Image source, Getty Images

The breakaway state of Somaliland has appealed for $2bn (£1.5bn) in international aid following the fire that gutted the biggest market in the capital, Hargeisa.

The money was needed to support families of about 5,000 businesses that were destroyed in Friday evening's blaze.

Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi said the fire had caused losses estimated at around $2bn, or around 60% of Somaliland's gross domestic product.

The cause of the fire fire is unclear.

"We will erase you from this land," a trader says he was told by Amhara security forces.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Kenya Power

Kenya’s energy supplier says it’s losing millions of dollars a month due to vandalism of its electric transformers for their fluid, which is sold as cooking oil.

Kenya Power says criminals extract the fluid from the transformers, which is then sold by cartels to restaurants and roadside stalls for frying food.

The recent increase in vandalism has been linked to the rising cost of cooking oil, which has forced some businesses to turn to unorthodox methods to try and keep afloat.

Health experts warn that transformer oil, which looks like cooking oil, is unsafe for human consumption and poses serious health risks.

Other gangs interfere with the power connection and then extort money from the public and businesses in order to restore supply.

In a statement, the state-run company said there was a sharp increase in vandalism in central Kenya, where nearly 20 transformers had been destroyed or interfered with.

Harrison Kamau, the company’s business manager in Murang'a county, cited an incident where a vandal “was electrocuted on top of a transformer while attempting to remove/return fuses”.

“He is currently admitted to the Thika General Hospital with life-threatening injuries,” the Kenya Power official said.

At least 22 people have recently been arrested and their cases are currently in court.

Kenya Power has now started a nationwide awareness campaign about the dangers of vandalising the grid.

It comes as the company struggles with constant power blackouts.

In January, a national blackout seen as the worst in years was blamed on vandalism of steel pylons for scrap metal, which led to the collapse of the power grid.

PSG's Achraf Hakimi and Saint-Etienne's Wahbi Khazri are among the nominees for the Marc-Vivien Foe award for the best African player in France's Ligue 1.

Tens of thousands of Sudanese braved the scorching heat and the Ramadan fast to mark the 37th anniversary of the 6 April 1985 uprising which ousted President Ja'afer Numayri.

They are also marking the third anniversary of the sit-in outside the army headquarters which led to the removal of long-term ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

Protesters took to the streets in about a dozen of cities, from El-Ginena in west Darfur to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.

In Khartoum the authorities blocked all the major bridges across the cities to stop demonstrators from converging into the centre of the capital.

In Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters.

Medics say the securty forces also stormed a hospital in Khartoum, and fired tear gas inside, leaving patients and health workers scared and suffocating, AFP news agency reports.

Today's protests are unusual as they were scheduled for 4 pm local time (1400 GMT), a few hours before iftar time, when Muslims break their fast.

Families across the city are said to have prepared meals and refreshments for the crowds.

Image source, Getty Images

Guinea's former Prime Minister Ibrahima Kassory Fofana has been detained on embezzlement charges, his lawyer has said, AFP news agency reports.

Mr Fofana served as prime minister untl the military staged a coup in September 2021.

Three other former government ministers were also detained, AFP reports.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Nearly 50 victims of human trafficking have been rescued as they were being taken to Libya for an onward journey to Europe, Nigeria’s anti-human trafficking agency says.

The group - which included 37 women and 11 men - was intercepted in neighbouring Niger with the help of the authorities there, it added.

Th group had crossed the border into Niger through northern Nigeria. The agency’s commander in Nigeria’s Kano state, Baballe Abdullahi, told the BBC two Ghanaians were among those rescued but the rest were Nigerians.

Burkina Faso's former leader Blaise Compaoré is found guilty of complicity in killing his close friend.

Sudan's security forces have fired tear gas as hundreds of protesters rallied in the capital Khartoum against last year's coup, witnesses have been quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

The security forces also "stormed al-Jawda hospital and fired tear gas inside, scaring patients and health workers and causing suffocation among some of them," the independent Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said, AFP reports.

Protests were held in around a dozen cites across Sudan to demand an end to military rule

Kenyans online are expressing their anger over the amount of compensation reportedly offered to the family of a man who died after falling into a boiler of the steel miller he was working for.

His family told local media that the company informed them that they would get about 7,000 shillings ($70; £50) a month for five years - the time that was remaining in his contract - a total of about $4,200.

They called the proposed compensation a "ridicule".

Caleb Otieno, 34, reportedly fell into a metal boiler on 25 March at the factory in Thika town, about 50km (30 miles) from the capital, Nairobi.

His body was liquefied.

The family and Kenyans alike have been questioning the company's safety standards.

"No amount of money can replace lost life. However, money is compensation for lost life. Compensation for wrongful death of a youthful working male adult cannot be less than Kshs 20m," Nelson Havi tweeted., external

"Let the law take its course now. May the family of the late Caleb Otieno get justice," another person tweeted., external

The Malian army has dismissed as unfounded allegations that its troops - along with Russian mercenaries - killed hundreds of civilians in the central Mopti region.

On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said about 300 people were allegedly executed during an operation last month against militant Islamists in Moura village.

The allegation was nothing but an attempt to tarnish the image of the army, the military said in a statement.

In an earlier statement, it said 203 militants had been killed and 51 others arrested during the operation against militants in the region.

The West African nation's junta denies that mercenaries from Russia's Wagner group are helping it fight the insurgents.

On Tuesday, Germany joined the US, France and the European Union to call for an independent investigation, involving the UN mission in the country, into what happened in Moura.

Image source, Getty Images

A leading financial institution in Africa, Afreximbank, says it has created a $4bn (£3.3bn) trade finance programme to cushion the continent from the effects of the war in Ukraine.

"Given the importance of both Russia and Ukraine as sources of crude oil and gas, raw materials and grains, the outbreak of the conflict has wider repercussions on a global scale, including adversely affecting African economies, especially those that rely heavily on grain, fertiliser and fuel imports," it said in a statement., external

The bank said it had already received financing requests of more than $15bn.

"There is some urgency to meet these requests to avoid catastrophic social conditions across Africa and reduce the risk of their morphing into political challenges," it added.

Former Switzerland midfielder Gelson Fernandes will join Fifa as director of member associations of Africa on 1 August.

Image source, Getty Images

A military tribunal in Burkina Faso has sentenced former President Blaise Compaore to life imprisonment for complicity in the 1987 murder of his predecessor Thomas Sankara.

Compaore, who is in exile, was tried in absentia.

His former head of security, Hyacinthe Kafando, was also sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mr Sankara, a Marxist revolutionary, was gunned down by a group of armed men in the capital, Ouagadougou in 1987.

Compaore then ruled for 27 years before being ousted in 2014.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

Human rights campaigners have expressed outrage over the sentencing of an atheist to 24 years in jail by a court in the northern Nigerian state of Kano.

Mubarak Bala, the president of Humanist Association of Nigeria, was arrested in 2020 and on Tuesday pleaded guilty to 18 charges of blasphemy against Islam and posting messages on social media that could incite violence.

Humanist International, an organisation committed to promoting freedom of belief around the world, described the judgement as ‘’outrageous’’.

It said it was ‘’a day of shame for the Nigerian authorities".

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom also condemned the jailing of Bala.

His group, the Humanist Association of Nigeria, said it was ‘’utterly shocked’’ and it was a ‘’sad day’’ for humanism and freedom.

But the court ruling has been widely welcomed in northern Nigeria – a predominantly Muslim region – with some saying his actions denigrate the religion of others.

Rights groups say they will continue to campaign for his release.

The 37-year-old atheist renounced Islam in 2014 and later became the president of Humanist Association of Nigeria.

Ghana must look past their clash against Uruguay to progress from the group stage at the 2022 World Cup, says ex-Black Stars defender John Paintsil.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News

Fresh fighting broke out on Wednesday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo - days after rebels had declared a unilateral ceasefire to make way for talks with the government.

In the last few days, about 6,000 refugees who had returned home have fled back to neighbouring Uganda.

Sources say government forces are fighting to retake villages in Rutshuru area in North Kivu province that are currently occupied by the M23 rebels.

A resident of the border town of Bunagana told the BBC that they could hear heavy weapons in the distance.

Regional leaders were expected to meet this week over negotiations between the government and rebels.

The M23 say that they want a peace agreement that was signed over a decade ago to be honoured.

The agreement provided for M23 to operate as a political party, stopping alleged discrimination of Congolese ethnic Tutsi in the armed forces and the return of refugees to their country, among other issues.

Last week, eight UN peacekeepers were killed when their helicopter was downed around Tchanzu area, where fighting had broken out.

It is not yet clear whether the plane was shot down or by whom, and the M23 denied responsibility.

Uganda and Rwanda have previously been blamed for providing support to the M23 rebels, an accusation that they deny.

Alfred Lasteck
BBC News, Dar es Salaam

Tanzanian cartoonist Masoud Kipanya has officially unveiled the country's first locally made electric car.

The environment-friendly electric car's brand name is Kaypee Motor.

It has been made from local materials and requires six hours of charging to run between 50 to 60km, according to Mr Kipanya.

The car has not yet been approved for use on Tanzanian roads, but he hopes to get certification soon.

Mr Kipanya told BBC Swahili that people still don't believe that he made the car which took him 11 months to complete.

"This is a very powerful car that comes with its own charger and it is user friendly."

"Let us not wait for foreigners to be doing these things for us," he told the BBC.

He said he had spent a lot of money developing it but wants to sell it at a lower price from 8m Tanzanian shillings ($3,400; £2,600) so that it's affordable to porters and distributors.

The thought of developing the car started nine years ago, he said.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

The al-Qaeda-allied al-Shabab militant group has dismissed reports that it was planning an attack against the Somali president and prime minister.

Pro-al-Shabab Somali Memo website quoted an unnamed senior al-Shabab commander who termed the claim by the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (Nisa) “laughable”.

The Shabab commander said Nisa was “not capable” of unearthing the group’s operations.

The militants claimed the statement from the spy agency “indicates an imminent threat” against some officials because of political disputes.

“Although the leaders and the officials of the apostate (Somali government) are always our target, we will not allow them to involve us in their disputes,” the jihadist commander was quoted as saying.

The group also denied the existence of a senior al-Shabab operative named Mohamed Mahir, who Nisa said was leading the alleged attack plot.

Somalia's security situation continues to be be jeopardised by political wrangles over its delayed election.

Image source, Getty Images

A piece of public art is due to be designed and installed in a city in the UK to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of Ugandan Asians there.

The artwork is one of several anniversary commemorations being held in Leicester.

More than 27,000 Asians were expelled by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 1972 and thousands settled in Leicester.

City mayor Peter Soulsby said their arrival was a "hugely important moment in the city's history".

Read more on this story:

• Public art planned for Leicester's Ugandan Asian anniversary