Peter Jegwa
Lilongwe, Malawi

Malawian police have released a top investigative journalist after detaining him for hours following a raid in his office.

Gregory Gondwe heads the Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ), an online investigative publication that has become famous for publishing a series of reports exposing high-level corruption.

His colleague, Golden Matonga, said the police demanded to know the sources of some government documents the PIJ published.

The security officers on Tuesday seized computers and other hand gadgets belonging to Mr Gondwe and the media house, he added.

The police declined to comment on the detention.

A media watchdog in Malawi has condemned the development, saying forcing a journalist to reveal sources of information violates whistle-blower protection privileges.

The UK embassy in Malawi said on Twitter that it was "very concerned" about the police raid:

Noting that he had been released, the embassy however called for the police to return of the confiscated equipment and respect the privacy of information contained therein.

Image source, Marianites of Holy Cross

An 83-year-old American nun has been kidnapped in Burkina Faso.

The bishop of the northern Kaya diocese said armed men took her from a nunnery where they vandalised rooms and sabotaged a vehicle.

The nun, Sister Suellen Tennyson, had served in the parish since October 2014.

A search operation is under way in the area bordering the Soum province where attacks on civilians have increased and where armed groups are active.

Several Westerners have been abducted by Islamist militants in northern Burkina Faso and other parts of the Sahel in recent years.

Joice Etutu
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Two human rights groups have accused armed forces from Ethiopia's Amhara region of waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Tigrayans.

In a joint report, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Amhara officials and regional special forces and militias fighting in western Tigray of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

They also accused Ethiopia's military of complicity in those acts.

The rights organisations have spent over a year interviewing more than 400 people, and using satellite imagery to gather evidence from the region which has been extremely difficult for journalists, aid groups and others to access.

The groups say that hundreds of Tigrayans remain unlawfully detained and have called for their immediate release.

In a letter to the organisations, the Amhara regional government called the allegations in the report false.

Fisseha Tekle, Amnesty International’s Regional Researcher for Horn of Africa, told the BBC about what he described as the shocking findings.

"This campaign of ethnic cleansing was conducted through a series of human rights abuses including mass detention and torture, sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, denial of humanitarian aid and forced expulsion of Tigrayans," he said.

The conflict in Tigray has been raging for more than a year, and the rights groups say it has forced millions of people to flee.

According to the UN, the war has also left hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine.

Last week, several lorries of food arrived in the capital of Tigray for the first time in months. The aid comes after the Ethiopian government declared a humanitarian truce.

However, Amnesty International says the western Tigray region is still not getting the help it needs.

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Guitarist Moss Hills helped evacuate a sinking cruise liner after some of the crew jumped ship

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team. There'll be an automated news feed here until we're back on Wednesday morning.

You can also keep up to date on the BBC News website, or by listening to the Africa Today podcast.

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And we leave you with this shot of Ivorian striker Wilfred Zaha in action - he sealed Crystal Palace's 3-0 win over Arsenal in the English Premier League on Tuesday night:

Image source, AFP

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Authorities in Ghana say they have increased security alert levels in the country to counter possible attacks.

National Security Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah warned MPs that separatists in south-eastern Ghana could be planning a new wave of attacks in the region as part of their campaign for a breakaway state of Western Togoland.

The authorities also fear ethnic tensions in northern Ghana could be exploited by armed groups to perpetrate violence, and there are concerns that militants could cross over from neighbouring Burkina Faso, where armed groups linked to the so-called Islamic State and al-Qaeda have recently stepped up attacks.

Mr Kan-Dapaah told MPs that the country must be proactive in the wake of rising insecurity in West Africa, and said security agencies have been adequately equipped to combat any threats - including beefing up security measures along the country’s border with Burkina Faso.

Ghana is one of the most stable countries in West Africa but it has several volatile neighbours.

Watch more on this topic:

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

Image source, Getty Images

Climate change is to blame for the outbreak of a pest in Uganda that attacks cereals and grazing pasture, the country's agricultural minister says.

The African army worm - different from the fall army worm which devastated farms across east and southern African five years ago - has been reported in at least 14 administrative districts across Uganda.

It can be tackled with a common pesticide called Cypermethrin, says Agriculture Minister Frank Tuwembaze, but he warns that cows and other livestock should not graze on treated zones for one week.

African army worms multiply rapidly, and may present a threat to Uganda’s coffee sector, but also food security for some families and districts.

Coffee is one of the country’s most valuable exports, and the industry has been steadily recovering in recent years, increasing in export volumes and quality.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

The Nigerian military is yet to comment on reports that several soldiers were killed and others wounded when their field base in the troubled Kaduna state reportedly came under attack on Sunday.

Armed bandits "came on motorcycles armed with heavy weapons - they took the soldier on duty by surprise, shooting and killing ten soldiers", a witness told the BBC.

The attackers are also said to have set fire to military vehicles and stolen some some weapons from the based in Palwaya, near Birnin Gwari town.

There are also reports that a number of civilians who ran into the crossfire died too.

Military authorities have not confirmed eyewitness report that a senior military officer visited the scene of the incident on Monday afternoon and evacuated the bodies of the dead while those wounded were taken to hospital.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Getty Images

Rising flour costs mean a hike in bread prices is "unavoidable", says Mozambique's Mozambican Bakers’ Association.

Amopão, as they are known (literally "I love bread"), are calling on the government to either lower taxation on wheat flour importers and processors, or compensate Mozambique's mills directly.

Mozambique is one of numerous African nations who imported cereals from Ukraine, and Amopão leader Victor Miguel says a large sack of flour now costs 13% more than it did before the European nation was invaded by Russia in February.

There were deadly riots across cities in Mozambique in 2010 sparked by a 30% rise in the price of bread, in which a dozen people died and more than 400 others were injured.

To quell the unrest, the government subsidised the price of flour for some time - and since then price rises have always remained low.

Image source, Getty Images

Afrobeats is more than just a music genre, rather, it is a culture, according to the co-founder of African music festival, Afro Nation.

Obi Asika collaborated with music magazine, Billboard, to launch the US' first ever Afrobeats Chart last month, in a project that took two years to plan.

The chart will be a way to help fans and other people in the music industry connect with the Afrobeats genre, Mr Asika told the BBC’s Africa Today podcast.

The chart - which currently features the likes of Fireboy DML's Peru, Ckay’s Love Nwantiti and Wizkid’s Essence all in the top three - is a means to show the "deep quality and talent that exists" in the genre, Mr Asika said.

"There is going to be lots of different genres that we are going to put into one and call it Afrobeats under one title that people understand," he continued. These different genres include South African Amapiano that is making "major waves", as well as music from various African groups including those in the diaspora, Portuguese, French and Spanish-speaking groups.

Although Nigerian artists are usually the musicians associated with Afrobeats, for Mr Asika the chart represents much more than West African music alone.

"For me it means a whole cultural movement," he said.

"It’s something that sums up so much that’s good about African culture [...] from the music to the art to the fashion."

You can listen to the full Africa Today podcast here.

Sudan’s anti-coup protesters are planning huge rallies, dubbed the “earthquake demonstrations”, to mark Wednesday’s third anniversary of the sit-in outside the military headquarters in the capital that led to Omar al-Bashir being ousted as president five days later.

They hope mass protests in Khartoum will weaken the grip of the military, which seized power in October.

But the authorities appear to be taking measures to restrict the movement of the crowds.

Roads have been blocked near the military headquarters, which now has a 5m- (16ft-) high wall around it that has been built over the last year or so.

Two bridges over the Blue Nile have already been blocked by freight containers to stop traffic.

Several other bridges are expected to be closed on the day. Pro-democracy activists say a telecom and internet blackout is also expected.

In other measures, the authorities have announced the closure of schools on Wednesday - a move aimed at stopping pupils heading off together to protest and keeping parents at home to look after their children.

Local media, external reports that the riot police, locally known as Abu Tayra and recently sanctioned by the US, have been given cash bonuses to encourage them to manage the protests. Some reports suggest up to 20,000 of them will be deployed.

Since the coup, more than 90 protesters have been killed and more than 4,000 have been injured.rs have been killed and more than 4,000 have been injured.

African football's boss Patrice Motsepe is "reassured" with the progress Ivory Coast has made with preparations to host the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

At least six people have been burnt to death in an explosion at a petrol station in the northern Nigerian state of Jigawa.

Reports say some of the victims were sleeping in a small mosque within the gas station in the town of Marke when the fire broke out and engulfed the building.

Regional police spokesman Lawan Shiisu Adam says the incident happened late on Monday evening - and that the victims were aged between 15 and 35.

Some witnesses say a gas cylinder exploded at the petrol station igniting huge flames. The authorities say they’re investigating.

Nigeria has frequently seen such explosions involving petrol stations or tanker trucks - mainly blamed on disregard for safety measures, leading to loss of lives and property.

Last week at least six people died in the commercial hub of Lagos when a tanker-truck loaded with petrol had a head-on collision with another lorry carrying cement causing a massive explosion and huge fires on a major highway.

Defending winners Al Ahly will face Caf Confederation Cup winners Raja Casablanca in the quarter-final of the African Champions League.

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The International Red Cross says a major hunger crisis in Africa is going unnoticed as the world focuses on Ukraine.

It said more than a quarter of people across the continent are suffering from alarming hunger.

Meanwhile, the International Rescue Committee said West Africa was facing its worst food crisis in a decade.

The number of people in need of emergency assistance has quadrupled in the past seven years.

Islamist violence and climate change in the Sahel have led to reduced harvests.

The war in Ukraine is making things worse as many African countries import more than 50% of their grain from Russia and Ukraine.

Burkina Faso captain Bertrand Traore says it is "a privilege" to be managed by Premier League legend Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa.

Image source, Getty Images

A former head of a Sudanese militia has pleaded not guilty to more than 30 counts of atrocities committed during the war in Darfur nearly 20 years ago.

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

A former governor in Darfur, who was involved in the investigation of Mr Abd-al-Rahman at the time, has told the BBC why the former militia leader should be in court.

"I've seen what happened by my naked eyes in regard to crimes that he committed in central Darfur, attacking villages, burning villages, killing people, burning people, burning children, rape of women and girls," Adeeb Yousif said.

The ICC has also issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's former President Omar al-Bashir on charges of committing genocide and war crimes in Darfur.

Mubarak Bala pleads guilty to 18 charges related to blaspheming Islam, a faith he renounced.

About 300 people were killed during an operation against militant Islamists, a rights group says.