BBC World Service

Image source, Reform and Development party

Egypt's Public Prosecution office has ruled that the death of a prominent government critic was not the result of any crime.

Supporters of Ayman Hadhoud say that he was subject to ill- treatment by the police after what they describe as his "forced disappearance".

Mr Hadhoud died in a government-run psychiatric hospital in March but his body was not handed over to relatives until earlier this month.

The Egyptian prosecution office said a post-mortem revealed that Mr Hadhoud had died from a chronic heart condition - and there were no signs of violence or resistance.

Read more: Ayman Hadhoud: Questions over Egyptian economist's mysterious death

Friendlies against World Cup-bound Mexico and Ecuador can aid Nigeria's rebuilding process, says captain William Troost-Ekong.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is warning that due to a prolonged drought across the Horn of Africa the number of people at risk of hunger there could rise from 14 million to 20 million.

It says parts of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya are the driest they have been for 40 years and the desperately needed rains have failed to materialize almost a month into the current rainy season.

The WFP says wheat supplies have been affected by the war in Ukraine and with shipping costs rising, food and fuel prices have shot up.

It says despite several warnings of a disastrous drought, funding has not been made available at the scale needed.

Ameyu Etana
BBC Afaan Oromoo

Image source, Office of the President

Ethiopia's Olympic gold medallist Solomon Barega says he is yet to receive a car promised by the authorities after he won the country's only gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 games.

Solomon upset world champion and world record holder Joshua Cheptegei to win the 10,000m race with a time of 27 minutes 43.22 seconds.

State minister in the ministry of sports, Mesfin Cherinet, told the BBC that the car promised was not delivered owing to shortages of foreign currency.

The gold medal winner was in August pictured receiving a car key from Ethiopia's President Sahle-Work Zewde.

But the minister said that "the car at the ceremony was the promised one, not the one he was to be given".

The civil war in the north has devastated the country's economy and left hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of starvation

Solomon said he understands the difficulties faced by the government and the bureaucracy involved in procuring the car.

''The process takes long. Former athletes faced the same. Even though mine has delayed a bit long, I did not file a complaint,'' he said.

The authorities have agreed to give him the equivalent of the car's price in local currency, approximately 2.8m Ethiopian birr ($54,000; £42,000).

They also promised to help him import the car without paying customs duty.

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa’s power company, Eskom, has expanded its planned nationwide electricity outage on Monday after further breakdowns in its generating plants.

The state utility firm said it was implementing stage four load shedding, or scheduled blackouts, after it lost 4,000MW following the loss of two power units.

“Regretfully, Eskom has just been forced to implement Stage 4 load shedding at 07:20 following Majuba Unit 5 and Tutuka Unit 4 tripping,” it said on Twitter., external

On Sunday, Eskom announced Stage 2 load shedding when it lost 2,000MW of power supply after the tripping of other generating units.

Poor maintenance, rising costs, falling revenues, crumbling infrastructure, corruption and mismanagement have in the past been blamed for South Africa's energy crisis.

Eskom has since apologised, describing the power system as unpredictable on Twitter.

A 14-year-old boy shares his story after being separated from his family in the eastern part of the country.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Authorities in Nigeria's city of Lagos have warned against sharing or receiving images depicting child pornography, saying that such an offence carries a 14-year jail term.

There have been allegations of sexual violence involving some students of a private school during a trip to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from March 10 to 13.

A video reportedly showing the incident, in which a 10-year-old girl is said to appear, is being shared widely online.

The girl’s mother says her daughter was drugged by a male student and has accused the school authorities of a cover-up.

Local media say the incident occurred when the students of the school travelled to Dubai to participate in the World School Games between March 10 to 13.

The Lagos State government has ordered the immediate closure of the school pending further investigations into the incident.

The school has denied any wrongdoing and it said it had suspended the male student.

KwaZulu-Natal province has seen some serious flooding, but there isn't one clear explanation.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Dozens of young Ethiopian men continue to gather at the Russian embassy in the capital, Addis Ababa, on Tuesday following rumours of soldiers being recruited to fight in the war in Ukraine.

But the embassy’s spokeswoman, Maria Chernukhina, said no recruitment was being carried out in Ethiopia.

She said the crowd was showing solidarity with Russia.

"We have a lot of visitors to the embassy in order to express support for Russia," she told the BBC.

"Some of them are telling us they are willing to help in any way they can. But we are not a recruitment agency," Ms Chernukhina added.

Many of the Ethiopians at the embassy were seen carrying their personal documents.

A young man waiting at the entrance told the BBC that he's looking for a good salary as a soldier or to be hired in any other job available.

"I also like Russia," he said.

Others said they had heard rumours of high wages in Russia.

Ethiopia was among countries that missed a UN session to vote on a resolution on the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

Some 17 African countries including South Africa abstained from the vote.

More on this topic:

• Ukraine conflict: How Russia forged closer ties with Africa
• Bread, tea and students: How Ukraine war affects Africa

A number of Kenyan teachers say corporal punishment should be allowed in classrooms again, so that they can be tougher on pupils who misbehave.

Kenya outlawed corporal punishment in schools in 2001. The Children's Act protects children from all forms of abuse.

But some secondary school headteachers say the ban undermines their authority in schools.

"The policy on management of discipline is laborious and [makes it] difficult for any school or board of management to take any disciplinary measures," says Kahi Indimuli, who leads the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association.

Headteachers are meeting this week for an annual conference and will discuss the rising unrest in schools.

Several government secondary schools were set alight last year, with many of the incidents blamed on students.

In February, Education Minister George Magoha warned teachers against caning learners in schools, but had previously hinted at a change in policy to deal with rising cases of indiscipline in schools.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The Central African Republic's Special Criminal Court is due to hear its first trial on Tuesday, seven years after it was formed.

The hybrid court - staffed by both international and Central African judges and prosecutors - was set up to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the past two decades.

The court in Bangui has been praised by some as a model of justice in a country blighted by decades of civil war.

Others have cast doubt on its effectiveness.

The defendants in Tuesday's trial are members of 3R - one of the most powerful armed groups in the country.

They are accused of massacring dozens of people in the north-west of the country.

The president of the ICC, Piotr Hofmanski, has tweeted his solidarity, external and support for the Special Criminal Court.

BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

Libya’s National Oil Corporation says that a wave of protests affecting the energy sector are likely to get worse.

At least four separate groups have stopped production at oil fields and energy facilities across the country.

The protesters want Libya's Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah to hand power to a rival government led by Fathi Bashagha which was formed last month.

The two governments have been competing for power since Libya's parliament elected Mr Bashagha prime minister.

But Mr Dbeibah says he still has a mandate to govern until national elections scheduled for June.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Mali presidency

Mali has received another batch of military equipment from Russia after the European Union suspended its military training programme with the Sahel nation.

Mali's armed forces chief, Maj Gen Oumar Diarra, received two combat helicopters and surveillance radars, the Malian presidency said in a statement.

The presidency shared a video, external showing the equipment as it was delivered by a Russian cargo flight at the airport in the capital Bamako.

Mr Diarra termed Russia's support to Mali as "a manifestation of the very fruitful partnership".

Last month, Mali received two Russian-made combat helicopters and radars shortly after reports that its defence minister and air force chief "discreetly" visited Moscow.

State media widely publicised the reception and hailed Russia's growing support for Mali in counter-insurgency operations.

Mali has defended relations with Russia after international backlash over a decision to deploy mercenaries from the controversial Wagner paramilitary firm in December.

This triggered the ongoing withdrawal of France's Operation Barkhane forces and European troops under the Takuba Task Force.

Wagner fighters and the Malian army have been linked to allegations of gross human rights abuses in joint counter-insurgency operations in recent months, reports Mali denies.

Related stories:

• Mali troops and suspected Russian fighters accused of massacre
• West condemns Russian mercenaries 'deployment'

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Two soldiers have shot dead 15 people in separate attacks in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The victims were almost all civilians.

This comes after six people were wounded when soldiers threw a grenade into a crowd whilst trying to carry out an arrest.

An official in South Kivu province said a drunk soldier on a boat on Lake Tanganyika killed eight passengers including children before he was arrested.

On Sunday another soldier shot dead a colonel, his bodyguard and five civilians in Ituri province. The killer, also said to have been drunk, was shot dead by a colleague as he fled.

For more than two decades people across eastern DR Congo have endured frequent attacks by dozens of armed groups.

President Félix Tshisekedi has said ending the violence is a top priority for his government.

A state of siege was imposed on two provinces almost a year ago.

But it's had little effect, as the rebels and sometimes ill-disciplined Congolese soldiers continue to cause havoc.

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Kenya enjoy double success at the Boston Marathon as Evans Chebet wins the men's crown and Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir takes the women's title.

The army ant might be small enough to squash under foot but, make no mistake, it’s a formidable predator. When they club together in their thousands they are a force to be reckoned with. Picture a tiger, comprised of hundreds of thousands of tiny ant-sized units, prowling through the forest and you start to get the idea. They’ll take down anything in their path, from spiders and scorpions to chickens that can’t escape them. There are even grisly stories of African army ants attacking people. But this predator has its uses too - they can be used to stitch wounds and offer a house cleaning service too.

Dr Dino Martins, Executive Director of the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya, and Lecturer at Princeton University, and Daniel Kronauer, Associate Professor studying complex social evolution and behaviour at the Rockefeller University in New York.

Producer: Beth Eastwood Presenter: Professor Adam Hart

Photo credit: Daniel Kronauer

Cursed as a worthless scavenger and cast as villainous cowardly sidekicks in Disney’s The Lion King, the spotted hyena is one of the world’s most misunderstood of all predators. It may scavenge at night on a giant rubbish tip on the outskirts of Mekelle in Ethiopia, but it earns it’s top predator status when it takes down its prey in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. Adam Hart and guests polish up the spotted hyena’s tarnished reputation.

Professor Kay Holekamp, a behavioural ecologist at Michigan State University, and Chinmay Sonawane, a biologist at Stanford University in California

Picture: Spotted Hyena puppies and adult male with each other in Masat Mara, Credit: Manoj Shah/Getty Images Producer: Beth Eastwood Presenter: Professor Adam Hart

Professor Tom Kariuki has spent his career battling for science in Africa, both as a leading immunologist and as the former director of the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa. Now, as the world comes to grips with the coronavirus pandemic and a global movement for social justice, could this prove an opportunity for the transformation of African science?

Tom talks to leading scientists in Africa about the successes they have achieved as well as the profound challenges they face, from the complexities of international funding to keeping the lights on. He asks who African science belongs to and benefits, and what needs to happen if its future is to be prosperous.

(Photo: A team of scientists in a lab. Credit: Getty Images)