The house of Sierra Leone forward Kei Kamara is under police protection after the striker's critical penalty miss against Equatorial Guinea.

Image source, AFP

A state ceremony has been held in Mali for the former president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, who died last week, less than two years after being ousted in a coup.

It was not broadcast on national television.

The country's interim prime minister, Choguel Kokalla Maïga, attended the event in a military camp in the capital Bamako.

The former leader known as IBK - who was 76 - was then buried after a family ceremony at his home.

Mr Keïta was overthrown following widespread protests at the government's failure to improve the economy and stop violence by Islamist militants.

Mali's military leaders are under increasing pressure to leave power and hold elections.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

At least two people have been killed on the outskirts of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa when security forces fired tear gas and live bullets at crowds attending a religious event.

Followers of the Orthodox Church - the most widely practised faith in the country - were observing part of the Epiphany celebrations on Thursday when clashes broke out with youths from the neighbouring Oromia region.

The number of casualities could increase as witnesses say some people are unaccounted for.

The government has vowed to ensure those behind the violence are prosecuted.

The Epiphany festival, known in Ethiopia as Timket, has continued with a heavy security presence. The event has Unesco's World Heritage status.

Peter Mwangangi
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has banned the sale of scrap metal in the country.

The immediate ban comes amid an effort to end what the government says are "rising cases of vandalism of key public installations".

It will be in force until the government puts in place a framework to regulate the sourcing, trade and export of scrap metal.

Kenya was last week plunged into a national blackout, its worst in recent years, with initial findings linking it to vandalism of high-voltage lines in the capital Nairobi.

Nine senior managers of the state electricity distributor Kenya Power and Lighting Company have been arrested and arraigned in connection with the power outage.

Kenya has been witnessing increased vandalism of key infrastructure, including railway tracks, communication masts and electricity transmission lines.

Mr Kenyatta says destruction of key infrastructure is a treasonable act as it amounts to economic sabotage.

It is not the first time the president has issued a warning on the matter.

While launching the new standard gauge railway in 2017, Mr Kenyatta said he would approve the execution of anyone sentenced to death for destroying the multibillion-dollar infrastructure project funded from Chinese loans.

Read more: Was Kenya blackout caused by sabotage?

Hanifa Abubakar was allegedly kidnapped for ransom and then killed by the owner of her school.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

The detained Ugandan writer, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, has appeared in court via video link and applied for bail.

NTV Uganda tweeted a screengrab of his video appearance:

Earlier this month the award-winning author was charged with two counts of offensive communication after making unflattering remarks on Twitter about President Yoweri Museveni and his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba, a commander in the army, who the author called "obese".

Mr Rukirabashaija's lawyers applied for bail on medical grounds and say that he has been tortured.

The prison authorities say that injuries on Mr Rukirabashaija's body were sustained before he was transferred into their custody.

His bail hearing is set for next week.

Human rights organisations and diplomats have been calling for the writer to be released.

The novelist had been kept in detention by security forces since his arrest in December.

Mr Rukirabashaija won the PEN Printer International Writer of Courage prize in 2021 for his novel The Greedy Barbarian, which centres on gross corruption in a fictional country.

BBC World Service

At least four people have drowned off the coast of Tunisia as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

A Tunisian army spokesman said 21 others were rescued.

Tunisia is a major transit point for migrants trying to reach Europe.

According to the UN High Commission for Refugees more than 2,500 people died or went missing last year attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

Related stories:

• What a Greek tragedy teaches us about modern migration
• Why two parts of Africa are still in Spanish hands

Peter Mwai
BBC Reality Check

Twitter has confirmed to the BBC that it has suspended a number of accounts focusing on the conflict in Ethiopia for violating its rules.

Although Twitter did not give an exact figure, pro-Tigrayan users estimated the affected accounts could number in the hundreds.

The social media company told the BBC it had taken this action for "violations of the Twitter rules, including engaging in hashtag and mention spam" – where specific hashtags and Twitter handles are repeatedly included in tweets.

"This is in line with our continued efforts to protect the safety of the conversation on Twitter related to the ongoing situation in Ethiopia."

Some vocal Twitter accounts which back Tigrayan forces fighting the Ethiopian government have been complaining of losing hundreds of followers, while others complained of their friends having been suspended from the platform:

Image source, Twitter

Image source, Twitter

While most of the affected accounts appear to be pro-Tigrayan, Twitter said it enforces its rules "objectively on content and accounts – we remain neutral to political identity and ideology".

Affected accounts can appeal against the decision.

In recent months, social media companies have come under fire over what critics have been saying is their inaction over use of their platforms to spread hate and incitement.

In November last year, Twitter temporarily disabled its Trends function for Ethiopia which is meant to show the topics that are most popular at any given time.

Related stories:

• What are Facebook and Twitter doing about hate speech in Ethiopia?
• How Nigeria succeeded in clipping Twitter's wings

Officials fear the death toll from a huge explosion near a mining town in south-western Ghana will grow much higher than the 17 people accounted for.

Police say a vehicle carrying mining explosives collided with a motorcycle near the town of Bogoso. Images shared by local media showed a large plume of black smoke rising above destroyed buildings and scattered debris as residents call for help.

Graphic videos showed mutilated bodies of victims. A large crater can also be seen beside a road.

Joy FM journalist, Mapitso Sebidi, told Newsday 500 houses have been destroyed.

“The entire community is gone,” she said.

(Pic: Wreckage after a massive explosion in the rural town of Bogoso, in Ghana; Credit: BBC)

Firefighters and paramedics are at the scene of a building on fire in Durban, South Africa, where a number of people are reportedly trapped inside.

"At this stage it is confirmed that as many as four people are stuck in the building,” Emer-G-Med spokesperson Kyle van Reenen told TimesLive, external.

So far 13 people have been rescued from the blaze, paramedics told the IOL news site, external. Local media report that one person is being treated for injuries.

It's not yet known what caused the fire. Footage shared online shows large clouds of smoke coming from the building:

The "false banana" is a close cousin of the banana that could have a huge potential for food security in Africa and further afield. Its Ethiopian name is "enset" and has been used for ages in southern parts the country.

Scientists there, working in partnership with the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew in the UK, believe the staple has a huge potential and they are now working on a plan to grow this crop on a much bigger scale.

James Borrell from Kew Gardens, who was involved in the research, told Newsday it could be used as a buffer to food insecurity events.

“We’ve been trying to understand what is the potential for it to be grown at least more widely in Ethiopia to help support the food security of more people and perhaps elsewhere at some point in the future too. What we’re excited about enset is it can be this emergency food. It has amazing properties: it’s perennial… and just keeps growing.”

(Pic: Enset fruit; Credit: RBG Kew)

DJ Edu
Presenter of This Is Africa on BBC World Service

Image source, Courtesy

Tanzanian singer Ben Pol has taken up climate activism and is very conscious of his role as an influencer.

Ben Pol is best known for his RnB influenced music. He has dropped five albums and collaborated with artists including Joeboy from Nigeria and King Kaka from Kenya.

But when I caught up with him he was in Egypt attending the World Youth Forum.

Impressive stuff, but what about African artists’ own behaviour?

As role models in the context of climate change, should they be thinking twice about all the conspicuous consumption, the designer clothes and jewellery, the videos featuring smart cars and luxury yachts, the private planes?

I asked the question more than once, but Ben Pol wouldn’t be drawn into criticising his fellow musicians.

Ben Pol has used his influence in constructive ways for other causes too.

For the video of his popular love song Sophia, he cast a woman with albinism as the love interest. It was an important statement in a country where people with albinism have been murdered and mutilated because of erroneous beliefs about the magical properties of their body parts.

Ben Pol’s latest song is an amapiano number designed for the club: Amapiano Beer is, not surprisingly, all about beer.

I couldn’t help asking if it was appropriate for a conscious ambassador like himself to be seeming to promote alcohol, which, as we know, creates big problems around the world.

You can hear DJ Edu’s conversation with Ben Pol on This is Africa this Saturday, on BBC World Service radio and partner stations across Africa, as well as online here.

Faisal Abdullahi
BBC Monitoring

The breakaway republic of Somaliland has warned the federal government of Somalia against meddling in its internal affairs and hindering its struggle for recognition.

The Somaliland cabinet said interference would only create hostilities between them.

The statement came after Somalia’s minister of planning, Jamal Mohamed Hassan, reacted strongly to a tweet from Gavin Williamson, external, a member of the UK parliament who tabled a motion on Somaliland's independence.

UK Minister for Africa Vicky Ford has said, external "it is for Somaliland and federal government of Somalia to decide their future".

Somaliland, which lies on the coast of the Gulf of Aden, declared unilateral independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991.

It has not been recognised internationally - but has a working political system, government institutions, a police force and its own currency.

Read more:

• A quick guide to Somaliland
• The unrecognised nation where 15-year-olds vote

With two major shocks and several talking points, what have we learned from the Africa Cup of Nations group stages?

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, AFP

Mozambique has set up more teams to help in the search for six missing people after a vessel sank in the River Zambezi earlier this week in the western province of Tete.

The teams are drawn from the national disaster organisation, the maritime administration, marine forces and local fishermen.

It came after a search and rescue team was unable to locate the missing people for a couple of days because of the strong currents in the big river.

On Thursday, the search spread to other districts in Tete and the central Sofala province.

An official appealed to fishermen and people living downstream to report to the authorities in case they find bodies in the river.

Anne Soy
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

The UK’s Minister for Africa Vicky Ford has met Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and called for an end to the conflict in the country.

In the last stop of her visit to eastern Africa, the minister urged the warring sides to engage with the African Union-led mediation and expressed support for a peace process.

She announced funding worth more than $12m (£9m) to support people affected by the war.

The UK minister said she welcomed the release of political prisoners in Ethiopia and the creation of the National Dialogue Commission.

Several opposition politicians were freed in recent weeks as government promised an inclusive dialogue and reconciliation process.

Ms Ford said the UK was ready and willing to play a key role in the recovery from conflict.

Fourteen months of war have left millions in dire need of humanitarian support.

Image source, AFP

A Benin-born businessman has been ordered by a Namibian court to pay back hundreds of thousands of US dollars paid to him by the government about six years ago to organise a music awards event.

Ernest Adjovi was to organise the Kora All Africa Music Awards in Namibia in 2016 and had been paid 23.5m Namibian dollars ($1.5m; £1m).

The event never took place and efforts by the government to get a refund have been futile.

He did not attend hearings in person and the court ordered his company and his Namibian representative Tonata Shiimi to pay back the money.

Mr Adjovi cited in his witness statement a breach of contract by the government, including late payments and lack of a tax waiver to allow organisers to bring equipment into the country, local media reported.

He started the Kora awards in 1994 and they were held for several years in different African countries before he was accused of fraud.

The banana-like crop has the potential to feed more than 100 million people, according to research.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Sudan's military chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has appointed 15 ministers to a new government.

The move comes almost three months after he seized power in a military coup which derailed a planned transition to elections.

Since the coup there have been frequent large protests that have seen more than 70 protesters killed by security forces.

Correspondents say the naming of a new government is unlikely to appease the protesters who want the military to quit the political scene entirely.

Earlier, dozens of judges in Sudan called for a criminal investigation into the violent suppression of the protests, accusing military leaders of carrying out heinous violations against defenceless protesters.

The United States has reiterated that it will not resume economic assistance to Sudan unless there is an end to violence and a civilian-led government is restored.

Image source, AFP

South Africa’s Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has denied apologising to the president for her criticism of the judiciary.

It came after the presidency said on Thursday that President Cyril Ramaphosa had met Ms Sisulu this week where she had apologised and retracted her “hurtful comments”.

The statement was posted on Twitter:

But Ms Sisulu said she “categorically” disowned the statement as “a misrepresentation of the meeting I had with the president”.

She said she stood by her remarks, had offered no apology and that the content of the president’s statement was unfortunate.

In an interview with state broadcaster SABC, her spokesman Steve Motale further said the minister had expected more engagement with the president and was shocked by the statement.

The presidency has said it stands by its statement.

In a recent article published by the media, Ms Sisulu wrote that some judges were “mentally colonised Africans”.

She also said the constitution had failed to improve the lives of black South Africans living in poverty.