BBC World Service

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Three Eritrean's living in a refugee camp in Ethiopia's Tigray region were killed in an airstrike on Wednesday, the UN says.

Two of the dead were children.

Several other people were injured in the attack on the Mai Aini camp.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said refugees should never be a target.

He called on Ethiopian government forces and Tigrayan rebels to respect civilians.

Conflict in the region broke out in November 2020.

A selection of the best photos from across the African continent this week:

Maria Rose Belding explains how she started a US database to distribute unwanted food to the hungry.

Keisha Gitari
BBC News, Lagos

Image source, TWITTER/ PERRIE

The Lagos State government in Nigeria has ordered police to release the suspects held over the death of 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni Junior.

The suspects included five students and five members of the school’s staff.

The state government cited inadequate evidence to substantiate the allegations of murder against the students and negligence against the staff members.

It said it was acting on the advice of the director of public prosecution (DPP).

In a statement Sylvester’s family accused the state government of conspiracy.

He died last November after efforts to save his life failed.

He was allegedly attacked by five of his senior classmates for refusing to join a cult.

In December the state government ordered the closure of the school.

The family’s lawyer, Femi Falana, has called the decision “escapist and hasty” given that the chief coroner of Lagos State has ordered an inquest into the circumstances surrounding Sylvester’s death.

The inquest, which began last month, has been adjourned until 15 January.

A manhunt has been launched for three Chinese nationals who were abducted earlier this week, police in central Nigeria said.

The victims were working at a hydro-power plant near the town of Zungeru, according to the Niger state police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun.

Four Chinese workers were rescued, but two local staff were killed, he said.

He denied an eyewitness account that a criminal gang carried out the attack unchallenged.

When finished, the Zungeru power project is expected to be the second-largest of its kind in Nigeria.

Correspondents say kidnappings have been on the rise in the state.

Sudanese people have no option but to go out and demonstrate against the military, according to the spokesperson of the Sudanese Professionals Association.

"Our people decided to bring this coup down, and we will bring it down. We're still fighting for our freedom, peace and justice," Mohaned El-Nour told the BBC's Newsday programme.

See earlier post:Thousands protest

Nduka Orjinmo
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

The call for criminals ­- or bandits, as locals say - to be branded terrorists has been long and loud since they graduated from stealing cattle to downing a military jet.

The government has now officially designated them as "terrorists", after a high court in Abuja made a similar ruling about the gangs.

It is now left to be seen how much the new designation will affect the war against the criminals in Nigeria’s north-west and north-central states, but it changes how the military can fight them and what sort of weapons it can use. .

The Super Tucano jets received last year from the US could not previously be used against the bandits but now they can be.

The change in classification also makes it easier to prosecute the bandits for the myriad crimes they carry out - from the kidnapping of school children to the theft of cattle.

Suspects can simply be charged with terrorism, rather than different offences.

Communities and politicians that tacitly supported the bandits would now think twice of doing so, as they risked being linked to terror groups.

While most communities have been coerced into paying taxes to these criminals to ensure their survival, which in turn helped fund them, there is likely going to be less cooperation now.

It is also hoped that this designation would discourage people from getting into banditry in northern Nigeria.

Read more:

• Nigeria armed gangs declared terrorist groups

Peter Jegwa
Lilongwe, Malawi

Image source, TWITTER/ SKCHILIMA

The first Malawian woman to hold the position of First Lady, Anne Chidzira Muluzi, has been laid to rest.

Mrs Muluzi died of cancer at a hospital in Kenya on 28 December at the age of 69.

She was wife to Malawi’s second President, Bakili Muluzi, but was the first woman to hold the position of First Lady because Malawi’s first President, Hastings Banda was not married.

Banda lived with personal secretary Cecilia Kaedzamira for most of the 30 years he was Malawi’s president and gave her the title of Official Hostess.

The funeral ceremony was presided over by President Lazarus Chakwera, who granted the former First Lady a state funeral with full military honours at a primary school in her home village of Masula, just outside the capital, Lilongwe.

The late Anne Muluzi was very highly regarded for being a mother figure who preferred to take a back seat and not engage in partisan politics in a country where no less than three former First Ladies at some point served as parliamentarians.

Her funeral was a national event attended by leaders from different religious denominations and from across the political divide.

She is survived by a son, Atupele, who is president of the opposition United Democratic Front, a party his father led when he was Malawi's president between 1994 and 2004.

Ahmed Rouaba
BBC News

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Former Cameroon football star Roger Milla has angered football fans in North Africa after he accused the Maghreb countries of "always causing troubles" in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

Mr Milla suggested those countries should not compete in the African continent, in an interview with France's TV5 Monde.

"If you are not Africans then you should go and play in Europe, Asia or elsewhere," he said.

The former Indomitable Lion lashed out at the North African countries saying "we accepted them to play in the African continent".

There had been concerns about Cameroon's readiness to host the games, given they were due to stage the 2019 tournament but it had had to be moved to Egypt.

Egypt and Morocco have called for Afcon to be postponed.

Internet users in North Africa were shocked by the comments which some found "unnecessary" and "meaningless".

Egypt co-founded the African Football Confederation 1957 together with Sudan and Ethiopia.

Read more: Algeria and a question of identity: Who counts as African?

The hospital treating Surafeal in Ethiopia's Tigray region is also running out of food.

The body of a male hiker who is believed to have fallen at South Africa's Table Mountain has been recovered.

Fellow hikers reported the incident on Wednesday afternoon and the search for him started.

Authorities say the body was retrieved on Thursday morning with the help of a helicopter.

Police are investigating the incident.

Iwan Gwyn, 49, was living abroad when he was killed in the accident, his family confirms.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Thousands of people in Sudan have protested once more against military rule.

It follows the resignation of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Sunday.

In the capital Khartoum, the security services fired teargas at demonstrators near the presidential palace.

One protester was shot dead in demonstrations in the capital's twin city, Omdurman, according to the Central Committee of Doctors in Sudan.

There were also marches in other places, including Port Sudan, Atbara and Wad Madani.

Some bridges between Khartoum and the adjoining cities of Omdurman and Bahri were closed ahead of the rally.

Earlier, internet and mobile services were disrupted.

Sudan's armed forces, led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, staged a coup in October, triggering a wave of protests and international condemnation.

Efforts to resolve the crisis have so far failed.

Read more:

• Sudan coup: Sudan forces fire tear gas at protesters

Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tests positive for Covid-19 just four days before Gabon's first game at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News

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Ethiopia has dismissed accusations by a new Human Rights Watch report that said thousands of ethnic Tigrayans deported from Saudi Arabia were facing detention and forced disappearance upon arrival.

The accusations were described as "fabrications" by a government spokesperson.

The report is part of a concerted effort to put pressure on the government, Dina Mufti at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

“Human Rights Watch has several fictions about Ethiopia,” Mr Dina said. “This is one of those fictions.”

Rights groups have often accused authorities of profiling ethnic Tigrayans living in the capital Addis Ababa and other cities since war broke out 14 months ago in the northern part of the country.

Closures of businesses owned by Tigrayans and arbitrary detentions are some of the allegations raised against the government.

Read more: Mass arrests and ethnic profiling haunt Addis Ababa

Image source, Getty Images

Well-known Nollywood actor Jim Iyke has admitted to staging a viral fight with comedian and fellow actor Uche Maduagwu - to prove a point about social media.

Iyke made the admission during an interview with journalist Chude Jideonwo, external.

Following the revelation, behind-the-scenes clips have been posted in which Iyke says: “As you guys can see we all had fun doing this. It’s a skit - we designed it basically so that you guys will know that nothing that goes on social media is real."

Punch newspaper has tweeted some of the footage:

The fight, filmed in August 2021, showed the actors shouting aggressively, and they appeared to be getting into a physical altercation until some onlookers separated them.

“You think I won’t find you,” Iyke said menacingly to his staged adversary.

Maduagwu later yelled back: “I will sue you."

A few days prior to the fake fight, Maduagwu had trolled Iyke on social media over what he described as Iyke’s “expensive” lifestyle, according to local news sources.

In the latest revelations Iyke said he paid Maduagwu and they had “an understanding”.

There was even a script, he admitted.

The video of the fake fight emerged just as Iyke's new movie Bad Comments was premiering - a film about how the lives of celebrities can be affected by social media.

Image source, AFP

China will appoint a special envoy for the Horn of Africa to help tackle security challenges in the region.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the announcement on Thursday during a press conference in the Kenyan city of Mombasa.

"We will continue to play even a bigger role for peace and stability in the region," Mr Wang said.

The minister is on a tour of three countries in eastern Africa which began in Eritrea and concludes in the Indian Ocean island of Comoros.

On Wednesday, he condemned sanctions imposed on Eritrea, which has long been regarded as a pariah by Western powers. The US imposed sanctions on Eritrea last year over its involvement in the Ethiopia conflict.

The Chinese minister's tour to the region coincides with the visit by US special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, who is due to arrive in Ethiopia on Thursday to discuss the 14-month civil war in the northern part of the country.

The tree grows only in an African rainforest the actor and conservationist helped save from logging.

Nigeria will be without striker Odion Ighalo at the Africa Cup of Nations after club side Al Shabab refuse to release him.

Lalla Sy
BBC News, Abidjan

Image source, AFP

Ivorian ministers were prevented from attending a cabinet meeting on Wednesday after they failed to present Covid-19 test certificates.

Health officials announced on 31 December the mandatory presentation of Covid-19 tests before being allowed to large gatherings.

Wednesday’s cabinet meeting was the first of the year, and the absence of eight members of the government was noted.

According to Ivorian media, absentees included the minister of communication, Amadou Coulibaly, due to illness, and other government members who did not submit their Covid test results to have access to the council room.

At the beginning of the meeting, President Alassane Ouattara expressed concern over the rising number of Covid cases.

Ivory Coast has registered more than 75,000 Covid cases and 727 related deaths since the beginning pandemic two years ago.