Holders Algeria say Cameroon's tropical climate was a factor in their draw against Sierra Leone in their Africa Cup of Nations opener.

A freelance reporter for The New York Times newspaper is on trial in Zimbabwe after being charged with violating immigration laws by helping two colleagues get permission to work in the country in May 2021.

Jeffrey Moyo, a Zimbabwean, has denied the charge against him.

He faces up to 10 years in prison if the court in Bulawayo city finds him guilty.

The New York Times said Moyo was being put on trial on "a charge that even the government acknowledged at one point to be practically baseless, external".

The Zimbabwean authorities say the two of the paper's journalists, Christina Goldbaum and Joao Silva, were given visas on the strength of bogus papers, and they were deported shortly after the discovery.

Press freedom groups say the trial is a further attempt to intimidate the media:

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

At least two children and a woman were killed after a church collapsed during a service on Tuesday evening in Asaba, the capital of Nigeria's southern Delta state, police have confirmed to the BBC.

Rescue used an excavator until the early hours of Wednesday to dig through the rubble to find survivors.

Delta state police spokesman Bright Edafe said that 18 people, including children, had been rescued.

Eleven of them sustained injuries and were being treated in hospital, he added.

The building was reportedly being used for the first time. It is still unclear what caused it to collapse.

In November, more than 40 people died when a partially built block of luxury apartments collapsed in city of Lagos.

Construction experts say a lot of buildings cave in because of sub-standard material, negligence and the flouting of construction regulations.

Image source, Reuters

At least eight people have been killed in a bomb blast in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, rescue workers say

The Islamist militant group al-Shabab said it carried out the attack

The blast took place on a road by the entrance to a camp for the Somali Air Force which is close to the international airport.

Witnesses told the AFP news agency that a private security convoy, escorting foreigners, was passing by when the bomb exploded.

"The blast was so huge that it has destroyed most of the buildings nearby the road and vehicles passing by the area," Hassan Nur said.

"I saw several dead and wounded people strewn in the road," he added.

Comoros may have lost their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations match, but the occasion will always be savoured in the tiny islands in the Indian Ocean.

The item was "taken violently" by the British military during the Punitive Expedition in 1897.

Zimbabwe has introduced new prison uniforms in order to get "colonial historical injustices out of our minds", Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has said.

Male inmates will move from wearing white shirts and trousers to orange ones.

Female prisoner will change their green dresses for pink ones.

The minister said another benefit of the change was that the bright new colours would not get dirty as easily.

A local news outlet tweeted a photo of some prisoners modelling the new outfits:

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

A bomb has exploded in the Somali capital Mogadishu with reports that several people were killed.

The blast took place on a road by the entrance to a camp for the Somali Air Force which is close to the international airport.

Although it is not yet clear who was behind the attack, the Islamist militant group Al Shabab frequently carries out suicide bombings.

Somalia is also in the middle of a political crisis due to a power struggle between the president and prime minister ahead of elections.

Nigeria coach Augustine Eguavoen reveals how his side neutralised Egypt star Mohamed Salah to clinch an important win at the Africa Cup of Nations.

A prominent opposition lawmaker and barrister in Cameroon from the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) has been gunned in Bamenda city in the north-west.

Gunmen forced Senator Henry Kemende to get out of his car and then shot him in the chest, party communication secretary Denis Nkelemo told to BBC.

The motive for the killing is unclear, Mr Nkelemo added.

Bamenda is the main city English-speaking city in Cameroon, and at the centre of a political crisis that has led to armed conflict between separatists and the military.

According to the International Crisis Group, the fighting has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced about one million since 2017.

The separatists are opposed to what they see as domination by French-speaking Cameroonians.

Cameroon is currently hosting the Africa Cup of Nations, with the government assuring teams and spectators that they will be safe.

Mr Kemende's killing has been condemned by a rights group on Twitter:

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Reuters

The US State Department has warned Somali leaders against further delays to the indirect parliamentary elections and threatened to impose targeted sanctions, including visa restrictions.

The US asked the Somali leaders to adhere to the new election timeline and conclude the parliamentary election by 25 February.

This date was finalised following several days of meetings in Mogadishu between the Somali prime minister and leaders of regional administrations.

“We call on all of Somalia’s national and federal member state leaders to adhere to the newly agreed timeline and correct the procedural irregularities,” the US State Department said in a press statement., external

The indirect parliamentary elections started in November and were supposed to conclude by 24 December but have been marred by delays due to disputes.

Only a few dozen of the 275 seats in the lower house have been filled so far.

Shingai Nyoka
BBC News, Harare

Image source, AFP

The trial of Zimbabwean journalist Jeffery Moyo, who is charged with smuggling two of his colleagues into the country in May, is expected to begin in Bulawayo city.

Media groups say he was wrongly accused and should not face trial.

Mr Moyo, a freelance reporter for the New York Times, is accused of violating immigration laws.

The authorities say he procured false accreditation cards for his colleagues Christina Goldbaum and Joao Silva.

The two were allegedly given visas on the strength of bogus papers provided by an official from state’s media commission.

They were deported shortly after, the authorities say, on discovery that their accreditation was fake.

If convicted, Mr Moyo could face up to 10 years in jail.

His arrest has been widely criticised and media groups say it is evidence of the authorities’ paranoia about international media coverage.

Zimbabwe ranks very low on the media freedom index and journalists are still often attacked and arrested, according to Reporters Without Borders.

The grandson of one of Sierra Leone's last remaining World War Two veterans has paid a moving tribute to him, in an interview with BBC Focus on Africa radio.

Pa Samuel Sorie Sesay died at the age of 101 on Monday.

"He wasn't a king but he raised a royal family," John Konteh said.

Listen to his full interview with Bola Mosuro:

Three Gabonese football coaches are being probed over sexual abuse, according to a Fifa official cited by the AFP news agency.

The three were arrested and charged in December, local media report.

Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba termed the charges as very serious and called for investigations.

If found guilty the three coaches face a 30-year sentence. They have not commented about the case.

The coaches were at one time in charge of the country's under-17 national team.

Image source, Getty Images

Two people died and eight others are missing after a truck plunged into River Nile in Egypt.

The accident happened outside the capital Cairo when the truck was on board an unlicensed ferry.

Rescue operations have continued at the river. So far 14 survivors have been rescued, local media report.

The truck was carrying farm workers who were on their way from work.

Children were reported to have been on board with their parents.

The truck driver and three ferry workers have been arrested and the search for the owner of the ferry is ongoing.

Accidents on the River Nile are common and have mostly been attributed to the lack of adherence to set rules.

The Newsroom
BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

The UN is calling on the Tunisian authorities to either release or properly charge the country’s former justice minister.

Noureddine Bhiri has been detained after being taken away from his home on 31 December for suspected terrorism offences.

A second man was taken away and detained on the same day.

“We urge the authorities to either promptly release or properly charge these two men in accordance with due process standards for criminal proceedings,” said Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the UN human rights office, OHCHR.

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied suspended parliament last July and began ruling by decree in a move opponents branded as a coup.

Mr Bhiri, who initially went on hunger strike, remains in hospital under guard.

Nicolas Negoce
BBC News

Image source, AFP

The authorities in Burkina Faso have announced the arrest of eight soldiers who are accused of plotting a coup.

Among those arrested is Colonel Mohamed Emmanuel Zoungrana - a well-known former army commander who has reportedly been critical of the government.

The justice ministry on Tuesday said an investigation on the matter had begun.

The last coup in Burkina Faso took place seven years ago when a controversial military unit loyal to the ousted and exiled president, Blaise Compaoré, seized power.

The current leader, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, made significant changes to the government last month at a time while under pressure to counter frequent attacks by Islamist militants.

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Six of Seychelles' most prominent citizens face charges amid a government crackdown on corruption.

Guinea-Bissau miss a late penalty as they are held by Sudan in their Group D opener in the Africa Cup of Nations.