Prisoners ran illegal diamond mine from underneath their jail

An illegal diamond mine has been discovered operating underneath a prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo.Inmates, prison officers and local residents in Osio have been working in the mine to ext…

Mozambique to hold official funeral for ex-rebel leader

Mozambique will hold an official funeral for Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the main opposition party, and the ex-rebel Renamo movement.The decision was made by the cabinet of the Mozambique government a…

South Sudan's president Salva Kiir says exiled rebel leader Riek Machar can return to the country

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has called on his exiled former deputy and rebel leader, Riek Machar, to return to the country, saying he will guarantee his safety and protection, Radio Tamazuj we…

Cholera vaccine drive underway In Africa, says United Nations

The biggest cholera vaccine drive in history is underway in Africa aimed at reining in a spate of outbreaks across the continent, the UN and charity alliance Gavi said Monday.More than two million pe…

Landslides kill 18 in Rwanda, death toll at 200 since January

Landslides caused by heavy rains killed at least 18 people in Rwanda's Northern and Western province over the weekend, pushing the death toll since January to more than 200, a government official sai…

Car thieves drives into prison after being chased by police in South Africa

Four men accused of stealing a car in South Africa inadvertently drove it straight to prison.Cape Town law enforcement spokesman Wayne Dyason said the alleged robbers were being chased by police when…

South Africa serves suspended revenue service head with disciplinary charges

South Africa has served the suspended head of its revenue service Tom Moyane with disciplinary charges related to alleged misconduct during his tenure, the president's office said on Friday.Moyane is…

BBC and VOA gets six months ban in Burundi

Burundi to ban BBC and VOA broadcastsBurundi's government says BBC and VOA broadcasts will be banned from 7 May for six months for "falling short of laws governing the press" and "breaching professio…

South Africa gold miners die after earthquake strikes

Four miners have died after an earthquake caused a cave-in at a South African gold mine.The miners were among 10 rescued from Sibanye-Stillwater's Masakhane mine, west of Johannesburg, after the inci…

Al-Shabab kills four in Kenya

Authorities in Kenya say four people were killed on Thursday night by al-Shabab militants in a quarry in the northern border town of Mandera, news agency AFP reports.The assailants shot and hacked th…

Madagascar scraps part of contested electoral law: statement

Madagascar on Friday scrapped part of new electoral laws that have sparked nearly two weeks of protests, its highest court said, after the opposition accused the government of trying to elbow them ou…

Gunmen Kidnap German Nurse In Somalia Capital

Armed men abducted a German nurse working for the International Committee of the Red Cross on Wednesday evening from a compound in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, the aid group said Thursday."We are dee…

Ten kidnapped aid workers 'rescued' in South Sudan

The International Committee of the Red Cross say it has rescued 10 aid workers who were kidnapped last week in South Sudan by a rebel group.We reported on Thursday that the staff from the UN and othe…

Dozens drown fleeing violence in northwest DR Congo

Forty civilians drowned when their boats capsized on a storm-swollen river as they fled fighting in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo, a senior local official said Friday."As of Wednesday night,…

Son of Guinea's first president charged with forced labour

The son of Guinea's first President Ahmed Sekou Tour? has been accused of enslaving a young woman for 16 years at his home in the US, before she managed to escape with the help of neighbours.Mohamed …

Rwanda 'genocide-era' mass graves found

Four mass graves have been unearthed in Rwanda, which are believed to date from the 1994 genocide.The sites were found in the Gasabo district, outside the capital Kigali, and about 200 bodies have be…

Teenager killed by police during anti-corruption protest in South Africa

South African police said on Tuesday one of their officers had shot dead a teenager during anti-corruption protests which have forced the president to cut short a foreign trip.Riots over alleged gove…

French tycoon Bollore held for questioning over Africa ports deals

Billionaire French tycoon Vincent Bollore was detained Tuesday as part of a corruption investigation involving his group's acquisition of contracts to operate ports in West Africa, legal sources told…

Obama to deliver Mandela lecture in South Africa in July

Former US president Barack Obama will deliver the annual Nelson Mandela memorial lecture at a 4,000-capacity arena in Johannesburg in July, South African organisers announced on Monday.Obama, who met…

Zimbabwe parliament summons Mugabe on May 9

A Zimbabwe parliament committee has summoned former president Robert Mugabe to give evidence on May 9 over diamond corruption costing billions of dollars, underlining his dramatic fall from power aft…