Image source, Reuters

The UK is to give £100m ($124.3m) each in overseas aid to South Sudan and Somalia to help alleviate famine conditions. 

International Development Secretary Priti Patel has called on the global community to step up their support for the two nations as she announced the cash injections for 2017-8. 

The Department for International Development said parts of South Sudan were now in famine, adding that in 2017 there was a credible risk of another three famines in Yemen, north-east Nigeria and Somalia. 

The extra funding will help provide food, water and emergency healthcare which is hoped will save more than a million lives. 

The BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Landale says the problem is that these crises have been caused as much by conflict as by drought.

And no amount of aid will end the violence that has brought so much suffering to these countries, he says.

Somalia's new President Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed has warned Islamist militants al-Shabab that they cannot defeat 12 million Somalis.

He made the declaration during in his speech at his inauguration ceremony, which is being held in an airport hangar in the capital, Mogadishu. Some journalists have been live tweeting his remarks:

The militant group, which controls large swathes of land, has launched several deadly attacks to destabilise the UN-backed government. 

Mr Mohamed said his administration would accept al-Shabab recruits if they wanted to leave the group:

He also endorsed the presence of African Union troops, saying that they had done a good job. 

The president talked about restoring trust to state institutions and tackling the ongoing drought. 

He also promised to deal with unemployment, which he said led to hopelessness and caused many young people to flee the country.  

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Reuters

South Africa’s state security authorities have condemned “inflammatory remarks” on social media after recent attacks on homes and property occupied by foreigners in Johannesburg and Tshwane.

In a statement the government said:

Meanwhile a night vigil will be held tomorrow for the victims of the xenophobic attacks.

It is aimed at countering a march planned for Friday in the capital, Pretoria, by South Africans accusing foreigners of drug peddling and prostitution.

They also claim that they are losing jobs to foreign nationals.

A profile of the new Somalia's president Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed by the Buffalo Times newspaper in the US says that he was active in his community when living in New York state, external.

Mr Mohamed has joint American and Somali nationality, and returned from the US only last year to stand for president.

The paper interviewed people who knew him who said he was a charismatic and humble man who befriended fellow immigrants, political figures and sports celebrities. 

A former ice hockey player Rick Martin liked to call him "Mohamed Squared" as his first name and surname were Mohamed.

Here are some highlights from the profile: 

• Mr Mohammed arrived in the US in 1985
• In 1993, Mohamed earned a bachelor's degree in history from University at Buffalo
• In 2009 he received his master's degree in American studies. His thesis was entitled US Strategic Interest in Somalia: From the Cold War Era to the War on Terror
• He identifies as a member of the Republican party and participated in political campaigns 
• He has four children.
• Mr Mohamed's 24-year-old daughter says her father inherited the nickname "Farmajo", a reference to Italian for cheese, from his father as they both loved Italian food
• He ran the Somalia Turnaround Project that trained local Somali immigrants in construction trade skills. 

Image source, EVANS HABIL/NATION MEDIA GROUP

A Kenyan woman whose husband attacked her and chopped off her hands after relations allegedly broke down over their childless marriage is reportedly pregnant. 

Shortly after the attack, Jackline Mwende said that doctors had told the couple that she was fertile and her husband, Stephen Ngila, was impotent.

In an interview in today’s private Daily Nation, external newspaper she said this drove her into another relationship.

She says she was desperate to have children and decided to have the affair “to save my marriage”, but her husband - who is now facing attempted murder charges - found out.

Image source, AFP

Pope Francis has called for aid to be sent to millions of people facing famine in South Sudan.

Addressing tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square at the Vatican for his weekly audience, the pontif said:

Pope Francis said millions of people, including many children, were being "condemned to death by hunger", suggesting that rhetoric alone was not enough. 

The basic cause of the famine in South Sudan is conflict, which the pope called "fratricidal".

The country has now been at war since 2013 and more than 3 million people have been forced to flee their homes. 

Heads of states from neighbouring countries are in Somalia's capital Mogadishu for the inauguration of Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed. 

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta is currently speaking at the event and has commended the country for conducting peaceful elections: 

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said in his speech that Somalia's stability was key to peace in the region: 

Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is currently speaking and has also hailed the peaceful elections:

Malawi's Agriculture Minister George Chaponda has been fired over a scandal that has been dubbed "maizegate".

Last month, President Peter Mutharika ordered an investigation into a $34.5m (£27.7m) maize order from Zambia.

Part of the consignment is alleged to have disappeared as did some of the money that was budgeted for the importation.

Mr Chaponda told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme last week that he would not leave office until proven guilty of any wrongdoing, which he denied.

Information Minister Nicolaus Dausi told the Reuters news agency this morning:

Image source, AFP

The US says the famine declared in parts of South Sudan is a man-made humanitarian crisis which it blames on South Sudanese leaders. 

An estimated 5.5 million people in the country are said to face life-threatening hunger this year. 

A spokesperson for the State Department said in a statement: 

Read more: Why are there still famines?

The inauguration of the new Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed is taking place at a hangar at Aden Adde International Airport in the capital, Mogadishu. 

Lawmakers gathered at the heavily guarded location two weeks ago to elect the president. 

Our reporter Ibrahim Aden has snapped these photos from inside the hangar: 

A local TV station is streaming the event and captured the arrival of Mr Mohamed:

Image source, MUQDISHO

Image source, MUQDISHO

Image source, AFP

Two more people were killed in student demonstrations on Tuesday in Guinea, bringing the number of casualties to seven since protests broke out on Monday. 

Students have been protesting in support of striking teachers, who are demanding better pay. 

As a result of the teachers' action, schools across the country have not opened for several weeks. 

The government has announced it has reached an agreement with the main teachers' unions which have been leading the strike. 

It renewed condemnation of the violent incidents, saying the demonstrations are illegal.

Souleymane Sy Savane, a union official, is quoted by AFP as saying that schools would re-open on Wednesday as negotiations continue.

Image source, Reuters

Police in The Gambia have arrested the country’s ex- spy chief, who headed an agency rights groups allege tortured and killed opponents of former President Yahya Jammeh.

Yankuba Badgie was arrested along with another former employee of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) on Monday, a police spokesman said.

Mr Jammeh set up the body the year after he seized power in a coup in 1994 and it gained a reputation as the state's most feared institution, the Reuters news agency reports. 

The arrests are the first of senior Gambian officials since Mr Jammeh went into exile in Equatorial Guinea after regional leaders deployed troops to The Gambia to urge him to step down.

He lost elections in December to Adama Barrow – after initially accepting the results he tried to get them annulled.

Image source, Reuters

Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, is in lock down today as Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed is being inaugurated as the new president.

BBC Monitoring's Security Correspondent Tomi Oladipo says major roads in the city have been sealed off and there are increased military patrols. 

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has arrived in Mogadishu and is expected to be is among heads of state from the region at the event.

The ceremony is being held in a hangar at the city's airport, the most heavily guarded place in the whole country.

Mr Mohamed defeated 21 candidates including the incumbent president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in the election held on 8 February.

He takes office as the country faces an increased threat from Islamist militants al-Shabab, who frequently attack Mogadishu, and a severe drought. 

The event is being live streamed on YouTube , external

Image source, AFP

A South African court has ruled that the government had no right to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) without first consulting parliament. 

Judge Phineas Mojapelo at the North Gauteng High Court is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying:

The country began the formal process of leaving the global court last October.

At the time a cabinet minister said South Africa did not want to execute ICC arrest warrants which would lead to "regime change”.

In 2015, another South African court criticised the government for refusing to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir.

He is wanted by the ICC on charges of genocide and war crimes. 

Mr Bashir was attending an African Union summit in Johannesburg, when the government ignored an ICC request to arrest him.

He denies allegations that he committed atrocities in Sudan's troubled western Darfur region.   

The BBC's Andrew Harding in Johannesburg says today’s court ruling is another victory for the political opposition in South Africa, which has increasingly, turned to the courts to challenge the governing African National Congress (ANC).

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