Author: BBC

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 […]

Only one person has survived a plane crash in South Sudan, which killed 20 oil workers who were on board, the government said. The plane, which was heading to the capital, Juba, crashed three minutes after take-near the oil fields in Unity State on Wednesday morning, said Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol. Among the victims […]

Three countries under military rule have officially left West African regional bloc Ecowas, after more than a year of diplomatic tensions. The withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger is a huge blow to Ecowas, which at 50 years old is considered Africa’s most important regional group. The split was sparked after the three departing […]

A Nigerian man has been extradited to the US to face prosecution over alleged sextortion of a minor, which led to the victim’s death. Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal, 24, from Nigeria’s Osun state was flown to the US on Saturday after an agreement was reportedly reached with the Nigerian government that he would not be sentenced […]

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says she has been placed under judicial investigation over Italy’s surprise release of a Libyan citizen who had been wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). In a video message shared on social media on Tuesday, Meloni said she was suspected by prosecutors of embezzlement and aiding […]

Rebels appear to be edging closer to taking control of the key city of Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo following reports that they had captured its airport. The Congolese government has insisted that it is still in charge as fighting in parts of the city continues. Warehouses with food and […]

The mineral-rich east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been dogged by conflict for more than 30 years, since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Numerous armed groups have competed with the central authorities for power and control of the potential fortune in this vast nation. The instability has sucked in neighbouring countries to devastating effect […]

Fierce fighting rages on in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma, as rebels and the army exchange fire. “All we can hear [are] gunshots around the city,” one Goma resident, who has been trapped in his house since the weekend, told the BBC. Residents shared videos of M23 rebels patrolling Goma’s main […]