PIETERMARITZBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (AFP) – South Africa’s embattled former president Jacob Zuma is expected in court on corruption charges on Tuesday (Oct 15), in what would be the first time he faces trial for graft despite multiple accusations. Zuma stands accused of taking kickbacks before he became president from a 51 billion rand (S$4.71 billion) […]
Retired academic Kais Saied is set to become president of Tunisia, exit polls suggest. The poll said the law professor, 61, had secured 76% of votes. No official results have yet been published. He was up against media mogul Nabil Karoui, 56, who campaigned from prison after being arrested on charges of money laundering and […]
At least 15 people have been killed and two seriously injured in an attack on a mosque in northern Burkina Faso. Gunmen entered the Grand Mosque in the village of Salmossi on Friday evening as those inside were praying. The attack prompted many locals to flee the village which is close to the Malian border. […]
The 2019 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who made peace last year with bitter foe Eritrea. He was awarded the prize for his efforts to “achieve peace and international cooperation”. Mr Abiy’s peace deal with Eritrea ended a 20-year military stalemate following their 1998-2000 border war. He was […]
A group of elite Mozambican policemen have been implicated in the shooting of a prominent poll observer just days ahead of elections. Anastacio Matavel was shot dead as he left an election training session in the southern Gaza province on Monday. Five men armed with assault rifles shot Mr Matavel 10 times before fleeing in […]
The Nigerian senate has introduced a bill that aims to prevent the sexual harassment of university students. The proposed legislation follows a BBC investigation that uncovered alleged sexual misconduct by lecturers in Nigeria and Ghana. The senate’s deputy president said he hoped the BBC’s investigation would help energise support for the bill. Senator Ovie Omo-Agege […]
Girls in Kenya’s biggest slum are breaking their silence about parental and sexual abuse, thanks to “talking boxes” placed in schools where they can share their secrets, writes the BBC’s Ashley Lime in the capital, Nairobi. “When my father goes out to the bar to drink alcohol, he comes back very angry and threatens to […]
A Tunisian court has released a presidential candidate days before he is due to stand in Sunday’s second round of national elections. A Tunis appeals court annulled the detention order for Nabil Karoui, who was arrested last month on charges of money laundering and tax fraud. The 56-year-old media mogul was still able to stand […]
Home of the ancient city of Carthage, Tunisia was once an important player in the Mediterranean, thanks to its location in the centre of North Africa, close to vital shipping routes. The Romans, Arabs, Ottoman Turks and French realised its strategic significance, making it a hub for control over the region. French colonial rule ended […]
Two Ghanaian lecturers who were secretly filmed sexually harassing undercover BBC reporters have been suspended pending an investigation. University of Ghana lecturers Ransford Gyampo and Dr Paul Kwame Butakor propositioned journalists posing as students for a BBC documentary. Both Professor Gyampo and Dr Butakor denied any wrongdoing. The suspensions follow similar action against two lecturers […]