BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

At least 10 people have died in Madagascar following heavy rains in the capital, Antananarivo.

Two other people were injured and more than 500 were displaced by the storm on Tuesday.

The rain caused floods, landslides and damaged houses and roads, according to the National Bureau of Risk and Disaster Management.

The meteorological department has warned of more heavy rains in the coming days.

The rains come as southern parts of Madagascar are reeling from the worst drought in decades and the UN estimates that more than 1.3 million people there are in need of food.

Former Ghana full-back John Paintsil talks about the Black Stars' shock exit from the Africa Cup of Nations and where it all went wrong for the side.

Jonathan Paye-Layleh
BBC News, Monrovia

At least 29 people, including 11 children and a pregnant woman, have died in a stampede at a Christian crusade in a densely populated area in the capital, Monrovia.

Police spokesman Moses Carter told the BBC the stampede occurred on Wednesday night when a group of gangsters, some carrying knives, moved on the open-air ground and attacked worshippers.

He added that one person, who was carrying a knife, has been arrested.

The crusade - a term commonly used in Liberia to describe Christian prayer gatherings - had been organised by an influential pastor.

The bodies have been taken to the morgue at Redemption Hospital, close to the crusade ground in a beachside place called New Kru Town.

The number of street gangs operating on the streets of Liberian cities has increased in recent years.

President George Weah was expected to visit the scene Thursday, according to OK FM, a private Monrovia broadcaster.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

The authorities in Burkina Faso have said they disrupted access to Facebook due to security fears.

Government spokesperson Alkassoum Maiga said the authorities did not have to explain themselves on the shutdown first reported on 10 January and which appears to have continued.

“I think that if we have a choice between letting insecurity spread and taking measures that allow us to maintain a minimum control over the situation, then the choice seems clear to us that the national interest must take precedence," Maiga said, according to the popular Radio Omega, external.

The government announced on 11 January that eight soldiers were arrested over a "plan to destabilise the institutions of the republic", a development that local media said was a coup plot.

The internet freedom monitoring group, NetBlocks, reported significant disruptions to internet services on 11 January, external.

The killing of 53 people by suspected jihadists last November heightened public outrage against the government for failing to end the insurgency. The unrest has heightened fears of a military coup.

South Africa's labour ministry has issued a statement over an opposition party's visits to local restaurants to find out their proportion of foreign workers.

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party leader Julius Malema toured several restaurants on Wednesday along with other party members.

He said they were conducting oversight visits to assess whether South Africans were being employed in the hospitality industry.

The party tweeted about the visits:

But in a statement, external, the Department of Employment and Labour said it was the one with the legal right to enforce compliance on labour matters.

"We prevail upon any organisation or political party that feels or come across non-compliance to raise such matter with the [department] or the bargaining council...

"One cannot seek to see the enforcement of the law by breaking the law too," it said, without naming anyone.

The department says the law protects all employees irrespective of their nationality as long as their employment status is legal.

A minister in Somalia's government has lashed out at a UK MP pushing for the recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland.

Gamal M Hassan, who is from Somaliland, accused MP Gavin Williamson of lacking facts about the issue.

The minister referred to the time when the MP was fired from the UK government.

Mr Williamson was sacked as defence minister in 2019 following an inquiry into a leak from a top-level National Security Council meeting. He denied leaking the information.

His motion in the UK parliament on Tuesday to have the Somaliland region recognised as an independent state was adjourned.

Somaliland declared independence after the overthrow of Somali military dictator Siad Barre in 1991.

It's not officially recognised by any country as an independent state.

Image source, Getty Images

UN Secretary General António Guterres has said there is "demonstrable effort to make peace" in Ethiopia after more than a year of civil war.

Mr Guterres spoke to the African Union (AU) chief envoy to the Horn of Africa Olusegun Obasanjo who briefed him on the peace efforts.

Mr Obasanjo has been meeting officials in the federal government and from the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

The UN chief said the AU envoy "expressed optimism that there is now a real opportunity for political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict".

Federal troops have been fighting rebels in the north of the country for more than a year now, in a war that has ended thousands of lives.

Clashes on the ground between the two sides had stopped but recently there have been reports of renewed fighting.

Image source, AFP

Algeria has closed schools for 10 days and enhanced screening at airports and other control measures following a rise in coronavirus cases.

It has also encouraged people to get vaccinated to counter the spread of the virus.

The decision by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to shut schools starting from Thursday followed an emergency meeting of ministers, top health and security officials.

A statement from the presidency however said that it was up to the universities to determine whether to close or reschedule their classes.

The country has recorded more than 220,000 coronavirus cases and over 6,000 deaths since the pandemic began.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

South African scientists say their research was not taken more seriously because it was from Africa.

Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mali and The Gambia all reach the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations without playing.

Nigeria beat Guinea-Bissau to become the only side at the Africa Cup of Nations to win all three group games.

Egypt edge past Sudan to finish second in Group D and qualify for the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Some female inmates fell pregnant and contracted sexually transmitted infections after 2020 assaults.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team until Thursday morning.

There will be an automated news feed until then which will have all the latest scores from the Africa Cup of Nations. And you can also keep up with events on our website or listen to the Africa Today podcast.

Here's a reminder of Wednesday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo from the Sudanese city of Omdurman of a potter at work on Wednesday:

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Ethiopian Orthodox Christians have been celebrating the festival of Timket, or Epiphany, which commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan.

Image source, AFP

Worshippers gathered on Wednesday at the Fasilides Bath, a sacred site just outside the city of Gondar.

Image source, AFP

For the Timket festival the bath is filled with water so the baptism can be re-enacted.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Adama Barrow has been sworn in as The Gambia's president for a second term after the Supreme Court upheld his re-election for a second time.

The Gambian presidency has posted footage on Facebook of the 56-year-old taking his oath of office.

The opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) had challenged the results of the 4 December election that saw Mr Barrow win with 53% of votes.

The UDP had said the vote was marred by widespread irregularities.

On Monday, the Supreme Court upheld its 28 December ruling, dismissing the opposition's petition.

Mr Barrow is a successful property developer who once worked as a security guard in London. He sprung a major surprise by defeating Yahya Jammeh during the last presidential vote in 2017.

Mr Jammeh's 22-year rule was marked by allegations of abuse, with witnesses telling a truth commission after he went into exile about state-backed execution squads and Aids patients being forced to take bogus cures.

The ice crystals leave stunning patterns in the sands of the Sahara, the world's largest hot desert.

Emery Makumeno
BBC News, Kinshasa

Ten male prisoners in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been found guilty of raping female inmates and trying to escape during a riot at a prison.

The court in the city of Lubumbashi ordered them to serve an additional 15 years in prison and to pay $50,000 (£37,000) in compensation to the 19 victims who took the case to court.

The riot took place in Kasapa prison in 2020.

Although some were too frightened to give evidence, more than 30 women testified before a military prosecutor that they had been raped.

At least seven of the victims became pregnant and some contracted sexually transmitted infections - including HIV.

Most of the women are still serving prison sentences after being transferred to a different facility.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News

The authorities in Ethiopia have released Maaza Mohammed, a journalist who was detained more than a month ago under state of emergency laws.

Ms Maaza - who co-founded YouTube news outlet Roha Media - had been critical of the government prior to her detention. She has not been charged with any offence.

She is the fourth journalist to be released from detention recently.

Tesfalem Tekle, a correspondent for the Kenyan-based Nation Media Group, was released earlier this week after 77 days in detention.

He was granted bail by a court in early November but police had kept him in custody.

Also freed in recent days have been Ermias Tesfaye, a journalist at the online Ethiopia Insight, and Abdusalam Hassen, formerly with the Oromo Media Network (OMN).

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had accused the government of using the state of emergency to arrest reporters.

Earlier this month, key opposition figures, including some from the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) - the group at war with the government for the last 14 months - were freed and charges against them withdrawn.