Equatorial Guinea had to 'sacrifice some players to be like guinea pigs' in order to beat Algeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Image source, Getty Images

The family of Mali's late President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta is discussing plans for a national send-off with the military rulers who ousted him, external, French-language broadcaster RFI reports.

Mr Keïta died at home in Bamako on Sunday at the age of 76.

RFI reports that nine top officials in the military junta visited the family overnight to offer their condolences.

The broadcaster says a funeral is expected by Thursday or Friday.

A fan of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says receiving a humorous dedication from the Nigerian author endorsing her relationship has "made her whole year".

The woman, named Rachael, shared footage online from a book signing event in Lagos over the weekend that her partner attended.

"To Rachael, he just asked me to sign your book and I find that very thoughtful - so I think you should consider him, keep him," the author said in the video message:

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Getty Images

Police in Mozambique say the head of a bald man has been removed by criminals who wanted to sell it to a client from Mali.

When their customer disappeared, they left it in the central town of Muandiwa.

Some Mozambicans believe bald men's heads contain gold.

The first reports of bald men being killed for their heads in the country were back in 2017.

The trade in body parts is relatively common in Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania where they are believed to bring fortune and luck in love.

The body parts of people with albinism are especially prized.

Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi admits his side are in a "really tough" situation after taking just one point from their first two matches at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Getty Images

A campaign group has accused the Nigerian authorities of failing to adequately enforce their own laws to prevent early marriage, in a report released on Monday, external.

"It is disturbing that almost two decades after the Child Rights Act was passed, Nigerian girls are still being forced into child marriages," Human Rights Watch's Director for Africa Mausi Segun said.

The government has not responded to the report's criticism.

Looking at Kano state in the predominantly Muslim north and lmo state in the mostly Christian south, the human rights watchdog said it found that married girls in both states were denied their fundamental rights to education, a safe place to live and freedom from violence.

Human Rights Watch is demanding action from the country's national and regional authorities to bring the country in line with its own constitution, as well as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Tanzanian filmmakers behind the country’s first film to be streamed on Netflix have spoken about what it means for women.

Binti, which was first aired on Netflix on 7 January, is a story about the lives and struggles of four women surviving extreme hardship in Dar es Salaam.

You can watch the trailer here:

Binti is about the painful circumstances that some women find themselves in, in the pursuit of a perfect life - and why the life that they yearn for may not be as rosy as it seems to the public eye, according to its producers.

Godliver Gordian, one of the film's actresses, told the BBC the film helps expose the pain that women in families silently endure.

"Binti has given a voice to those who cannot speak. There are some things that families or couples will go through but one of the partners does not get help or talk about what they are going through," she told BBC News Swahili.

"We in Tanzania are making a local film but there is someone in Kazakhstan who is watching it and saying… 'this has touched me as a woman,'" says Seko Shamte, the film’s director.

"I get messages from the UK, Kenya, South Africa and the world in general, so I know this is a film that has touched all women and some men too," she adds.

The film premiered at the Los Angeles film festival last year - and was screened elsewhere including in Kenya, US and in Germany before the Netflix deal.

Guinea-Bissau players were 'lying on the floor in tears' after their agonising 1-0 defeat by Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Mercy Juma
BBC News, Nairobi

Police in Kenya have termed "alarmist" a viral video of school kids lying down in a classroom to avoid gunfire.

This even as tension remains high in Kenya’s North Rift region, along the Kerio Valley where a series of banditry attacks have been happening for several months.

The video posted on social media shows students frantically seeking to hide under desks, tables and chairs as shots ring out.

Security leaders in the area says that attack was happening more than 1km (0.6miles) away from the school, a local media outlet reports.

Kenya's National Union of Teachers has threatened to tell its members not to set foot in schools until their safety is guaranteed by the state.

The government last week said it would deploy two police officers to each school in the affected area, to help guard the teachers and pupils.

In West Pokot, Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet counties hundreds of families have been displaced by frequent cattle raids and boundary disputes. There are reports that more than 60 people have been killed in five months.

Local leaders say the issue is getting out of hand after at least 10 people were killed last week. Several schools have also been attacked, and several students injured, with just two months to the national examinations.

Image source, Getty Images

The UK Times newspaper quotes unnamed government sources as saying plans are being drawn up to send hundreds of migrants to countries such as Ghana and Rwanda for processing and resettlement.

The Times says this is one of the populist policies being drawn up to save Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s embattled premiership after he admitted attending a drinks party during coronavirus lockdown - something he had previously denied doing.

"Ministers are willing to pay hundreds of millions of pounds a year to any nation willing to take up its offer, although none has done so," the Times reports.

Separately, the UN has warned against the nationality and borders bill that's being debated by UK lawmakers, because it says it increases the risk of "serious human rights violations" and does not respect the country's obligations under international law, external.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Gunmen have killed dozens of people including two soldiers and a policeman in the north-western Nigerian state of Kebbi.

The attack happened on Friday in the village of Dankade in Danko-Wassagu area but details are just emerging because there is no mobile phone network in the area.

Some reports suggest more than 50 people were killed - some were shot dead and others had their throats slit.

A resident who escaped the killings told the BBC that 13 of his relatives were among the dead.

Kebbi state governor’s adviser on security, Garba Rabiu, said that information available to them showed those killed were not more than 20.

Residents say dozens of people including women were also kidnapped while the fate of the village head is unknown after the attack.

They say bodies are are yet to be retrieved for burials and are littered in the village and in bushes

Kebbi state shares boundary with Zamfara state where gunmen killed at least 200 people during raids on several villages earlier this month.

The region is grappling with a worsening spate of killings and kidnappings for ransom by armed gangs, with the authorities facing criticism for failing to tackle the violence.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

Uganda is undergoing a fuel crisis following a build-up of fuel transporters at the major border points of Malaba and Busia in the east of the country.

Queues of waiting trucks, as long as 70km (43 miles), have been reported.

Truck drivers in the region have been protesting against a requirement by the Ugandan government that they test for Covid-19 at the border points, regardless of whether they presented a negative PCR test or not.

The directive to test at the border was issued at the start of the month. Uganda later suspended it but there was already a build-up of trucks at the border points.

The country imports all its fuel and other petroleum products and consumes about 6.5m litres (1.7m gallons) a day.

Fuel prices have been steadily rising since last year, but a major spike has been seen in the past week.

In the capital Kampala, some filling stations have been selling only the premium petrol, known as V-power by some distributors, which costs 5,200 Uganda shillings ($1.5: £1.0) per litre at some outlets.

This is despite a ministry of energy's directive to retailers at the weekend that prices should not exceed 5,000 Uganda shillings.

By end of last week, fuel was already at 10,000 shillings in some other countryside towns.

Many outlets have already completely run out of all fuel products.

Ghanaian police have rescued a baby trapped in a vehicle that was stolen by gunmen from a church in Kumasi in Asanti region.

They are hunting for the suspected thieves who later abandoned the car and escaped after a police patrol team chased after them.

The incident was posted on social media by a person local media believed to be the baby's father:

The baby was found in a safe condition and has since been reunited with the mother.

It is not clear how the baby ended up being alone in the car with the suspected thieves.

The authorities have called on the general public to provide any information to help arrest the suspects.

Image source, Getty Images

The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali has temporarily suspended flights.

This will affect the delivery of aid to the country whose neighbours have imposed sanctions and closed borders.

The peacekeeping mission has about 13,000 troops stationed in the country trying to contain an Islamist insurgency in the region.

The West African regional bloc Ecowas imposed tough sanctions on Mali after the interim government proposed a delay in elections.

The European Union has also said it will impose sanctions and the UN has said it is essential for the military authorities to present an acceptable election schedule.

The country's military ousted the president in 2020 and had promised a transition and general elections in February.

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Reports, results and scorecards from India's tour of South Africa, featuring three Tests and three ODIs.

It is three years since protests started, leading to the overthrow of long-term President Omar al-Bashir.

'Ezekiel', a former child soldier during the Liberian Civil War, is struggling to reintegrate back into society.