Focus on Africa Folgen

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.