Blog one column

Three people have died after falling from the upper stand of a stadium in Algeria just after the final whistle as local football team MC Alger won the league title, the health ministry says. Dozens of others were injured when a security barrier collapsed, with fans surging forward to celebrate before falling on to the […]

Two South African engineers have returned home after spending more than two years in jail in Equatorial Guinea on what the UN has called “arbitrary and illegal” drugs charges. Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham, both in their mid-50s, were arrested in February 2023 after drugs were allegedly found in their luggage. They were sentenced to […]

The distraught father lies on the narrow, single bed and points to two small bullet holes in the wall of his house. This is stark evidence of a moment that shattered his family’s life forever. Devon Africa’s four-year-old son Davin was shot dead in February, caught in the crossfire of a shoot-out between criminals. He […]

Officials from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have reached a draft agreement aimed at ending decades of conflict. The breakthrough, mediated by the US and Qatar, provides for the “disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration” of armed groups fighting in eastern DR Congo. Rwanda denies widespread accusations that it backs one of those groups, […]

A controversial South African opposition MP, central to a row over race relations in the country, has been denied entry to the UK. The Home Office said Julius Malema had been deemed “non-conducive to the public good” and that it was “undesirable” to grant him entry. In a letter released by Malema’s party, the Home […]

Once hailed as part of a new generation of reformist African leaders, Eritrea’s president, who recently marked 32 years in power, has long defied expectations. Isaias Afwerki now spends much of his time at his rural residence on a dusty hillside some 20km (12 miles) from the capital, Asmara. With the cabinet not having met […]

A British woman has died from rabies after she was “scratched” by a puppy in Morocco, her family said. Yvonne Ford, 59, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, had light contact with the stray dog while on holiday in February in the North African country. In a social media post, reported by the Press Association, Mrs Ford’s […]

Controversial Kenyan televangelist Gilbert Deya, who claimed he created miraculous pregnancies, has died in a road crash. Police told local media that Deya died on the spot on Tuesday evening after his vehicle was involved in an accident with a university bus and another vehicle near the town of Kisumu in western Kenya. At least […]

A university in Nigeria has sparked outrage after a video went viral showing female students being touched to see if they were wearing bras before taking part in an exam. In the footage, female staff at Olabisi Onabanjo University in south-western Ogun State are seen touching some students’ chests as they queue to enter an […]

Mali’s military junta has started building a gold refinery in partnership with a Russian conglomerate, the Yadran Group. The project would embody the West African nation’s assertion of its “economic sovereignty”, and ensure the nation benefited from its mineral wealth, military leader Gen Assimi Goïta said. He has strengthened military and economic ties with Russia […]