Coverage, analysis, photo and video coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup from Brazil

The United Nations' human rights chief says South Sudan's president, Salva Kiir, and rebel leader Riek Machar do not appear concerned about a possible famine in the country

A prominent member of the African Union has expressed confidence that the group will resolve the crisis in South Sudan following meetings with President Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar

South Africans head to the polls on May 7th, 20 years after Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress won the country's first democratic elections. The ANC is expected to win again, but issues of poverty and corruption persist

Nearly two thirds of humanity remains offline, that is more than 4 billion people. The internet is a powerful enabler of social and economic progress and everyone deserves to be connected. It is the responsibility of the technology industry to make this happen

The government of Cameroon has vehemently denied allegations that it has allowed its territory to be used as a training ground by terrorist groups and rebels destabilizing Nigeria and the Central African Republic

East African countries said they are ready to send a protection and stabilization force to South Sudan, where fighting has continued despite a ceasefire. Peace negotiations taking place in Addis Ababa have made little headway

Some African economies would need to grow at the impossible rate of seven percent to meet the Millennium Development Goal for poverty eradication

A profound mismatch exists between Guinea's two main economic sectors: mining and agriculture. Mining, creates minimal employment for Guineans. By contrast, agriculture, the sector that can create employment on a massive scale has been ignored

Africa's mining sector has a transparency problem, and the Republic of Guinea, under President Alpha Conde's leadership, is now seen as a test case for opening up the finances of the industry to public scrutiny

West Africa supports some of the world's most productive marine and freshwater ecosystems. However, mismanagement, weak regulatory frameworks, a lack of enforcement, too many vessels and greed have had negative consequences for fisheries

2014 will go down as a milestone year in Nigeria's history, the moment when its economy achieves global scale. Given Nigeria's vast and rapidly growing population, it cannot fail to demand an ever greater share of the global investor's attention

Nigeria is heading for growth and development, as well as being Africa's biggest democracy -- a federation of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. But there is another tale that can be told

By the looks of it, U.S. President Barack Obama may be close to joining the French in taking on the Chinese -- in Africa. Obama made it clear to both British and French leadership that he was going to leave it to them to protect unstable African countries

A decade after the court started work, the Security Council has found the common purpose to refer only two cases to it, both of them African: crimes committed in Libya during Colonel Gaddafi's final days, and by the regime of Omar al-Bashir, the President of Sudan

Hardly a day goes by without America-bashers accusing the U.S. of 'imperialism' or 'interventionism.' Meanwhile, China is largely exempt from that sort of criticism from the same crowd. If only they'd listen to a few of the other voices

Africa is the one remaining region where big families are the norm. Fertility is still high with five births per woman and rapid population growth is inevitable. Africa's population will more than double from 900 million today to 1.96 billion by 2050

A slow return to normality is becoming possible in Mali's northern regions which endured months of harsh jihadist rule until French-led forces intervened. However, there is concern that this should not simply mean a return to the pre-crisis state of affairs

The key to China's acceptance in Africa has been its strictly businesslike approach: economic investment without political engagement. Yet there is some evidence that Chinese companies are beginning to wear out their welcome on the continent

China's activities in Africa have long been a target of criticism. Its support of controversial leaders and massive hunger for resources have led some to question its intentions. Changing that perception has been a key point for Chinese President Xi Jinping

The forgotten war has just turned 10 years old, but of course almost no one took notice. Since early 2003, at least 300,000 people have been killed. More than 2 million others have been forced from their homes. Even now, the problems are worsening

Transparency International lists almost three dozen states as more corrupt. But are any of those nations as wealthy as Nigeria -- taking in $81 billion annually, just from the sale of oil? No. So Nigeria steals and squanders more money than any other nation

Liberian Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee has warned that recent developments are undermining Liberia's young democracy. Her warning comes amid a dispute between Grace Kpaan and members of the House of Representatives

Human Rights Watch is urging Kenya to crack down on rights abuses and enact promised political reforms ahead of its national elections as heightened tensions could lead to an outbreak of violence and threaten the voting

The recent jihadist attack in Algeria, and the subsequent hostage situation prompted some knee-jerk discussions. From these discussions came the belief that the incident was unprecedented. A closer examination shows quite the opposite

South Africa is hosting this year's Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament, but you would not know it to look around Johannesburg. It is a far cry from the mania that washed over South Africa when it hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup

The relief felt several months ago at the apparent outlawing of child marriages now appears to have been premature, with Swaziland's traditional leadership recently declaring that such unions are acceptable

It would indeed be nice if there were no wars anywhere on Earth. It would also be great to own five BMWs and three private islands. Both are equally unlikely scenarios, yet only the first is accepted as plausible by the perpetually deluded

Militant Islamists fleeing northern Mali under pressure from French forces could undermine security in neighbouring countries from where some of the fighters are believed to hail. They could also attract the support of sympathetic militias in the region

Despite his repeated brushes with the law, a poor performance in his first term and a general sense that at the age of 70 he is unfit for leadership, Jacob Zuma won a second term as president of the ANC with 75 per cent of the vote

Over the past two months, an estimated 1,000 families have been forced from their homes in Baringo, a district in Kenya's northern Rift Valley, because of recurrent conflict between the local Tugen and Pokot communities

Socialist French President Francois Hollande is in the pilot's seat in the world's latest military incursion. We're not used to seeing the French lead the way into battle, but it's becoming increasingly frequent

When President Zine Ben Ali was deposed, a new era of modern Tunisian history -- one filled with hope and frustration -- unfolded

The thick stench of human waste pervades the block of the eight unfinished flats in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. The complex is dotted with human faeces - some of it parcelled in plastic bags, some not

Distrust of foreigners has increased in South Africa in the four years since a wave of xenophobic violence swept the country

Children as young as 14 are joining military training camps in southern Mali preparing to fight Islamist groups in the north. At the same time, Islamist groups are recruiting children as young as 11

Drug money, corruption and jihadists have pushed one of Africa's most admired democracies into crisis

Nigeria is destined to become Africa's largest economy. The kind of economic growth it will experience and the extent to which this will transform the lives of its 160 million people is yet to be determined

Police in South Africa's northern Limpopo Province have shut down hundreds of shops run by refugees and asylum seekers during an operation to enforce trading laws

Although Guor Marial is proud to be South Sudanese, when he lines up for the Olympic marathon, he will be considered an independent athlete

More than 100 people in the Zimbabwean capital Harare and Chitungwiza, a dormitory town 35km southeast of the city, have contracted typhoid

As M23 rebel fighters marched into Goma, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a small group of people in the UK were watching anxiously to see what would happen next

Whether Africa can scale-up wheat production to meet growing demand will depend on governments' support of local producers. A key test is whether they are willing to take on wheat import subsidies

Two South African women may have helped unlock the key to a vaccine to rid the world of one its deadliest epidemics, according to new research released by South African HIV experts

The Plaatjies family shack is warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and it has an independent electricity supply as well as an alarm system

Above-average seasonal rains in parts of the East and Horn of Africa have affected tens of thousands of people, displacing families and restricting access to many in need

South Africa's past policies, like Nigeria's, were paradoxically suffused with a missionary zeal. While Nigeria advocated economic development, apartheid's leaders talked patronisingly about their country having 'special responsibilities'

When food is short in South Sudan, education is the first casualty of hunger

Swarms of locusts encouraged by early rains are breeding in the north of Mali and Niger, bringing a second generation of insects that could increase 250 fold by the end of this summer

South Sudan's first birthday is marked by economic hardship and renewed conflict with Sudan

By most accounts, Adams Oshiomhole is the most popular governor Nigeria's Edo state has ever had. He is up for re-election and the outcome could go one of three ways

Measures implemented in South Africa over the past four years have failed to defuse continuing resentment of foreigners or to ensure justice for victims of xenophobic violence

The government insists that the killings cited by human rights activists and the UN, far from being targeted assassinations of opposition supporters, were the result of banditry, land disputes or score-settling between civilians

It was early when police arrived at the home of Emmeldah Mutale, a widowed mother of five, in the capital, Lusaka, to demolish her two-bedroom house

Officials in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, northwestern Somalia, are appealing for food aid and potable water for thousands of families who have lost their livelihoods in the current drought

A devastating drought and crop failure is affecting about 10 million people and threatening to put more than one million children into a state of severe malnourishment

In Algeria, memories of past fighting deter unrest despite economic malaise, political repression

Mothers, babies and newly diagnosed HIV patients are receiving more of the services they need but progress comes at a cost, according to a new report that predicts a funding shortfall for HIV treatment in South Africa

NATO's operation in Libya has rightly been praised for saving lives, ending a tyrannical regime, and has rightly been hailed as a model intervention

The Arabs' exceptionalism was becoming not just a human disaster but a moral one. Then, a frustrated Tunisian fruit vendor summoned his fellows to a new history. The third Arab awakening came in the nick of time, and it may still usher in freedom

The arrival of democracy in South Africa brought with it unprecedented freedom for its media. No longer shackled by the myriad of laws it had to endure under apartheid, the right to freedom of expression had now been enshrined in its new negotiated Constitution

Red Cross Food convoys have completed their distribution of emergency rations to nearly one million Somalis aimed to tide them over until harvest season

While security and defense contracting in Africa is nothing new, the awarding of another multi-million dollar contract by the US State Department to a controversial private security operation is perhaps indicative of just how thinly stretched the US military is becoming

Simply put, the AIDS response is rightly viewed as one of the greatest success stories in modern global public health

Heavy rains in Kenya have washed away bridges and rendered many roads impassable, complicating efforts to reach thousands of people made homeless by the flooding

Brandishing a plea for developed countries to make good their promises to reduce carbon emissions, 300 farmers, youths and activists took the scenic route to the COP17 conference in Durban, travelling more than 7,000km from Burundi in 17 days, through 10 eastern and southern African countries, aboard a convoy of buses draped in various national flags

Livestock herders in Lesotho are suspicious of the government's motives for 'modernizing' the land tenure system, fearing it will bring about a radical change in their way of life and deprive them of their birthright to land

After more than two years of political crisis, Madagascar finally appears to be moving towards the restoration of democracy. A new prime minister has been appointed, and elections are planned for 2012. Donors who suspended aid to the impoverished island nation are watching these developments closely

Pre-election politics and planned development schemes have fuelled an upsurge in inter-communal killings and forced displacement in Kenya's northern Isiolo area, which if left unaddressed, is likely to escalate

Two years after the Nigerian government granted amnesty to militants fighting mainly for development and job opportunities in the oil-rich Niger River Delta, violence has diminished, and oil revenues have increased. But analysts argue that the amnesty programme is flawed and will not lead to long-term peace

Across the road from Maiduguri railway station, in the corner of a now abandoned property, a leefy neem tree provides a canopy for the remains of a mosque flattened by the Nigerian army

Boko Haram, which means 'Western education is sinful' in Hausa, was established in 2002 in Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria's Borno state. It has since spread to several other northern and central Nigerian states

One dictator less is good, the mission has been accomplished and whatever else is happening in Libya is just mundane

Humanitarians are struggling to meet the basic needs of over 200,000 people recently displaced by clashes in North Kivu Province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo