Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has accused the country's security institutions of carrying out acts of terrorism by wrongfully imprisoning and torturing people.

Mr Abiy, who was sworn in two months ago, was asked in parliament why people accused of terrorism offences were amongst the thousands recently released from prison.

In response, he pointed the finger at government saying "terrorism includes using force unconstitutionally to stay in power".

He also said that right across the country there were cases of people being tortured and held in dark rooms whilst in detention.

"Does the constitution say anyone who was sentenced by a court can be tortured, put in a dark room? It doesn't. Torturing, putting people in dark rooms, is our act of terrorism," Mr Abiy told MPs.

Earlier this month, Mr Abiy sacked the country's intelligence and military chiefs.

Meanwhile, Mr Abiy defended his government's decision to end a border dispute with Eritrea, telling parliament it was long overdue and in the best interests of both countries.

Under the peace agreement that ended the war between the two countries, a border commission ruled in 2002 that the town of Badme and other disputed territory belonged to Eritrea.

But over the last week there have been several protests in the north of Ethiopia with people calling on the government not to cede territory.

The government of Eritrea has not yet responded to Ethiopia's offer to make peace.

Mr Abiy also said privatisation of some key state companies was important in modernising Ethiopia's economy.

The London-based Financial Times recently reported that China, Ethiopia's biggest foreign investor, was scaling back investment, external in the face of rising foreign exchange shortages and government debt.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts that Ethiopia will have 8.5% growth this year, down from a consistent 10% in the last decade.

Read: Why landlocked Ethiopia wants to launch a navy

Image source, Getty Images

World and Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya is to challenge "unfair" rules affecting some female athletes.

Athletics' governing body the IAAF has ruled some female runners with naturally high testosterone levels will have to race against men, or change events, unless they take medication.

Semenya will fight the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

"It is not fair. I just want to run naturally, the way I was born," said the 27-year-old South African.

"I am Mokgadi Caster Semenya. I am a woman and I am fast."

Read the full story here

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

It is time England got off the back foot at a major tournament and started with a win, when they take on Tunisia in their first match of the 2018 football World Cup.

It is no coincidence that England's last respectable showing in one of these showpieces came on the last occasion they opened with a win, against Paraguay at the 2006 World Cup.

They have since made life difficult for themselves, establishing an accident-prone reputation.

England have previous form for carelessness and it must stop in Volgograd.

If the big players - such as Dele Alli and captain Harry Kane - join the World Cup party started by Cristiano Ronaldo's immense display for Portugal against Spain on Friday, then Volgograd can be the start of a satisfying Russian journey for England.

Image source, PA

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

Image source, Getty Images

This is not the first time that the leader of South Africa's opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema, has attacked Indians.

In December, he complained that Indians in KwaZulu-Natal, the province where most of them live, were "ill-treating our people".

“We are saying share with our people. We also want to say, here in KwaZulu-Natal, stop ill-treating our people. They are ill-treating our people worse than the Boer Afrikaners treated our people. This is not anti-Indian, it’s the truth. They must treat our people properly,” he said at the time.

He made similar comments on Saturday at commemorations to mark the 16 June 1976 student uprising against the apartheid regime.

“We were not all oppressed the same. Indians had all sorts of resources Africans didn’t have. Coloureds [a reference to people of mixed race] as well. The majority of Indians are racist. I’m not saying all, I’m saying majority,” he told the crowd.

Just a few weeks ago, Mr Malema’s deputy, Floyd Shivambu, caused controversy when he launched an attack on Ismail Momoniat, a senior government civil servant and a former anti-apartheid activist of Indian descent. Mr Shivambu described him as “un-African”.

Some people have been threatening to take Mr Malema to the Human Rights Commission, a statutory body formed to protect the rights of all citizen.

They accuse Mr Malema of promoting hate speech. However, he has refused to apologise.

See earlier post for more details

Chioma Obianinwa
BBC Igbo, Lagos

Two people have been arrested in connection with last week's lynching of a traditional ruler, Igwe Steven Nwatu, in Nigeria's Enugu state, police have told BBC Igbo.

Those detained have been assisting the police with their investigations into the murder of Mr Nwatu, the traditional ruler of Ogbozinne Akpugo town, Enugu police spokesman Ebere Amaraizu said.

The state police chief had met other traditional rulers to assure them of their safety, he said.

Police have also been deployed to the town to ensure there is peace, Mr Amaraizu said.

Last week residents told BBC Igbo how frustrations over the ruler's authoritarian style, along with allegations of police corruption, ended in his death.

Ed Ram
BBC News, Tunis

Homosexuality is both illegal and widely considered to be unacceptable in Tunisia.

But since the 2011 revolution, activists have seen that standing up for their beliefs can result in change.

Now LGBT people are gaining confidence and are coming out of the shadows to push for equal rights.

"I was the first person to annoy people in the media and speak openly about LGBT issues in Tunisia on air," says Bouhdid Belhedi, director of Shams Rad.

In the Tunisian capital, Tunis, the 25-year-old shows us around an office space that has been converted into what he calls "the Arab world's first LGBT radio station".

It is low budget but professional, with enough space for seven contributors.

The corridors are painted in the colours of the LGBT rainbow flag.

Mr Belhedi says that six months after the station was set up, it has 10,000 listeners each week across 15 countries, and is streamed online and live via YouTube six days a week.

Read my full story here

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The Rwandan authorities have auctioned off assets from the family business of Diane Rwigara - a jailed critic of President Paul Kagame who was barred from running in last year's election.

She is facing a charge of forgery as well as inciting insurrection - a charge her mother is also in prison for.

The Rwanda Revenue Authority sold the machinery from the family's tobacco business for almost $2m (£1.5m) as it tries to recover around $7m it says is owed in tax arrears.

The family says the auction of the assets and all the charges are politically motivated.

She had planned to run against Mr Kagame in the 2017 elections, but was disqualified from doing so by the election commission.

Mr Kagame won the poll with 98.63% of the vote.

Alex Duval Smith
BBC West Africa correspondent

Image source, AFP

Malian migrant Mamoudou Gassama, who shot to worldwide fame last month when he scaled a building in Paris to save a toddler, says he is delighted to return to his native country for a visit.

"I am so happy. I am so very, very happy because everyone came to meet me at the airport and then I saw my father and I saw all the members of my family. I hadn't seen my father for nine years,'' he told BBC Afrique.

Mr Gassama, 22, crossed the Mediterranean on a migrant boat in September 2014. He joined his brother in France and worked on building sites.

On 26 May this year, he saw a toddler hanging from the balcony of a fourth-floor Paris apartment block.

He spontaneously scaled the building and saved the four-year-old. He was filmed by people down below and was dubbed "Spiderman".

‘’I wasn't afraid. I am like anyone else. Yes, I showed courage. It came from God. God saved me,’’ he said.

France's President Emmanuel Macron thanked Mr Gassama in person and promised he would receive French nationality.

Next week, he is due to start an internship with the prestigious Paris fire brigade.

‘’I have done the medical checks. I shall sign my contract on the 28th. Then I shall be in training for 10 months," Mr Gassama told BBC Afrique.

Mr Gassama, who comes from a village near Kayes in western Mali, is expected to remain in the country for three days and is due to meet President Ibrahim Boubakar Keita.

See earlier post for more details

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Two oil depots at Libya’s second most important terminal, Ras Lanuf, have been entirely destroyed after an attack by militias, leading to the loss of 400,000 barrels of oil, the Ras Lanuf Transportation Unit of the Harouge Oil Operations company has announced.

The news has been confirmed in a statement released by Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) on the "catastrophic losses at Ras Lanuf terminal".

The NOC warned that the damage could spread to other depots at Ras Lanuf, saying this would paralyse the facility entirely.

A striking image of a depot in flames has been released by the NOC on Twitter:

The NOC earlier called on the militants attacking the terminals to leave immediately, warning of catastrophic economic and environmental consequences.

See earlier post for more details

Young people in Kenyan schools are being taught self-defence and how to report sexual and physical attacks.

Young men are also taking part in the classes in order to create a culture of mutual respect.

Video journalist: Judith Wambare.

Image source, AFP

South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has found himself at the centre of a new race storm after he accused most Indians in the country of being racist.

“[The] majority of Indians hate Africans. The majority of Indians are racist, and we must never be scared to say that they are racist," Mr Malema said at a rally on Saturday.

“I’m not saying all Indians, I’m saying the majority of them,” he added.

Prominent radio show host Eusebius McKaiser hit back at Mr Malema today, external, saying: "It is grossly unacceptable and irresponsible and I hope you get punished at the polls for this kind of racism."

The chairperson of the South African Minority Rights Equality Movement, Daleep Lutchman, said the group would consider laying a complaint with police against Mr Malema for "going back to the apartheid system of classifying people by race", the IOL news site reports., external

Leading journalist Ferial Haffejee said she was concerned about the "EFF's new campaign against Indians".

"On Friday, Eid Day, a man on Twitter sent me a direct message saying I deserved a bullet and should just shut up. It's two of hundreds of online attacks that have happened after the anti-Indian campaign started," she wrote in a blog, external.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Malawi's former President Joyce Banda, who returned home in April after four years of self-imposed exile, says she intends to contest next year's election if chosen by the opposition People's Party.

In 2012, Mrs Banda became Malawi's first female president and only the second woman to lead a country in Africa.

She was voted out in 2014 after a multi-million dollar corruption scandal saw dozens of people arrested including government officials. She has denied all allegations of corruption.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC Africa, Bauchi

A massive fire is raging at the main market in the Nigerian town of Azare in northern Bauchi state, with dozens of shops - possibly more than 100 - burnt, according to eyewitnesses.

The blaze started at about midnight local time and some nine hours later, firemen are still struggling to extinguish it.

Goods, ranging from textiles to foodstuffs, have been destroyed in the fire.

The cause of the disaster is still not known.

Bauchi government spokesman Umar Ibrahim Sade told me that firemen are finding it difficult to put out the blaze because of poor access to the market's "nooks and crannies".

Photos of the fire have been put up on Twitter, with some residents calling on people to make dua (an Islamic term for supplication to God) for them.

Meanwhile, at least three people were killed and many others wounded in rain storms that swept through Bauchi city, Azare and several other towns in the state on Saturday.

Hundreds of homes and other buildings were damaged, and some even collapsed.

Families forced to flee their homes are now sheltering with relatives.

The authorities in Bauchi state say they are assessing the extent of the destruction with a view to assisting the victims.

Image source, AFP

Libya's National Oil Corporation has warned of an environmental disaster as two huge oil storage tanks, set ablaze during fighting, continue to burn at the eastern port of Ras Lanuf.

The corporation urged the immediate withdrawal of forces opposed to the Libyan military strongman, General Khalifa Haftar.

His self-styled Libyan National Army has controlled the oil-producing region, which is crucial to the country's economy, since 2016.

A rival militia, known as the Petroleum Facilities Guard, began its attack on Thursday.

The Libyan Red Crescent says at least 28 people have died in the clashes.

The Malian migrant, who dramatically rescued a small boy dangling from a balcony in Paris, is due to meet Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta later today.

Mamadou Gassam, dubbed "spiderman" for his daring rescue effort, had earlier returned to Mali to a hero's welcome, as this tweet shows:

He is expected to return to France to sign his employment contract with the fire department on 28 June.

Mr Gassamam, an illegal migrant, was given French citizenship and a fireman's job after he earned widespread praise for scaling four floors of an apartment block last month to rescue the four-year-old boy.

Mr Gassamam drew international attention after a video of the dramatic rescue went viral on social media:

Read: Mali 'Spiderman' is the superhero of our modern age

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