BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Prosecutors in Sudan say security guards at the residence of the former intelligence chief, Salah Ghosh, have prevented police from arresting him.

They say they were denied entry, despite having an arrest warrant issued by the anti-corruption authorities.

Mr Ghosh resigned as head of the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Service shortly after the army ousted President Omar al-Bashir last month.

The agency is accused of killing dozens of people and injuring many more while trying to suppress anti-government protests.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The UN envoy to Libya has warned that fighting on the edge of the capital, Tripoli, marks the "start of a long and bloody war".

Ghassan Salamé told the UN Security Council that, unless the flow of arms to the country was stopped, there could be a descent into what he called an "all-against-all" state of chaos.

Mr Salamé said the conflict would threaten Libya's neighbours, and the wider Mediterranean region.

The battle for Tripoli began last month when the military strongman, Khalifa Haftar - who's backed by Egypt and the UAE - launched an offensive.

General Haftar controls a swathe of territory in the east of Libya and is trying to seize the capital, Tripoli.

He is being confronted by militias loosely aligned with the UN-backed government, based in the capital.

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Ahmed Rouaba
BBC News

Image source, AFP

The protesters who were instrumental in bringing about the resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika as Algeria's president last month are now threatening to boycott the country's presidential elections.

The demonstrators remain unhappy that allies of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was in power for 20 years, are organising the polls.

On Friday, they held protests and renewed their call for interim President Abdelkader Bensalah and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui to resign.

Dozens of mayors also marched through the capital, Algiers, last weekend in support of the protesters, rejecting moves to go ahead with the presidential elections, which are scheduled to take place on 4 July.

The Constitutional Council has so far received 73 presidential candidate applications, according to the government.

To make it on to the ballot, a candidate has to provide the endorsement of 60,000 voters by 25 May so it is not clear if all 73 applicants will qualify.

Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi, a former foreign minister, high-profile human rights lawyer Ali Yahia Abdennour and Rachid Benyelles, a retired general, issued a joint statement over the weekend calling on the military to start a “frank and honest” dialogue with the protesters.

But army chief of staff Gen Ahmed Gaid Salah, the de facto man in charge, was quoted on Monday by a local TV as saying that the electoral timeline had to be respected to avoid a power vacuum.

• Read: How Algeria's military sacrificed a president to keep power

Image source, Getty Images

Caster Semenya will race in the 3,000m at the Diamond League Prefontaine Classic on 30 June, a distance she can compete at without having to lower her testosterone levels.

Under new IAAF rules, the double 800m Olympic champion can run in events from 400m to the mile by taking medication.

South African Semenya, 28, has said she will not take medication to comply with the rules.

The race will be her first since the rules came into effect on 8 May.

• Read the full story here

Shingai Nyoka
BBC Africa, Harare

For the second time in four months, the authorities in Zimbabwe have raised the price of fuel.

In January 2019, there were violent protests in the country's biggest cities when petrol prices more than doubled, making them the most expensive in the world.

This time around, prices have have been hiked up by a further 50%.

Authorities say they have simply removed fuel subsidies as Zimbabwe struggles to source foreign currency to pay for fuel and electricity imports.

In a tweet, Ministry of Finance official George Guvamatanga said the government has reduced the tax to be paid on fuel to avoid higher price rises.

For the majority of Zimbabweans whose salaries have not kept up with inflation, this means food and transport costs will become even more difficult to meet.

When President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over power in 2017, he promised a new era of prosperity.

Many here now fear a return to the dark years under the former leader Robert Mugabe.

Image source, AFP

The Malawi Electoral Support Network (MESN), a network of civil society organisations working on governance and elections, has released early data on Tuesday's vote that indicates most polling stations opened slightly later than planned.

According to MESN, only 38% of polling stations were open by 06:00 local time (04:00GMT) while 97% were open by 07:00 local time. Polls were due to have opened at 06:00 local time nationwide.

The BBC's Emmanuel Igunza in the city of Blantyre says crowds voiced their frustration at election officials when a polling station there opened half an hour late.

The presidential election has been described as the most unpredictable yet since the country emerged from authoritarian rule in 1994.

Image source, Rob Wilson/BBC

Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC Africa, Kampala

Uganda’s police plan to use radio appeals to identify the victims of a so-called "miracle cure", made from industrial bleach. The dangerous substance, marketed as Miracle Mineral Solution, is believed to have been supplied through a network of Pentecostal churches in western Uganda.

According to an article published by the UK’s Guardian newspaper, external, tens of thousands of Ugandans may have taken the chemical under the illusion that it could treat diseases like malaria, cancer and even HIV/Aids.

Ugandan authorities say they are looking for an American pastor accused of distributing the chemical. However, the US embassy in Kampala says it does not believe the cleric is in the country, and it is not clear how Ugandan authorities would reach him for questioning.

The embassy has condemned the sale of the so-called miracle drug. Pentecostal churches selling so-called "miracle cures" are popular in Uganda but they are rarely investigated.

Image source, https://g2sacraments.org/

A man has been arrested in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, over links to an activist group calling for the removal of President Salva Kiir, according to the Amsterdam-based Radio Tamazuj website.

Youth activists recently launched an online campaign, dubbed the Red Card Movement, calling for demonstrations in Juba against the government.

A family member of the arrested man told Radio Tamazuj that the government should either release him, or take him to court.

It is commonplace for perceived critics of South Sudan's government to be arbitrarily arrested and detained in unofficial National Security Service (NSS) facilities, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Last month, a UN report concluded, external that two prominent critics of the government - Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey Idri - who vanished in Kenya in January 2017 were likely to have been killed by South Sudan NSS agents.

Heavy rain in Ghana's capital, Accra, on Monday has caused flooding in parts of the city, including a newly built section of the main airport.

Disappointed social media users have been sharing this video of staff mopping the floor at Terminal 3 of Kotoka International Airport, which opened eight months ago:

Many people are questioning why the structure wasn't able to withstand the downpour.

Flooding is a recurrent problem in the capital and residents say not enough is being done to keep them safe.

Last month, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly said storm drains would be cleared to allow floodwater to pass through more easily after five people were killed in the city.

The Ghana Meteorological Agency previously warned that southern Ghana would experience heavy rainfall and strong winds.

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC Africa, Lusaka

Image source, Getty Images

The Zambian government says it has no plans to re-introduce exchange controls in a bid to stop the plummeting value of the local currency against major convertible currencies.

The Zambian kwacha has hit its lowest level against the US dollar since November 2015, making it Africa’s worst-performing currency.

Following its poor performance, speculation has been rife that the government may look to reintroduce exchange controls as a mitigating measure.

However, Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe said in a statement that she wished to "assure both local and foreign investors, businesses, and the general public, and categorically state that the government is not about [to] and will not re-introduce exchange controls".

The statement said the government had received reports of "unscrupulous persons" spreading false information implying that exchange controls are about to be re-introduced in Zambia, and "that foreign currency accounts held in our banking system will be converted into kwacha".

Ms Mwanakatwe said her government remains committed to maintaining the current “flexible exchange rate regime". Zambia, which relies on mining as the main economic activity, has also experienced upheavals in that sector.

Teklemariam Bekit
BBC Tigrinya

A veteran soldier who fought the one-party Derg regime in Ethiopia now lives in poverty in the northern city of Mekelle.

Birha Asebha is forced to sell roasted grains and peanuts on the streets of Mekelle, with all her attempts to find a job unsuccessful.

Ms Birha was a soldier in the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which overthrew the Derg regime in 1991 and was the main party in the government until Abiy Ahmed was elected prime minister in April 2018.

After the conflict ended, Ms Birha was among the thousands of soldiers who were demobilised.

She said that she was left on her own to readjust to civilian life, receiving only $70 (£55) a month - not enough to support her two children.

Then Ms Birha decided to return to school to acquire more skills to improve her life.

She completed high school and, on top of that, she managed to obtain a diploma in language and a bachelor degree in management in 2014.

Thereafter, she got a job with Tigray Region state revenue development authority earning about $205 a month.

Once her living standards improved, Ms Birha said she set up an association to help other women veterans - many of whom were involved in brewing local drinks and were living in abject poverty.

The association grew to about 300 members, who provided vital support and care for each other.

Then suddenly, Ms Birha says, the TPLF ordered the women to stop their activities and disband the association.

When the women asked for reasons for their closure, they did not receive a satisfactory answer, Ms Birha said.

When she resisted, the party brought charges against her, accusing her of embezzling $10,000.

She was cleared by a court of what she calls "unfounded" charges.

But Ms Birha says since her court victory, she has not been able to find a meaningful job in the TPLF-controlled region, leaving her with no choice but to sell roasted gains and peanuts in the street.

Image source, Getty Images

Pregnant women in north-western Tanzania who do not give birth in health facilities are being fined between $9 (£7) and $22 (£17), privately owned newspaper The Citizen reports., external

The paper says the women are forced to pay the fine when they visit medical centres for other services, like vaccinations for their children, in Kibondo district in Kigoma region.

"Our wives are fined between 20,000 Tanzanian shillings ($9) and 50,000 shillings ($22) when visiting dispensaries for other services after giving birth at home. This is unacceptable," Nicolaus Sabuni, a resident of Kibondo, is quoted as saying.

The Citizen says Kibondo district acting chief medical officer Innocent Sunamie said he had ordered officials to stop fining women or face action.

After decades of battling with environmental degradation from oil spills, the Ogoni people in Nigeria’s oil rich region of Niger Delta have won an apparent environmental victory.

The federal government says it will commence a clean-up of the area.

Mr Nnimmo Bassey is a Nigerian environmentalist from the region who for years has been campaigning for action.

He told BBC Newsday's Alan Kasujja:

Listen to the interview below:

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Image source, Getty Images

Journalists in Nigeria are opposing new rules that restrict the accreditation of reporters covering parliament, local media reports say.

Parliament wants media houses to provide copies of two year's worth of income tax returns for journalists who want to be accredited, reports the Vanguard newspaper, external.

The Guild of Editors termed the rules, set to come into effect next month, as "primitive, undemocratic and blatantly anti-press and anti-people".

The Punch newspaper , externalsays parliament also wants media houses to provide proof of incorporation of the organisation, that their members belong to professional bodies, and have an operation bureau in the capital, Abuja, with no less than five journalists.

The paper adds that the guidelines require that print media have a daily circulation rate of at least 40,000 copies and proof of 50,000 daily views for online media.

"These guidelines run contrary to the grains of reason, democratic ideals and they are a clear affront on the letter and spirit of the Nigerian constitution which empowers journalists to freely practice their profession without any gag, muzzling and restriction," Nigeria's Guild of Editors was quoted as saying.

Others also opposed to the rules are the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Nigerian Union of Journalists.

Rob Wilson
BBC Focus on Africa radio, Lilongwe

Voters in Malawi are going to the polls to elect a new president. With high levels of poverty, the economy has been a big issue.

This young mother in the rural Lilongwe Msozi North Constituency says she's voting so her one-year-old baby can have a better future:

Malawi's Vice-President Saulos Chilima says his name was not on the voter register on Tuesday morning, but was able to cast his ballot after a few phone calls to fix the matter.

He is running for the UTM party against his boss - the president.

Mr Chilima, who is 46, left President Peter Mutharika's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) last year after he fell out with Mr Mutharika after his fitness to run for office, at the age of 78, was questioned.

• Read more about Malawi's elections

The head of Transparency International in Kenya has told BBC Newsday that fake-gold scammers have been mentioning the names of influential people in government for "believability".

Samuel Kimeu told BBC Newsday that the biggest scandal so far - involving about four tonnes of gold - was successful because fraudsters conned their targets into believing high-profile people were part of their scheme by dropping their names into conversation.

Conmen attempted to trick the ruler of Dubai - Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum - by selling fake gold to his representatives.

President Uhuru Kenyatta had reportedly demanded action in finding the scammers after Dubai's ruler talked to him.

The head of Kenya Directorate of Criminal Investigations has advised diplomats to warn their citizens about the fraud.

Three Somali government officials have been turned away at Kenya's biggest airport in Nairobi for not having visas, privately owned newspaper Daily Nation reports., external

The paper says the senior officials were coming to the Kenyan capital to attend the unveiling of a European Union-sponsored cross-border conflict management programme when they were denied entry despite being holders of diplomatic passports,

Kenya Civil Aviation Authority boss Gilbert Kibe told the Daily Nation the decision was taken for security reasons.

The three are Junior Minister of Water and Energy Osman Libah and lawmakers Ilyas Ali Hassan and Zamzam Dahir.

Somali officials said immigration officers at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport told them they should have acquired visas at the Kenyan embassy in Somalia's capital Mogadishu before embarking on their journey.

Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra is in Ethiopian capital where she says she has been impressed with by Ethiopian's dancing skills.

In a video posted on her Instagram account, the Indian actress is escorted by a young woman to a stage and copies her moves.

The distinctive shoulder dance they are doing in front of a live band in Addis Ababa is called the Eskista:

The 36-year-old said that though she was "terrible" at it, the experience had bonded her with the Horn of Africa country.

"Dance is such an important part of Ethiopian culture. Wherever I have been so far... even though we don’t speak each other’s languages... the joy that has been shared through dance has bonded me with this amazing country forever," she said.

Chopra arrived in Ethiopia on Monday to promote a Unicef education programme.

Two women who do sex work on the streets of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, tell their stories.

Charity groups say they have seen a rise in the number of young girls working in the sex trade in the West African country since the Ebola outbreak ended at the beginning of 2016.

More than 8,700 people were killed in Sierra Leone during the outbreak, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).