BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Tunisia's main opposition leader and speaker of the country's suspended parliament has warned of a social situation there that "threatens to explode".

Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist Ennahda party, also accused Tunisia's president of having mounted a coup.

Six months ago President Kaïs Saïed suspended parliament, assumed executive powers and moved to rewrite the constitution.

Since then, anger at economic conditions in Tunisia has sparked street protests, some involving clashes with the police. Earlier this week, the president's chief of staff resigned.

President Saïed has said an election is due to be held in December to replace the nation’s suspended parliament.

Read more:

• Secret audio sheds light on toppled dictator’s frantic last hours
• Tunisia crisis: Democrats, despots and the fight for power

Lalla Sy
BBC News, Ouagadougou

Image source, AFP

Flying from Niamey to Ouagadougou, one can only be impressed at the view of the immense desert lands that are common to Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali - the Sahel.

Upon arrival at the Ouagadougou airport, there is not the tight security I had expected, no particular effort in checking covid tests or searching luggage.

The policeman stamping my passport grinds his jaw as he's reading the purpose of my visit. "What are you going to report about?" he asks.

"About what’s happened lately," I answer. "There was a coup on Monday, right? Are you happy about what the military did?"

The policeman nods without saying a word.

No-one I’ve come across is too concerned by the coup, what it could mean for the Burkinabè democracy or the condemnation of the international community.

Instead, they are relieved that this coup has taken place. Something had to be done, many people say, and now people are are waiting to hear what the junta will do next.

That's because the return to constitutional order and a real policy to counter the advance of armed jihadist groups remains a priority for many.

The Burkinabè people have moved on, what has changed in Ouagadougou is perhaps the feeling of haste; I know the Burkinabès to be very calm people but tonight again they will go home as quickly as possible, before the junta's newly imposed nightly 21:00 to 05:00 curfew.

The sense of normalcy will be accentuated next week, when roads will be crowded again with school and university activities starting again.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

The Nigerian authorities say they're investigating a crash involving a police helicopter in the north-eastern state of Bauchi.

The aircraft crashed on Wednesday evening, at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport on the outskirts of the state capital, Bauchi Town.

Nigeria’s Accident Investigation Bureau says there were six persons on board - travelling from Nigeria's capital Abuja. It says some of them were injured in the crash but nobody was killed.

Their mission in Bauchi is unclear. It’s also not yet clear what caused the accident.

But in a statement, the investigation agency has appealed to the public to help with "any video clips, evidences or information’" they may have of the accident that can assist in the investigation.

In the past 12 months, Nigeria has seen a string of security aircraft crashes including one in the northern city of Kaduna that killed all 11 military officers on board including the country’s army chief, General Attahiru Ibrahim in May.

The authorities have yet to make public the outcomes of investigations into the previous accidents.

The tea pickers claim they have suffered injuries due to conditions on farms run by a Scottish firm.

Nicolas Negoce
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Denmark says it will start pulling its troops out of Mali after the West African country's transitional junta government this week insisted on an immediate withdrawal.

French and European allies had previously urged Mali to let Danish troops stay, and Mali's insistence that they go is seen as a swipe against France.

On Wednesday night, Mali's transitional government said there "was no approval for their deployment by the Malian authorities".

"The Danish contribution will now be withdrawn from the country," the Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod confirmed on Thursday.

Denmark had sent 105 military personnel to Mali on 18 January to join a European special forces mission, known as Takuba, that was set up to help Mali tackle Islamist militants.

Read more:

• Why France faces so much anger in West Africa

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Human Rights Watch says the authorities in Egypt have been forcing Eritrean asylum seekers to return home, putting them at risk of detention and torture.

It said 24 people were deported last month, including children.

The rights group has accused Egypt of carrying out arbitrary arrests and detention of asylum seekers, refugees, and other migrants as well as denying some detainees access to the UN's refugee agency.

It has called for an end to the forced returns and says all Eritreans should have full access to asylum procedures.

More than 20,000 Eritrean refugees in Egypt have registered with the UN's refugee agency.

Gabon's kit man was arrested over allegations of sexual abuse immediately after the team landed back from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Floods as a result of tropical storm Ana are continuing to affect southern Africa, with more than 70 people estimated to have been killed across Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar.

Schools have been have been turned into emergency shelters in Madagascar's capital, Antananarivo, as flood waters cause chaos in the country.

To date, say 41 people in Madagascar have died and over 100,000 have been forced to flee their homes.

Mass displacement and dozens of deaths have been recorded there and in Malawi, where the authorities have been struggling to get the lights back on after storm Ana destroyed infrastructure and led to a nationwide power cut.

At least 19 people have died, and dozens of camps have been set up for the many displaced.

Mozambique is facing ever more frequent and intense tropical storms and cyclones, and in recent days 18 people have died and more than 10,000 homes have been destroyed by the floods.

The Prime Minister, Carlos Agostinho do Rosário, says whilst not contributing much to climate change Mozambique is being hit hard. He wants international support to help build the country's resilience.

Ivory Coast defender Eric Bailly was "very down" after his penalty was saved in their last 16 shoot-out defeat by Egypt at the Nations Cup.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Mel Matsinhe/Facebook

Mozambican pianist Mel Matsinhe has been named as of the top acts performing next week at Ségou’Art, an annual arts festival in Mali.

She will be only representative of a Portuguese-speaking country and will join the band Kôré Yeelen.

The “Festival Sobre o Niger” as it is also known - as the city is on the right bank of the River Niger - includes concerts, fairs, workshops, conferences and lectures.

"This is one of the largest and most stable cultural and art festivals in Africa and the invitation to represent an opportunity for me to establish a creative connection with different artists," Matsinhe told Maputo's Notícias newspaper.

In addition to the performances, the pianist, who is the founder of the Xiluva School of Arts in Maputo, will participate in two conversations about her experience as a creative entrepreneur and the impact of technologies on the development of the sector in Africa.

Image source, YouTube

Video platform YouTube says it's awarding an unspecified amount of seed funding to 26 prominent African content creators with growing followings on the website.

Among them are Nigerian technology trends forecaster Fisayo Fosudo, external, Kenyan storyteller Justus Nandwa, external, and South African Nozibele Qamngana, external who's praised for hosting frank conversations about HIV/Aids.

They are part of what the platform calls its #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund Class of 2022. As well as funding they will be given "dedicated support to help them develop their channels" and also "take part in bespoke and hands-on training, workshops and networking programmes".

Image source, UN

The UN secretary general has mourned as a “true pioneer” Ghana’s first female brigadier general, Constance Emefa Edjeani-Afenu, who died on Monday.

Antonio Guterres paid tribute to Brig Gen Edjeani-Afenu for making history in peacekeeping as the first female deputy force commander of a UN mission in Western Sahara.

During her more than 40 years of military service she served in numerous UN peacekeeping missions - including in Lebanon, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The UN chief hailed her as having worked hard to promote gender inclusiveness and increasing the number of women serving in the military.

Almost 50,000 Nigerians have signed a petition calling for an end to international English language tests that many see as unfair, external.

The mostly young petitioners are discussing the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), a test of English-language proficiency for non-native English-language speakers which is mostly managed by the British Council.

The petitioners argue that since English is Nigeria’s official language and the first language for many people here – a legacy of British colonial rule – the country should be exempt from the test.

The $200 (£151) test has a two-year validity and is mandatory for those that want to study in the UK, parts of Europe and the US.

Many people are wondering why the test expires after two years and consider it exploitative:

Others like this Twitter user want the validity period of the test extended:

The campaign seems to be spearheaded by Ebenezar Wikina, an open-source advocate, who tweeted on Wednesday that he has received a response from the UK home office, three months after writing to them:

Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony is back in football after more than a year without a club, signing for NEC Nijmegen.

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, Getty Images

Rwandan citizens and residents must be fully vaccinated against Covid to access public spaces and events, a statement by the prime minister says.

A nightly curfew will begin from midnight, and night clubs and music concerts are set to reopen.

Nearly seven million out of a population of 13 million have been fully vaccinated in Rwanda, while more than eight million have got the first jab.

That's one of the highest rates in Africa relative to its population, and the first in East Africa.

But Wednesday night's decision means that millions of people still need to get the second jab to access public places.

Though vaccination is voluntarily, there have been reports of people being vaccinated by force, and some have fled to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi to escape the jab.

A government spokesperson admitted to the French national broadcaster, RFI, that some authorities "might be too zealous" in their campaign but it was not the government’s policy.

Ghana sack coach Milovan Rajevac eight days after the Black Stars crashed out of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Lalla Sy
BBC News, Ouagadougou

Image source, Press Eye

Burkina Faso's ousted President Roch Kaboré is doing well, a senior member of his party said.

This comes days after the military coup that was strongly condemned by the international community.

Mr Kaboré is detained in a presidential villa under house arrest, he is physically well and has a doctor at his disposal, according to a senior member of his party, the People's Movement for Progress (MPP).

For several hours on Monday, the fate of the ousted president remained unclear, with conflicting information circulating about an arrest, an exfiltration, or even an assassination attempt.

An extraordinary virtual summit of the west African regional bloc Ecowas will be held on Friday to discuss the situation in Burkina Faso after Mr Kaboré was overthrown, with possible sanctions against the military.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, AFP

Elephants suspected of killing two people in Metuchira district in the central Mozambican province of Sofala have been killed.

The two pachyderms are reported to have killed the victims at their homes.

The National Administration of Conservation Areas (Anac) said it carried out an investigation that identified the two animals as most likely to have killed the people.

“As a result of this investigation and analysis and in view of the imminent danger for the inhabitants of the same locality it was decided to take down the two elephants identified as problematic,” a statement from Anac says.

The elephants are part of a group thought to have left Gorongosa National Park and been in the area since Cyclone Idai, nearly three years ago.

Peter Jegwa
Lilongwe, Malawi

Image source, Reuters

Malawi President's Lazarus Chakwera has declared parts of the country disaster areas, after 19 people were killed in floods caused by tropical storm Ana.

The deaths have been reported in at least five districts in southern Malawi, where more than 50 people also suffered various degrees of injuries.

Up to 44 camps have been set up to help thousands of displaced people.

The storm has also caused extensive damage to infrastructure, including at the country's main electricity generating plant.

Power has only now started to be restored in some parts of the country after a nationwide blackout on Tuesday.

A statement released on Thursday by the president's office has declared that all districts that have been affected in the southern part are disaster areas with immediate effect.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, PEN PINTER

A Ugandan author accused of insulting the president and his family has been released after being re-arrested moments after a court freed him on bail.

Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was “dumped” by the military at the gate of his home in eastern Uganda on Wednesday, his lawyer said.

The novelist’s wife also confirmed the release.

The lawyer said the author was unwell and had been taken to hospital for treatment.

The award-winning writer was charged with offensive communication after he was accused of insulting President Yoweri Museveni, and his son, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, on Twitter.

He successfully obtained bail from a Kampala court before he was rearrested in unclear circumstances.

His lawyer said he was "kidnapped" from prison by men in plain clothes and taken to an unknown location.

The author won acclaim for his 2020 satirical novel The Greedy Barbarian which describes high-level corruption in a fictional country.

He was awarded the 2021 PEN Pinter Prize for an international writer of courage.

PEN said on Tuesday after his disappearance that it feared for the author's life - and would hold Mr Museveni, his son and the Ugandan military responsible for "flagrant abuse of office".