News

Malawi’s former President Peter Mutharika has taken a comfortable lead in the country’s presidential race, with two-thirds of districts having reported provisional results. The 85-year old has received around 66% of the valid votes counted so far, with his closest rival, the incumbent Lazarus Chakwera, 70, trailing on around 24%. Results declared so far indicate […]

Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has pardoned the prominent British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, who has been imprisoned for six years, state media and his family say. Abdel Fattah was one of six people whose sentences were commuted following a request from the National Council for Human Rights, according to Al-Qahera News. His sister Mona […]

With tears in his eyes, a young Kenyan athlete now captive in Ukraine pleads not to be sent back to Russia. “I will die there,” Evans Kibet says, waving his hands in the air towards the unseen interviewer on the video released on Wednesday by a Ukrainian army brigade. The 36-year-old prisoner-of-war is wearing a […]

Kenya is toasting a golden generation of female track stars after they led the nation to second place in the medal table behind the United States at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. Female runners won six of the East African nation’s seven gold medals in Tokyo, sweeping top spot on the podium in every event […]

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have announced they will immediately withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), labelling it an “instrument of neo-colonialist repression”. The three military-led countries issued a joint statement, saying they would not recognise the authority of the United Nations’ top court, based in The Hague. “The ICC has proven itself incapable […]

Panic, confusion and then a hasty White House climbdown – it was a weekend of whiplash for hundreds of thousands of Indians on H-1B visas. On Friday, US President Donald Trump stunned the tech world by announcing an up to 50-fold hike in the cost of skilled worker permits – to $100,000. Chaos followed: Silicon […]

Ethiopia is celebrating the start of its new year – 2018. The country has its own unique calendar, meaning it is seven years behind the Western calendar. Amensisa Ifa/BBC These yellow “adey ababa” blooms are associated with the celebration. They grow wild around the capital, Addis Ababa, at this time of year. Small bunches have […]

With tears in his eyes, a young Kenyan athlete now captive in Ukraine pleads not to be sent back to Russia. “I will die there,” Evans Kibet says, waving his hands in the air towards the unseen interviewer on the video released on Wednesday by a Ukrainian army brigade. The 36-year-old prisoner-of-war is wearing a […]

South African police say they have dismantled a crystal methamphetamine laboratory, with drugs worth $20m (£15m), discovered on a farm in the east of the country. Five people “from a North American country” have been arrested, while two others “believed to be from West African countries” fled the scene, a statement said. Police photographs show […]

Botswana has declared a public holiday to celebrate the country’s victory in the men’s 4×400 metres at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, the first African nation to win the event. President Duma Boko hailed the gold medal as a “historic African win”, in an online address praising the team for their performance. He announced […]