Author: BBC

Politicians, musicians, and celebrities arrived in their most glamorous looks for one of South Africa’s biggest political events – the State of the Nation Address (Sona), making it almost as much about fashion as politics. Sona is a joint sitting of the two houses of parliament in Cape Town to mark the start of the […]

Finding and fighting the militants who have become the beating heart of the Islamic State (IS) group in Africa can be tough work as they hide deep in the mountains of north-eastern Somalia. But in typical Donald Trump style, after the new US president ordered an airstrike on the area last weekend, he posted on […]

Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has ordered the military to begin preparing to withdraw from their peacekeeping mission in the volatile eastern Democratic of Congo. The Malawian troops are part of the southern African regional bloc’s military mission (SAMIDRC) deployed to DR Congo to help tackle armed groups. At least 20 peacekeepers, including 14 South Africans […]

The view is spectacular from the top of Ponte Tower, one of the most famous buildings in the South African city of Johannesburg. Built in 1975, standing almost 200m (656 ft) tall, it’s a long-established feature of the city skyline, once the tallest residential building in Africa. But like the city, it’s had its ups […]

A Ugandan rugby player who claimed asylum in Wales has been jailed for four and a half years after raping a woman in Cardiff. Cardiff Crown Court heard how Philip Pariyo, 32, became close friends with the woman involved, before he attacked her in a flat in the city in June 2021. Pariyo had repeatedly […]

The alliance of rebel groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have declared a humanitarian ceasefire starting on Tuesday. In a statement, the group – which includes the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels – cited “humanitarian reasons” for the ceasefire, after it has been capturing territory in eastern parts of the country. The UN said at least […]

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa (Acsa) has apologised for failing to protect the public from the risk posed by a prolific British child abuser who had moved to South African in 2001. Senior barrister John Smyth, who died in South Africa in 2018 at the age of 77, abused over 100 children and young […]

Uganda has launched a trial of a vaccine against the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus, following an outbreak in the country that has killed one person and infected two others. The first patient, a 32-year-old male nurse, died last week. On Monday, the initial participant in the trial, who is currently in isolation, received […]

The Accra street vendor looks at me, bemused. I’m trying to establish how the rather flimsy 30g bag of roasted cashew nuts she’s selling, beside a sweltering highway in Ghana’s capital, costs me the equivalent of about 75 cents (60p). That’s obviously not a lot of money for me, a visitor from the UK, but […]

Protesters in Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo, have been burning portraits of Rwanda’s president and tearing up Rwandan flags as M23 rebels have taken control of most the eastern city of Goma. Their fury is focused on Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who they accuse of backing the rebels – an accusation long […]