Holidaymaker dies after going missing in Africa

Aholidaymaker has died after he went missing in The Gambia.

Michael Costain, 69, from Rhayader, Powys, travelled to the west African country on 8 March and had been expected back on 20 March.

Dyfed-Powys Police launched a missing persons appeal last month.

But the force has now confirmed that he died while on holiday and said it was not being treated as suspicious.

Mr Costain spent time in Busumbala, western Gambia, before travelling to the village of Abene in southern Senegal.

He had booked a flight home but the alarm was raised when he did not board it.

Mr Costain was a percussionist and member of Community Arts Rhayader and District (CARAD).

The organisation said he led drumming workshops and parades and even travelled to Brazil to teach music to children.

CARAD trustee Peter Cox described him as a man who “loved travelling to extraordinary places”.

He said that his friend died while on a bus on holiday, adding: “It feels fitting, in some way, that he would have closed his eyes for the last time having been gazing out of the window watching an exciting new world open up before him.

“He will be missed by all who knew him.”

Zimbabwe pardons over 4,000 prisoners to decongest jails

Thousands of prisoners have been freed in the past to decongest prisons, like these ones in 2021

Zimbabwe has released about a fifth of all prisoners under a presidential amnesty order meant to decongest the country’s overcrowded jails.

The Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) said more than 4,000 inmates - mostly men - were let out, in what it described as a noble gesture.

Violent criminals as well as those convicted of robbery, treason and public order offences were excluded.

Prisons in Zimbabwe are suffering from extreme overcrowding.

The move comes ahead of general elections in August.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is battling a cost of living crisis, high inflation and power cuts.

Footage appears to show Greeks abandoned

Africans at sea

Video footage has emerged that appears to show a group of 12 African migrants, including women and children, being rounded up by Greek coastguards on the island of Lesbos and abandoned at sea on an inflatable raft.

The incident, alleged to have occurred last month, would be a violation of Greek, European Union and international law.

The New York Times said it had verified and corroborated the footage filmed by an activist, Fayal Mulla.

The Greek government - which has consistently denied migrant pushbacks - hasn’t responded.

The government recently defended what it called its “tough but fair” migration policies.

The group were later rescued by Turkish coastguards whilst drifting in the Aegean Sea and taken to a detention center in Izmir.

All musicians benefit from afrobeats’ success - Florito

A Namibian musician has told the BBC that all musicians are benefitting from the success of afrobeats worldwide, saying he never would have imaged his music would play in some countries like Brazil - but it does.

“I’m grateful that my brothers and sisters are just opening more doors for us”, Florito said.

Born in Luanda of Angolan parents, he makes music that mixes afrobeats, amapiano and kwaito influences.

He has released some big collaborations with Namibian veteran Gazza on the track Pull Up, and with Nigerian artist BNXN, formerly known as Buju, on his recent hit Stamina.

What’s more, his hit song Dalilah has received shout-outs from big stars like Wizkid and Diamond Platnumz.

“Actually Dalilah is my exgirlfriend. At that time I was with her. So I was at the studio with some friends, and my producer played the Dalilah beat. I started creating melodies and I recorded the song in two hours.”

He’s currently working on an EP with seven tracks and is shooting videos in both Angola and Nigeria.

“The future is bright. It’s going to be a beautiful year for me and my fans because I’m going to be releasing more music,” he said.

To hear the full interview with Florito, listen to This is Africa on BBC World Service radio and partner stations