Here are the top five child-friendly African countries. As media reports show, children often end up being the biggest victims in many of Africa’s conflict-ridden nations. But in some African nations, TV news reports are the closest kids will get to war and fighting. A report released by the African Child Policy Forum Thursday ranked the top African countries for “child friendliness” reports CNN. The top five were Mauritius, Namibia, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco; the bottom five were Sao Tome and Principe, Gambia, Central African Republic, Eritrea and Guinea Bissau. Health care and education were among the 40 indicators the group used in the ranking. “Governments that have come out well on this index did so because they have done two things – they have put in place the relevant laws to protect children from abuse and exploitation, and they have targeted resources at the basic needs of children,” an adviser to the Ethiopia-based group said. Policies to protect children, not the nation’s wealth, were considered in the ranking. Some of the poorest nations ranked high because of their laws protecting children.

South African killer will be sentenced. The White South African teen who admitted earlier this week to killing four Black people (including two children) during a horrific shooting spree in January, will now face sentencing, reports the BBC. Johan Nel, 18, shouted racist slurs while he fired on the Black settlement killing two adults, a 10-year-old boy and a three-month-old baby, say witnesses. Thousands participated in fiery protests demanding Nel get life in prison for the murders. Nel was upset by the attacks by criminals, he told the court. A psychologist, Kobus Truter, found that Nel is mentally fit to stand trial and that he should be sentenced to between 20 and 25 years in prison. Nel thought Whites were being targeted for attack, when his family and friends were victimized by violent criminals, Truter said. Nel was charged with 11 counts of attempted murder, and with the four murders as a result of the spree.