Focus on Africa

The World Food Programme has begun operations in northern Mozambique, where up to 41 people have been confirmed dead following landslides triggered by cyclone Kenneth and persistent torrential rains. We speak to Déborah Nguyen, who is a representative of the WFP. She visited affected areas in Pemba town and Ibo Island and tell us about the challenges of distributing food in the current weather. In Nigeria, the Police raided dance clubs during the weekend arresting seventy women on allegations of "soliciting for sex". But of the seventy arrested, only ten made it to court. So what happened to the other sixty women who didn't appear in court? Well, several human rights activists and lawyers have turned to Twitter saying that many of those who didn't appear in court were made to pay their bail through sexual favours. We hear from a local journalist who was present at the mobile court set up to arraign the women, and from a police spokesperson. The University of Cambridge in England has announced a two-year inquiry into its historical links with slavery. The university wants to find out if it gained financially from slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries and whether it should make any reparations.