News

As it became clear that Donald Trump had landed the US presidency for the second time, leaders from across Africa began tweeting their congratulations. “Zimbabwe stands ready to work with you”, wrote Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, eyeing a diplomatic reset, while Nigeria’s Bola Tinubu expressed hope that Trump’s second term would bring “reciprocal economic and […]

South Africa has closed one of its busiest border crossings with Mozambique following violent post-electoral protests in the neighbouring country. The protests have led to deadly clashes in several cities following last month’s disputed presidential election, won by Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo party. The authorities say there are reports of vehicles being torched on the Mozambican […]

Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif is back in the spotlight this week following fresh questioning of her eligibility to have competed in the women’s competition at Paris 2024. A report last week in French magazine Le Correspondant claimed to have seen a leaked medical report about the Algerian. The BBC has been unable to verify […]

A court in Rwanda has slapped a beauty queen with a three-month suspended sentence for drink-driving and driving without a licence. Divine Muheto, who won the most recent Miss Rwanda pageant, was also fined 190,000 Rwandan francs ($140; £109). Ms Muheto last month crashed her car into an electricity pylon and a palm tree while […]

Nigeria’s army chief Lt Gen Taoreed Lagbaja has died after a “period of illness” aged 56, President Bola Tinubu has announced. He died on Tuesday night in Lagos. The exact details of his illness were not made public. In a statement shared on X by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu expressed his “heartfelt condolences” […]

Once regarded as a safe haven for refugees, Kenya is slowly becoming a hostile place for some of those seeking protection from political persecution and war, rights groups say. Their concerns come after masked men abducted at gunpoint four Turkish refugees in the capital, Nairobi, last month – the latest in a series of such […]

A series of parcel fires targeting courier companies in Poland, Germany and the UK were dry runs aimed at sabotaging flights to the US and Canada, Polish prosecutors say. Katarzyna Calow-Jaszewska revealed late last month that four people had been arrested and authorities across Europe were investigating the incidents. Western security officials have now told […]

North Korean soldiers have clashed with Ukrainian troops for the first time, Ukraine’s top officials have revealed. In an interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said a “small group” of North Korean soldiers were attacked. Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who had earlier condemned the West’s lack of response to the […]

Protests have erupted in Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired the country’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu said a “crisis of trust” between the two leaders led to his decision, adding that his trust in Gallant had “eroded” in recent months and Foreign Minister Israel Katz would step in to replace him. Gallant said […]

At the wheel of an ambulance, Samir El Chekieh drives with sirens wailing to the latest Israeli air strike in El Karak in the Bekaa Valley, eastern Lebanon. The 32-year-old firefighter and paramedic with the Lebanese Civil Defense Force (CDF) only got a few hours’ sleep last night. It is now the middle of the […]