Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News

Image source, AFP

There have been bomb blasts in four separate places in Ethiopia's northern city of Bahir Dar, police have said, indicating a further deterioration of security in Amhara, the country's second largest region.

The explosions occurred in selected "strategic" places in the city, which is the regional capital, and were aimed at ‘terrorising the public", according to a police spokeswoman.

She did not disclose whether there were any casualties, but confirmed that six suspects were apprehended in relation to the incidents.

Tensions have escalated in the region after the authorities launched what they called a "law enforcement operation" that has seen the arrest of thousands of individuals in the region.

There have been a number of anti-government protests in recent days following a massacre of ethnic Amharas in neighbouring Oromia region. More than 250 village farmers were killed in the incident.

Residents have told the BBC that the city was calm on Wednesday.

However, the latest developments indicate that there are simmering tensions that could pose significant challenges to a country blighted by widespread conflicts.

Favour Nunoo
BBC News, Accra

Police in Ghana fired tear gas and arrested 29 demonstrators on Tuesday in the capital, Accra, following a violent protest against high cost of living.

Hundreds had joined the protest organised by the group Arise Ghana.

But the otherwise peaceful protest degenerated into chaotic scenes after a stand-off between the demonstrators and police over the route for the protest.

Police used rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse the angry crowd who also pelted stones at the police - injuring 12 officers.

Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the protest was part of an attempt to create instability in the country.

Police say they will arrest organisers of the protest and charge them in court for the attacks and damage to public property.

The organisers say they will hold another protest on Wednesday and march to parliament where they will present their grievances to lawmakers.

Ghana's inflation has jumped to the highest levels in years and the price of essential goods and services has increased sharply.

Annual inflation stood at 13.9% in January but shot up to 27.6% by the end of May.

The government has blamed the growing difficulties partly on the Russia-Ukraine war.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Police in southern Nigeria say they have detained a number of suspects in connection with the kidnapping and murder of a Roman Catholic priest.

Christopher Odia, 41, was abducted on Sunday morning as he left his home in Edo state to conduct Mass. His body was later found in a forest.

The killing sparked public outrage.

A police spokesman wouldn't say how many people had been arrested and gave no details.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Ethiopian and Sudanese forces have clashed at the disputed al-Fashaga border area following the alleged capture, execution and public display of the bodies of seven Sudanese soldiers and a civilian killed over the weekend.

Witnesses told the BBC on Tuesday that Sudan had recaptured parts of al-Fashaga that were being held by the Ethiopian army.

The al-Fashaga area is where the north-west of Ethiopia's Amhara region meets Sudan's breadbasket, Gedaref state.

It has been contested for decades but tensions escalated over the last year with regular skirmishes reported between the two countries.

Witnesses said that Sudanese forces advanced and retook two settlements that were being occupied by Ethiopians along the disputed area.

Military planes could also be seen circling the contested area as the Sudanese assault continued.

Sudan has denied that there were troop movements.

Earlier, it had accused Ethiopian troops of capturing and executing seven of its soldiers, but Addis Ababa has denied the allegations and instead said Sudanese soldiers encroached into its territory.

The latest skirmishes are a major escalation of tensions between the two eastern African countries which are also embroiled in a dispute over Ethiopia’s filling of a mega hydroelectric dam along the River Nile.

Correction Wednesday 29 June 2022, 12:00 GMT: This post has been amended to remove references to images of destroyed Ethiopian vehicles, as these were found to be from an earlier incident, and to update the entry with a denial from Sudan's army.

Read more:

• Why Ethiopia and Sudan have fallen out over al-Fashaga

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

A mass corruption trial has begun in Angola with nearly 50 army and state security officers accused of numerous crimes including embezzlement and abuse of power.

Most of them were employed during the era of the former president José Eduardo dos Santos.

Prosecutors alleged that their offences cost the state more than $50m (£41m).

More than 200 witnesses have been lined up to testify.

One of the defence lawyers said he would seek to have the trial stopped due to procedural irregularities.

President João Lourenço came to power in 2017 promising to tackle rampant corruption that took root under his predecessor Mr Dos Santos.

Image source, Getty Images

Germany has agreed to return a sacred statue stolen from Cameroon at the beginning of the last century.

The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which manages the museums in the capital, Berlin, said it would return the female figure, known as Ngonnso, to the Nso community in north-west Cameroon.

The statue was taken by a colonial officer and donated to Berlin’s Ethnological Museum in 1903.

A prince from the Nso kingdom told the Reuters news agency that the announcement was warmly received in Cameroon.

"After more than 120 years, we can only remain happy for it is a moment to commemorate and come closer to our ancestral links with love and togetherness,” Mbinglo Gilles Yumo Nyuydzewira is quoted as saying.

The foundation also said that it will return 23 pieces to Namibia and is planning an agreement to repatriate objects to Tanzania.

More on this topic:

• A guide to Africa's 'looted treasures'

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

The authorities in Nigeria's Cross River state has dethroned two traditional rulers following renewed violence in their communities over a land dispute.

A spokesperson for the Cross River Governor Ben Ayade told the BBC that the monarchs from the Nko and Oyadama communities were deposed for failing to "rein in their subjects".

Unlike in some other countries, the political authorities in Nigeria have the power to remove traditional rulers.

The dismissed monarchs in southern Nigeria have not yet commented publicly.

The latest round of clashes between their communities broke out on Friday leading to massive destruction of homes and farmland.

At least six soldiers were shot and wounded allegedly by some residents when troops were deployed to quell the violence.

The security forces are reported to have responded by opening fire - killing at least two civilians and injuring a number of others.

Residents have accused the security forces of "heavy handedness".

Nigeria's constitution has no role for traditional rulers but they are nevertheless widely respected as custodians of both religion and culture.

The authorities often blame them when there is a breakdown of law and order in their respective communities.

More on this topic:

• How Nigeria's kings lost their power
• In pictures: Country of kings, Nigeria's many monarchs

Our proverb of the day:

Click to send us your African proverbs.

The last homes are being removed as part of what officials say is a plan to beautify the waterfront.

Behind the Commonwealth's allure as it welcomes Gabon and Togo into its ranks.

World number two Ons Jabeur, in her latest Wimbledon column, discusses how she loves breaking boundaries and why the 'Minister of Happiness' is one of her nicknames.

Zimbabwe go into the Rugby Africa Cup seeking a spot at next year's World Cup with their best days more than 30 years behind them.

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

In the meantime there will be an automated news feed and you can also check the BBC News website or listen to our Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this from Gabonese visual artist Yannis Davy Guibinga:

Mike Thomson
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, Various/Twitter

An Egyptian court has recommended the death sentence for a man who murdered a student after she had refused to marry him.

The defendant, Mohamed Adel, pleaded guilty to stabbing Nayera Ashraf to death outside Mansoura University north of the capital, Cairo.

The case caused outrage across Egypt when a video of the killing went viral after being posted online.

Ms Ashraf had previously reported her fears about being attacked after receiving death threats on her phone.

The verdict was met with celebrations in front of the courthouse.

The AFP news agency explains that the verdict will now be referred to Egypt's top theological authority - the grand mufti - which is a formality in death penalty cases.

Egypt carried out the third-highest number of executions in the world last year, according to Amnesty International.

Issa Ahmed
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

South African scientists have urged the government to bring back some coronavirus-curbing measures, after the country recorded its first case of monkeypox.

The plea from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) comes a week after South Africa ended mandatory mask-wearing, border checks for Covid-19, and size limits on social gatherings.

A 30-year-old Gauteng man tested positive for monkeypox last week, Health Minister Joe Phaahla recently confirmed.

He said the patient had no travel history and the virus could not have been acquired outside South Africa.

Monkeypox, caused by a similar virus to smallpox, can be spread when someone is in close contact with an infected person. Infections are usually mild.

It occurs mostly in remote parts of central and west African countries, near tropical rainforests.

Related stories:

• What is monkeypox and how do you catch it?
• Monkeypox and gay men: Separating stigma from health advice

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

Nnamdi Kanu, who heads a banned separatist group in Nigeria, has been denied bail by a court for the second time in as many months.

The Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) leader is awaiting trial on terrorism and treason charges, which he denies.

Mr Kanu, who holds a British passport, was arrested in Kenya a year ago and extradited to Nigeria - where he is in custody of the secret police.

Rejecting his latest bid, trial judge Binta Nyako said Mr Kanu had failed to give a satisfactory reason for breaching previous bail conditions imposed on him in 2017.

She insisted that the suit was a gross abuse of the court process and an attempt to continue to litigate on issues that have already been ruled on.

The case has been adjourned until November 14.

Ipob wants a group of states in south-eastern Nigeria, made up mainly of people from the Igbo ethnic group, to break away and form the independent nation of Biafra.

Related stories:

• Nigerian separatist allowed to watch Liverpool games on TV
• '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

Nigeria will be without head coach Mike Brown for upcoming 2023 Basketball World Cup qualifiers in Rwanda.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, PA Media

A lawyer for Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga says a warrant for her arrest has been issued after she failed to appear in court over charges of inciting violence.

The lawyer said his client was seeing a doctor in Germany and had missed court for medical reasons.

Dangarembga was arrested in 2020 and freed on bail for staging an anti-government protest in Harare.

She was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2018 and her first novel Nervous Conditions won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize - as well as being named as one of the top 100 books that shaped the world by a BBC panel.

The author has filed to have the case thrown out for lack of evidence.

Vumani Mkhize
BBC Africa Business

Image source, EPA

South Africa's scheduled power cuts are being increased to up to six hours a day to avoid catastrophic grid collapse.

The main power company Eskom blames its striking workers demanding a 10% pay rise for these new enforced blackouts - or load shedding, as it's called in the country.

Eskom says it relies on government bailouts to keep the lights on, and therefore it cannot increase its wage bill.

As a result the blackouts will begin for five hours on Tuesday evening, and again on Wednesday evening.

South Africa is the continent's most industrialised country, and this disruption to homes and businesses comes in the middle of the Southern hemisphere's cold winter.

Eskom's problems emanate from a $26bn (£21bn) debt burden, along with an old and failing grid. It did recently build two new power stations but both have design flaws and are unable to provide power on a constant basis.

Mike Thomson
BBC World Service News

As talks begin in Geneva between rival institutions in Libya, the UN has called for a “final and courageous effort” to break the deadlock over rules for long-awaited elections.

The leader of Libya's eastern-based parliament, Aguila Saleh, and the president of Tripoli’s high council of state, Khalid Al-Mishri, will be holding two days of UN-brokered negotiations.

Presidential and parliamentary elections had been scheduled for December last year, but were postponed after bitter disputes over who could stand and the legal basis of the poll.

There have been repeated skirmishes between armed groups in Tripoli recently prompting fears of a return to full-scale conflict.

More stories from Libya:

• How Bangladeshis are lured into slavery in Libya
• Gaddafi's favourite son announces bid for president - but is later disqualified