North Korea has insisted that recent embassy closures are simply part of "regular affairs" to improve its external relations, after Seoul said it was a sign of Pyongyang's "dire economic situation".

In the past week, North Korea shut embassies in Angola and Uganda. It also closed its diplomatic missions in Hong Kong and Spain.

South Korea said this week that these moves offered a "glimpse of North Korea's dire economic situation, where it is difficult to maintain even minimal diplomatic relations with traditional allies".

However, a spokesperson of Pyongyang's foreign ministry said the changes were "part of the regular affairs... to promote their national interests in external relations", in comments posted on the ministry's website on Friday.

"In line with the changes in the international environment and the state external policy, we are either closing or newly opening diplomatic missions in other countries," said the official, without specifying which embassies were being opened or closed down.

Image source, SUPPLIED

US and Kenyan authorities are searching for the killer of a Kenyan-American woman found dead at the Boston Logan International Airport in Massachusetts.

Police said that they found the brutally wounded body of Margaret Mbitu, 31, in the passenger seat of a car parked at the airport.

The primary suspect is Ms Mbitu's partner, Kevin Kangethe, who is believed to have fled to Kenya after abandoning her body at the airport.

Ms Mbitu's mother told the Boston 25 News channel that she had been attempting to end her relationship with Mr Kangethe.

Ms Mbitu had been last seen alive when she left her workplace on Monday night.

Image source, Getty Images

South African main opposition party has removed MP Ghaleb Cachalia from the coveted shadow cabinet over remarks he made on the Israel-Gaza war.

Mr Cachalia, who served as the shadow public enterprises minister for the Democratic Alliance (DA), is said to have violated the party's position on the conflict.

The party had appointed a spokesperson for the Israel-Gaza conflict and urged caucus members to refrain from making public statements that could divide or inflame the issue.

But on Tuesday Mr Cachalia tweeted: "I will not be silenced. Israel is committing genocide".

DA leader John Steenhuisen described the MP’s behaviour as "selfish and pursuing narrow self-interest above the common good", public broadcaster SABC reports.

Mr Cachalia in a statement confirms receiving the dismissal letter from the DA leader and says he will remain loyal to the party.

"I continue to keep a watchful eye on human rights abuses here and globally and I will always speak truth to power," he added.

He will be replaced by Mimmy Gondwe as the party's spokesperson on public enterprises.

A selection of the best photos from the African continent and beyond.

At least 21 people have been injured after a balcony of a popular restaurant in South Africa's Cape Town caved in on Thursday evening.

Reports say that the restaurant's patrons were celebrating First Thursday, a cultural event held in Cape Town and Johannesburg every first Thursday of the month.

“The exact circumstances are not known. A total of 21 patients were taken to various hospitals,” Cape Town’s disaster risk management spokesperson, Charlotte Powell, told the Daily Maverick news website.

The building that housed the restaurant was old, its maintenance manager Rashied Kamaldien told South African broadcaster eNCA.

He also said that the building had initially been designed for residential flats.

Paul Njie
BBC News

Image source, EPA

President Vladimir Putin says that Russian companies have a "serious" interest in extracting mineral resources in Equatorial Guinea.

He held talks with Equatoguinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema on Thursday in Moscow, where both leaders agreed to boost bilateral ties.

"The potential investment capacity is big, and your country's capacity in developing these relations is also good," Mr Putin said.

"I am referring to the potential to do with, above all, the extraction of mineral resources," he added.

Equatorial Guinea, a small oil-rich central African country, is endowed with many mineral resources such as gold, diamond, uranium and gas.

President Nguema said he welcomed Russian companies coming to investment in his country.

He also thanked Russia for reopening its embassy in Equatorial Guinea.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Reuters

The deputy commander of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Abdel Rahim Hamdan Daglo, says his group will continue advancing and taking over the remaining states in the country from the army.

Mr Daglo’s declaration came after the RSF recently made battleground gains in the restive western region of Darfur, where it captured some states and army bases.

Darfur is considered to be an RSF stronghold.

“We will move towards other remaining states and [army] headquarters, and they will be under our control, God willing,” Mr Daglo said on Thursday while addressing jubilant RSF fighters in the Central Darfur state capital of Zalingei.

Earlier, the military downplayed battlefield gains recently made by the group in Darfur.

Peace talks between the two sides continue in the Saudi port city of Jeddah in a bid to end the conflict that broke out in mid-April.

Image source, EPA

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has been touting his country's credentials as a tourist destination for African visitors as Kigali hosts a major tourism conference.

Talking about making it easier and cheaper to travel within the continent he told delegates to the World Travel and Tourism Council's Global Summit that Rwanda has "removed visa restrictions for citizens of every African country – as well as many other countries".

"Let there be no mistake about it: Any African can get on a plane to Rwanda whenever they wish and will not pay a thing to enter our country. We should not lose sight of our own continental market."

According to the Visit Rwanda website, citizens from AU countries, as well as the Commonwealth and the union of French-speaking nations "can get free visas upon arrival in Rwanda for a visit of 30 days".

Rwanda has been on a campaign to boost its tourism sector, partnering with football clubs like Arsenal and Bayern Munich to promote the country as a tourist destination.

There has been a gradual move towards lifting restrictions on travel within Africa.

Last Saturday, Kenya's President William Ruto announced that his country would allow Africans to visit without needing a visa.

If that's implemented then Kenya would become the fourth African country to introduce the idea - after Seychelles, The Gambia and Benin.

Several African countries have also entered bilateral agreements for visa-free travel, most recently Ghana and South Africa, and Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Correction 3 November 13:40 GMT: This story has been amended to clarify that President Kagame was talking about a policy that already existed and that visas on arrival are still required.

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Ramiz Younis is waiting for his wife and two American children to be allowed to cross the Gaza-Egypt border.

South Africans remain in celebration mode as their rugby team embarks on a four-day tour.

A senior lawmaker announced the decision after a public outcry over plans to spend $6m on the yacht.

A Tanzanian student tells the BBC how a timetable change stopped him being taken hostage with his friends.

Police inflicted "big blows to the head" of Joe Ajaero and detained him, trade union officials say.

Mourners attending the burial of villagers shot dead by jihadists are killed in their vehicle, police say.

Edgar Lungu's return to politics means he loses perks such as state protection, cars and a house.

It is a year since a peace deal was agreed to end the bloody conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

More than 400 people are allowed into Egypt for the first time since the war with Israel began.

Seychelles company linked to Putin’s inner circle exploited UK loophole for hundreds of firms, BBC finds.

Writers Teju Cole and Noo Saro-Wiwa and Tate curator Osei Bonsu talk to Laurence Scott.

The exhibition A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography at Tate Modern has a mission statement - to confront reductive representations of African peoples and cultures. All the images are from an African perspective, and explore ideas about masks, spiritual worlds, royalty, family portraits and shared dreams.

The lives of African settlers in China are at the heart of the new book Black Ghosts by Noo Sara-Wiwa. Opportunities for Africans to live and work in China are precarious and tightly controlled, the book explores why many choose to live under such restrictions.

And Teju Cole’s new novel is entitled Tremor. His central character a teacher of photography considers the revaluation of contemporary and historical identity in both Africa and America.

Producer: Julian Siddle

You can find more episodes exploring Black History including episodes on Octavia Butler, the Black Atlantic, Sankofa and Afro-futurism and Zimbabwean writing on the Free Thinking programme website and available on BBC Sounds and as the Arts & Ideas podcast https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08t2qbp