Nigerian basketball officials deny 'robbing youth' of the sport following claims by Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri.

Peter Mwai
BBC Reality Check

The Rwandan authorities have denied widely shared claims on social media that President Paul Kagame had ordered the deportation of 18 Chinese nationals.

A tweet falsely claiming this was shared more than 5,000 times.

But the claim isn’t true and is more than two years old.

Government spokesperson Yolande Makolo has flagged it as fake on her Twitter account in response to a query by a South African journalist.

And it’s not the first time Ms Makolo has had to correct this claim. A similar assertion was circulating in 2020 prompting her to deny it back then.

The latest report has been slightly modified with a few words changed but carries the same message. It also has a grammatical error, using “grubbing land” instead of “grabbing land”.

It is not clear why the claim has resurfaced now. In April, a Chinese engineer was jailed in Rwanda for physically abusing two local workers.

Image source, US Department of State

Zambia is getting a new US ambassador years after the last one was forced out following a diplomatic row over his remarks on gay rights in the country.

The newly appointed ambassador, Michael Gonzalez, is expected to arrive in the country next month following his confirmation by the US Congress.

In 2019, the US recalled its then ambassador Daniel Foote after he said that he was "horrified" that a judge had sentenced a gay couple to 15 years in prison.

Zambia accused Mr Foote of trying to dictate policy, and the president at the time, Edgar Lungu, declared him persona non grata.

On Tuesday, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema bade farewell to the outgoing US chargé d'affaires Martin Dale, assuring of a commitment to strengthen the long-standing relations between the two countries.

Priti Patel says preparation for the next flight "begins now" after the last-minute grounding.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Tigrayan forces who have been at war with the Ethiopian government for more than 18 months say they are ready to send a high level delegation to talks mediated by the Kenyan government.

A letter signed by the head of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, Debretsion Gebremichael, did not set out any preconditions - unlike previous statements about possible negotiations.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his government favoured the idea of peace talks to end the war.

The two statements have raised hopes that the conflict that has forced more than two million people from their homes can be brought to an end through dialogue.

Image source, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

The World Health Organization says it is working with experts to come up with a new name for monkeypox.

It comes after more than 30 scientists wrote last week , externalabout the "urgent need for a non-discriminatory and non-stigmatising" name for the virus and the disease it causes.

Continued reference to the virus as African is both inaccurate and discriminatory, they said.

Some 1,600 cases of the disease have been recorded globally in recent weeks.

Read more here: Monkeypox to get a new name, says WHO

Naomi Scherbel-Ball
BBC News, Kigali

Image source, Getty Images

Rwanda is "not deterred" after the first flight due to take asylum seekers from the UK to the country was cancelled, according to the government spokesperson.

Up to seven people had been expected to be removed to the east African country.

But the flight was stopped after a late intervention from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) led to fresh challenges in the UK courts.

“We are not deterred by these developments. Rwanda remains fully committed to making this partnership work. The current situation of people making dangerous journeys cannot continue as it is causing untold suffering to so many," said Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo.

"Rwanda stands ready to receive the migrants when they do arrive and offer them safety and opportunity in our country.”

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Women's livelihoods in The Gambia are under threat from rising temperatures and sea levels.

The government seems determined to press ahead with its plans despite last-minute legal interventions.

The UK government policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda "lacks moral fibre", says the Archbishop of Wales.

The European Court of Human Rights blocks the removal of one of seven passengers from Tuesday's flight.

Four men lose appeals at the High Court as Boris Johnson defends Tuesday night's flight to Kigali.

Boss Michael O'Leary responds to the row by saying that the quiz "doesn't make sense anymore".

Ryanair stirred emotions over South African passport holders pass a test in the language.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now - there'll be an automated news feed until Wednesday morning.

In the meantime you can listen to our Africa Today podcast and check the BBC News Africa page.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this image of a painting by Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo:

Image source, Reuters

Ryanair has dropped a controversial test in the Afrikaans language that was meant to identify passengers who were travelling on fake South African passports, company boss Michael O'Leary has said.

The policy caused outrage in South Africa, where many black people associate Afrikaans with the days of white-minority rule.

The quiz contained questions such as what is South Africa's international dialling code, what is its capital city and who is the current president of the country.

Anyone who failed was refused travel and refunded the cost of their ticket. Ryanair originally defended the test saying it received a fine for every passenger found to have travelled on a fake passport.

But the imposition of the quiz was widely condemned.

More than a week after the controversy blew up, Mr O'Leary has said the airline has changed its policy.

"Our team issued a test in Afrikaans of 12 simple questions," he told journalists.

"They have no difficulty completing that. But we didn't think it was appropriate either. So we have ended the Afrikaans test, because it doesn't make any sense."

A member of Guinea’s military police has been charged with murder after a student was shot dead earlier this month during a protest about the rising fuel price, the AFP news agency reports, quoting a statement from the public prosecutor.

Four other police officers have been charged in connection with the alleged crime.

The 1 June protest was the most serious to have hit the country since the coup last year, AFP says.

The country’s military leaders imposed a ban on demonstrations in May following anger over a proposed 36-month period until elections can be held to choose a new civilian government, AFP reports.

BBC Africa Eye

Malawi’s Homeland Security Minister, Jean Muonaowauza Sendeza, has told the BBC that she believes a Chinese national at the centre of BBC Africa Eye's investigation “Racism for Sale” has broken child protection laws and will be “brought to book”.

Lu Ke was revealed in the documentary to be the filmmaker behind hundreds of videos featuring Malawian children – some with controversial and inappropriate content - and sold on Chinese social media as part of a wider so-called blessings video industry.

Ms Sendeza told Africa Eye reporter Henry Mhango in Lilongwe: “The Child Care Protection and Justice Act has been broken and we’ll use this act so that this national should be brought to book. We will not allow foreign nationals to insult our children, to insult our citizens.”

Earlier, the police had said say they had launched an investigation into the Chinese national.

In the BBC Africa Eye report, Lu Ke said he made his videos in order to spread Chinese culture to the local community.

Additional reporting by Peter Jegwa

The former policeman, who refused to shoot protesters, feared being killed if deported by the UK.