BBC Monitoring

Tunisians living in Ukraine have urged their national airline, Tunisair, to arrange an evacuation flight as fears grow of an outbreak of war in the region.

The head of the Association of the Tunisian Community in Ukraine, Tariq Alaoui, said that Tunisians have been struggling to leave Ukraine due to international airlines cancelling flights.

Mr Alaoui told Tunisia's state news agency that anxiety had heightened within the community following Russia's announcement to recognise Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.

Mr Aloaui said there were about 1,500 Tunisian nationals in Ukraine, including some 500 students.

Many of them reside in Dnipro and Kharkiv, near the Russian border, he said.

Other countries, including Morocco, had begun repatriation efforts, Mr Alaoui added.

The Tunisian foreign ministry on 20 February called on Tunisians to leave areas of Ukraine where there was significant tension and to maintain continuous contact with the Tunisian embassies in Moscow and Warsaw.

The ministry also said Tunisian nationals wishing to be repatriated could register with the Association of the Tunisian Community in Ukraine, without clarifying if the ministry would coordinate an evacuation.

Lesotho appoint Serbian Veselin Jelusic as coach ahead of their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations preliminarily play-off against Seychelles.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Aby Ahmed says that no talks have taken place with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) to end the crisis in the north of the country.

TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said last week that talks were under way and that there was hope to end the crisis peacefully.

In his first parliamentary address since he was sworn for a new term in October, Mr Abiy said: "I hear a lot about talks, but there have been no talks so far. However, because we have said we have not talked does not mean there will be no talk at all."

Conflict broke out in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region in November 2020, and TPLF fighters advanced towards the capital, Addis Ababa, before being pushed back by government and allied forces.

Tigray has also been hit by a severe food and health crisis, with little aid getting into the region.

Image source, Getty Images

Nigeria's D'Tigress will be aiming to reach the quarter-finals at the Fiba Women's Basketball World Cup in Sydney later this year.

Image source, Getty Images

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cut short his three-day Africa tour because of the escalating crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

Mr Erdogan was due to visit Guinea-Bissau for the first time on Thursday, but was returning home to participate in an online Nato summit on Wednesday, his office said.

Mr Erdogan has visited Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties.

Guinea-Bissau was supposed to have been the final destination of his tour.

Turkey plans to open an embassy in the country, which has been hit by instability for years and is often referred to as a narco-state.

Earlier this month, President Umaro Sissoko Embaló said the government had foiled a coup attempt masterminded by former officials who had served time in US jails for drug trafficking.

Dozens more are injured in Burkina Faso after sticks of dynamite in a market blew up, officials say.

Jonathan Paye-Layleh
BBC News, Monrovia

Image source, Getty Images

Liberia's President George Weah has pardoned ex-defence minister, Brownie Samukai, who was sentenced to a prison term by the Supreme Court for corruption.

He never entered jail, and the pardon means that he may be able to take his seat as a senator and works towards repaying the government.

Samukai and two others who worked under him were convicted of failing to account for more than $1m deducted routinely from soldiers' salaries for savings while he was minister under former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Throughout his trial Samukai maintained the money had been spent on other official matters on the orders of the former president.

A senior minister in Mr Weah's office told a press conference that the government will pay the money Samukai owes the former soldiers, and he will then pay back the government.

Samukai was elected senator for Lofa County in the far north in 2020, but didn't take his seat

The court had ruled that he should remain in jail until he paid back the money.

Beverly Ochieng
BBC Monitoring, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

Kenya's ambassador at the UN Security Council has condemned Russia's decision to send troops to Ukraine's breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and to recognise them as independent states.

“The territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine stands breached. The charter of the United Nations continues to wilt under the relentless assault of the powerful," Martin Kimani said.

His statement, which has been mostly welcomed on Twitter, external, drew comparisons between Africa’s experience of colonialism and the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

“We understand that separated people may look yearningly across borders hoping for reintegration but Kenya rejects such a yearning from being pursued by force," he said.

Mr Kimani's comments signal a marked change from Kenya's previous position at the UN Security Council, when it abstained from voting.

Gabon and Ghana, which are also non-permanent members of the body, also condemned Russia’s actions against Ukraine.

There are concerns that the cost of living could rise as a result of the crisis.

Kenya’s Business Daily Newspaper on Tuesday published a front-page headline, external: “How Russia-Ukraine row will hurt Kenyan homes”.

“Disruptions from any military action or sanctions could also see bread and wheat flour prices rally in Kenya, which relies on imported wheat from Ukraine and Russia,” the report said.

An article in South Africa’s Daily Maverick news site warned that a war in eastern Europe “will soon ripple and be felt in every village and town of South Africa and the world”, external.

Mali, whose growing alliance with Russia has worsened a diplomatic fallout with Western partners, is yet to officially comment on the imminent conflict.

Image source, Getty Images

The Zimbabwean government has welcomed the decision of the European Union (EU) to lift travel and financial sanctions imposed on Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, former First Lady Grace Mugabe and military chief Valerio Sibanda.

The EU took the decision despite acknowledging that Zimbabwe's human rights record had not improved and could worsen.

The sanctions were first imposed on the four 20 years ago, but were suspended two years ago. They have now been completely removed.

Sanctions against Zimbabwe's defence industry remain in place.

Zimbabwean government spokesman Nick Mangwana told the BBC that the decision was a positive signal and reflected the incremental gains of re-engagement with the EU.

The government would continue pushing for all sanctions to be removed unconditionally, he added.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been trying to improve relations with Western nations since ousting long-serving ruler Robert Mugabe in 2017.

The Mugabe-led government had a massive fall-out with the EU after it seized white-owned farms, and launched a crackdown on the opposition.

Cyclone Emnati will bring more heavy rain to southern Madagascar this week, hitting some of the areas affected by Cyclone Batsirai earlier this month.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

The authorities in Nigeria say an explosion has killed at least four security personnel in the north0central state of Niger.

Members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were on a routine patrol when their vehicle hit a landmine in the Galadiman-Kogo area on Monday.

Security force spokesman Odumosu Olusola said the driver of the vehicle was the only survivor and is "currently in a very critical condition"

Suspected Boko Haram militants were carrying out deadly attacks on communities in the crea.

Residents said the mines were apparently planted to prevent security forces from coming to the aid of the communities under attack.

The region has also been been hit by attacks by armed gangs who carry out killings and kidnappings for ransom.

The authorities say the gangs have now been infiltrated by extremists from Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province, previously operating mainly in the north-east of the country.

A 14-year-old boy is being hailed for generating electricity from biogas, lighting up several homes in Borana zone, southern Ethiopia.

Adan Hussein Dida, a grade eight student at Tula Web Primary School, says he embarked on the project to ease the suffering of villagers who lack basic services such as roads, hospitals and electricity.

He started the project from the backyard of his parents, decomposing animal waste in a two-metre deep hole.

From this he was able to generate enough electricity for eight houses. He charges each home $0.87 (£0.64) per month.

The locals in the area are predominantly pastoralists who rely on their livestock for survival, but with the unforgiving drought that has hit the country, many are in poverty.

Adan's family is supported by the money he raises from his electricity project.

“I am very proud of what I have accomplished so far, they say I have saved them from the cost of batteries and torches. Their children can now read at home instead of waiting until the next day to do their homework,” Adan says.

His teacher, Boru Sora, says Adan is expanding his project to more houses in the village despite bad roads makes it difficult for him to go to towns to purchase the equipment he needs.

“He is a very innovative student. Besides the biogas he has tried several things from fixing radios and other electronics to making a plane that flew for 100 metres,” Mr Boru says.

Inspired by Adan, more students at his school are coming up with their own projects.

His dream is to pursue engineering at the newly established Borana University in Yebelo.

Image source, Getty Images

A federal high court in Nigeria has upheld the police force's decision to sack an unmarried officer who fell pregnant last year.

Justice Inyang Ekwo said he found no compelling reason "to disrupt the discipline of the force".

“Any person who joins the force must abide by the regulation of the force or not join the force as there is no compulsion about its membership," he added.

The case was brought by the Nigeria Bar Association following the sacking of an unmarried officer who fell pregnant in January 2021.

“The male police officers and married female police officers in the Nigeria Police Force are not subjected to similar discrimination, sanction, opprobrium, and indignity," it said.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Getty Images

More than 30 websites in Mozambique - including that of the defence ministry - were down on Monday after being targeted by hackers.

“Hacked by Yemeni hackers” was the message across the websites, with an image of a man wearing a headscarf and brandishing a machine gun.

Herminio Jasse, the head of Mozambique’s National Institute of Electronic Government confirmed the cyberattack and said that the problem had been resolved.

Some of those targeted were the portals of the national disaster management, roads administration and water agencies, as well as the defence ministry and the national land transport institute.

Mr Jasse said there was no loss of information or leak of citizens’ personal data – while noting that this was the first cyberattack of that magnitude to take place in the country.

Analysts have called on the government to strengthen cybersecurity amid fears that the attack was carried out by jihadists.

The rising cost of food and other basic commodities in Kenya is causing a public uproar.

The hashtag #lowerfoodprices, external has been the top trending topic in Kenya on social media for two days now, as people protest against the high prices.

Some of the frustrated Kenyans have been sharing their shopping lists, showing how the prices of basic commodities like bread and cooking oil have shot up in the last three years – with some goods twice or three times more expensive.

They are calling out the government for failing to curb the ever-rising prices.

With general elections due in August, the matter has also become a campaign issue.

Higher taxes and increased costs of production, including that of farm inputs, have been blamed for pushing up prices.

The Kenyan statistics bureau's latest data shows that year-on-year food inflation rose by 8.89% in January.

Ashley Lime
BBC News, Nairobi

Qatar has revoked the licences of 12 recruitment bureaus in Kenya in a bid to shield migrant workers from poor working conditions in the Gulf state, reports say.

The move follows a meeting between Kenya's trade union boss Francis Atwoli and Qatar's labour minister Ali bin Samikh Al Marri in Doha on Sunday, local newspaper Daily Nation says.

“The minister noted that they are currently in the process of cancelling the operations of Kenyan-owned employment agencies. At least 12 licences have been cancelled so far,” the Daily Nation quoted Mr Atwoli as saying.

The closed employment bureaus can no longer hire or seal contracts with workers.

Qatar says the move is aimed at safeguarding the rights of the employers of migrant workers.

Mr Atwoli, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions secretary general, asked for better working conditions for migrants.

Mr Al Marri assured him that domestic workers will be safe in the country, saying Qatar was also closing down agencies used to sneak Kenyans into the Middle East.

Qatar - which will host the 2022 football World Cup in November and December - is one of the Gulf states where reports of abuse of domestic workers at the hands of their employers have been emerging.

Many Kenyans were left stranded without travel documents and tickets after falling out with their employers in Qatar in August 2018.

The workers had protested over working conditions.

A report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2021 showed that 89 Kenyans, a majority of whom were domestic workers, died in Saudi Arabia in the past two years.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Reuters

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will address the country's federal parliament on the conflict between government forces and Tigrayan rebels in the north.

It will be his first address to parliament since he won a second term in office last June.

Ethiopian federal forces have been fighting rebels loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) since November 2020.

The country is also embroiled in a border row with Sudan and a dispute with Egypt and Khartoum over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) on the Blue Nile river.

On Sunday, Mr Abiy announced the start of electricity generation from the controversial dam, prompting angry reactions from Egypt and Sudan.

The two downstream countries have called for a legally-binding agreement to resolve a dispute with Ethiopia.

They view the dam as a threat because of their dependence on the Nile for drinking water and irrigation.

Tanzanian musician Diamond Platnumz is being criticised online for featuring a Confederate flag in the video of his latest hit song.

The Confederacy was the group of southern states that fought to keep slavery during the US Civil War - and the flags are seen as divisive and a symbol of racial tensions in the US.

One of Diamond's video scenes in the song Gidi has two of the flags displayed as he dances while donning a cowboy look.

Image source, Diamond Platinumz

Some tweeters have reacted to the musician's video.

"The Confederate flag in your video is disturbing," a user wrote., external

"Confederate flags?" Clyde Blaise tweeted while adding a dustbin emoji., external

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

A suspended top Nigerian police officer has denied allegations linking him to an international drug cartel.

Abba Kyari was arrested last week after being accused by the country’s anti-drug agency, NDLEA, of working with a drug cartel operating between Nigeria, Ethiopia and Brazil.

But on Monday he told a court in the capital Abuja through his lawyers that the allegations were trumped up.

The NDLEA had alleged that Mr Kyari attempted to bribe its officers to sell most of the 25 kilos (55 lbs) of cocaine seized by his team and then share the proceeds.

But he dismissed the allegations.

He said he was framed by the NDLEA officers after he insisted that an informant who gave a tip-off leading to the arrest of a suspected drug trafficker be compensated as initially agreed.

One of his lawyers, Hamza Nuhu Dantani, told the BBC they also filed an application for his bail.

He said this was because he had been detained for more than 24 hours without charge, which violated his fundamental human rights.

The court will hear the bail application on Thursday.

Mr Kyari became well known for his successes in leading a police unit fighting gangs behind high-profile kidnappings and fraud in Nigeria.

He was suspended last year after being linked to a suspected international internet fraudster Hushpuppi who was standing trial in the US.

The officer known as the “super cop” denied that allegation as well.

Image source, AFP

Mali has sued West Africa's monetary union over sanctions imposed on the country after the military junta reneged on a promise to hold early elections.

State lawyers are seeking the lifting of the sanctions imposed on Mali citing a debt crisis.

The West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) on 9 January told all financial institutions in its eight-nation group to suspend the country.

The regional bloc Ecowas also imposed sanctions on Mali, which include the freezing of its assets in member nations' commercial banks.

Mali's junta took power in 2020 and cancelled elections that were due to be held in February.