A “nauseating” stench engulfing the South African city of Cape Town comes from a ship docked in the port carrying 19,000 cows, local officials say. “It was the worst stench I have ever come across in my life,” Lerato Bashing, a 29-year-old Cape Town resident, told the BBC. The smell has been traced to the…
To sell water and make his living, Steve relied completely on his donkeys. They pulled him in his cart loaded with its 20 jerry cans to all his customers. When Steve’s donkeys were stolen for their skins, he could no longer work. That day started like most others. In the morning, he left his home…
As the rising cost of living continues to bite, many in northern Nigeria are turning to rice grains that millers once either normally rejected after processing or sold to farmers to feed their fish. These are referred to in the Hausa language, widely spoken in the north, as afafata, which means “battling” because they are…
Namibia’s President Hage Geingob has died while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in the capital, Windhoek. Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba announced that Mr Geingob had died in the early hours of Sunday morning. “At his side was his dear wife Madame Monica Geingos and his children,” Mr Mbumba said in a statement. The 82-old leader…
At least 29 people have been injured and many more are feared to be hurt or killed after an explosion at a gas plant in south-east Nairobi, Kenya. Video posted on social media show a huge fire raging close to blocks of flats in the Embakasi region. A government spokesperson said gas cylinders were being…
A man running the length of Africa has been advised to avoid travelling through Algeria by the UK Foreign Office over safety concerns. Russell Cook, from Worthing, West Sussex, had originally planned to complete 360 marathons in 240 days. After visa complications, the 26-year-old said the challenge could be in doubt. The government warned terrorists…
The UK is sending some of Ghana’s “crown jewels” back home, 150 years after looting them from the court of the Asante king. A gold peace pipe is among 32 items returning under long-term loan deals, the BBC can reveal. The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) is lending 17 pieces and 15 are from the…
Nigerian police say they have successfully rescued five sisters who were held hostage after being kidnapped in the country’s capital. The girls were freed in a joint police-army operation in a forest in northern Nigeria on Saturday night. They were taken from their home in Abuja earlier this month, along with another sister who was…
Sudan is suspending its membership of north-east African bloc Igad over an attempt to mediate the brutal conflict in the country. Igad has been trying to end the nine month-long war between Sudan’s army and rival paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). On Thursday Sudan’s government criticised Igad for inviting the RSF’s chief to…
Celebrations have been taking place in Ethiopia’s historic holy city of Gondar for the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian festival of Timket. The celebration, which marks the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, is considered one of the most important religious festivals in the country. But this year things have been more subdued than usual because…