Focus on Africa

The Loss and Damage Fund is on everyone's lips as COP28 gets underway in Dubai. We'll have a look at what it is, and why it's important to the continent.Also, why is Boko Haram still a major security threat in Nigeria, years after it first emerged?And following on from a conference in South Africa, organised by the African Union and UN Women, we'll ask what is positive masculinity?

More than 136,000 people, including an estimated 74,000 children are trapped in the historic northern Mali city of Timbuktu, according to the NGO Save the Children. This follows a siege by the al-Qaeda linked jihadistsHow did Zambia get into so much debt and how it plans to get out of it?And we meet Abdullahi Mire - winner of a top UN award for promoting education for refugee children.

Eleven miners have been killed at a platinum mine in South Africa, despite earlier concerns about safety. The country has some of the deepest platinum and gold mining shafts in the world and accidents are a regular occurrance. So, how safe are the mines in South Africa? Also, coup leaders in Niger have overturned an eight-year-old law criminalising migrant smuggling in the country. What will its impact be? And an opera celebrating the life and times of gay rights and anti-apartheid activist Simon Tseko Nkoli.

Sierra Leone's government says it repelled an attack at the weekend and was in control of the situation. President Maada Bio calls for unity. What led to this unrest?A special investigation into the dangers of unsafe abortions in Kenya. And a prize for Ugandan psychologist Dorothy Nambi for raising awareness of autism in her country.

The United Nations says at least 75 people have been killed in Abyei. It's a highly contested region, sandwiched between Sudan and South Sudan. While the borders between the two countries were agreed, Abiye was left unallocated. What's the reason behind the ongoing battle for Abyei? Also Mali's military junta have retaken a town held by Tuareg rebels, with the help of Wagner mercenaries. So where does this leave Mali?And the award winning Mozambican photographer Mario Macilau, tells us what inspires him.

Another round of peace talks between Ethiopia and the Oromo rebel group aimed at ending years of conflict end without a deal. What does this mean for the country’s unity?Why does cheating in exams occur? We look at a problem many African countries are grappling with.Plus, an Irish woman explains why she is returning African artefacts from her late father's collection.

As Liberians wait to swear in President-elect Joseph Boakai, we look back at George Weah's time in office. Why did he lose the last election? What impact did he make?Also what happened at the stadium in the Brazaville-Congo where 37 people died and over 100 were injured? And how the rise in the cost of living is forcing girls out of schools in some African countries.

The United Nations recently held the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, in order to develop an international treaty on plastic pollution. However, campaigners have accused oil and plastic producing countries as well as special interest groups of delaying progress.Over 20 African countries are on the slippery path to debt distress. What is it, and what can they do to avoid it?And is the development of women's footballing talent in Africa stuck in the slow lane?

There's a fresh call from the Sudan Humanitarian crisis conference in Cairo to end the ongoing conflict in Sudan. The three-day conference concludes today with peacebuilding experts suggesting, negotiations in Sudan this time round, should largely be African-led. Also is there press freedom in Eritrea? The founder of ERISAT, which has been broadcasting in the country since 2018 shares her experience.And how a production company in the UK, is changing the narrative of Somali women in Britain.

Calls for a global fund to compensate Africans for the transatlantic slave trade were made at a recent summit in Ghana. However, what form should this compensation take?Sudan civil war: Returning home to Port Sudan after escaping clashes bewteen Sudan government solders and the RSF paramilitary unit. Reporter Osman Mohamed shares his experience. At nearly five million, the country officially has the highest number of internally displaced people in the world.And a South African initiative which gives abandoned babies a new lease of life ordered to close for ''breaking law''