Author: BBC

The vastness of the building site was at first overwhelming for the young Ethiopian mechanical engineer. Hundreds were already digging the foundations in tough conditions for what is now Africa’s largest hydro-electric dam, straddling the Blue Nile. Moges Yeshiwas was 27 when he arrived in that remote corner of western Ethiopia in 2012, eager to […]

Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui claimed victory in the Great North Run women’s race as Britain’s Eilish McColgan finished third. The Scot trailed Chepkirui and Vivian Cheruiyot in the final stages and, despite a late push, she failed to overhaul the Kenyan pair. Chepkirui won in one hour nine minutes and 32 seconds, with her compatriot Cheruiyot […]

Second Metro Bank one-day international, Lord’s South Africa 330-8 (50 overs): Breetzke 85 (77), Stubbs 58 (62); Archer 4-62 England 325-9 (50 overs): Root 61 (72), Buttler 61 (51): Burger 3-63 South Africa won by five runs, lead three-match series 2-0 Scorecard England’s poor form in white-ball cricket continued as they were beaten by South […]

At least 15 people have died in a new outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country’s health ministry has said. The presence of the virus had been confirmed in a 34-year-old pregnant woman who was admitted to hospital last month after showing symptoms that included a high fever and […]

South African authorities say “extreme poverty and a severe lack of affordable housing” were major factors in a deadly Johannesburg building fire two years ago. In August 2023, 77 people died and many more were injured after a fire gutted the Usindiso building in Marshalltown, where many poor people were living. The tragedy shocked the […]

In the wake of his abduction on a highway in Tanzania’s main city Dar es Salaam, social media activist Edgar Mwakabela, better known as Sativa, says he came close to death. He describes in an interview with the BBC how, after kidnapping him on 23 June last year, his captors interrogated him and then ferried […]

An aid worker supporting rescue efforts after the devastating Sudan landslide which reportedly killed hundreds of people has told the BBC that it had caused a “mountain to collapse”, leaving just one known survivor so far. “We have so far managed to recover nine bodies,” said Abdul Hafeez Ali, head of the Coordinating Council of […]

Although Africa is home to a huge proportion of the world’s languages – well over a quarter according to some estimates – many are missing when it comes to the development of AI. This is both an issue of a lack of investment and readily available data. Most AI tools, such as Chat GPT, used […]

A woman has been burnt to death by a mob in northern Nigeria’s Niger state after she was accused of blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad, police have said. Police condemned the killing of the woman – identified in local media as a food vendor named Amaye – as “jungle justice”, saying that an investigation was under […]