Protesters angry at plans to allow Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore to extend his 27-year-rule have set fire to parliament.
He was driven to Pretoria's Kgosi Mampuru prison where he is expected to be housed in the hospital wing.
Pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine have released 1,200 prisoners, President Petro Poroshenko has said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is hoping for a peace agreement to be reached between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels by Friday.
Tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped by militants on a mountain in northern Iraq and need "life-saving assistance", the United Nations warns.
Israel's prime minister has vowed the campaign in Gaza will continue "until quiet and security are returned to the citizens of Israel".
More than 20 people have been killed in the latest air raids on Gaza, Palestinian officials say, as Israel continues its current offensive.
A team from the world's chemical weapons watchdog believes toxic chemicals such as chlorine are being used in a "systematic manner" in Syria.
At least 12 women were abducted during the latest attack on Kenya's coast, which also left 15 people dead, residents have told the BBC.
Police in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo have used tear gas to break up a protest against the football World Cup, hours before the city hosts the opening match.
Police in London have arrested the leader of Pakistan's powerful MQM party, Altaf Hussain, on suspicion of money-laundering.
Thailand's ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra and a number of family members and politicians have been detained, as leaders of Thursday's military coup tightened their grip on power.
The US has charged five Chinese army officers with hacking into private-sector American companies in a bid for competitive advantage, in the first cyber-espionage case of its kind.
Rescuers are hunting desperately for scores of Turkish coal miners still missing after an explosion caused a pit to collapse, killing at least 238.
Russia has ordered new military exercises on its border with Ukraine in response to an operation by Kiev against pro-Russian separatists.
Statins may be useful in treating advanced multiple sclerosis (MS), say UK researchers.
Relatives of the Chinese passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight have threatened a hunger strike if the Malaysian authorities fail to provide more accurate information.
Nato is to deploy reconnaissance planes in Poland and Romania to monitor the Ukrainian crisis.
Companies are creating learning aids that tap the science of memories, says David Robson. Do they work in the classroom?
Ukrainian defence sources have accused Russia's military of demanding the surrender of their forces in Crimea.
The US economy grew at a much slower rate from October to December than originally predicted, the US Commerce Department said.
Our pick of the week from around the web, including the quest for nuclear fusion, the invasion of the taxi snatchers and new uses for Bitcoin.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she can work with the UK to reform the European Union but it will not be "a piece of cake".
President Barack Obama has warned his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai that the US may pull all of its troops out of his country by the year's end.
A tiny 4.4-billion-year-old crystal has been confirmed as the oldest fragment of Earth's crust.
Russia has stepped up its rhetoric against Ukraine's new Western-leaning leadership as tensions rise over the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych.
A judge has rejected an £85m damages claim against Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone but said he did pay a bribe over a sale of F1 shares.
At least 21 protesters have been reported killed by security forces in Kiev following the breakdown of a truce agreed on Wednesday.
The possibility of building an underground "atom-smasher" four times the size of the Large Hadron Collider is to be explored by experts.
More than a quarter of first-time miscarriages could be prevented by making a combination of lifestyle changes, research in Denmark suggests.
Europe's leaders are to consider urgent sanctions against Ukraine after the worst violence in months of unrest claimed at least 26 lives.
Parliament in Belgium has passed a bill allowing euthanasia for terminally ill children without any age limit, by 86 votes to 44, with 12 abstentions.
The international community must act on evidence of widespread crimes against humanity in North Korea, say the authors of a long-awaited UN report.
Not so long ago a new form of communication swept the world, transforming life in ways unimagined just a few years before. One commentator heralded it as “the greatest means of communication ever developed by the mind of man” while others pointed to its potential to revolutionise news, entertainment and education. But the poet and playwright TS Eliot had a different take. “It is a medium of entertainment which permits millions of people to listen to the same joke at the same time, and yet remain lonesome,” he wrote.
After global riots in 2007 and 2008, George Alagiah travelled the world to reveal why we could be heading for a food crisis, and what we can do about it.
Flooded homes along the River Thames are being evacuated and thousands more are at risk, with water levels expected to keep rising for the next 24 hours.
Electronic Arts is facing strong criticism over the in-app payment system in its Dungeon Keeper game.
Victoria Nuland has apologised after she referred disparagingly to the EU's role during a conversation said to be with the US ambassador to Ukraine.
Demonstrators in Bosnia-Hercegovina have set fire to government buildings as violent protests continue across the country for a third day.
Europe's billion-star surveyor, Gaia, is on track to begin operations in the next two or three months.
Scientists have created a bionic hand which allows the amputee to feel lifelike sensations from their fingers.
The first formal meeting between Pakistan's government and a Taliban-nominated team has been held in Islamabad, officials say.
A father's plea to watch a video based on his dead son's Facebook page has provoked the network to look again at how families can remember loved ones.
The Beat author scandalised literature with books like Naked Lunch. In honour of his centenary, his friends talk to Jane Ciabattari about his later years.
The UN has said that the Vatican should "immediately remove" all clergy who are known or suspected child abusers.
The British photographer wasn’t happy shooting objects: he decided to look inside them, too.