Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

France's President Emmanuel Macron says the situation in Burkina Faso appears to be calm, a day after the military seized power.

He condemned the coup and said ousted President Roch Kaboré was in good health and not being threatened.

The United Nations has called for the immediate release of Mr Kaboré, who is being held at an army base.

His supporters say he survived an assassination attempt.

Image source, Press Eye

A presenter on state TV in Burkina Faso has read out a letter purportedly written by President Roch Kaboré to announce his resignation after he was toppled in a coup.

The handwritten letter was shown on TV in a news bulletin on Monday night.

"With this letter, and in the best interest of the nation and following events that have taken place since yesterday [23 January], I have decided to resign from my position as president of Burkina Faso, head of the government, and supreme commander of the national armed forces.

"God bless Burkina Faso," it said.

The letter was addressed to the "president of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration" or MPSR, the French acronym by which the junta is known

The coup was believed to have been led by Lt-Col Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

It has now emerged that two children, aged six and 14, are among those killed in a crush outside a stadium at an Africa Cup of Nations football match in Cameroon.

President Paul Biya has ordered an investigation into the disaster, which occurred when supporters tried to force their way into the Olembe stadium in the capital Yaoundé before a match between Cameroon and Comoros.

Eight people died and dozens were injured.

Other matches are due to be held at the stadium, including the final.

Image source, PEN PINTER PRIZE

A court has ordered the release on bail of award-winning Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija who has been charged with two counts of "offensive communication" after making unflattering remarks about the president and his son on Twitter.

As part of his bail conditions for his bail, Mr Rukirabashaija is not allowed to travel out abroad and has to surrender his passport for six months.

He has also been barred from speaking publicly about the case.

Rukirabashaija is best known for The Greedy Barbarian, a satirical novel which describes high-level corruption in a fictional country, and Banana Republic: Where Writing is Treasonous, an account of the torture he was subjected to while in detention in 2020.

Last year, he won the Pen Pinter Prize for an international writer of courage, external.

The writer has been in detention since December, and his lawyers said he had been tortured - an allegation the authorities detained.

The prosecution alleged that he had "used his Twitter handle to disturb the peace" of President Yoweri Museveni and his son Lt-Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Mr Rukirabashaija pleaded not guilty to the charges.

He had tweeted that Lt-Gen Muhoozi was "obese" and a "curmudgeon".

The author had also tweeted that "the Musevenis have imposed enormous suffering on this country".

President Museveni, 77, has been in power in Uganda since 1986, and there has long been speculation that he was grooming his son - a powerful figure in the military - to succeed him.

Image source, Reuters

International pressure is mounting on Burkina Faso's coup leaders to release deposed President Roch Kaboré, following claims by his party that he had survived an assassination attempt.

UN chief António Guterres's spokesman said he was following developments in Burkina Faso with "deep concern", and was "particularly worried" about the whereabouts and safety of the deposed president.

Mr Guterres called on the coup leaders to lay down their arms.

The military has not given details about Mr Kaboré, but said the the coup had been staged without violence and all those detained were in a secure location.

The African Union said the international community should "combine their efforts to oppose any use of force" to resolve the crisis in Burkina Faso.

The military said it had seized power because of the government's failure to defeat militant Islamists who have caused havoc in the region since 2015.

At least eight people die and dozens are injured in a crush outside an Africa Cup of Nations match.

Image source, Getty Images

Hundreds of people took to the streets of Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, to celebrate the coup that led to the overthrow of President Roch Kaboré.

People honked their car horns, whistled, and waved the national flag soon after the coup was announced on state television on Monday.

"Our tears are going to stop now. We ask the soldiers we trust to work together for the return of peace in Burkina Faso" Amado Zoungrana told AFP news agency.

Mr Kaboré's popularity had plummeted because of his government's failure to defeat militant Islamists who have waged a brutal insurgency in the West African state since 2015.

He has been detained by the military, with his party saying that he had survived an assassination attempt.

Piers Edwards
BBC Africa Sport

A 14-year-old was among the eight victims who died in the crush outside Yaounde’s Olembe Stadium ahead of Cameroon’s Africa Cup of Nations match against Comoros.

The deaths occurred as fans tried to force their entry into the stadium half an hour before kick-off.

This was at a perimeter fence outside the stadium when fans were forced against gates by the sheer number of people trying to get in.

Shoes and clothing were amongst the debris found at the site of the incident.

Fifty wounded are reported to have been taken to the nearby Messasi hospital where a nurse told reporters that some would need treatment at a more specialised clinic.

Cameroon, which is hosting Africa’s greatest sporting event for the first time in half a century, has been beset by organisational problems in its staging of the finals - having originally been supposed to first host in 2019, only for late preparations to cause a delay.

African football’s ruling body Caf has sent a delegation to visit victims in hospital.

Capacity at Cameroon games at the tournament should have no more than 80% capacity, but the Olembe Stadium appeared to have more in it during a home victory overshadowed by tragedy.

Cameroon's President Paul Biya, has ordered an investigation into the crush that killed eight people outside a stadium in the capital Yaoundé before an Africa Cup of Nations football match.

A government statement said the inquest would shed light on the tragic incident.

The crush happened when supporters tried to force their way into the Olembe stadium before a match between Cameroon and Comoros.

More than 30 people were also injured.

The venue was not meant to be full due to Covid restrictions, but eyewitnesses said it appeared crowded.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf), which organises the tournament, has also launched its own investigation.

Cameroon progressed to the quarter-finals beating a depleted Comoros side two- one. Cameroon will play The Gambia who beat Guinea 1-0.

Image source, Getty Images

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Radio Mozambique

Two people have died and 49 others injured after a storm hit Mozambique's central Zambézia province, according to relief authorities.

The tropical storm Ana has been pounding northern and central parts of the country with heavy rains, strong winds, lightning and thunderstorms

The national disaster management agency said after an emergency meeting that the affected people were victims of lightning strikes, collapsing walls and falling trees.

Zambézia’s secretary of state Judite Mussácula, who coordinated the meeting, assured the people that the priority was to rescue people who may have been marooned by flooding waters.

“The Licungo [river] has already risen by two metres; the immediate measure is to remove the population that is in the riverside areas. We already have kits on standby and this work is already being done so that we can save lives and protect our population,” she said.

The tropical storm has left a trail of destruction particularly in Zambezia and Nampula provinces.

It has uprooted trees and electricity pylons leaving entire districts in the dark, damaged roads and bridges and disrupted phone communications.

The national airline has cancelled domestic fights to affected regions citing the heavy rains and strong winds.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Mohamed Moalimu

Somali government's spokesman Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu, who was wounded in a militant attack in the capital, Mogadishu, has told a local broadcaster that his health is improving.

"My situation is getting better every day. As you know I broke one hand and one leg. The shrapnel in my body has been removed and now I am being prepared for the remaining operations. The doctors say I am doing well," he said.

Mr Moalimu, who is being treated at a hospital in Turkey, was speaking to the private Goobjoog media group.

The private Caasimada Online published an audio recording of his remarks, external.

The official was wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up near his vehicle at Dabka Junction in Mogadishu on 16 January.

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

Mr Moalim has survived several attacks by the militants including one that targeted a hotel in Mogadishu in 2016.

Read:

• The resilience of a survivor of five suicide attacks

At least eight people are reported to have been killed and dozens hurt in a crush outside an Africa Cup of Nations match in Cameroon.

Video footage showed football fans struggling to get access to the Paul Biya stadium in a neighbourhood of the capital Yaoundé for a match between the hosts and Comoros.

Covid restrictions meant the stadium could only be filled to 80% capacity.

Leocadia Bongben is a Cameroonian sports journalist who was in the stadium. She says: “It’s really sad. People go to watch a game and end up dying there”.

(Picture: General view of Cameroon fans inside the stadium for the Africa Cup of Nations – Round of 16 – Cameroon v Comoros. Credit: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

Image source, Getty Images

Travellers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be allowed to enter Kenya after the East African country lifted a ban on all incoming flights.

The director general of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), Gilbert Kibe, said the ban was lifted on Monday night.

Kenya had suspended all passenger flights from the UAE on 10 January.

It was reciprocating UAE's ban on all passenger flights from Kenya over allegations that some Kenyan travellers had tested positive for Covid on arrival in Dubai yet they had certificates indicating that they did not have the virus.

The ban however did not affect cargo flights.

The UAE is yet to lift its ban on Kenyan flights

Image source, Getty Images

Scientists say hippos can communicate with each other and tell the difference between the honking sounds of their friends, neighbours and strangers.

Until now, the function of the loudest and most common hippo calls, known as "wheeze honks", has been a mystery.

French researchers recorded hippo sounds at a nature reserve in Mozambique and broadcast the recordings through loud speakers over lakes.

They found hippos responded differently to friend and foe, suggesting they could tell each other apart.

The lead scientist Nicolas Mathevon says the knowledge could help in the conservation of hippos, which are not yet endangered, but whose numbers are falling fast.

Read more:

• Hippos can recognise their friends' voices

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Mali's junta has called on Denmark to immediately withdraw a contingent of troops deployed to the West African nation as part of an international counter-terrorism force.

The junta - which took power in a coup in 2020 - said the deployment of about 90 Danish soldiers had taken place without its consent.

Denmark says it's in touch with the government in Bamako and is working intensely to clarify the situation.

There's been widespread international concern about the reported deployment of mercenaries from Russia's Wagner group in Mali.

The government has denied their presence, saying Russian trainers were in the country to support the national army.

You may want to read:

• Russian mercenary plan triggers alarm in West Africa

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera has sacked his entire cabinet over corruption concerns.

In a televised address to the nation on Monday, the president vowed to "confront all forms of lawless conduct by public officials".

He said a new cabinet would be announced in two days.

Three ministers are facing charges including the minister of lands who was arrested last month in a bribery case.

The labour minister has been accused of diverting Covid funds and the energy minister of meddling with fuel deals. All have denied the allegations.

Mr Chakwera was elected in 2020 promising to fight corruption.

Last week two powerful church groups told him he was not doing enough to tackle the problem.

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Cameroon narrowly beat 10-man Comoros at the Africa Cup of Nations, despite playing against a side with an outfield player in goal and an extra man for 83 minutes.

Debutants The Gambia reach the last eight at the Africa Cup of Nations as Musa Barrow's goal seals a 1-0 win over Guinea.

President Kaboré has been overthrown and the government and parliament dissolved, the army says.