Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

At least five people died in violent clashes in a suburb of Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Wednesday.

Fighting broke out in Dei Dei, a hub where building materials are sold, after a woman who was identified as a trader, was crushed to death by a truck after she reportedly fell off a motorbike.

Violence erupted between traders in the market and local youths following the accident.

Dozens of people were injured and part of the market was burnt down.

The government minister who oversees the Nigerian capital has ordered the closure of the various markets in the community until calm is restored.

Human rights campaigners say the frequent cases of mob violence in the country are fuelled by deep-rooted impunity and a lack of confidence in the criminal justice system.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Image source, Nichola Mandil

Jubilant crowds came out to cross South Sudan's first permanent bridge over the River Nile after it was officially opened on Thursday.

The 560-metre long Freedom Bridge on the edge of the capital, Juba, was constructed using a grant from the government of Japan.

Construction began in 2013 but had to be suspended multiple times because of the civil war and the coronavirus pandemic.

The previous bridge could be dismantled and moved and was sometimes dangerous to cross - especially for pedestrians.

Thursday's opening was attended by the Kenyan presidential candidate and AU infrastructure envoy Raila Odinga, as well as the head of Japan's International Cooperation Agency Tanaka Akihiko.

President Salva Kiir told those assembled that the Freedom Bridge was a symbol of long and lasting friendship between the people of Japan and South Sudan.

It is hoped that the bridge will ease traffic congestion in Juba as well as help speed up trade.

Rhoda Odhiambo
BBC health reporter, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

Africa's top health body says it is concerned about the growing number of monkeypox cases in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Canada and the US.

"Several outbreaks" of monkeypox have been reported and contained during the Covid-19 pandemic, says Africa Centre for Disease Control Deputy-Director Ahmed Ogwell.

"We also expect that other outbreaks will come and we'll handle it in the usual way," Dr Ogwell.

But he says the reason that cases outside the continent are worrying is because the disease is common in tropical rainforest areas - mostly in remote parts of central and west Africa.

People catch monkeypox from animals. Person-to-person transmission isn't common as it requires close contact with bodily fluids such as saliva or pus from lesions formed due to the infection.

According to the World Health Organization most people recover from monkeypox within weeks, but the disease is fatal for up to one in 10 people.

Australian Liz Mills, a trailblazer for female basketball coaches, believes working in Africa has helped advance her career.

BBC World Service

The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo say they've seized 1.5 tonnes of elephant ivory - one of the largest hauls in Africa in recent years.

Police say they have arrested five people, though two of them fled during questioning.

The number of smuggled tusks indicates the slaughter of around 80 elephants.

The haul was discovered on trucks in the south-eastern city of Lubumbashi, but the origin and intended final destination of the ivory remain unclear.

International ivory trading has been banned since 1990 but demand remains high in China and south-east Asia, where African ivory is used in traditional medicine.

Three years ago, Vietnamese officials discovered over nine tonnes of elephant ivory hidden in a timber shipment from Congo-Brazzaville.

Image source, AFP

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News

Image source, AFP

The US has said it will provide a further $215m (£175m) in emergency aid to 10 African countries as the continent struggles with food insecurity brought about by climate change, the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, made the announcement when he met several African foreign ministers on the sidelines of a meeting on global food security in New York.

Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe are the countries who will benefit.

On Wednesday the UN warned that a growing global food crisis could last years if it goes unchecked.

The global cost of fertiliser has quadrupled since the start of the pandemic and has skyrocketed further with the Ukraine war.

A Nigerian judge grants Nnamdi Kanu dispensation to watch the climax of his favourite team's season.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Police in Nigeria say they’ve arrested seven suspected members of the banned separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), during a raid on their "shrine" hideout.

A police spokesman said they recovered a live python from the location in Imo state, as well as eight pistols and two uniforms belonging to a female police officer who's been missing for five years.

The spokesman said the raid followed a tip-off about a person who had been providing the separatists with juju charms, which they believed could protect them from bullets and knives.

Image source, Nigeria police

The separatists - accused of frequent attacks on security forces - are campaigning for a breakaway state of Biafra in south-east Nigeria.

The leader of the Ipob group, Nnamdi Kanu is standing trial for terrorism and treason related charges which he has denied.

Related stories:

• 'Media warriors' call for killings on social media over Biafra
• Remembering Biafra - the war that many prefer to forget
• The man behind Nigeria's new separatist movement

Life is apparently imitating art, as two would-be leaders of Uganda bicker about a cartoon that depicted them doing just that.

"This is my size - keep off," the drawing imagines opposition leader Bobi Wine saying. "Easy Bro! It's not my fault, it's in my genes," the eldest son of the current president replies in the depiction.

The cartoon figures are debating whose foot best fits the shoe of long-serving President Yoweri Museveni, now aged 77.

It was tweeted by the president's son Gen Kainerugaba, who Bobi Wine criticised in turn for thinking that "Uganda is one of your father's properties for you to inherit":

Gen Kainerugaba, 47, has risen rapidly within the military and there is speculation he is being groomed to become president one day.

He has previously denied that Uganda is a "political monarchy" in which his father will hand him the reins of power.

After at least nine people died in an explosion in the northern city of Kano, some Nigerian entertainers have been debating with their fans whether it's worth staying in the country.

P-Square star Peter Okoye, who's also lamented fraud claims against the federal accountant, asked his Twitter followers "stay in Nigeria or move abroad?":

Reality TV star Erica Nlewedim meanwhile said "Nigeria is not worth dying over... let another country be your plan B":

Police are investigating the cause of Tuesday's blast with initial reports suggesting it was caused by a gas cylinder in a welding shop.

But some local residents have questioned this version of events., external

Insecurity and violence is a fact of life for many in parts of northern Nigeria, where militant attacks and kidnappings for ransom are rife.

You may also be interested in:

• P-Square twins make up after years of feuding
• From science teacher to Netflix hitmaker
• Why Nigeria's famous indigo dye pits risk closure

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Five million people have been internally displaced in Ethiopia, the highest number of such people registered in a single country, according to a report.

The annual report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) also cites the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Myanmar as having seen their highest number of internally displaced people in 2021.

It comes as a record 59 million people globally were recorded as being internally displaced by the end of last year due to protracted conflicts and new waves of violence.

That's an increase of over four million globally from a year earlier, the report adds.

The report by the displacement monitoring organisation founded by the Norwegian Refugee Council reveals that sub-Saharan Africa was the most affected.

In northern Ethiopia, an 18-month civil war has unleashed a massive humanitarian crisis in which millions are uprooted from their lives.

The exact death toll of the war - marked by accusations of abuses and atrocities that some of which rights groups say could amount to war crimes - remains unclear.

In the country’s northernmost region of Tigray where fighting initially broke out in November 2020, millions are still in a desperate need of aid.

In other parts of the country, an unprecedented surge in ethnic and religious violence saw tens of thousands fleeing their homes.

A government military operation in the country’s largest Oromia region is currently under way against the armed group the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) - and is feared could result in civilian deaths and worsen the humanitarian crisis.

The Children in Freedom School in Kenya is teaching its students to love their identity as Africans.

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Egypt has four months' worth of wheat in strategic reserve, prime minister Mostafa Madbouly has announced.

Ukraine and Russia have traditionally met 80% of the world's largest wheat importer's needs, but not since Russia invaded its neighbour last February.

Ukraine has offered to transport part of four contracted shipments to Poland by train, which Egypt says would increase shipping costs dramatically.

Egypt is buying 500,000 tonnes from India, which has now banned exports except for paid-up contracts.

Mr Madbouly's government has made it compulsory for Egyptian farmers to sell their wheat to it.

On Wednesday, the UN Secretary General warned that the war in Ukraine is increasing the risk of a global food shortage unless Russia releases grain stored in Ukrainian ports for export.

Related stories:

• Oil, students and bread - the links between Ukraine and Africa
• Can Africa replace Russian gas supplies to Europe?

Gabon captain and Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang retires from international football ahead of 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying.

Image source, AFP

A court has temporarily barred the Kenyan electoral body from clearing a controversial former governor of the capital Nairobi from running for the same seat in the coastal city of Mombasa.

The high court in Mombasa ordered the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission not to process Mike Sonko’s nomination papers for the 9 August election pending the case.

Three civil society organisations that have sued Mr Sonko want him disqualified, because he was removed from office as Nairobi governor for violating the constitution.

They say that since he was found unsuitable to hold office, he should similarly not hold any other public office.

Mr Sonko was impeached in December 2020 for gross misconduct and abuse of office.

Read more:

• Kenya's Mike Sonko: The rise and fall of Nairobi's ex-governor

Image source, EPA

Rwanda’s prime minister says the first batch of asylum seekers from the UK “will arrive soon” and that everything is ready to host them.

Edouard Ngirente told journalists on Wednesday evening that the pilot scheme was well-informed and intended.

Under the $148m (£120m) scheme, some asylum seekers will be sent to the central African country during a five-year trial.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently revealed that 50 migrants had been told they will be the first to be sent to Rwanda.

"We are ready to host any number that will come,” Mr Ngirente told journalists.

Refugee organisations have criticised the plan as cruel. But Mr Ngirente said that “people will appreciate it once it will be done”.

Two opposition parties in Rwanda have said the government there should focus on problems facing Rwandans rather “than solving issues of a rich country”.

More on this topic:

• How might the Rwanda asylum plan work?
• Which other countries send asylum seekers overseas?

Image source, Getty Images

A South African ministry is reviewing a decision to erect a massive flag monument at Freedom Park in the capital, Pretoria.

Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa on Thursday said the review follows public outcry , externalover the project's cost - estimated to be $1.4m (£1m).

On Monday, the ministry confirmed plans to install the massive flag and flag pole, to be known as the South African National Monumental Flag, after getting parliamentary approval.

The department described it as a “symbol of nationhood and common identity" with the “potential to unite people”.

Some have however criticised the 100-metre high flag monument as a vanity project.

The opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) last week said the project was a “patently stupid waste of money”.

It criticised the ruling party ANC for its “misguided understanding of what is necessary in South Africa to build social cohesion and inspire pride”.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Police in Nigeria say they have arrested two suspected ringleaders in the abduction of more than 130 students from institutions in the state of Kaduna.

Security forces launched a nationwide crackdown on criminal gangs after the kidnapping of at least 17 students from Greenfield University, and 121 students from Bethel Baptist High School last year.

The hostages were released after ransoms were paid - but five of the university students were shot dead while in captivity.

Nearly 1,500 students have been abducted since December 2020 from schools, colleges and universities across northern Nigeria by armed gangs seeking ransom.

Perpetrators are rarely caught.

You may also be interested in:

• Letters replace phones in Nigeria's kidnap crisis
• The motorcycle bandits terrorising northern Nigeria

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Image source, Amhara Region

The wife of a prominent Ethiopian war general who went missing earlier this week in the capital, Addis Ababa, says she has confirmed he was under detention in a northern city.

Brigadier General Tefera Mamo was a former commander of the Amhara Special Forces that are allied to the federal army in its fight against rebels from Tigray.

He had been critical of the government after he was removed from his position in February.

His wife Menen Haile has told the BBC that she has confirmed the general was under detention in Bahir Dar city, the capital of the Amhara region.

But there are still many unanswered questions including how he was taken there and the accusations against him.

The BBC’s attempts to talk to the region’s security office and police have not been successful.

In a rare press statement on Wednesday, the Amhara region’s president Yilkal Kefale confirmed that some suspects were being detained in efforts to enforce law and order - without providing numbers.

He said those found not to have participated in criminal activities would be freed soon.

Image source, IRMCT

A UN tribunal has announced the death of another Rwandan genocide fugitive, who was among the last five suspects still at large.

The UN's Residual Mechanism of International Criminal Tribunals said that it had determined that Phénéas Munyarugarama died in 2002 in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a statement on Wednesday, , externalthe tribunal said it was able to conclude “following a comprehensive and challenging investigation" that Munyarugarama “died from natural causes on 28 February 2002”.

Munyarugarama, a former Rwandan military commander, had been charged with eight counts including genocide and crimes against humanity.

"For the victims and survivors of Munyarugarama's crimes in the Bugesera region, we hope this result brings some closure," the tribunal's chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz said in the statement

The latest announcement follows last week’s confirmation by the tribunal of the death of Protais Mpiranya, another top remaining wanted suspect.

About 800,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda, in just 100 days in 1994, by ethnic Hutu extremists.

They were targeting members of the minority Tutsi community, as well as their political opponents, irrespective of their ethnic origin.