The Gambia forward Assan Ceesay says going on loan in Germany and a tough season helped him become a title-winner in Switzerland with FC Zurich.

BBC World Service
Marcus Erbe, Newsroom

Image source, AFP

The head of the African Union, Senegal's President Macky Sall, is travelling to Russia to discuss the food crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

President Sall's office said the visit was aimed at freeing up stocks of cereals and fertilisers that are currently blocked in Ukrainian ports.

African countries have been particularly affected by the price increases caused by the war.

President Sall is due to meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Friday.

Image source, AFP

A former head of South African intelligence agency has sued President Cyril Ramaphosa for alleged crimes that include "kidnapping" and bribing robbers who stole millions of dollars from one of his properties.

Arthur Fraser accuses the president of concealing an incident in which alleged criminals entered Mr Ramaphosa's property and were caught after stealing $4m (£3.2m).

He alleges the suspects were subsequently kidnapped, interrogated and paid off to keep silent about the 9 February 2020 incident.

The presidency office says President Ramaphosa has been made aware of the case and will respond in due course.

"I have taken the unprecedented step to lay criminal charges against his excellency, the president of the republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa," Mr Fraser said in a statement.

The former spy chief says he has provided police with evidence "including photographs, bank accounts, video footage and names".

He argues that the president's conduct was in breach of a law on the prevention of organised crime.

Police have confirmed to local media that a criminal case has been opened against the president and that due process will follow.

Mr Fraser became chief of the country's correctional services after his career in intelligence and last year ordered the release from prison on medical grounds of former President Jacob Zuma.

Zuma had been convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to 15 months in jail after failing to attend an inquiry into corruption during his presidency.

Police in Ghana have arrested three people over the public flogging of a couple at the palace of a traditional chief in Wa in the northern Upper West region.

The two teenagers were alleged to have recorded a sex video and posted it online.

The Ghana Bar Association said the treatment of the couple at the palace of a traditional leader was dehumanising, degrading and amounted to a violation of their human rights

Widely shared video recordings show the two young people tied to a pole and being flogged on Tuesday afternoon.

Flogging is a form of punishment meted by traditional elders in the area for misbehaviour - although it is not approved by law.

The chief was not the the palace during the incident and has condemned the “barbaric act”, his spokesman was quoted as saying in a statement.

Police say the suspects were arrested with the support of the chief and some community members.

"The police are pursuing the remaining suspects to arrest them to face justice," a statement said, external.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, Getty Images

French prosecutors say a former Miss France has been charged in a long-running inquiry over the alleged ill-gotten wealth by the former president of Gabon, Omar Bongo and his family.

Sonia Rolland has been charged with receipt of embezzled public funds for accepting an apartment from him in Paris worth $750,000 (£600,000).

Her lawyer maintains she did not know the source of the funds.

Ms Rolland is a Rwandan-French actress and was Miss France in 2000 - the first African-born winner of the pageant.

The prosecutors have also charged four of Mr Bongo's children with corruption relating to properties and luxury cars worth at least $90m.

They denied any knowledge of the alleged fraudulent origins of the properties.

Xenophobia leads immigrants in Alexandra to live in fear.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

The head of Nigeria's Methodist Church, Samuel Kanu has said a ransom of 100m naira ($240,000, £193,000) was paid to secure his freedom and that of two other priests who were kidnapped with him.

Dr Kanu was kidnapped on Sunday on a highway while returning from a church event in the south-eastern part of the country where separatists have been agitating for a breakaway state.

He was freed after 24 hours in captivity.

He told the BBC how his abductors showed him a gully where decomposing bodies of some suspected past victims were dumped.

They threatened to kill him and his two companions if the money was not paid.

The cleric said the ransom was raised by the Methodist Church in Nigeria. The amount was carried in five sacks of 20m naira each.

He also claimed that there were no intervention from the Nigerian authorities.

In a statement, the Nigerian army denied complicity in his kidnap following suggestions that troops were involved in the incident.

A controversial bill to criminalise ransom payments is the latest attempt to curb the country's spiralling and lucrative kidnapping industry.

No place is out of reach for kidnapping gangs.

Two Roman Catholic priests who were kidnapped last week in the northern state of Katsina are still being held in captivity.

Gunmen burgled the rectory of their church to abduct the clergymen and two others.

Since 2011, kidnappers have collected at least $18m, with more than half of it between 2016 and 2020, external, says SBM Intelligence, a think-tank based in Lagos.

There has been a recent surge in attacks by armed gangs, including jihadist militant groups, as Nigeria prepares for a general election next year.

More on this topic:

• Nigeria's kidnapping crisis: Should ransom payments be banned?
• The sheikh, the ransom payments and the bandits

BBC World Service
Mark Pivac, Newsroom

Image source, Getty Images

Tunisian President Kais Saied has sacked 57 judges, accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists.

In a television address, he said he had given the judiciary multiple opportunities and warnings to "purify" itself.

Among the sackings announced in the government’s official gazette was Youssef Bouzaker, the former head of the Supreme Judicial Council.

President Saied replaced the council earlier this year - part of his efforts to consolidate his position after he seized power last July.

He has already dismissed Tunisia’s elected parliament and set aside the constitution.

Mr Saied has promised a referendum on a new constitution next month.

Opposition parties and the main trade union umbrella are boycotting the move.

Our proverb of the day:

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Felix Afena-Gyan scores his first international goal as Ghana secure a 3-0 home win over Madagascar in their opening qualifier for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team - we'll be back on Thursday morning Nairobi time.

Until then you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to our podcast Africa Today.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of dancers performing in Nairobi, Kenya, during Madaraka (self-rule) Day:

Image source, AFP

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service Newsroom

The United States has appointed a new envoy for the Horn of Africa to try to help with the peace process in Ethiopia.

Mike Hammer was previously the US ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Mr Hammer's appointment underscored American commitment to peace, security and prosperity for Ethiopia.

In November 2020, the Ethiopian government launched an assault in the Tigray region, triggering a conflict that has displaced more than two million people.

Ethiopia, which has historically been an ally of the US, called an indefinite humanitarian truce in March, allowing some deliveries of aid and easing fears of a famine.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Mozambique and Russia have agreed to strengthened ties during a two-day visit of a top Russian politician to Maputo.

Both sides signed a deal in Mozambique's capital aimed at strengthening co-operation between the two country's parliaments, including when it comes to information sharing.

Valentina Matviyenko, chairwoman of the the Russian Federation Council or senate, had high praise for Mozambique, calling it a “trustworthy partner” and recalling Moscow's historic support for the southern African nation.

This ranged from assistance during the liberation struggle against Portuguese colonisers to training Mozambicans in Russia, she noted.

Since February, Russia has been a pariah on most of the world stage because of its invasion of Ukraine.

However, Mozambique was one of 58 countries, external that abstained on a UN General Assembly vote on suspending Russia from the UN Human Rights Council because of the war.

Ms Matviyenko's trip comes after an October invite from the speaker of the Mozambican parliament, Esperança Bias.

“Your presence is a reflection of co-operation, friendship and mutual respect between our countries. Our relations date back to the time of the armed struggle and these relations remain,” Ms Bias said.

An apparent social media ruse suggests digits are being sold for thousands of dollars to beat poverty.

Image source, Getty Images

The project organiser behind Libya’s first skatepark which opened over the weekend in Tripoli has told the BBC’s Newsday programme that it was a dream come true because skaters in the country had wanted to build a skatepark there “since about 2013”.

“It’s a place where there are skateboarders who are interested in promoting the sport in their country and they really wanted one,” Samantha Robinson from MakeLifeSkateLife said.

She said the sport was quite popular in Tripoli, and before the park people used to do it on the street, but this can be dangerous.

“Creating a safe space that’s also one that is open and inviting to young people as well as girls was the goal here.”

She also added that there was “definitely a gender divide” when it came to skating in Libya.

The park is decked with equipment as well as ramps, rails and flat bars, she said.

MakeLifeSkateLife has also set up programmes with local skateboarders to teach classes.

She said the purpose behind building the park was to bring people “joy” and “happiness”.

BBC World Service

The United Nations mission in Mali, Minusma, says one of its peacekeepers has been killed.

A convoy carrying a Jordanian contingent came under fire from small arms and rocket propelled grenades in the northern region of Kidal, it said.

Three others were injured. It is not clear who carried out the attack but Minusma was created in 2013 to help defend the country against Islamist militants.

The UN has lost more than 170 of its peacekeepers in Mali since then.

A transitional military council is ruling the country after ousting the elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, in 2020.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Image source, Getty Images

Police in Ethiopia have accused dozens of online media outlets of spreading hate and false information.

In a statement on Wednesday the federal police force said it had identified 111 online media outlets that it said were working to create divisions between the government and the public, as well as between different ethnic and faith groups.

The announcement came after a recent wave of arrests that has seen 18 journalists and media workers put behind bars, prompting concerns of a crackdown against critical voices.

The police’s statement said the online media outlets were unlicensed and spreading false and inciteful information.

A spokesperson for the federal police force told the BBC that he could not name the accused media outlets as investigations were still underway.

Read more: Sudden arrest of 4,000 spells fear in Ethiopia

Customers are struggling to buy items they used to in one of the busiest markets in Uganda's capital Kampala.

Image source, Science Photo Library

The US embassy in Nigeria has released a statement, external condemning what it describes as "recent misleading posts on social media" linking the current global outbreak of monkeypox to "so-called 'US-controlled laboratories' in Nigeria".

It says such reports are "pure fabrication" with "zero merits" and says there are no US-controlled labs in Nigeria.

On 27 May, Russia asked the World Heath Organization (WHO) to investigate what it said were US-funded Nigerian labs in Abuja, Zaria and Lagos in light of the global spread of monkeypox.

Monkeypox was first detected in humans in 1970 in Africa and since then most cases have been reported in rural and rainforest areas in the region.

Of late it has spread to western countries in Europe, North America and beyond.

Read more:

• Monkeypox wasn’t created in a lab - and other claims debunked
• Monkeypox: Cases detected in three more countries for first time

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) says the world is paying too little attention to mass displacements of people across Africa.

The head of the organisation, Jan Egeland, said that African suffering would, in his words, be pushed further into the shadows by the all-absorbing war in Ukraine.

It is the first time that all 10 countries on the Council's list of "most- neglected" refugee crises are on the African continent.

They include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

The Council's assessment is based on shortfalls in the international political response, media coverage, and aid pledged.