Africa

1 day agoShareSaveNomsa Maseko and Natasha BootyBBC News, in Bujumbura and LondonShareSaveBurundi’s president has told the BBC he has seen “credible intelligence” that Rwanda plans to attack his country.
Évariste Ndayishimiye also said that Rwanda had tried to launch a coup a decade ago in Burundi, akin to “what it’s doing in the Democratic Republic of Congo” now.
Rwanda has already hit back, calling the president’s comments “surprising” and insisting that the two neighbours are co-operating on security plans for their shared border, which has been shut for over a year.
Despite extensive UN evidence, Rwanda has always denied arming and backing the M23 rebel group, which has recently seized large parts of eastern DR Congo alongside Rwandan troops.
Rwanda has also denied links to the resurgent Red Tabara rebel group, which President Ndayishimiye says is a proxy force similar to the M23 and is being supported by Rwanda to destabilise Burundi.
“They would say it’s an internal probl..

3 days agoShareSaveJoe TidyCyber correspondent, BBC World ServiceReporting fromZambiaShareSaveEngineers from Gridless create makeshift computer labs to maintain their bitcoin minesThe roar of the Zambezi is deafening as millions of gallons of water crash over rocks and tumble down rapids.
But there’s another sound cutting through the trees of the Zambian bush – the unmistakable high-pitched whine of a bitcoin mine.
“It’s the sound of money!” says a smiling Philip Walton as he surveys the shipping container with 120 computers busily crunching through complex calculations that verify bitcoin transactions.
In exchange they are automatically rewarded bitcoin by the network.
We’re in the far north-western tip of Zambia near the border with the DRC, and of all the bitcoin mines I’ve visited – this one is the strangest.
Water and electronic equipment don’t usually mix well but it’s precisely the proximity to the river that’s drawn bitcoiners here.
Philip’s mine is plugged directly into a hydr..

Bitcoin miners will go to remote locations to take advantage of cheap electricity.

Thomas Partey nets twice as Ghana strengthen their bid for a place at the 2026 World Cup, while Ivory Coast return to the top of their qualifying group.

2 days agoShareSaveImogen FoulkesBBC Geneva correspondentAlex BoydBBC NewsShareSaveUS funding cuts will lead to an additional 2,000 new HIV infections each day and over six million further deaths over the next four years, the UNAids chief has warned.
It would mark a stark reversal in the global fight against HIV, which has seen the number of deaths from the disease decrease from more than two million in 2004 to 600,000 in 2023, the most recent year for which figures are available.
UNAids Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said the US government’s decision to pause foreign aid – which included funding for HIV programmes – was already having devastating consequences.
She called on the US to reverse the cuts immediately, warning women and girls were being hit particularly hard.
US President Donald Trump announced the pause on foreign aid, for an initial 90 days, on his first day in office in January as part of a review into government spending. The majority of the US Agency for Internatio..

2 days agoShareSaveKhanyisile NgcoboBBC News, JohannesburgShareSaveThe aviation industry is mourning the loss of seasoned test pilot James O’ConnellSpectators have shared their shock and horror as they watched a decorated South African Air Force pilot crash to his death at a local air show, while they recalled his final moments.
James O’Connell died after the plane he was flying crashed during a performance at the West Coast Air Show held in Saldanha, 112 km (70 miles) north of Cape Town, over the weekend.
According to organisers, Mr O’Connell was performing a “routine display” on a retired military aircraft when it “experienced a sudden loss of altitude and entered a steep dive”.
An investigation into the accident is currently underway as tributes pour in for the seasoned former Air Force pilot.
Mr O’Connell’s crash was captured by numerous videos and images which have since been shared widely on social media.
In one, the 68-year-old aircraft, an Impala Mark 1, can be seen flying upsi..

1 day agoShareSaveBarbara Plett UsherBBC News, Port SudanShareSaveThousands of Sudanese people have fled to neighbouring Chad for refugeChad has condemned a senior Sudanese general’s threat to target its airports, calling it a “declaration of war”.
Its foreign ministry said it would respond according to international law if a “square metre of Chadian territory is threatened”.
The warning follows comments from Lt-Gen Yasir al-Atta, the deputy commander of Sudan’s army, who said the UAE was using Chad’s airports to deliver weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The Sudanese army has repeatedly accused the UAE of supporting its rival, the RSF, throughout the brutal two-year civil war, which has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
UN experts have described accusations of the UAE smuggling weapons to the RSF through Chad as “credible”, but the UAE has denied this.
Lt-Gen Atta’s comments follow Sudan’s recent decision to take the UAE to the International Court ..

Bournemouth forward Dango Ouattara says Islam helps him “stay on the right path”, as he discusses football, faith and fasting during Ramadan.

Bournemouth forward Dango Ouattara says Islam helps him “stay on the right path”, as he discusses football, faith and fasting.

4 days agoShareSaveMadina MaishanuBBC News, KanoShareSaveA mother in northern Nigeria is visibly upset as she clutches her two-year-old child, who has burns and discoloured skin on his face and legs.
The 32-year-old used skin-whitening products on all six of her children, under pressure from her family, with results that she now deeply regrets.
Fatima, whose name has been changed to protect her family’s identity, says one of her daughters covers her face whenever she goes out in order to hide her burns.
Another was left with darker skin than before – with a pale circle around her eyes, while a third has whitish scars on her lips and knees.
Her toddler still has weeping wounds – his skin is taking a long time to heal.
“My sister gave birth to light-skinned children but my children are darker skinned. I noticed that my mother favours my sister’s children over mine due to their skin tone and it hurt my feelings a lot,” Fatima says.
She says she used creams she bought at her local supermar..