are much more likely. And with South Korea promising a strong response to any action by the North, many fear that a minor - or even accidental - incident could quickly escalate.

The North carried out its third nuclear test on 12 February, which led to the imposition of fresh sanctions.

The annual US-South Korean military exercises have also taken place, angering Pyongyang further.

A North Korean statement released on Saturday said: "From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly.

"The long-standing situation of the Korean peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over."

In Washington, Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said the US had "seen reports of a new and unconstructive statement from North Korea".

"We take these threats seriously and remain in close contact with our South Korean allies," she said.

North Korea has made multiple threats against both the US and South Korea in recent weeks, including warning of a "pre-emptive nuclear strike" on the US and the scrapping of the Korean War armistice.

On Thursday, North Korean state media reported leader Kim Jong-un "judged the time has come to settle accounts with the US imperialists".

State TV announcement: "From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war"

He was said to have condemned US B-2 bomber sorties over South Korea during military exercises as a "reckless phase" that represented an "ultimatum that they will ignite a nuclear war at any cost on the Korean peninsula".

US mainland and bases in Hawaii, Guam and South Korea were all named as potential targets.

State media in the North showed thousands of soldiers and students at a mass rally in Pyongyang supporting Kim Jong-un's announcement.

North Korea's most advanced missiles are thought to be able to reach Alaska, but not the rest of the US mainland.

On Wednesday, Pyongyang cut a military hotline with the South - the last direct official link between the two nations.

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Timeline: Korean tensions

• 12 Dec: North Korea fires three-stage rocket, in move condemned by UN as banned test of long-range missile technology
• 12 Feb: North Korea conducts an underground nuclear test, its third after tests in 2006 and 2009
• 7 Mar: UN approves fresh sanctions on Pyongyang; North Korea says it has the right to a "pre-emptive nuclear strike" on the US
• 11 Mar: US-South Korea annual joint military drills begin; North Korea says it has scrapped the Korean War armistice (the UN says the pact cannot be unilaterally scrapped)
• 19 Mar: US flies B-2 nuclear-capable bombers over Korean peninsula, following several North Korean threats to attack US and South Korean targets
• 20 Mar: Broadcasters and banks in South Korea hit by cyber attack, the origin of which remains unknown, days after North Korea says some of its sites were hacked
• 27 Mar: North Korea cuts military hotline with South, the last official direct link between the two
• 28 Mar: US flies stealth bombers over Korean peninsula; showcasing ability for precision strike "at will"
• 30 Mar: North Korea says it is entering a "state of war" with South Korea

• How potent are North Korea's threats?

A Red Cross hotline and another line used to communicate with the UN Command at Panmunjom have already been cut, although an inter-Korean air-traffic hotline still exists.

The jointly run Kaesong industrial park, just north of the border, is still in operation. However on Saturday, Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency said it would be closed if insults to the North's "dignity" continued.

On 16 March, North Korea warned of attacks against South Korea's border islands, and advised residents to leave the islands. In 2010, it shelled South Korea's Yeonpyeong island, causing four deaths.

'Maximum restraint'

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the latest rhetoric only deepened North Korea's isolation.

China, North Korea's biggest trading partner, has reiterated its call for all sides to ease tensions.

Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news conference that "joint efforts" should be made to turn around a "tense situation".

On Saturday, Russian foreign ministry spokesman Grigory Logvinov told the Interfax news agency: "We expect all sides to show maximum responsibility and restraint and that no-one will cross the line after which there will be no return."

He said: "Naturally, we cannot remain indifferent when an escalation of tensions is taking place at our eastern frontiers. We cannot but worry."

One South Korean resident, Lee Gae-hwa, told Reuters news agency she felt "very scared", adding: "I hope we can find a good solution since we're from the same nation."

>> BBC

Egypt satirist faces arrest warrant

An arrest warrant has been issued for a popular Egyptian political satirist for allegedly insulting Islam and President Mohammed Morsi.

Bassem Youssef has faced several complaints over his show El Bernameg (The Programme).

He has poked fun at a wide range of figures, from fellow television presenters to well-known Muslim scholars and recently Mr Morsi himself.

The case has highlighted worries about press freedoms in Egypt.

It is also seen as the latest in a string of prosecution actions against opponents of the president and his party, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Earlier this week, Egypt's top prosecutor ordered the arrest of five political activists, among them a leading blogger, on suspicion of inciting aggression against the Brotherhood.

The prosecutor, Talat Ibrahim, was appointed late last year by the president, after he had sacked his predecessor, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud.

However, a court this week ordered Mr Mahmoud's reinstatement, a decision that Mr Ibrahim said on Saturday he would fight.

Witty lampooning

Many journalists have criticised the Islamist-backed constitution which came into force earlier this year, arguing it does not offer enough guarantees for a free media.

Talat Ibrahim said on Saturday he would challenge a court order reinstating his predecessor

The constitution also sparked protests from opponents who say it favours Islamists and does not sufficiently protect the rights of women or Christians.

Bassem Youssef is a doctor who shot to fame after winning a large number of followers with his witty lampooning of public figures in amateur videos posted on the internet following the uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's rule in February 2011.

He became a household name when his satirical show - likened to Jon Stewart's The Daily Show in the US - began to be broadcast three times a week on one of Egypt's independent satellite stations.

But sketches in which he portrayed Mr Morsi as a pharaoh, calling him "Super Morsi" for holding on to executive and legislative powers, and, separately, putting the president's image on a pillow and parodying his speeches angered one Islamist lawyer, whose formal complaint resulted in the investigation.

As well as insulting Mr Morsi and Islam, Mr Youssef is also accused of "spreading false news with the aim of disrupting public order".

In a statement posted on Mr Youssef's Twitter account on Saturday he confirmed the warrant, adding: "I will go to the public prosecutor's office on Sunday - unless they send me a police car and save me [the bother of] getting there on public transport."

>> BBC

Jordanian king swears in government

King Abdullah of Jordan has sworn in the smallest government in four decades, to be be led by reformist Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour.

The king consulted parliament over the cabinet's make-up for the first time, after constitutional changes introduced in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Mr Ensour has merged several portfolios as he tries to cut spending.

Jordan is facing a $3bn deficit this year, which it hopes to cut by about a third.

The country is struggling to curb the impact of soaring fuel import costs and high social spending designed to deter the kind of uprising seen in neighbouring Arab states, the BBC's Dale Gavlak reports from Amman.

Mr Ensour, who was serving as interim prime minister before elections in January, ended fuel subsidies late last year.

The move triggered protests around the country, with some calling for the king to step down.

The International Monetary Fund demanded that Jordan abolish the subsides to qualify for a $2bn (£1.3bn) loan.

'Failure'

The new 19-member cabinet includes one woman, Social Development Minister Reem Abu Hassan.

"This government was born after consultations with deputies who will be part of the government in the coming months as part of the parliamentary government experience," Mr Ensour said.

"We want this to succeed in order to boost reform."

But Zaki Bani Rsheid, deputy leader of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, said consultations with parliament had been merely "cosmetic".

"This government lacks any elements related to parliament, political parties or reform," he told AFP news agency.

"Therefore, it will not introduce real democratic reform. It will be a failure just like past governments."