News

Two senior military officials taken hostage during Sunday’s attempted coup in Benin have been freed, a government source has told the BBC. It remains unclear how they were released or if other hostages are still being held. Security forces are continuing a manhunt for those involved in the plot, who remain at large. A group […]

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has described an attack on a kindergarten and hospital in Sudan, which he said killed 114 people, as “senseless”. Drones were used to attack the facilities on Thursday in the town of Kalogi, in the South Kordofan region, with 63 children said by the UN […]

About 100 children who were abducted from a Catholic school in central Nigeria last month have been freed. They arrived in the Niger state capital, Minna, in a fleet of minibuses escorted by military vans and armoured vehicles, and were received by Governor Umar Bago. Details about their release remain unclear, including whether it was […]

David Kuloba’s mother warned him about going to Russia after he accepted a job as a security guard advertised by a recruitment agency in Kenya. At first the family, who live in the Kenyan capital’s crowded informal settlement of Kibera had been excited when he said he had found work abroad – it sounded like […]

At least 11 people – including a three-year-old child – have been killed in a mass shooting at a hostel in South Africa. Fourteen others were wounded when gunmen stormed the venue in Saulsville township, west of the capital Pretoria, early on Saturday. At least three unknown gunmen began firing “randomly” at a group of […]

A drone attack on the town of Kalogi, in Sudan’s South Kordofan region, is said to have hit a kindergarten and killed at least 50 people, including 33 children. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group battling the army in Sudan’s civil war, was accused of Thursday’s attack by a medical organisation, the Sudan […]

Somali-Americans in Minnesota have described their heightened fear after US President Donald Trump intensified his criticism of the community this week. Community leaders told the BBC the “apprehension is palpable” following Trump’s remarks, in which he said he did not want Somalis in the US and the country would “go the wrong way if we […]

Prominent Tanzanian activist Mange Kimambi has accused the government of instigating the removal of her social media accounts that she has been using to mobilise Tanzanians against the government. The former fashion model-turned-activist, who is based in the US, is an outspoken critic of President Samia Suluhu Hassan and had nearly three million followers on […]

The mandatory release date for clubs to allow all players competing at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) is Monday, 15 December. That means players will be together six days prior to the start of the tournament on Sunday, 21 December. The final takes place on Sunday, 18 January, 2026. Fifa have confirmed that […]

Military takeovers are nothing new in Guinea-Bissau. The West African country has experienced at least nine attempted and successful coups since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974. But when military officers announced they had seized control of the country last Wednesday, some analysts and political figures were sceptical. All the typical ingredients for a coup […]