Keisha Gitari
BBC News, Lagos

The Nigerian government has issued new guidelines for the operations of social media corporations in the country.

The new regulations from the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) will affect popular platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp among others.

The code will require the companies to meet certain conditions including registering with the Corporate Affairs Commission and providing the authorities with information about harmful accounts.

The NITDA says the aim of the guidelines is to set out best practices expected of interactive platforms, making digital platforms systems safer for users in Nigeria as well as combatting disinformation.

A date for the implementation of the new code has not been announced but the new rules come five months after the government lifted a seven-month ban on Twitter.

Read more:

• How Nigeria succeeded in clipping Twitter's wings

Anne Soy
BBC News, Kigali

Image source, Reuters

Rwanda has said the deal to relocate asylum seekers from the UK to the East African country is neither immoral nor a punishment.

Critics have condemned the new policy as immoral and shameful.

Responding to a global outcry about the deal, Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said it needed to be given a chance as a solution to illegal migration.

“Africa is not a place of problems, it’s also a place of solutions,” she told journalists at a press conference in the capital, Kigali.

The first group of asylum seekers is expected to arrive in Kigali on Wednesday morning if the plan goes ahead.

Ms Makolo confirmed to the BBC that no international organisations were involved at the moment.

But speaking to the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme she said that she was "proud that Rwanda was providing a safe haven for people who need it".

The asylum seekers are welcome to apply for residency in Rwanda and to be integrated into the local community.

They could also be repatriated to their countries of origin if they prefer.

The third option is to relocate them to third countries.

However, Ms Makolo said this option would not be initiated by the government, but if any asylum seekers was accepted to a country other than Rwanda or their country of origin, they would be helped to leave Rwanda.

Image source, Getty Images

Malawi stands to save $261,000 (£216,000) from two cancelled presidential trips as part of the government's austerity measures, the finance minister has announced.

President Lazarus Chakwera will not attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, and the Opec Fund Development Forum in Vienna, Austria. Both gatherings are scheduled for June.

He will instead be represented by ministers.

Finance Minister Sosten Gwengwe told journalists that "government has not banned foreign trips but restricted [them] to only essential trips".

"Some trips cannot be avoided, for example the president is handing over the SADC chairmanship to DRC in August, that’s a trip that cannot be delegated,” he said, external.

Malawi last month announced a 25% devaluation of the local currency, the kwacha, as part of adjustments to secure funding from the International Monetary Fund.

Anne Soy
BBC News, Kigali

Image source, Reuters

There is not nearly as heated a debate in Rwanda about the relocation of asylum seekers as there is in the UK. Critics of the Rwandan government say this muted response is unsurprising, citing limited freedoms.

They also point to Rwanda’s human rights record, which the government has defended. Government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo added that the asylum seekers would be “as free as any Rwandan” during their stay.

If the relocation goes ahead, their claims for asylum are to be handled by the Rwandan government under the country’s and international laws.

They will be accommodated at the Hope Hostel, which until recently was the home for survivors of the 1994 genocide who were orphaned at the time.

Opposition leader Victoire Ingabire told the BBC the decision to move them to make room for the asylum seekers was “unfortunate”.

The prime minister says some gangs are getting away with "manslaughter if not murder" by taking migrants over the Channel.

Shingai Nyoka
BBC News, Harare

Zimbabwean freelance journalist Jeffrey Moyo has been convicted of violating immigration laws.

He was accused of helping two New York Times journalists enter the country using fake credentials.

Journalists require state approval to practice in Zimbabwe.

Moyo was fined $600 (£500) and given a two-year suspended sentence.

The magistrate found that he may have connived to obtain bogus press cards for the two journalists who were later deported.

Moyo had argued that he had obtained the cards from an official at the Media Commission, which is responsible for accrediting journalists.

That official, Thabang Manhika, was acquitted in March in a separate trial.

Moyo’s lawyers expressed disappointment in Tuesday’s verdict and will appeal the conviction.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has described the conviction as "a monumental travesty of justice".

It had previously described the case as an attempt to intimidate journalists.

Tunisia beat hosts Japan 3-0 to win the Kirin Cup while nine-man Ghana clinch third place with a win on penalties over Chile.

We have written before about whether Rwanda is considered a safe place for asylum seekers to be sent and now that the UK is about to fly some to the country British journalists are seeing the situation for themselves.

Paul Brand, from ITV News, is in the Rwanda capital, Kigali, waiting for the first arrivals.

He's tweeted that from what he's seen it "is not a free country".

"People we have interviewed have already been reported to the government for participating in our reports."

Rights groups have raised concerns about freedoms in the country.

"The ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front continues to target those perceived as a threat to the government," Human Rights Watch says.

It points out that many critics have been arrested and threatened and there are several cases of suspicious deaths of government opponents.

Seven or eight people are due to be removed from the UK on Tuesday, after dozens won legal cases to be taken off. But more legal challenges are set to be heard.

Church of England leaders described the plan as an "immoral policy".

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the government will not be "deterred or abashed" by criticism of the plan.

Several Kenyan politicians running to become governors in August's general election are facing challenges getting final clearance to vie for the positions as they have allegedly used fake academic degrees.

Kenyan laws require anyone seeking to be elected as a governor or president to hold at least a university degree.

In Machakos county, which neighbours the capital, Nairobi, two voters have sent a complaint to the electoral commission seeking to have Wavinya Ndeti disqualified on allegations that her computer science degree in the UK is fake. She denies the allegations.

In the capital, Johnson Sakaja – an aspirant in the same party as presidential front-runner and Deputy President William Ruto – is also fighting separate attempts by voters to have him disqualified.

Mr Sakaja had initially been cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) but allegations that a certificate was obtained fraudulently were taken to the commission’s tribunal. He has denied all this.

Kenyans on social media have also been mocking him for allegedly manipulating academic documents to show that he attended a university in Uganda, after a Kenyan university said he had taken a degree course there but had not graduated.

Local newspaper Daily Nation has reported on other aspirants around the country who are facing such challenges with their academic papers.

Last week, the IEBC revoked the clearance of comedian Walter Mong’are, famous by his stage name Nyambane, to run for the presidency.

In revoking the approval, the commission cited new information about the comedian’s academic qualifications.

Lalla Sy
BBC News

Twenty-nine more bodies have been found in addition to the 50 already discovered in a village in the district of Seytenga, northern Burkina Faso, after an attack at the weekend, the government says.

The death toll now stands at 79.

The gunmen attacked the village overnight between Saturday and Sunday.

The military are searching the area looking for the perpetrators, but their progress has been slowed down by explosive devices planted by suspected militant groups.

Three days of national mourning was announced on Monday night.

During the mourning period, flags will flown at half-mast on all public buildings and all Burkina Faso missions abroad

Celebrations and recreational events are also prohibited for the period.

The raid is a major setback for the military government, which forced its way to power accusing the elected government of failing address the insecurity by jihadist groups.

The conflict which also affects swathes of Mali and Niger is displacing rural communities and contributing to a severe shortage of food.

It is a key part of a strategy to tackle "appalling people smugglers", the foreign secretary says.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The UN World Food Programme says due to a shortage of funding it is having to suspend some food aid in South Sudan where more than half the population is grappling with severe food insecurity.

The crisis has been fuelled by conflict, flooding, drought and and soaring food prices exacerbated by the crisis in Ukraine.

The WFP says among those affected by the cuts will be close to 200,000 children who will no longer receive daily school meals.

It describes these as a crucial safety net that helps keep South Sudanese children in school.

“We are extremely concerned about the impact of the funding cuts on children, women and men who will not have enough to eat during the lean season,” said WFP country director Adeyinka Badejo.

“If this continues, we will face bigger and more costly problems in the future, including increased mortality, malnutrition, stunting, and disease."

The WFP is appealing for more than $400m (£330m).

Tottenham Hotspur agree a £30m deal with Brighton & Hove Albion for highly rated Mali midfielder Yves Bissouma.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said his government will announce details of peace talks with forces from the country’s northernmost region, Tigray, to end a civil war "when the time comes" and "when they begin".

Addressing parliament on Tuesday, Mr Abiy said his administration wants peace including with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) - the group at war with the government since November 2020 - but suggested talks are yet to begin.

“We didn’t hide the war; why would we hide peace [initiatives]?” the prime minister told lawmakers. A committee to study possibilities of - and prerequisites for - peace talks is expected to present its findings to the government in the coming days or weeks, Mr Abiy said.

The African Union chief mediator Olusegun Obasanjo has made frequent trips to Addis Ababa and the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, in recent months.

A humanitarian ceasefire agreed between the warring parties in March has been followed by an increase in the flow of aid to Tigray.

However, there has not been an official cessation of hostilities or peace talks to see an end to the fighting.

Tigrayan forces have been demanding the resumption of basic services including banking, telecom and electricity.

The government has “many reasons to want to talk”, Mr Abiy said adding “peace will benefit the people of Tigray more than anyone”.

He has denied previous reports that he met representatives from the TPLF during a recent trip to Nigeria. But he hasn’t specifically addressed reports by the French newspaper Le Monde that behind the scene negotiations are planned in Tanzania.

His remarks were consistent with a shift of tone in recent times.

Nonetheless he still accused Tigrayan forces of instigating violent clashes in the country in the past few years.

Lalla Sy
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Burkina Faso's government has announced three days of national mourning from Tuesday for the at least 50 civilians killed over the weekend in the north of the country.

Military leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba issued the decree late on Monday for the mourning to be observed across the country.

On Monday, the government said that 50 civilians had been killed in the attack by "unidentified armed men" in Seytenga area and warned that the toll may rise. Some reports have put the deaths at 100 or more.

During the mourning period, flags will flown at half-mast on all public buildings and all Burkina Faso missions abroad

Celebrations and recreational events are also prohibited for the period.

The raid is a major setback for the military government, which forced its way to power accusing the elected government of failing address the insecurity by jihadist groups.

The conflict which also affects swathes of Mali and Niger is displacing rural communities and contributing to a severe shortage of food.

Sudanese refugee Awer Mabil says his penalty that helped Australia qualify for the 2022 World Cup was a thank you to the country that took him in.

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Image source, AFP

The Ghana Police Service has suspended three of its officers, including a regional commander, after Monday's clashes with students who were protesting outside their school.

At least 20 pupils from Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi were taken to hospital with injuries after confrontation with police.

They were part of a group calling for speed bumps to be installed following a number of accidents, local media reported.

In a statement, police said "handling of the incident was poor and fell short of our standard operating procedure on crowd control".

It added that officers had used pepper spray and fired warning shots after the students had pelted them with stones, but nobody was hit by a bullet.

Clinical psychologists have been sent to the school to offer support to the students, the statement said.

The acting Ashanti regional police commander has been removed from his position. Two other officers have also been interdicted to make way for investigation into the incident.

The police in Ghana have been criticised several times for poor crowd control tactics that often result in injuries and deaths.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News

Armed men entered parts of a major city in western Ethiopia and engaged in fighting for four hours, officials say.

Earlier, residents in Gambela city, the capital of the region of the same name, said offices and business were closed due to the intensified fighting.

The regional government says its security forces have regained control of parts of the city from fighters belonging to the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and the Gambela Liberation Front.

A statement added that there have been causalities on both sides without providing numbers.

Some of the fighting was around the regional president’s office, according to residents.

Fighting has also been reported in towns in the neighbouring region of Oromia.

An OLA spokesperson had earlier tweeted that "a joint operation" between his group and the Gambela Liberation Front was under way in Gambela.

The OLA was formed in the 1970s in a bid to secede from Ethiopia.

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, AFP

Officials in the Democratic of Congo have accused the Rwandan army of invading its territory after allegedly helping rebels take over Bunagana, a border town in North Kivu province.

The Congolese M23 rebels took over the the town on Monday after forcing some government soldiers to flee to neighbouring Uganda.

The strategic town is vital to cross-border trade between DR Congo and Uganda.

In a statement, North Kivu provincial authorities said the “Rwandan army decided to violate the integrity of our territory and occupy the town of Bunagana”.

They called the capture of the town “an invasion of DRC” and added that the army “will defend the nation”.

Rwanda has repeatedly called the crisis in eastern DR Congo “an internal affair” and denied supporting M23 rebels.

Its army has not commented on the fall of Bunagana, but in a statement on Tuesday said it would ensure the integrity of Rwanda’s territory.

Tension between the two armies has risen after they accused each other of cross-border bombing activities over the weekend.

Callum May
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

All the bishops in the UK's upper house of parliament, the House of Lords, have written a letter to the British Times newspaper saying that the government’s policy to deport migrants who entered the country illegally to Rwanda “shames Britain”.

The first deportation flight taking migrants to Rwanda will leave on Tuesday.

In their letter, the bishops said:

The plan has caused outrage, been criticised by senior figures including the Archbishop of Canterbury and even, reportedly, the heir to the throne, Prince Charles.

Campaigners challenged the decision in court but two court rulings – including one on Monday – gave the green light for Tuesday’s flight to go ahead.

The government says the scheme will discourage dangerous journeys across the English Channel and therefore undermine smuggling gangs, but charities, religious leaders and opposition parties have criticised it.