A local court in Egypt has ordered a teacher to pay a fine and serve a six-month suspended sentence after she cut a student's hair as punishment for not wearing a hijab.

One of the Islamist groups in northern Mali agrees to allow humanitarian aid groups into its territory, and commits to peace talks and a ceasefire.

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir undergoes a minor operation in Saudi Arabia, state media says.

How Cameroon's mane man has held onto power for 30 years

More than two million Nigerians have been forced from their homes by this year's floods, which have left 363 people dead, officials say.

The South Africa FA announces Bafana Bafana will play Norway in a friendly in Cape Town ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations.

South African police are accused of planting weapons on the bodies of workers shot dead during strikes at the Marikana platinum mine.

The first banknotes featuring the face of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela go into circulation in South Africa.

A South African police officer is arrested over last month's attempted jailbreak, in which three inmates were killed in an explosion inside a prison van.