World News

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood, an abortion and healthcare provider, have sued Alabama over its ban on abortion. The groups called the “extreme” law a “manmade public health emergency” The ban, which offers no exceptions for rape or incest, was signed last week but has not …

Botswana has lifted a ban on elephant hunting, citing growing conflict between humans and the animals, which at times destroy crops. Critics of the ban, imposed in 2014, say the restriction was causing problems to small farmers and to those who previously benefited from hunting. Botswana has some 130,000 elephants, …

Aviation regulators from around the world will meet on Thursday to decide when the grounded Boeing 737 Max will return to the skies. The meeting, led by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), could set out a timetable for when the aircraft can return to service. The 737 Max was …

Sylvestre Ilunga was appointed on Monday in the Democratic Republic of Congo under a political agreement between President Felix Tshisekedi and his predecessor.Nearly four months have passed since Tshisekedi became president, and some analysts say he’s struggling to maintain political control.He’s also inherited many of former President Joseph Kabila’s economic …

Omani author Jokha Alharthi has won this year’s Man Booker International Prize – the first Arabic writer to do so. Her novel Celestial Bodies centres on the lives of three sisters and their families coming to terms with social changes in Oman. Judges described it as “a richly imagined, engaging …

Malawians are going to the polls to elect a new president in what has been described as one of the country’s most unpredictable elections. There are seven candidates, but three are seen as having a realistic chance. President Peter Mutharika is running for a second term, but he is being …

Three handwritten wills have been found at the home of Aretha Franklin, months after the “Queen of Soul’s” death. Franklin died from pancreatic cancer in August and family members said at the time that she had left no will. But three documents were found earlier this month. Two from 2010 …

Police in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, are enforcing a ban on nightclubs and restrictions on the opening hours of bars, spokesman Major-General Daniel Justin has told BBC Newsday. “The order is in place and we’re implementing it, meaning nightclubs are shut down. The city council has received a lot of …

The government of South Sudan says it has sacked 40 of its overseas diplomats after they failed to show up for work. In a memo, the South Sudanese foreign ministry said they had been on unauthorised leave for months or even years. It said that after fruitless attempts to contact …

On the campaign trail, Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika has addressed rumours of his death, the BBC’s Emmanuel Igunza reports. Speaking in Salima, central Malawi, on Wednesday he scoffed at those peddling the stories on social media. Addressing crowds atop a podium mounted on a police car, Mr Mutharika asked: “Does …