Author: BBC

Fears of crime and gang violence in the notorious townships on the outskirts of South Africa’s city of Cape Town are forcing some parents to make difficult decisions to send their children on long daily commutes to former white-only schools. “Thugs would go into the school carrying guns threatening teachers, forcefully taking their laptops in […]

After days of uncertainty and negotiations, the funeral arrangements for Zambia’s former president have been finalised. Edgar Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, died 11 days ago in South Africa where he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness. According to his family, he had left instructions that his political rival and current […]

China has said it is ready to drop the tariffs it charges on imports from all 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations. The move, announced at a China-Africa co-operation meeting, comes as the continent is facing the possibility of increased tariffs on its products entering the US. China is Africa’s largest trading […]

The ruling party in Burundi has won all 100 seats in a parliamentary election that the opposition says has “killed” democracy in the central African state. Giving the provisional results for last week’s poll, electoral commission head Prosper Ntahorwamiye said the CNDD-FDD party secured more than 96% of votes in all provinces. The election had […]

A teenager who was tricked into going to boarding school in Africa has won a significant legal victory against his own parents. The 14-year-old boy, who cannot be identified, was taken from London to Ghana in March 2024 after being told a relative was ill. In fact, his parents wanted to get him out of […]

A Kenyan blogger who died in police custody was hit on the head and his death was likely to have been caused by assault, a post-mortem has revealed. This contradicts earlier police claims that Albert Ojwang “sustained head injuries after hitting his head against a cell wall”. His death has sparked widespread outrage in Kenya, […]

Arranging a funeral can be testing at the best of times – let alone for a former head of state. Amid that intense, initial stage of grief, loved ones must juggle cost, the wishes of the deceased and numerous other factors in order to throw a fitting send-off. Add the clashing desires of a national […]

At least 49 people, including several schoolchildren, have been killed in the floods that have swept through South Africa’s Eastern Cape province as torrential rain and snow have hit parts of the country. “The numbers are just escalating hour after hour. The situation is so bad on the ground,” provincial premier Oscar Mabuyane said. Among […]

Hundreds of thousands of people are “slowly starving” in Kenyan refugee camps after US funding cuts reduced food rations to their lowest ever levels, a United Nations official has told the BBC. The impact is starkly visible at a hospital in the sprawling Kakuma camp in the north-west of the East African nation. It is […]

Dozens of activists have staged a protest outside a mortuary in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, following the death of a 31-year-old man in police custody. Albert Omondi Ojwang’s death has sparked outrage in Kenya. He was arrested following a complaint by the deputy police chief, who accused him of tarnishing his name on social media. In […]