Oprah Winfrey settles libel action with headmistress of her school

Oprah Winfrey has settled a lawsuit from a headmistress she had accused of not properly running her South African girls' school.

Nomvuyo Mzamane said the TV chat show hostess defamed her after students claimed they had been sexually abused at the Johannesburg school.

A matron has denied 14 charges of abuse and Winfrey said Ms Mzamane had failed to deal with the scandal. Ms Mzamane said she had trouble finding a job after Winfrey said she had "lost confidence" in her. Ms Mzamane said she was never told about the abuse.

"The two parties met woman to woman without their lawyers and are happy that they could resolve this dispute peacefully," a joint statement said.

A trial had been due to start next week in Philadelphia. The details of the settlement were confidential.