At least 130 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by landmines and other explosives left after heavy fighting in 2020 around the Libyan capital Tripoli, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.

The explosives were scattered in the suburbs of Tripoli, external during heavy fighting in 2019-2020, when military strongman Khalifa Haftar tried to capture the capital.

"Forces allied with Khalifa Haftar laid landmines and improvised explosive devices that have killed and maimed several hundred civilians including children, and hinder southern Tripoli residents from returning home," said HRW's Libya director Hanan Salah.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Monitoring

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has met Chad's leader Mahamat Idriss Déby in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia's official news agency SPA said that the two leaders had discussed cooperation in a multitude of fields.

It did not provide further details.

Tibebeselassie Tigabu
BBC Amharic service

Tigrayan forces have completely withdrawn from the neighboring Ethiopian Afar region, Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) spokesman Getachew Reda has said on Twitter.

“A note to the international community, external and to all concerned: for the record, there are no Tigray Forces, literally none, left in Afar,” he tweeted.

Mr Getachew told Reuters on Monday that he hoped that it meant much-needed food aid would reach famine-stricken Tigray.

Since the Ethiopian government and Tigriayn forces reached a truce last month, only 144 trucks of food aid have made it into the region, according to the World Food Programme. The UN said at least 100 trucks are needed every day.

On Monday, the latest World Food Programme humanitarian convoy of 74 trucks arrived in Tigray.

The head of the Afar regional government's Peace and Security Bureau, Ibrahim Hamed Mohammed, told the BBC that Tigray forces had withdrawn from most of the region but still remained in some parts.

"They did not fully leave. There is a small army in the districts of Araju and Hida in the Magal district. They are still within 15 km (10 miles) of our border," he told the BBC.

Conflict broke out in Tigray in November 2020 and spread to the neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions, killing thousands, forcing millions to flee their homes and leaving hundreds of thousands on the brink of famine

Image source, Getty Images

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

The Central African Republic (CAR) has adopted the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as legal tender.

It's the second country to do so after El Salvador.

Members of parliament unanimously approved the move and President Faustin Archange Touadera signed a bill into law that makes bitcoin legal tender alongside the CFA franc.

An official in the presidency said the move placed the CAR on the map of the world's boldest and most visionary countries.

The landlocked state, which is one of the world's poorest, has suffered from a devastating armed conflict in recent years

The World Health Organization says it is starting to vaccinate people against the Ebola virus in an area of the Democratic Republic of Congo where a new outbreak has killed two people.

So far 200 doses have arrived in the city of Mbandaka and priority will be given to people who came into contact with the two patients before they died.

The WHO said front line medical staff would also be prioritised.

It said a sample examined at DR Congo's National Biomedical Centre had indicated a new strain of the disease. Studies are under way to determine the host animal.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

Nigeria’s secret police have warned of possible bomb attacks during celebrations for Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

In a statement, spokesperson Peter Afunanya said the Department of State Services (DSS) had uncovered a plot by suspected gangs to carry out attacks on critical infrastructure, places of worship and recreation centres.

The warning comes after recent explosions at bars in the north-eastern states of Taraba and Yobe that killed several people.

A splinter faction of Boko Haram known as Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) said it carried out the attacks.

Veteran striker Kei Kamara deserves respect for what he achieved for football in Sierra Leone, says former team-mate Mohamed Kallon.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

A new report has warned that a scheme set up to ensure mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo does not fuel conflict is being abused to launder tainted minerals.

Global Witness says companies, external - including Apple, Tesla and Intel - are relying on the due diligence scheme to source minerals that are widely used in electronic equipment such as mobile phones, computers and automotive and aeronautical systems.

Those behind the initiative have denied the allegations.

For years there have been warnings that some minerals sourced in DR Congo that are used in electronic devices are from mines controlled by armed groups.

A scheme was launched to try to prevent these so-called "blood minerals" reaching the international market.

But Global Witness says it has uncovered compelling evidence that the International Tin Supply Chain Initiative (ITSCI) is failing.

It says the scheme is being used to launder tin, tantalum and tungsten from mines controlled by militia or where children work.

Global Witness says companies like Apple, Tesla and Intel need to do more to ensure their minerals are not fuelling conflict.

Joice Etutu
BBC News, Nakuru

Cases of police brutality and enforced disappearances are on a steady increase in Kenya, according to a joint report by Amnesty International Kenya and 16 local NGOs.

The report found 189 cases of police killings, as well as at least 30 people who have gone missing in police custody.

“We’re noticing a significant increase since 2020, and the numbers are steadily going up," said the executive director of Amnesty International Kenya, Irũngũ Houghton.

"The new trend we’ve noticed is the enforced abduction and disappearances of suspected criminals, terrorists, or just everyday civilians. Some of them have been found dead in Yala river or in Siaya county among other places,” he added

In response, a Kenyan government spokesperson said they are committed to abide by the rule of law and ensure that human rights are protected.

One woman, Anne Wanjiku Kariuki, who is pregnant with her third child, said the last time she saw her husband, he was being dragged through their home by suspected police officers in plain clothes.

They were searching for something but refused to tell her what it was. Her husband managed to mutter "I’m being arrested’" before he was taken away. He hasn’t been seen since.

“It’s been a month and two weeks since they took him. The children are asking where he is and why he was arrested. I don’t know what to do, or how to feel, I’m constantly wondering whether he is alive or not,” she said.

Humans rights activist David Kuria said that regional police officers have denied involvement in his disappearance.

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, Miss Rwanda

The organiser of Miss Rwanda beauty pageant has been arrested on allegations of sexually abusing contestants, the authorities have said.

The arrest of Dieudonné Ishimwe, the chief executive of Rwanda Inspiration Back Up, the company that organises the contest, comes just a month after this year's edition.

Mr Ishimwe has not responded to the accusations against him.

The Miss Rwanda pageant is one of the most followed events in Rwanda.

An employee of the organising company told the BBC that four girls who contested last year and in this year’s edition had made complaints to investigators before his arrest.

“While the case was still under investigation, he was arrested on Monday”, she told the BBC under a condition of anonymity.

A state investigator is quoted by local media as saying that Mr Ishimwe "is suspected of sexual abuse charges towards Miss Rwanda contestants on different occasions”.

Leading one to sex acts “by force, threats, trickery or by use of authority over that person” is punishable by up to 15 years in prison in Rwanda.

The spokesperson of Rwanda Inspiration Back Up, who is the winner of Miss Rwanda 2019, resigned last week.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

Major roads have been closed in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, ahead of elections for the speaker of the parliament's lower house.

Journalists have been barred from accessing the venue of the polls to be held in a heavily fortified air force hangar, reports say.

After delays of more than a year, Somalia is a step closer to holding presidential polls with Wednesday's election of the speaker.

But the exercise has been marred by a fresh row between President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble over who should handle security at the elections venue.

The president wants the police deployed there but the prime minister has directed African Union peacekeepers to oversee security.

The chief of police has been sacked after saying on Tuesday that he couldn’t guarantee the safety of the exercise.

Meanwhile several MPs from Gabaharey and Elewak towns have been barred from participating in the elections, with the government saying their election and swearing-in was unconstitutional.

Somalia has been in a political limbo since last February following the expiry of President Farmajo’s four-year term.

He’s continued to stay in power and has constantly clashed with the prime minister.

Image source, AFP

Nigeria's presidential aspirant, Adamu Garba, wants the country's name to be changed to "the Nigritian Federation” or simply Nigritia.

He says the name change will be part of the reforms he will pursue if he wins elections.

Nigerian presidential election will be held in February 2023.

"How about we rebrand this country, properly federalize it and rename it to “The Nigritian Federation” or simply NIGRITIA. After all, Nigritia is our ancient name before Lady Lugard renamed it Nigeria," Mr Garba tweeted.

"It is high time to clean ourselves from negative stereotypes, reorganize ourselves and reclaim our country away from our colonial identities and divisions to our own definitions of unity, integration, tolerance and cohesion," he added,

He cited other African countries like Ghana, Kenya, Benin and Togo that changed their "colonially induced" names on independence, arguing that "Identity is everything".

Mr Garba has also posted a video demonstrating the right way of pronouncing the proposed new name.

More on this topic:

• The United African Republic - Nigeria's proposed new name

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA)

Swedish authorities have extradited a Rwandan man to Kigali over genocide charges which he is accused to have committed when he was a university student.

The Rwanda prosecution said it received Jean Paul Micomyiza on Wednesday and commended Sweden for its contribution “to fight impunity”.

Mr Micomyiza, 50, was arrested in Sweden in November 2020 on a Rwandan arrest warrant. He lost an appeal against his extradition last December.

He has lived in Sweden for more than a decade.

He is accused of crimes of genocide for his alleged role in searching and identifying Tutsis to be killed during the 1994 genocide, when he was 22.

At the time, he was a student at the National University of Rwanda located in his hometown, Butare, in south Rwanda.

Mr Micomyiza has not commented about the charges he faces in Rwanda.

Actor Ama K. Abebrese is pushing for the Ghanaian government to scrap fees for abuse victims.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

A samba group that highlighted prejudices against African-Brazilian religions have been crowned champions of this year's Rio de Janeiro carnival parade.

The Grande Rio Samba School has won its first title with a song, costume and floats that paid tribute to Exú, a Yoruba god revered by many African cultures.

The parade was cancelled last year because of Covid and this year's event was delayed due to the impact of a new variant of the coronavirus.

Twelve samba schools, representing different communities of the city, compete every year at the Sambadrome for the top prize.

Image source, AFP

Some young people in Zimbabwe are reportedly taking chemicals used in diapers and sanitary pads to get high at a cheaper cost.

They have told Al Jazeera, external that they get the white substance – a chemical known as sodium polyacrylate – from these products and boil it.

“After boiling, it forms a greyish substance and we drink the mixture,” a 19-year-old youth told Al Jazeera.

The chemical absorbs menstrual blood on sanitary pads and urine on diapers. It dissolves once boiled.

Drug abuse and the use of alternative ways by the youth to get high is being blamed on a lack of social safety nets in Zimbabwe amid a poor economy.

Image source, AFP

More than 10 million children are among those facing severe drought in the Horn of Africa.

The UN's children's body, Unicef, estimates that this figure is three million higher than it was just two months ago.

They say that unless more money comes in and rain falls, the region could face "an avalanche of child deaths".

Unicef's Executive Director Catherine Russell told the BBC that the drought was "the worst climate-induced emergency in 40 years".

"There is so much attention being paid on Ukraine, we just have to show people what's happening here to make sure they understand the difficulties. If the rains don't come then people will definitely not survive because there is so little here," she said.

Unicef requires about $250m (£199m) for humanitarian aid to Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Eritrea and Djibouti.

BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

A prominent Sudanese politician and former cabinet minister who was detained by the military following last year's coup has been released on bail.

Khalid Omer Yousif had been part of a task force that seized property and fired bureaucrats linked to the former President Omar al-Bashir.

Two other members of the same task force are still being held.

Sudan's military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been reinstating Bashir loyalists who'd been sacked after the former president was overthrown in 2019.

There have been frequent protests against the coup which have been put down with force.

More than 90 protesters have been killed.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Mali has accused the French army of "spying" after it used a drone to film footage, which purported to show soldiers burying bodies near a military base that was recently returned by France.

The military-dominated government in Mali said the images were false, and intended to accuse the Malian military of killing civilians.

France released the drone footage earlier this month, saying it showed Russian mercenaries - working for the Malian government - of burying bodies in the sand near the base at Gossi.

France has denied that its soldiers were involved in a massacre at the site, and says it's a Russian-backed attempt to discredit its military.

Thousands of French troops have been fighting Islamist militants in Mali for nearly a decade.

France decided to withdraw them after disagreements with the military rulers who seized power in a coup last year.

You may be interested in:

• Why are French troops leaving Mali, and what will it mean for the region?

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