-
Ethiopia’s Virgin Mary festival in Tigray cancelled over drone strike fears
A major festival in northern Ethiopia celebrating women and the Virgin Mary has been cancelled in Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region, amid fears it could be targeted in drone attacks. The Ashenda festival traditionally draws thousands of young women to a mass gathering, but Tigrayan officials cancelled Saturday’s stadium event citing “ongoing drone…
-
Corruption charges dropped against South Africa’s police intelligence boss
South African prosecutors have withdrawn fraud and corruption charges against Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo, head of the police’s crime intelligence unit, along with six fellow officers, following a review by the country’s chief prosecutor. Khumalo and his colleagues had been arrested in June 2025 over the allegedly unlawful appointment of a civilian, Dineo Mokwele, to a…
-
Victony on New Album ‘Starlife’ and How Breakout Hit ‘Soweto’ Encouraged Him ‘To Keep Experimenting’
Nigerian singer Victony has released his 15-track sophomore album *Starlife*, out 21 August, which grew organically from an initially planned four-song EP after the song “FRE$H” sparked a broader creative surge. Speaking to Billboard UK from London, where he is hosting a listening party following one in Lagos, Victony described the record as a more…
-
Two Mexicans arrested as police uncover big meth lab on South African farm
South African police have raided a crystal methamphetamine laboratory on a remote farm near Musina in Limpopo province, close to the border with Zimbabwe, arresting five suspects including two Mexican nationals. The bust follows a two-month investigation into suspicious activity at the property and forms part of a wider pattern in which South African farms…
-
Folk Horror ‘Wolf Days,’ Family Drama ‘The First Week of August’ Win at Sarajevo Industry Awards
Emilija Gašić’s folk horror “Wolf Days” and Filip Mojzeš’s family drama “The First Week of August” took the top prizes at CineLink Industry Days, the Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry section for projects in development from Southeast Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The awards, which come with substantial cash prizes, help fund and promote…
-
‘Free Nelson Mandela’ Maker Rogan Productions Opens South Africa Office & Tweaks Management Set Up
Rogan Productions, the London-based company behind Channel 4’s “Free Nelson Mandela,” has opened a new office in South Africa, marking its first permanent international expansion in its 13-year history. The Johannesburg-based unit, Rogan South Africa, will maintain close links with Cape Town, reflecting the founders’ longstanding personal ties to the country and building on a…
-
Venezuelans, Cubans, Colombians arrive in African nation under Trump deportation deal
Liberia has received its first deportation flight from the United States, part of an agreement under which the West African nation will accept up to 1,200 third-country nationals deported from the US over the course of a year. The arrangement forms part of the Trump administration’s wider push to expand deportations to countries beyond migrants’…
-
Why Nigeria’s one-time political giant may face extinction
Nigeria’s once-dominant Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is facing an existential crisis ahead of January’s general election, with a bitter leadership dispute now playing out in the courts threatening its very survival. The party, which governed Nigeria for 16 unbroken years after founding in 1998, has collapsed dramatically since losing power in 2015, a decline that…
-
Dozens dead after boat capsizes in north-western Nigeria
At least 46 people have died in north-western Nigeria after a boat carrying more than 70 people, most of them children, capsized near Gorau in Sokoto state. A search operation is continuing for those still missing, in what is the latest of several deadly boat accidents to hit the country this year. Police said 46…
-
Which country makes the best jollof rice? D.C. foodies put it to a blind test
One of the most famous dishes across West Africa is Jollof Rice — fragrant rice cooked down with spices, tomatoes and meat. But which version is best? A traveling festival aims to find out.