After a bomb blast Tuesday evening in Yola, Nigeria, took the lives of at least 31 people, Facebook announced the activation of its Safety Check feature, a button that enables people in disaster areas to let their friends and family know they’re out of harm’s way. Zuckerberg made the announcement on his Facebook page. “... we made the decision to use Safety Check for more tragic events like this going forward..."

African countries must not overstate the extent of Chinese investment on the continent as China is investing very little [...] At the recently-held African Media Leaders Forum in South Africa last week, UN Economic Commission for Africa Executive Secretary Carlos Lopez said African leaders had to confront the reality that Chinese investment in Africa was not enough for the “mineral sacrifices” it was warranting.

Selma director Ava DuVernay is brining new cinema to our shores. This month, her distribution company, ARRAY, is releasing the South African coming-of-age drama Ayanda in theaters in Los Angeles and New York. Ayanda—starring Terry Pheto, star of the Oscar-winning South African indie Tsotsi—tells the story of a young woman who is willing to do anything to keep her father's legacy alive.

Cowboy-hat wearing Wellington Jighere from Nigeria crushed his English opponent 4-0 at the World Scrabble Championship in Australia to become first African to bag the word game's global title. Jighere, 32, was among more than 120 competitors who travelled to Perth for the World English-language Scrabble Players' Association Championship, which culminated in Sunday's  final against England's Lewis Mackay.

Botho University engaged in an international research conference [...] ‘The future dynamics of higher education in a global society’ […] The U.S. ambassador to Botswana, Earl Miller, articulated that the US Embassy is committed to the development of the education system of Botswana citing that since last year there has been a 6 % increase of Botswana students studying [...] in the U.S.

When Armand Diangienda picks up an instrument that he has never played, he looks for its hidden rule. That skill [...] was crucial twenty years ago, when he started the Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra, in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2014, they travelled to the U.K. to perform with several ensembles, including the BBC Concert Orchestra, in a tour of English cities.

Young women [in Uganda] there confided in [Diana Sierra]: It was difficult, they said, to go to school while on their periods […] Today, Sierra’s company Be Girl is working to ensure that all girls who want to go to school can—even when they’re menstruating. Be Girl’s underwear and reusable sanitary pads include waterproof pouches that can be stuffed with any absorbent material, like cloth, cotton or toilet paper.

Al-Shabaab propaganda video tries to lure fighters with scenes of African hunting safari. The shooting is just one of the surreal scenes in the latest of a series of high-definition videos called "Front Lines" that al Qaeda-linked Somali insurgent group Al-Shabaab uses to recruit members. The U.S. government designated the militant group a terrorist organization in 2008.