Africa

The Ebola outbreak in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has become the second-worst on record, with the official death toll passing a grim milestone of 1,500. Experts believe the true number of fatalities during this outbreak, which was declared in May, is much higher. And in another …

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the biggest in the country’s history, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. As of 30 July, there were 3,605 confirmed cases including 1,587 deaths – a fatality rate of 44%. The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain …

There was desperation in the voice of the young Ethiopian man when he managed to get through to the BBC from a phone in his prison cell on death row in Saudi Arabia. Habtom, whose name – like the other prisoner featured in this article – has been changed to …

Commonwealth Games organisers have pushed back on claims made by Idi Amin’s boxer grandson that he was disqualified for being “a black African” and because his opponent was English. Aziz Abdul, known as Ringo, was adjudged to have headbutted Damar Thomas. Before it all got out of hand, the Ugandan …

France too has struggled to maintain warm relations with the two bitterly opposed Maghreb rivals. But it is Spain that finds itself particularly vulnerable because of Ceuta and Melilla. Both towns have origins dating back millennia to the Phoenician era, then later fell under Arab rule before being seized by …

At least 25 people have been killed and dozens of others injured in Algeria after a passenger bus overturned near the coastal town of Boumerdes, east of the capital Algiers, on Friday, local officials said. The country’s civil protection department ​said that the cause of the crash was unknown. Those …

Just days after South African singer Tyla released the dates for her upcoming world tour, Nigeria has been removed from the list of destinations. On Monday, the Grammy winner announced details of her headline tour in the wake of last week’s release of her second album A*POP. Her official website …

Nigerians might be surprised to learn they live in a landlocked country and people in Ivory Coast shocked that they are East African not West African – but that is what a map used by a US official at a recent conference showed. Not only that, the cartographic malfunction included …

US talk-show host Oprah Winfrey says the school for girls that she launched in South Africa nearly 20 years will close next year. At the end of the 2027 academic year, the expansive boarding school campus near Johannesburg is to be handed over to local education authorities as per the …

Fifteen elephants found dead in southern Kenya outside the Amboseli National Park are suspected to have been poisoned by eating tomatoes that had been sprayed with pesticides on nearby farms. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) says preliminary laboratory tests found cyanide in samples taken from the animals’ carcasses. Ten of …

The late Triassic was when dinosaurs were beginning to spread around the planet before they became the dominant animals on Earth during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. While sites in Europe and North America have been studied extensively, fossils from Africa have not had as much attention. At the time …

During Wednesday’s hearing at the High Court in Kampala witnesses in court said Besigye repeatedly shouted “stop” about his legal representation before collapsing. “Before he collapsed, he cried out that he was being injured,” his wife posted, adding that Besigye’s sister Olive Kobusingye, who is a doctor, was in court …

A major fault on Ghana’s national power grid has triggered widespread outages, leaving the capital, Accra, the commercial hub of Kumasi and much of north without electricity. Several power plants across the West African nation were forced to shut down in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the state-run power …

Thousands of people who have poured into the city of el-Obeid hoping to find shelter from Sudan’s raging civil war have found themselves under threat again, amid warnings that paramilitary fighters are preparing to descend on the army-controlled city. Clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the military …

Kudus told the BBC the sores on Ache’s legs were not directly caused by Marfan syndrome – but likely to be a complication caused by his condition. He had died on Monday morning at the hospital despite doctors saying he had been responded well to treatment. “Everyone is just sad,” …

Aziz Abdul never met his grandfather. He was a military dictator and died in exile when little Aziz was a toddler. His name was Idi Amin. Globally, he had another name. The Butcher of Uganda. Amin took charge of his homeland in a coup in 1971 – becoming the country’s …

An urgent investigation has been launched into the mysterious deaths of 14 elephants in southern Kenya near the Amboseli National Park. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) told the BBC that experts were examining the carcasses and said that tissue samples had been sent to laboratories to determine whether the deaths …

While previous Wafcons have seen Nigeria’s preparation time limited, Madugu and his staff have had the luxury of multiple friendlies to run the rule over the current squad. A double-header against Cameroon in the early months of the year was followed by two warm-up matches against Senegal in June and …

Now, in a nation that for over a decade has been blighted by armed attacks on civilians, people are wondering whether these assaults are failing to subside because criminal elements and security personnel are working together. It is not unreasonable to believe some of these groups are being assisted by …

The South African authorities are investigating the death of a Nigerian man who collapsed while he was being arrested by police in Cape Town last week. The initial results from a post-mortem showed that Ibeh Chika Simon, 42, “sustained multiple bruises and abrasions on his back and chest”, according to …