Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble has declared a state of emergency in the wake of the country's worsening drought.

The declaration came after the prime minister chaired an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

He called on the Somali people and the international community to help those affected by the drought.

Severe drought has hit several regions in the country, putting people and animals in dire straits. In some areas, it has killed some people as well as livestock.

The UN says the drought has been worsened by rains failing for the third time since late 2020.

Some 3.5 million Somalis are already facing acute food insecurity, according to the UN.

Kate Mitchell, who was found dead in Kenya, dedicated herself to helping others, her brother says.

Image source, Getty Images

Malawi's agriculture ministry has written to former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to be the ambassador for the country's cannabis crop.

Minister Lobin Lowe said the legalisation of cannabis last year in Malawi had created opportunities locally and internationally.

The ministry said the United States Cannabis Association was facilitating the deal with Tyson.

"Malawi may not go it alone as the industry is complex requiring collaboration. I would therefore like to appoint you, Mr Mike Tyson, as Malawi’s Cannabis Branch ambassador," Mr Lowe wrote.

Tyson is also an entrepreneur and has invested in a cannabis farm.

Local media reported that Tyson was expected in Malawi last week but his visit was postponed.

Malawian cannabis, particularly the strain known as Malawi Gold, is considered by recreational smokers as one of the finest.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News

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Ethiopian Olympic legend Haile Gebrselassie has said he is ready to to go to the battle front, just a day after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced he was joining the fight against rebel forces from the northern region of Tigray.

Distance runner Feyisa Lilesa also said he was ready to fight. He became famous for his protest at the 2016 Rio Olympics for crossing his wrists over his head - a sign showing anger against how the government was treating the Oromo people.

Several high-profile Ethiopians have made similar announcements as fighting intensifies and rebels saying they are advancing towards the capital Addis Ababa.

This comes as photographs emerged online of Mr Abiy heading out to war dressed in military fatigues in a convoy surrounded by special forces.

It’s not clear if the PM has already joined the fighting as the BBC can't independently verify the photographs.

Mediations being led by African Union’s envoy, Olusegun Obasanjo, have yielded little progress.

On Tuesday, US envoy to the region, Jeffrey Feltman, warned that tentative diplomatic progress towards ending the conflict was being jeopardised by alarming developments on the ground.

The year-long conflict has led to a humanitarian crisis, with thousands of people killed, millions displaced and hundreds of thousands facing famine-like conditions.

Several countries including the US, France and Turkey have asked their nationals to leave the country immediately.

Clarification: This story has been updated to better reflect Gebrselassie's comments

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An ex-fighter tells the BBC how the ADF, an IS affiliate, has been able to strike at Uganda's heart.

Plymouth boss Ryan Lowe hopes defender Brendan Galloway will not be out for too long after dislocating his kneecap.

Germany and France are the latest countries to advise citizens to leave, as the UN relocates staff.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now. We'll be back on Wednesday morning Nairobi time.

Until then there will be an automated service and you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website , or listen to our podcasts Africa Today and The Comb.

A reminder of our African proverb of the day:

And we leave you with this picture of nonchalance as captured on the streets of Uganda's capital, Kampala:

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa has warned an escalation of the fighting in Ethiopia is threatening any progress towards negotiating a ceasefire.

Following a visit to Ethiopia, Jeffrey Feltman said both Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) seemed to believe they were on the cusp of military victory.

Mr Feltman warned that if the Tigrayan rebels moved on the capital, Addis Ababa, it would be unacceptable and catastrophic.

With the TPLF saying its fighters are advancing, France and Germany are the latest countries to advise citizens to leave Ethiopia as soon as possible.

The US and UK have issued similar advisories recently and the UN has begun evacuating some international staff and their families.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The UN says more children are being recruited into armed conflict in West and Central Africa than anywhere else in the world.

The UN children's agency, Unicef, found more than 20,000 children had joined armed groups over the last five years.

It says children are used as fighters as well as messengers, spies, cooks, cleaners, guards and porters in countries from Mali to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

West and Central Africa also had the highest number of child victims of sexual violence in the world and the second highest number of abductions.

The region has several ongoing armed conflicts including Islamist insurgencies and separatist wars.

Unicef is calling for increased support for efforts to prevent and respond to grave violations against children.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

The authorities in Mozambique's central Sofala province want to resume the collection of crocodile eggs from the banks of the mighty Zambezi River in order to curb the population of the reptiles - and thus prevent attacks on people.

The collection of the eggs was stopped nearly two years ago. The crocodile population has almost doubled since then, and nine people have already been attacked.

However, some environmental organisations have criticised the plan, saying it could biodiversity at risk.

Jonathan Paye-Layleh
BBC News, Monrovia

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Liberia's small US-trained army is recruiting an additional 200 personnel to beef up its strength - half of whom would be women in terms of a new policy aimed at achieving gender equality.

The number of female applicants was extremely high, with more than 7,000 turning up on Monday at a military barrack in the capital, Monrovia, for pre-recruitment physical training.

Army chief Gen Prince C. Johnson told the BBC that fitness training was being organised for women from the Monrovia area because research showed they were less fit than women from rural areas.

Rural women on the other hand, he said, did not do so well when it came to meeting the academic requirements for recruitment, and needed help in that area, he said.

An applicant must be at least a high school graduate or possess some vocational training to qualify for enlistment.

Besides their desire to serve in the army, many women see this an opportunity to overcome high levels of unemployment.

Liberia is still recovering from a civil war which ended almost 20 years ago.

Around 250,000 people were killed in the conflict.

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon and her compatriot Eliud Kipchoge as well as Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei are all on the final shortlists for the World Athlete of the Year awards.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Getty Images

South African Airways (SAA) says it will stop its daily return flights from Mozambique's capital, Maputo, because of low passenger numbers.

"Demand on this service has not met expectations and for the time being this change is in line with our strategy of being a transparent management and fiscally responsible,” SAA said in a statement.

It’s also cancelling flights, particularly during the festive season, to other African countries, including Ghana and Zambia.

Abiy Ahmed has said he will go to the front line to face Tigrayan rebels in the country's civil war.

Sudanese asylum seeker Mustafa Dawood suffered fatal head injuries after fleeing immigration officers.

Vumani Mkhize
BBC Africa Business

Image source, Getty Images

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta is on a two-day official visit to South Africa, where he has held talks with his host Cyril Ramaphosa on a wide range of issues.

On the thorny issue of visas, which are seen as onerous to Kenyans, President Ramaphosa said he would form a team to look into the issues raised by East African travellers.

Last year South Africa exported $480m ($358m) worth of goods to Kenya, while only importing $20m.

The two presidents resolved to address this trade imbalance and Mr Ramaphosa said any unnecessary trade barriers would be removed. He added that he wanted to see more Kenyan products in South Africa.

Tomorrow President Kenyatta will visit a vaccine manufacturing facility. He has criticised the "hoarding" of vaccines by the West and called for Africa to make its own vaccines.

Image source, Getty Images

Residents in rebel-controlled areas in Ethiopia's Amhara region have not been receiving aid from international agencies, a spokesman for the regional government's disaster relief agency has said.

“Innocent people are dying due to lack of food and medicine in these areas,” Iyasu Mesfin told BBC Amharic.

"We call on international aid agencies to move beyond discriminatory practices and deliver food and medicine to the people who are in need,” he added.

However, the UN's World Food Programme said it had embarked on a major drive to deliver food aid to more than 450,000 people in the towns of Kombolcha and Dessie, despite the looting of its warehouses there, AFP news agency reports.

Both towns are in Amhara. TPLF rebels from the neighbouring region of Tigray recently took control of them after heavy fighting. They are on the road to the capital, Addis Ababa.

A few weeks ago local officials in Amhara said that at least 11 people had died of starvation in the region's Wag Himra administration zone.

Mr Iyasu said that five million people were in need of help in TPLF-held areas.

A UN agency, Ocha, said last week that $40m (£29.9m) had been allocated to provide assistance to those in need in northern Ethiopia.

More on the conflict:

• Why Facebook and Twitter are under fire in Ethiopia

Italian club Napoli say Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen will be out for three months, ruling him out of the Africa Cup of Nations.