Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

Hundreds of Congolese have fled into Uganda following rebel attacks on their homes.

Officials in North Kivu province said M23 fighters stormed Tchanzu and Runyoni villages.

A Congolese army base was reportedly attacked.

Eyewitnesses say there has been fierce fighting between the rebels and government troops.

The M23, which is mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis, used to be a major fighting force in eastern DR Congo, seizing the regional capital Goma in 2012.

It later engaged in talks with the Congolese government but says its demands have never been met.

The UN had previously accused Uganda and Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Image source, AFP

South Sudanese security forces on Monday morning withdrew from First Vice-President Riek Machar's residence in the capital, Juba, his office has told the BBC.

Mr Machar reported to his office on Monday and was working normally, according to his press secretary Puok Both Baluang.

The security forces had been deployed to Mr Machar's residence on Saturday evening.

The vice-president's office is later expected to issue a press statement on the matter.

Security officers cordoned off Mr Machar's house after he had issued a press statement rejecting President Salva Kiir's directive on the formation of a national army - a key pillar of a peace deal the pair signed in 2018.

Mr Machar had accused President Kiir of not equally sharing out positions in the military and the police force as stipulated in the peace deal.

"The unilateral decision by President Kiir is a violation of the revitalised peace agreement and is a clear rejection of the ongoing mediation process," he said on Saturday.

President Kiir's office has not commented on the matter.

More on this topic:

• A quick guide to South Sudan

Image source, AFP

A summit bringing Israel together with Egypt, Morocco and two other Arab countries is taking place in the Negev desert in Israel.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also taking part in the meeting, which is expected to focus on the revival of the Iran nuclear deal and the war in Ukraine.

Foreign ministers from Egypt, the UAE, Morocco and Bahrain have travelled to Israel for the event, in a sign of their commitment to a new relationship with Israel.

They've condemned the attack on Sunday in Israel in which two police officers were killed.

You may also be interested in:

• Morocco normalises ties with Israel
• Five reasons why Israel's peace deals matter

Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o's shocked reaction to Will Smith clashing with Oscars presenter Chris Rock at Sunday night's ceremony is trending on social media.

Smith slapped Rock after the comic made a joke about the actor's wife Jada Pinkett Smith, saying "Jada, can't wait for GI Jane 2," in an apparent reference to her shaved hairdo - which is a result of the hair loss condition alopecia.

Smith walked on stage and struck Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: "Keep my wife's name out of your [expletive] mouth."

Nyong'o's apparent realisation that the altercation wasn't a stunt was captured live on camera:

Smith later apologised to the awards body and to his fellow nominees while accepting his Oscar for best actor, but there was no specific apology for Rock.

The Los Angeles Police Department later told Variety, external that Rock had "declined to file a police report" following the event.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the Oscars, tweeted, external that it "does not condone violence of any form".

Read more about what happened.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Reuters

Rwanda wants additional funding to keep its troops in Mozambique's troubled northern Cabo Delgado region where they are fighting Islamist militants.

A 1,000-strong Rwandan force was deployed to the region last year and has since recaptured many villages and towns from the militants.

Rwandan High Commissioner to Mozambique said they had asked the European Union for financial support for the troops to bring the situation in the region under control.

“We ask [for assistance from] partners like the European Union, which is considering our request, and we hope they help us. And the two countries have many friends and we believe they want to see Cabo Delgado safe and stable," said Claude Nikobisanzwe.

He said there were visible improvements in areas recaptured by Rwandan troops.

“We have stabilised our areas like the district of Palma and Mocímboa da Praia. We are waiting for the [Mozambican] government to make a decision and see if the population can return," said Mr Nikobisanzwe.

He said there was no deadline for Rwandan troops' presence in the country.

More on this topic:

• Sex-slave freeing Rwandan soldiers greeted as heroes
• Mozambique insurgency: Rwanda leads the fightback

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

Ghana has removed the mandatory requirement for face masks to be worn in public.

President Nana Akufo-Addo announced the decision on Sunday, citing a sustained drop in Covid infections in Ghana and neighbouring countries.

The president also scrapped the requirement for negative PCR tests for fully vaccinated travellers arriving in the country through the Kotoka International Airport in Accra from Monday.

However, he encouraged Ghanaians to continue observing enhanced hand hygiene practices and avoid overcrowded places.

Ghana's daily infection rate has been falling steadily since December 2021.

The West African country has so far recorded 160,925 confirmed Covid cases.

Ghana joins dozens of African countries that have eased most Covid containment measures despite the World Health Organization warning last week that the restrictions were being lifted too soon.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Reuters

South Sudan government forces have reportedly surrounded the residence of First Vice-President Riek Machar in the capital Juba.

It's not clear if Mr Machar is in the house.

It comes just a day after the former rebel leader asked regional and international leaders to intervene to end renewed fighting in Unity and Upper Nile states - which are considered his strongholds.

For weeks now, clashes between South Sudan’s military and forces loyal to Mr Machar have been reported in various areas - threatening a fragile peace agreement between him and President Salva Kiir

The government has not issued any statement on whether its soldiers have surrounded the premises.

A peace agreement signed in 2018 to end nearly six years of bloodshed is way behind schedule in implementation of key issues such as the formation of unified army.

Shingai Nyoka
BBC News, Harare

Image source, AFP

Independent election observers say the just ended Zimbabwe by-elections were marred by intimidation and vote-buying.

Results from the polls suggest the new opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change CCC, led by Nelson Chamisa, is on course to win most of the 28 parliamentary and over 100 council seats being contested.

Three quarters of the by-elections were because of a split within the main opposition the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

While the opposition is celebrating its wins, results suggest that the ruling Zanu-PF party has made some inroads, including in urban areas.

It managed to snatch several parliamentary and council seats from the opposition.

But independent observer groups like the Zimbabwe Election Support Network said some candidates’ conduct amounted to vote buying, including giving out of foodstuffs to voters.

While the voting day was largely peaceful, it said that the above-average voter turn-out at some rural polling stations suggested community coercion.

The group noted high numbers of people needing assistance to vote in several polling stations.

The final results are expected to be announced on Monday.

Read more on the topic:

• New party, same fears of dirty tricks

Image source, AFP

Burkina Faso's security forces have arrested the former speaker, days after he called for the immediate release of ousted President Roch Kaboré.

Alassane Bala Sakandé, who is also the leader of the former ruling party, was arrested by police at his home early on Sunday morning.

He was released without charge in the evening after hours of interrogation in the capital Ouagadougou, local broadcaster Radio Omega reported.

"He stands reproached for remarks he made at the news conference of his party, the People's Movement for Progress held on 24 March," the AFP news agency had earlier quoted his lawyers as saying.

Mr Sakandé said that the former president was not under house arrest but in detention due to the difficult conditions he had allegedly been subjected to.

The former president was deposed in January and has been held under house arrest since then.

The West African regional bloc Ecowas, which has threatened to impose further sanctions on Burkina Faso, has demanded his unconditional release.

Coach Comfort Etim says her club in Liverpool is a safe space for women to express themselves.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Federal Road Safety Commission

A tanker-truck loaded with petrol exploded in the Nigerian city of Lagos, killing at least six people.

Officials said the tanker had a head-on collision with another truck with the resulting blaze destroying both vehicles.

A motorbike rider caught in the flames was among the victims of the Sunday evening incident.

Nigeria has seen frequent deadly road accidents and explosions involving fuel tankers in recent years.

Road accidents in Nigeria are mostly blamed on bad roads, disregard for traffic regulations and poor maintenance of vehicles.

Image source, Federal Road Safety Commission

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Activists are demanding the return to Gabon of a rare 19th Century wooden mask sold in France for nearly $5m (£3.8m).

Nobody was expecting the pale mask with an elongated face and straggly beard to fetch even a tenth of the sum it was sold for.

Activists disrupted the auction in the southern French city of Montpellier, saying whoever bought the mask was receiving stolen goods.

The auctioneer insisted the sale was entirely legal.

The mask would have been worn by a member of the Ngil secret society, a group that travelled through villages dispensing justice and hunting down sorcerers.

The distinctive shape of the Ngil masks is believed to have played a huge influence on the work of famous European artists including Picasso and Modigliani.

Like many others in Africa, the Gabonese are demanding the return of precious artefacts stolen during colonial times.

A number of Western museums have started the process of returning precious antiquities stolen from Africa and other continents during colonial times.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Scientists are reporting what they say is the longest submarine landslide yet measured in action.

In recent years, our knowledge of life beneath the waves has been transformed. Using cutting-edge technology in this extended special we celebrate the highlights from the series. From the intense heat of the tropics to our planet's frozen poles, through to its unexplored depths, we reveal new worlds and extraordinary never-seen-before animal behaviours.

Starting in the tropical coral reefs - the most diverse ocean habitat - a tusk fish demonstrates a surprising level of ingenuity - tool use - as it uses corals as an anvil to break open clams. In the Seychelles, half a million terns nest on an island. Fledglings must eventually take to the wing, but danger lurks beneath the waves: metre-long giant trevally fish leap clear out of the water to snatch birds on the wing.

In the tropics sun heats the sea, creating rain, winds and huge storms that drive up towards higher latitudes. Here the seas change with the seasons. In spring thousands of mobula rays gather in Mexico's Sea of Cortez. At night, in a previously unseen event, tiny organisms that light up when disturbed react to their wingbeats, creating an enchanting bioluminescent firework display.

The seasonal seas are home to bountiful kelp forests. In the undersea forests of southern Africa, one resident - the common octopus- has become the ultimate escape artist. To outwit her nemesis, the pyjama shark, she uses ingenious tactics, never filmed before.

On the coast, two worlds collide. Where sea meets land, coasts are the most dynamic and challenging habitats in the ocean. The ever-changing tides create rock pools. But these temporary worlds are a battleground. Predatory starfish turn a magical garden into the stuff of nightmares.

The big blue is the world's greatest wilderness - it's a vast marine desert where there is little to eat and nowhere to hide. Sometimes there is a brief explosion of food in this marine desert, but ocean hunters must be fast to make the best of this bonanza. We witness super-pods of up to five thousand spinner dolphins racing to herd vast shoals of lanternfish, briefly caught at the surface where it is thought they spawn. New aerial footage reveals, for the first time, the spectacular feeding frenzy of 90kg tuna and dolphins smashing through the lantern fish shoals turning the sea white with foam.

The deep is perhaps the most hostile environment on Earth, at least to us - a world of crushing pressure, brutal cold and utter darkness. We have barely begun to explore it and yet it is the largest living space on our blue planet, home to strange worlds like methane volcanoes and undersea lakes of salty brine. But life adapts in ingenious ways, like the sea toad - a fish that walks instead of swims. And barrel-eye - a deep sea fish with a translucent skull so that it can see through the top of its head to make the most of any glimmer of light.

The deep is more closely connected to our own world than we ever thought possible due to giant ocean currents. We join these ocean currents as they begin their lives in Antarctica and flow from the poles to the tropics and back again, linking every ocean. Ocean currents move heat around our planet and maintain a climate favourable for life. But our ocean system, in relative equilibrium for millennia, is changing at a worrying rate.

Deep in the polar north, we meet walrus mothers and their newborn calves, searching for an ice floe to rest on; but with rising temperatures, summer sea ice is retreating- their battles to survive are becoming ever harder. As we begin to understand the true complexity of the lives of our ocean creatures so do we recognise the fragility of their home.

Jarvis Cocker navigates the ether as he continues his nocturnal exploration of the human condition.

On a night voyage across a sea of shortwave he meets those who broadcast, monitor and harvest electronic radio transmissions after dark.

Paddy McAloon, founder of the band Prefab Sprout, took to trawling the megahertz when he was recovering from eye surgery and the world around him became dark. Tuning in at night he developed a ghostly romance with far-off voices and abnormal sounds.

Artist Katie Paterson and 'Moonbouncer' Peter Blair send Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata to the moon and back, to find sections of it swallowed up by craters.

Journalist Colin Freeman was captured by the Somali pirates he went to report on and held hostage in a cave. But when one of them loaned him a shortwave radio, the faint signal to the outside world gave him hope as he dreamed of freedom.

And "London Shortwave" hides out in a park after dark, with his ear to the speaker on his radio, slowly turning the dial to reach all four corners of the earth

Jarvis sails in and out of their stories - from the cosmic to the captive - as he wonders what else is out there, deep in the noise

Producer Neil McCarthy.

Jarvis Cocker returns to Radio 4 with his nocturnal explorations of the human condition.

In tonight's Wireless Night, Jarvis travels to a remote village in the Rif Mountains of Morocco to join the Master Musicians of Joujouka. Their ancient Sufi trance music is said to heal crazy minds. Jarvis wonders if his own troubled mind can find tranquillity there but encounters the wild living embodiment of the God Pan, half man and half goat, who has other ideas.

The Master Musicians of Joujouka were first discovered by Western ears in the 1950's when beat writers and artists like Brion Gysin and William Burroughs, living in Tangier, were lured up to the hills and had their minds blown by the healing power of the music. Rolling Stone Brian Jones also made a recording of their music shortly before his death calling it The Rites of Pan in Joujouka. This ritual lives on in the village, where somebody dressed in goatskins takes on the mythical character Bou Jeloud, enters a trance, whirls around with branches of willow and anyone he brushes with is blessed with fertility.

For one night only Jarvis joins the musicians and Bou Jeloud under a starlit sky in North Africa where unexpected things happen after dark.

This programme was recorded "Binaurally". This is a special, immersive way of recording whereby you'll hear things the way Jarvis was hearing them and can best be appreciated by listening on headphones.

Producer Neil McCarthy.