Image source, AFP

The Codeco militia group on Sunday executed 17 people it had captured in the Djugu territory, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The victims were passengers aboard four vehicles heading to Mungwalu, in Ituri province, UN-sponsored Radio Okapi reported.

They were taken hostage after three Codeco members were killed in a clash with a rival militia, the radio added.

Among those taken hostage was a pregnant woman, AFP news agency reported.

Local authorities are yet to comment on the attack.

The Codeco, a militia that claims to protect the Lendu farming community in Ituri, is one of a myriad of armed groups operating in the restive, mineral-rich region.

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Image source, AFP

Military and civilian political leaders in Sudan have begun talks in Khartoum on bringing the government-backed militia, the RSF, under the control of the army.

This, and placing the military under civilian authority, were key demands of the civilian groups which helped overthrow President Omar al- Bashir in 2019.

Sunday's talks were part of an agreement, signed in December, meant to pave the way for a return to democratic rule and due to be adopted formally in less than two weeks.

The army chief, Abdel Fattah al- Burhan, who seized power in a coup two years ago said he wanted to put an end to the armed forces supporting dictatorial governments in Sudan.

Image source, Getty Images

Kenya's opposition has vowed to continue with protests scheduled for Monday despite police warning they will intensify crackdowns on what they consider as illegal protests.

The protests started last week and turned violent in several opposition strongholds.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga said they would be held every Monday and Thursday to rally the country against the high cost of living and alleged electoral malpractices.

But the head of police, Japhet Koome, said on Sunday "he had not approved of any demonstrations" and warned of mass arrests.

The Kenyan law does not require police approval for protests.

"We have been restraining ourselves. We cannot do that anymore. We must come out as the police service to ensure law and order is maintained. That is [the] message for everybody," Mr Koome told journalists.

Mr Odinga on Sunday insisted that the protests are protected by law.

"We have given the police a notice of protest as required by our laws. We don't want to bring anarchy to our country, but we are fighting for our rights. The Kenyan people have a right to peacefully demonstrate," he said.

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34 days after it first formed at the far end of the Indian Ocean, record-breaking Cyclone Freddy made a repeat landfall on Mozambique as well as passing over Malawi, causing extensive damage and loss of life. Climate scientists Liz Stephens and Izidine Pinto join Roland to give an update on the destruction and explain how Cyclone Freddy kept going for an exceptionally long time.

At the Third International Human Genome Summit in London last week, Professor Katsuhiko Hayashi announced he had created baby mice from eggs formed by male mouse cells. Dr Nitzan Gonen explains the underlying science, whilst Professor Hank Greely discusses the ethics and future prospects.

And from one rodent story to another, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in brown rats scurrying around New York sewers. Dr Thomas DeLiberto from the US Department of Agriculture gives Roland the details.

When imagining a robot, a hard-edged, boxy, humanoid figure may spring to mind. But that is about to change.

CrowdScience presenter Alex Lathbridge is on a mission to meet the robots that bend the rules of conventionality. Inspired by how creatures like us have evolved to move, some roboticists are looking to nature to design the next generation of machines. And that means making them softer. But just how soft can a robot really be?

Join Alex as he goes on a wild adventure to answer this question from listener Sarah. He begins his quest at the ‘Hello, Robot’ Exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany to define what a robot actually is. Amelie Klein, the exhibition curator, states anything can be a robot as long as three specific criteria are met (including a cute cuddly baby seal). With this in mind, Alex meets Professor Andrew Conn from the Bristol Robotics Lab who demonstrates how soft materials like rubber are perfect contenders for machine design as they are tough to break and - importantly for our listener’s question - bendy.

Alex is then thrown into a world of robots that completely change his idea of what machines are. He is shown how conventionally ‘hard’ machines are being modified with touches of softness to totally upgrade what they can do, including flexible ‘muscles’ for robot skeletons and silicon-joined human-like hands at the Soft Robotics Lab run by Professor Robert Katzschmann at ETH Zurich. He is then introduced to robots that are completely soft. Based on natural structures like elephant trunks and slithering snakes, these designs give robots completely new functions, such as the ability to delicately pick fruit and assist with search and rescue operations after earthquakes. Finally, Alex is presented with the idea that, in the future, a robot could be made of materials that are so soft, no trace of machine would remain after its use...

Image credit: Jack McBrams/Getty Images

Producer: Roland Pease Assistant Producer: Sophie Ormiston

It’s a year since Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, so we catch up with Mary – a student from Nigeria who was studying medicine in Ukraine when war broke out. De-Graft also speaks to BBC Africa reporter, Soraya Ali, who explains what’s happened to thousands of other African students who fled Ukraine. And Korrine Sky, a British-Zimbabwean who was studying medicine in Ukraine, also drops in. She’s been campaigning for support and access to university places for students whose lives were uprooted.

This episode drops on World Book Day, a worldwide celebration of books and reading. But, for some people grabbing a book to read isn’t a simple thing to do. De-Graft gets into this with Sofia Akel, who started the Free Books Campaign. It’s a non-profit company that gets books by authors of colour to those who cannot afford them, for free!

And Soweto Kinch - the multi-award-winning saxophonist, composer, poet, MC and producer – is in the building! He spills the tea on his latest album, White Juju, which is a collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Drop us a line and let us know what you want to hear on the podcast, even if it’s just to say hello. Our WhatsApp number is +44 0330 123 9480. Remember to start your message with IYDK, to make sure we see it.

Presenter: De-Graft Mensah Producer: Kamilah McInnis Researcher: Paige Neal-Holder Sound: Kamilah McInnis and Dave O’Neill Editor: Alison Gee

Mauritian musician Kaya, who pioneered a new genre called seggae, fusing reggae and sega, died in police custody on 21 February 1999.

His death sparked three days of rioting. People believed Kaya had been beaten to death.

Veronique Topize, Kaya's widow demanded an independent autopsy and President Cassam Uteem travelled into the heart of the disorder to appeal directly to the rioters to put down their weapons and go home.

Veronique Topize and Cassam Uteem shared their memories with Reena Stanton-Sharma.

(Photo: Painting of Kaya (left). Credit: BBC)

A 2022 peace deal halted Ethiopia's two-year civil war. Women say it did not stop the violence.

A tweet from a mum accusing her daughter’s school of having a racist hair policy has gone viral on social media. But what is hair discrimination? How do you prove it and do you know your rights? Lawyer Laith Dilaimi pays the pod a visit to answer these questions. Jackie Killeen from the Equality and Human Rights Commission also drops in to explain the guidelines.

We’re also talking about dyslexia. Uni student Zoe Littlewood and Marcia Brissett-Bailey - who has written a book called Black, Brilliant and Dyslexic - open up about their own experiences.

And we’re keeping things light and fluffy as we get into a debate on jollof rice. Unesco recognises it as originating in Senegal, as does Khadim Mbamba, a Senegalese chef. De-Graft, who happens to be Ghanaian, has a few questions…

Drop us a line and let us know what you want to hear on the podcast, even if it’s just to say hello. Our WhatsApp number is +44 0330 123 9480. Remember to start your message with IYDK, to make sure we see it.

Presenter: De-Graft Mensah Producer: Kamilah McInnis Researchers: Paige Neal-Holder, Khadra Salad and Star McFarlane Sound: Kamilah McInnis and Dave O’Neill Editor: Alison Gee

We’re talking about OCD in this week’s episode. It affects two to three per cent of the population and is the lowest-funded mental health condition for research, according to the charity Orchard OCD. De-Graft is joined by Shaun Flores, who reveals what his life is like living with the condition. He noticed a lack of black people speaking about their OCD experiences and is on a mission to change that. Nick Sireau, co-founder and chair of Orchard OCD, also drops in.

And the 2022 World Cup final is nearly upon us! Morocco becoming the first African team to ever reach the semi-final has been celebrated as a big win for Africa and Africans around the world. But, it has also brought up conversations around African identity in the North African country. De-Graft hears from Zainab, who felt conflicted about supporting Morocco, and Hajar Chaffag, a BBC Africa reporter in Rabat.

What do you want to hear on the podcast? Drop us a line and let us know - our WhatsApp number is +44 0330 123 9480. Remember to start your message with IYDK, to make sure we see it.

Presenter: De-Graft Mensah

Producer: Kamilah McInnis

Researchers: Paige Neal-Holder and Khadra Salad

Sound: Kamilah McInnis and Dave O’Neill

Editor: Alison Gee

We’re off to space for this one, following the European Space Agency’s recent announcement of a new bunch of astronauts. Nearly 23,000 people applied but not one of the people who were chosen was a person of colour. De-Graft looks into why this was the case and hears from Dr Sheila Kanani, who applied for the job.

We’re also back on Earth for two stories about Nigeria. The first is about the government’s decision to teach young kids in native languages instead of English. But with more than 600 languages in Nigeria, how will this work? Ishaq Khalid, a BBC journalist in Abuja, joins De-Graft to explain.

And, a museum in the UK has signed over a collection of objects - that were looted from the historical Kingdom of Benin - back to Nigeria. Our very own, Paige Neal-Holder - was at the transfer event. She reveals what happened and the history behind it.

Drop us a line and let us know what you want to hear on the podcast, or even just to say hello! Our WhatsApp number is +44 0330 123 9480. Remember to start your message with IYDK, to make sure we see it.

Presenter: De-Graft Mensah Producer: Kamilah McInnis Researchers: Paige Neal-Holder and Khadra Salad Sound: Kamilah McInnis and Dave O’Neill Editor: Alison Gee

Runners must forage for food and make their own fires to keep warm in a new ultra-marathon in the Tanzanian bushlands.

Researchers Bongani Kona and Catherine Boulle have spent the last year piecing together the story of one woman’s decades-long search to find the remains of her father, a South African political activist who died in 1966. In between visiting old prisons and sifting through archival collections, Bongani begins dreaming about the ghost of his own father, a man he's never met.

The quest to uncover the meaning behind these recurring dreams leads to Julia, a spirit medium and healer, who practices one of the oldest forms of divination on the planet – “throwing the bones”. In consultation with ancestral and spirit worlds, Julia deciphers “energy fields within one’s psyche, spirit and soul body.” This is all to bring solace to troubled souls and minds; to “these soft houses in which we live”, as Kei Miller writes, “and in which we move and from which we can never migrate, except by dying.” Khangela, in isiXhosa, is to look, or to search.

Khangela forms part of our recurring series of miniature audio-works for Radio 3's home for adventurous radio-making - Between the Ears. In this series, five audio-makers from around the world were invited to choose a card from the tarot deck as a creative prompt for their idea. The card at the heart of Khangela is The High Priestess.

Bongani Kona is a writer, and a lecturer in the department of history at the University of the Western Cape. Catherine Boulle is an audio maker and writer, currently based at the University of Cape Town. Together, Catherine and Bongani won the 2021 Whickers Radio & Audio Funding Award for their documentary about South Africa's Missing Persons Task Team, and the case of James Booi.

Produced by Bongani Kona and Catherine Boulle A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 3

In 2020 more than 40% of the world’s population was not using the internet, with many more women being unable to get online. Now a new global study into digital access in 90 countries shows that although women were disproportionately impacted by the Covid pandemic, it seems to have got more of them online in South East Asia and Africa. In these two parts of the world, the study shows progress in terms of bridging the gap between men and women and access to tech and the internet. While, historically, 90% of transactions in India were done by cash, the researchers say the pandemic forced more people to turn to digital payments for everyday items including food and other goods. In many parts of South East Asia, including India, many women are doing most of the shopping. The combination paved the way for progress and highlights a unique instance where the pandemic benefited women in these regions. Additionally, now equipped with their own digital wallets, women are afforded more agency over their finances. The progress in gender parity was seen in sub-Saharan Africa (8% improvement from 2019-2021), the Middle East and North Africa (6%), and South Asia (3%). We speak to Tufts University researchers who carried out the work, the dean of Global Business, Bhaskar Chakravorti, and research manager Christina Filipovic.

War Games: Real Conflicts/Virtual Worlds/Extreme Environments Gareth and Ghislaine visit the Imperial War Museum in London to see the UK’s first-ever exhibition to explore video games and what they can tell us about conflict. Developing technology has introduced new ways of telling and experiencing war stories; toy soldiers and board games, cinema screenings of World War One, radio broadcasts from the frontlines of WWII, and TV images of the Cold War have given way to first-person shooter games on iconic consoles like the Atari 2600 and the Super Nintendo to internet driven team battles with the latest graphics and audio immersion. But is gaming tech the right place to explore conflict and how much is this entertainment industry driving tech development elsewhere?

Presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Photo: Rural woman talking on a mobile phone and using a laptop, India. Credit: Exotica.im/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Meaza Ashenafi says she is building an objective court that will effectively deal with these crimes.