Ethiopia closed its Asmara embassy and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats out in 48 hours; Eritrea severed all diplomatic ties, as heavy fighting resumes in northern Ethiopia.
Kenya's coastal film and arts festival KCF runs 23-31 October 2026 across seven Kilifi Creek venues, with far more submissions than the 33 films screened at its 2025 debut.
Kenya Met expects above-average rain over about 80% of the country from mid-October, as Nairobi presses river-reserve clearances and Willow Court residents contest one.
A two-week culture calendar: bronze elephant unveiling and jazz Oktoberfest in Nairobi, reggae nights and a love-themed festival, a Kenyan art double-bill, an East Africa auction preview, plus Kigali's book festival and a new Kampala show by 'the Bead King.'
A 16-year-old who took up boxing two years ago in Kibera has become the first Kenyan woman to qualify for the Youth Olympic Games, in Dakar from 31 October.
More than 500 guests, led by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, attended the Chinese Embassy's National Day reception in Nairobi, where Ambassador Guo Haiyan said Kenya's avocado-oil exports to China had risen 700% since zero tariffs took effect.
The 7th NBO Film Festival runs 15–25 October 2026 in Nairobi, debuting a documentary prize named for the late filmmaker Nick Wambugu and a retrospective for Senegalese director Alain Gomis.
FEWS NET projects Emergency-level hunger in Dadaab from October, driven mainly by anticipated flooding, even as WFP expects to keep food aid for Kenya's refugee camps at already-reduced levels.
The Registrar struck off 176 more firms in September, part of a year of mass deregistration, as a Central Bank survey found 77% of employers plan no new hires.
Book Bunk's restoration of Nairobi's McMillan library and two branches has driven a surge in visitors and made it a finalist for a global cities prize.
The second Umurage International Book & Art Festival is running in Kigali until 3 October 2026, putting AI, indigenous-language publishing and visual storytelling on the same stage.
Tanzania's largest annual arts festival returns to the historic coastal town of Bagamoyo from 28 to 31 October 2026, with 146 local and international performing groups registered.
