Image source, AFP

The US has ended sanctions imposed against Burundi six years ago, citing reforms in the country.

A US statement , external noted that President Joe Biden had revoked an executive order that authorised the sanctions.

It acknowledged last year’s elections that brought in President Évariste Ndayishimiye and the reforms he has pursued “across many sectors”.

“We recognise the progress made by President Ndayishimiye on addressing trafficking in persons, economic reforms, and combating corruption and encourage continued progress,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

The US Treasury’s deputy secretary, Wally Adeyemo, said in a separate statement, external that the US would continue to press Burundi “to improve the human rights situation in the country and hold accountable those responsible for violations and abuses”.

The US and the UN imposed sanctions against Burundi in 2015 - including visa restrictions and freezing of assets of key officials in government.

It came after the country descended into chaos after President Pierre Nkurunziza launched a bid for a third term in office – despite concerns over the legality of the move.

More than 1,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands of others fled the country in the ensuing violence.

Nkurunziza died last year weeks after the election of President Ndayishimiye, his preferred successor.

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The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, says there's a real risk of Ethiopia pulling apart if a diplomatic solution isn’t found.

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

Until then 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:

We leave you with a photo of a caretaker using leaf blower between two new bronze sculptures by South African artist Nandipha Mntambo in Johannesburg:

Image source, EPA

Charles Gitonga
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

The government of Djibouti says the year-long war in neighbouring Ethiopia has had a drastic impact on its economy.

Over 90% of Ethiopia's goods pass through the port of Djibouti and both nations have invested billions of dollars to build a trade corridor including a rail link.

Djibouti’s Finance Minister, Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, told the BBC that due to the conflict trade had reduced to about 20% of what it was. He said the country had lost $1.7bn (£1.3bn).

Tigrayan rebels have recently been trying to seize towns in the Afar region - a move that appears to be an effort to cut off Ethiopia's vital trade link with Djibouti.

Sheikh Muhammad Abas Kirevu was killed by security forces, who said he had been working with jihadists.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned the killing by the Sudanese security forces of at least 39 people since last month's military coup.

Michelle Bachelet said shooting into large crowds of unarmed demonstrators was deplorable.

She said it was aimed at stifling the expression of public dissent and amounted to a gross violation of international human rights law.

Her comments come a day after security forces shot at least 15 people dead in the capital Khartoum, where thousands had taken to the streets to condemn the coup.

The Afrobeats star shares what appear to be his bank details with his 10 million Twitter followers.

Azeezat Olaoluwa
Women’s affairs reporter, BBC News, Lagos

Image source, Getty Images

African girls are appealing to their leaders to guarantee their right to education and to protect them from early marriages.

They have been expressing their views at the African Girls Summit in Niger's capital, Niamey.

According to Aminata, who is at the summit, a lot more needs to be done for African girls.

"African governments must invest in educating the girl child, strengthen national mechanisms to facilitate responses to end harmful practices against African girls," she told the BBC.

Many girls are still subjected to harmful traditional practices across the continent and many are forced out of school due to pregnancy.

Gender activist Samuel Norgah called on governments to tackle "negative cultural and social norms that promote gender inequality and abuse of women and girls".

"Governments must align the minimum age and definition of a child at 18 years and ensure that any gender disparities are addressed in line with the state’s obligation to gender equality," she added.

Ameyu Etana
BBC Afaan Oromo

Five police officers have been arrested in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa for "misusing" the powers given to the security forces under a state of emergency declared to contain the threat posed by rebel forces, the city's police spokesman has told the BBC.

The officers were in negotiations with "brokers" trying to secure the release of detainees in exchange for money, Commander Fasika Fanta said.

The four "brokers" have also been arrested, he added.

It’s not clear whether they’ve appeared in court or what their response is to the accusations.

The commander said hundreds of illegal kalashnikov rifles and guns, police uniforms, money, Sim cards, fake IDs, and satellite phones had been seized in the past few days alone.

Image source, Addis Ababa Police

Ethiopia declared a state of emergency earlier this month after Tigrayan fighters from the north threatened to march on the capital.

Under the six-month emergency, the authorities have sweeping powers to arrest people, detain suspects without trial, and conduct house searches without warrants.

Human rights groups and the UN have expressed concerns about mass detentions. Police have been accused of arresting people based on their ethnicity, an allegation they deny.

They have not said how many people have been detained, and did not give details when asked by the BBC.

The UN says at least 1,000 people, mostly ethnic Tigrayans, have been arrested so far. Others put the number higher.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said on Thursday that more than 700 have been arrested in just one part of the capital.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

Image source, Reuters

Security forces in Uganda have shot dead a Muslim cleric whom they accuse of recruiting for an armed group linked to Tuesday's suicide bombings in the capital, Kampala.

Sheikh Muhammad Abas Kirevu was killed just outside Kampala. A manhunt is under way for another cleric, Sheikh Suleiman Nsubuga, who is allegedly behind the training, radicalisation, and supply of material to make improvised explosive devices to militants linked to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group, which is based in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The government has blamed an ADF cell for Tuesday's suicide bombings near parliament and the central police station in Kampala.

Three suicide bombers on motorbikes blew themselves up, killing three people and injuring more than 30.

Following the blasts, the security agencies have carried out a series of raids to break up so-called domestic terror cells of the ADF.

On Wednesday, four suspected ADF operatives were killed in the western Uganda district of Bundibugyo near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga, says they were part of a network with responsibility for recruitment and logistics in Kampala, Luweero north of the capital, as well as in the west of the country.

The group would reportedly cross between Uganda and DR Congo through undesignated border crossings in Ntoroko district. They are said to have been linked to the fifth most senior leader in the ADF.

Twenty-one suspects have been arrested in what the police say is an operation aimed at dismantling cells in Kampala and across the country.

A group of 13 was intercepted in Ntoroko, trying to cross the border into DRC, the police spokesperson added.

They included at least six women, several children, and infants.

The authorities have blamed these bomb attacks, and two of three attacks in October on the ADF, which first emerged in Uganda in the 1980s to fight President Yoweri Museveni's government.

A faction of the ADF, led by Musa Baluku, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group some years back

IS claimed responsibility for Tuesday attacks, and two of the three attacks in October.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Nigeria's government has welcomed the decision of the US to remove it from a list of countries where it is concerned about religious freedom.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed described the decision as justice and fair.

Nigeria jealously safeguards religious freedom, and takes any violations seriously, he added.

The US decision came ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's first visit to Nigeria on Thursday.

In April, the US government's Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that Nigeria remain on the list, citing "violence by militant Islamists and other non-state armed actors, as well as discrimination, arbitrary detentions, and capital blasphemy sentences by state authorities".

Doctors in Sudan say as many as fourteen people were shot dead on Wednesday by security forces as thousands took to the streets to protest against the recent military takeover. Activists had called for mass demonstrations to mark the day when a civilian was supposed to assume the leadership of the governing Sovereign Council. The man who led last month's coup, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, dismissed the government, arrested dozens of politicians and named himself the head of a new Sovereign Council.

Doctors in the capital Khartoum say tear gas has been fired inside hospital buildings and soldiers have prevented some of the wounded from being treated. Many arrests have taken place in neighbourhoods where the electricity had been switched off.

A protester who was out on the streets says the security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition, and that she was next to a twelve-year-old child who was shot. She says that in addition to the internet being down, landlines were also blocked, but that the diaspora outside Sudan has been organising the protests and keeping the protesters updated.

Photo: Sudanese protest against the military coup in Khartoum, Sudan, November 2021 Credit: EPA

Frenchman Didier Gomes Da Rosa will coach Mauritania at January's Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon.

Fans are excited as Peter and Paul reconcile on their joint birthday after a painful break-up.

Yasine Mohabuth
Port Louis, Mauritius

Image source, Government of Mauritius

Mauritus' first female chief justice has been sworn in.

Bibi Rehana Mungly-Gulbul, 61, was appointed to head the Supreme Court by the president following consultations with the prime minister. It is the highest court in Mauritius.

After studying law in England, she was called to the bar in 1983 in Wales. In the same year, she returned to Mauritius for private practice.

She succeeds Asraf Caunhye, who retired after 20 years in the Supreme Court.

Her deputy will also be a woman, Justice Nirmala Devat.

Among the 22 judges of the Supreme Court, 15 are women.

Husband and wife Chris and Susanna Naylor died with friend Miranda Harris in Port Elizabeth.

The mum has been granted full custody by British and Libyan courts, but the girls are still missing.

Remittances from Egyptians working abroad rose to $2.7bn (£1.78bn) in August, compared to $2.4bn in the same month last year, the central bank has said, Reuters news agency reports.

The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, has condemned the violence against pro-democracy protesters in Sudan and reiterated a call for the ousted prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, to be reinstated.

On Wednesday15 people were shot dead and dozens seriously wounded when security forces opened fire on large crowds demonstrating against last month's coup.

In a BBC interview Mr Blinken, who is on his first trip to Africa since taking office, called for political detainees to be released and said military leaders needed to listen to the voices in the streets of Sudan.

Funerals for the victims are due to be held in the next few hours.