News

Several women have taken their lives in Sudan’s central Gezira state after being raped by paramilitary fighters in the brutal civil war raging in the country, rights groups and activists have said. The reports come after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was accused by the UN of “atrocious crimes”, including mass killings, in the […]

A leading member of Malawi’s opposition has been charged with plotting to kill the country’s President, Lazarus Chakwera. Patricia Kaliati, secretary general of the UTM party, was arrested last week on suspicion of “conspiring with others to commit a serious offence”. Appearing on Monday at a court in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, the 57-year-old did not […]

Zambian football is in mourning after seven players from Chavuma Town Council FC were killed in a bus crash. The country’s football association (Faz) expressed its “deep shock” at the accident, which occurred on Saturday while the squad was travelling to a third-tier league game in the north west of the country. “We are in […]

At least 40 Chadian soldiers have been killed after their base was attacked on Sunday evening, the presidency says. President Mahamat Déby has ordered a counter-mission to track down the culprits, according to a statement from his office. The attack reportedly happened on an island called Barkaram, in a vast marshy region that was once […]

A controversial agreement to grant Ukrainian diplomats visa-free access to South Africa has sparked outrage within political circles. South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber, who is from a different party to the president, announced the deal on Sunday, terming Ukraine a “valued ally”. But the presidency has criticised Schreiber for announcing the agreement without […]

Outrage has erupted on social media after Somalia’s Family Minister Gen Bashir Mohamed Jama shared photos on X of himself and another male delegate representing Somalia at a UN meeting about women’s issues. “It is tone-deaf for the Somali government to have men on the frontline, representing women at the conference,” Fathiya Absie, a well-known […]

Activist Leo Igwe is at the forefront of efforts to help people accused of witchcraft in Nigeria, as it can destroy their lives – and even lead to them being lynched. “I could no longer take it. You know, just staying around and seeing people being killed randomly,” Dr Igwe tells the BBC. After completing […]

A senior UN official in Sudan says she is deeply troubled by reports of “atrocious crimes” in the central Gezira state, including the mass killing of civilians by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Clementine Nkweta-Salami’s comments came after an activist group said that at least 124 people were killed by the RSF in attacks […]

Commonwealth leaders have agreed the “time has come” for a conversation about reparations for the slave trade, despite the UK’s desire to keep the subject off the agenda at a two-day summit in Samoa. A document signed by 56 heads of government, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, acknowledges calls for “discussions on reparatory […]

Prominent Kenyan human rights activist Boniface Mwangi has been detained by police on charges of inciting violence after six masked individuals forcibly took him from his home, his wife has told the BBC. His detention comes after he called for an anti-government protest at a marathon in the capital, Nairobi, on Sunday. Police spokesperson Resila […]