Naziru Mikailu
BBC Abuja editor

Image source, AFP

Nigeria's government has directed mobile phone operators to increase prices of internet data. 

The reason for the proposed increase in unclear, but it has fuelled speculation that the government will take the extra money to deal with its cash crisis. 

The extent of the proposed increase is also unclear, though customers are already receiving text messages telling them that the new prices will come into effect tomorrow. 

A leading trade union has described the move as "worrying" and "insensitive". 

We are waiting for a briefing from the head of Nigeria’s Communication Commission, and we will give you more details as soon as we get them. 

Patience Atuhaire
BBC Africa, Kampala

The bodies of Ugandan policemen who died in clashes with the guards of the king of Rwenzururu in the western Kasese region have been transported to the main police station in the area.

Police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi told reporters that 62 people died in the clashes at the weekend. 

Other reports says 82 people were killed including 16 police officers and the king's guards.

King Charles Mumbere was detained after government forces raided his palace on Sunday. 

He has been charged with murder related to the killing of a police officer in March, not the unrest over the weekend.

King Charles has denied any involvement in the violence.

The authorities accuse him of launching a secessionist movement to create a new state, to be called Yiira. 

In our series of letters from African journalists, Nigerian novelist and writer Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani recalls how she was banned from speaking her mother tongue.

"My parents forbade my local language, Igbo, from being spoken in our home when I was a child," she writes. 

Image source, Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

Unlike the majority of  households in her hometown of Umuahia in south-east Nigeria, Adobi's parents chose to speak only English with their children.

Guests who visited their home had to conform to the language rule of the family.

And even live-in domestic staff who had never uttered a single foreign word were compelled to speak English.  

"Over the years, I endured people teasing my parents, usually behind their backs, for this decision. 'They are trying to be like white people,' they said," she recounts.  

She was also teased for mispronouncing Igbo words during local language lessons in school. 

But how did Adaobi untie her tongue? Read her letter from Africa here.

The Catholic Archbishop of Kampala, Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, has warned women against beating their husbands, saying they "should love and respect them", Uganda's privately owned Daily Monitor reports. 

He was reacting to a police report about Mpingi district in the Uganda's central region, which showed that five out 10 reported cases of domestic assault involved women beating their husbands. 

The newspaper quotes the Archbishop of Kampala, which is Uganda's capital, as saying women should accept men as the head of families:

Also in the same paper, in an unrelated event, the paramount chief of the Acholi ethnic group, Rwot David Onene Acana II, has told men to stop mistreating women:

Coincidentally Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has launched a new campaign to tackle gender-based violence. 

A statement from his office said he "strongly castigated the act of husbands beating their wives".

Image source, AFP

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

 A new vaccine against HIV, the virus that causes Aids, will be tested in a clinical trial that starts in South Africa today. 

Scientists say it is the largest and most advanced study to take place in the country. 

About seven million people in South Africa are living with the virus. 

Experts from the United States, which is funding the trial, say they are hoping for a safe and effective vaccine that will be "the final nail in the coffin" for HIV. 

The study is based on a trial in Thailand in 2009, which had a protection rate of about 30%. Results from South Africa are expected in four years.

In women's football, Nigeria striker Desire Oparanozie scored the only goal against a disciplined South Africa to earn her side a place in the final of the African Women's Cup of Nations against Cameroon.

South Africa started brightly but the Desiree Ellis-led side failed to capitalise on their early dominance.

Oparanozie and Ngozi Okobi both had chances to put seven-time champions Nigeria ahead in the 25th minute, but goalkeeper Andile Dlamini thwarted their shots.

Seven minutes later, South Africa had the ball in the net but it was ruled out for offside.

However, Oparanozie put Nigeria ahead with a powerful free-kick eight minutes after the restart.

Read the full BBC story here

Image source, AFP

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is in Cuba for former leader Fidel Castro's funeral, following his death at the age of 90, the state-owned Herald newspaper reports, external. 

Addressing Cubans after after his arrival in Havana, Mr Mugabe paid tribute to the former revolutionary:

However, Zimbabwe's opposition Zapu party accused Mr Mugabe, 92, of failing to follow Mr Castro's example by stepping down, the independent NewsDay newspaper reports, external. 

Its spokesman Iphithule Maphosa is quoted as saying:    

Mr Mugabe, in power since 1980, is due to run for office again in the 2018 presidential election.

Mr Castro stepped down in 2006 after ruling Cuba for 47 years. 

Read: How Castro changed southern Africa 

Image source, Reuters

Sudan's leader Omar al-Bashir has praised US President-elect Donald Trump, saying it will be "much easier" to deal with him, the Emirati al-Khaleej newspaper reports. 

Mr Trump "focuses on the interests of the American citizen, as opposed to those who talk about democracy, human rights and transparency'', Mr Bashir said in an interview published by the newspaper. 

He added that "we can deal with double-faced people but here we have a person with a clear line". 

"I am convinced that it will be much easier to deal with Trump than with others because he is a straightforward person and a businessman who considers the interests of those who deal with him,'' Mr Bashir said. 

The Sudanese leader seized power in a coup in 1989, and has been accused of leading a repressive regime ever since.   

He is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of genocide in Darfur. He denies the charges. 

Read: Bashir in profile

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