DJ Edu
Presenter of This Is Africa on BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Wegz is massive in Egypt.

His 2020 hit Dorak Gai, which fuses Egyptian shaabi sounds with an affirming lyrical flow, achieved 24 million views on YouTube in just two months.

Wegz is now tapping into Afrobeats and is proving he can cut it as a singer as well as a rap artist, for example in his most recent song Amira.

What struck me most about this 24-year-old superstar when I spoke with him on his recent visit to the UK for a sold-out show, was his thoughtfulness, and his big heart.

Talking about his ability to move from hard-hitting rap to love songs, he said this: “I can go hard and I can go soft. I can let you know about the vulnerable part because I mean, why not? I’m not strong 24/7.

"In this part of the world [meaning Egypt] people don’t express their feelings that much, but it is starting to be a thing right now and I just want people to know that it is really ok.”

Wegz recently did a very catchy song for a film, Captains of Zaatari, about some young refugees in a camp in Jordan who use their football skills to escape from poverty.

“I wanted to be a part of it because I think it’s the least I can do. I didn’t want to tell them I’m going to do the song unless it’s a really good song and to be honest I got inspired really quickly because from the movie you get a sense of the struggle they have to go through, and the pain in that part of the world and you really just want to be there to help.”

You can hear DJ Edu’s conversation with Wegz on This is Africa this Saturday, on BBC World Service radio and partner stations across Africa, as well as online here.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Nearly 10 million people in South Sudan will need food aid in 2023, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha).

Ocha says severe food insecurity will affect an estimated eight million people, or 64% of the 13 million population, by the peak of the lean season between April and July next year.

"A staggering 76% of South Sudan's population, will have humanitarian and or protection needs in 2023,” Sara Beysolow Nyanti, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, said in a press release on Friday.

Ms Nyanti stressed that the deteriorating humanitarian conditions are worsened by endemic violence, conflict, access constraints, operational interference, public health challenges and climatic shocks such as flooding and localised drought.

Image source, Getty Images

Police in South Africa are investigating two murder cases after an ally of King Misuzulu ka Zwelithini and a bodyguard were shot dead.

Prince Mbongiseni Zulu, a senior member of the royal family was one of the people who helped the king ascend to the throne.

Provincial police spokesperson Jay Naicker told the BBC that the men were killed by two unknown suspects in KwaNongoma, northern KwaZulu-Natal where they were apparently visiting family.

“We are investigating a motive and won’t speculate on whether it’s succession related,” he said.

Local media are reporting that Prince Zulu is the third ally of the newly crowned king to be killed in recent months, those other cases are still being investigated.

King Misizulu’s ascension was hotly contested, with some members of the family challenging his appointment as king.

Reacting to the shooting, Nongoma Mayor Thulasizwe Buthelezi said they are “shocked and heartbroken”, TimesLive news site reports.

“We appeal to the police to bring the criminals to book urgently,” it quotes him as saying.

Prince Zulu was also a local political leader, serving under opposition party Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).

A coup attempt has been foiled in the West African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe.

Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada said four men managed to enter the army headquarters while another armed group waited outside.

The ringleaders were arrested after two hours of heavy gunfire and explosions.

Mr Trovoada said one of them was the outgoing head of the National Assembly and former presidential candidate, Delfim Neves.

Another was a former mercenary who staged an attempted coup 13 years ago.

The West African regional bloc Ecowas condemned the coup attempt, describing Sao Tome as a model of parliamentary democracy in Africa.

There have been a number of coups and attempted military takeovers since Sao Tome and Principe gained independence from Portugal in 1975.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

Image source, BBC / Patience Atuhaire

Learners in Uganda are heading back home after the government closed schools two weeks earlier than originally scheduled in order to slow down an outbreak of Ebola in the country.

The ministry of education ordered closure of schools after more than 20 confirmed Ebola cases were recorded among students.

Parents began picking their children from schools as early as Wednesday this week to reduce congestion on public transport.

Image source, BBC / Patience Atuhaire

Many more students were still leaving schools on Friday morning after they were given more time to complete their end of year exams.

Some schools have informed parents that they will continue with online teaching to complete the term’s syllabus.

The new school year begins in February 2023.

Uganda has so far confirmed over 140 cases, with 55 deaths, since the Ebola outbreak was reported in September.

Police in Malawi have arrested the country's vice-president over corruption allegations, according to a statement from the anti-corruption agency.

Saulos Chilima is accused of receiving $280,00 (£230,000) from a businessman to help secure government contracts.

He is due in court where he will face six charges relating to corruption, the agency said.

Mr Chilima has not yet commented on the allegations, but a local news site has shared his picture arriving in court in the capital Lilongwe.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

An appeal court in southern White Nile state in Sudan has invalidated a court decision that a young woman convicted of adultery be stoned to death, her lawyer said.

In June, a court in Kosti town found Maryam Tiraab guilty under a Sudanese law that states that a married person, male or female, be stoned to death if he/she commits adultery.

Intisaar Abdullah, her defence lawyer, told the Sudan Tribune news website, on Thursday that a court of appeal "invalidated the court ruling concerning Tiraab''.

Ms Abdullah said that the court of appeal decided to return the case to the trial court, and ordered it to reconsider the ruling, saying that it had not "taken into consideration the guidelines of a fair trial".

She said that the court of appeal also ordered the trial court to restart the litigation process afresh, in accordance with "instructions it had issued", without giving more details.

Ms Tiraab's defence lawyers said that the previous ruling was "illegal" since their client had no "legal representation".

Ms Tiraab, 20, who separated from her husband in 2020, was accused of adultery by her husband a year later.

The trial court's decision had angered many Sudanese lawyers, who sympathised with Ms Tiraab, and vowed to appeal against the decision.

More: Sudan: 'No-one to intervene' for woman sentenced to stoning

Image source, Getty Images

Ghana plans to buy oil products with gold rather than US dollar reserves in a measure aimed at stemming the weakening of its currency, the cedi, and to address the increasing living costs.

The new policy "will fundamentally change our balance of payments and significantly reduce the persistent depreciation of our currency", Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia said on Thursday.

According to the government the country's foreign reserves stood at around $6.6bn (£5.4bn) at the end of September 2022 down from $9.7bn at the end of last year. This equates to to less than three months of imports cover, news agency Reuters reports.

"Using gold would prevent the exchange rate from directly impacting fuel or utility prices as domestic sellers would no longer need foreign exchange to import oil products," said Mr Bawumia.

"The barter of gold for oil represents a major structural change," he added.

The proposed policy due to be launched early next year is uncommon, Reuters reports.

While countries sometimes trade oil for other goods or commodities, such deals typically involve an oil-producing nation receiving non-oil goods rather than the opposite.

Despite being an oil producer Ghana relies on imports because its only refinery shut down after an explosion in 2017.

The government of President Nana Akufo-Addo is under intense political pressure and is currently negotiating a relief package with the IMF.

Read more on Ghana's economy:

• Ghana economy: Entrepreneurs struggle as cedi plunges and inflations rises

Grace Kuria
BBC News

Women and girls in Africa are at greater risk of being killed by their intimate partners or other family members, more than anywhere else in the world, the UN says.

It says the continent has the highest level of violence against women, relative to its size of female population.

In 2021, around 45,000 women and girls worldwide were killed by intimate partners or other family members.

Broken down, this means that more than five women or girls are killed every hour by someone in their own family.

The report released jointly by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women, says that even as the numbers are shocking, the true scale of femicide may be much higher.

By absolute numbers, Africa had the second-highest cases of female intimate partner/family-related killings, at 17,200, with Asia leading at 17,800. The Americas had 7,500 cases and 2,500 in Europe.

“Data on gender-related killings committed in the public sphere are particularly scarce, making it difficult to inform prevention policies for these types of killings,” it says.

The UN is calling for the strengthening of protection mechanisms for women human rights defenders and women’s rights activists.

“I call upon governments and partners across the world to increase long-term funding and support to women’s rights organisations,” UN Women executive director Sima Bahous said.

The UN report comes as the global commemoration of 16 days of activism against gender-based violence begins on Friday.

The BBC's Victoria Uwonkunda looks at the secret behind Qatar's football squad.

A 23-year-old Kenyan has become a favourite of World Cup fans in Qatar for his announcements directing people to the metro station.

Perched on an umpire chair and wearing a large foam finger, Abubakr Abbass calls out "metro, metro".

People visiting the popular historic market Souq Waqif in Doha regularly interact with Mr Abbass, responding to his announcement's and creating pantomime-like scenes, news-site Aljazeera reports. , external

“We love him; we love the metro guy,” one fan said.

Mr Abbas has also found fame on TikTok.

The official Fifa Twitter account shared a video of his interaction with the fans.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

State prosecutors in Comoros have asked a court to sentence former President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi to life in prison for alleged high treason.

Sambi, 64, was president between 2006 and 2011 and has been in detention since 2018 on corruption charges.

He faces charges related to the alleged sale of the country's passports to stateless people living in Gulf states.

He was tried in absentia after he refused to appear in court, according to the privately-owned Comoros Infos website., external

He is scheduled to be sentenced on 28 November.

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, AFP

The M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have said they will not retreat from their positions after regional leaders set a 18:00 Friday local time deadline for them to cease fire and retreat or face a regional force.

Their spokesman Canisius Munyarugerero has told the BBC Great Lakes that the group is ignoring Wednesday’s decisions in the Angolan capital, Luanda, because “we were not invited to that meeting” to discuss the DR Congo conflict.

Leaders from DR Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and the former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta - who’s a mediator to the conflict - had convened in Luanda in the meeting hosted by the Angolan president.

“We M23 are not Burundians, we are not Rwandans, we are not Kenyans, not even Angolans. We are Congolese, and we are home, they are telling us to withdraw to where?” Mr Munyarugerero posed.

The M23 now occupies a big area in North Kivu province and is threatening to capture Goma, the main city in eastern Congo.

Before the war began afresh, they held positions at Sabinyo Volcano near the border with Rwanda.

The Luanda meeting decided that if M23 did not abide by the deadline, regional forces being deployed to the eastern DR Congo would enforce it.

Asked if they were ready to face a regional force, Mr Munyarugerero said: “Just know that we won’t retreat.”

Image source, Getty Images

Ghanaian player Osman Bukari has defended his imitation of Cristiano Ronaldo's iconic 'Siuuu' celebrations after scoring a late consolation in the team's 2-3 loss to Portugal.

It follows concerns on social media that the celebration was disrespectful towards Ronaldo - who usually celebrates his goals by jumping up while rotating in mid-air and lands shouting "siuuu".

But in Twitter posts, Bukhari dismissed the concerns as "incorrect"'

He said he "was overcome by the emotion of the moment of scoring for my country on my World Cup debut".

"My upbringing doesn’t permit me to be disrespectful to elders let alone one of my idols," he added.

Beth Timmins
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Ivory Coast has announced a project to triple its forest cover by 2030.

It has lost nearly all of its forests in the last 50 years, primarily because of cocoa plantations.

The project aims to cover 20% of Ivory Coast.

It will also reinforce protection for national parks - including one of the last remnants of primary tropical rainforest in West Africa.

The World Bank will provide a $149m (£123m) to finance the project.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

Thirteen people were killed and 12 others are reported missing following fierce fighting between two rival factions of the rebel Sudanese Liberation Movement-Nur (SLM-Nur) group in Central Darfur state, western Sudan, the UN has said.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) in Sudan said the clashes started on 19 November in the Umu and Arshin areas of Shamal Jebel Marra locality.

Six people were abducted and four others wounded, privately-owned Al-Intibaha news site reported.

The fighting later spread to the villages of Daya, Wara, and Kia, in the same locality, with an estimated 5,600 people reportedly fleeing their homes and moving to idisplaced people's camps, OCHA said.

The situation remains tense as there are reports that both parties are mobilising their forces for fresh attacks, according to the UN.

In October, similar clashes between the two groups left at least 13 people killed and 15 others wounded.

SLM-Nur is one of the few rebel groups that did not sign the 2020 Juba peace agreement, which the government signed with former rebel groups in Darfur and southern regions.

There has been division within SLM-Nur in recent months, as some factions have defected.

Image source, Getty Images

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo has praised the national team's "gutsy performance" in their World Cup opener against Portugal which ended in a 2-3 loss.

The Black Stars became the first African team to score a goal at this year’s tournament, but lie at the bottom of Group H. They will next play South Korea on November 28.

In a tweet, President Addo said he was "proud of the entire team" despite their loss to Portugal.

He added: "They live to fight another day and have shown they have what it takes to mix it up against any team in the tournament."

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says he wants to launch proceedings against the Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony.

This is the first time the prosecutor's office has sought a hearing to confirm charges, in a suspect's absence.

An arrest warrant was issued for the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army 17 years ago on 33 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The LRA launched a rebellion in Uganda in the 1990s, killing, mutilating and abducting people, especially children.

Mr Kony's whereabouts are unclear but the LRA has been active in Sudan and the Central African Republic.

Read more:

• Joseph Kony - child kidnapper, warlord, 'prophet'

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

The M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have said that a ceasefire supposed to take hold on Friday evening "does not concern" the group.

They called on the DR Congo government for direct dialogue.

The rebels' spokesman, Lawrence Kanyuka, said that as they had no representatives at Wednesday's mini-summit in the Angolan capital Luanda, they were not included in the accord.

The signatories - from Rwanda, the DR Congo, Angola and Burundi - said that under the cessation of hostilities, if the rebels did not withdraw from the area an East African regional force would attack their positions.

Kinshasa has refused to engage with the M23, calling them terrorists.

DR Congo accuses Rwanda of backing the rebels, who have been advancing on the regional capital, Goma.

Rwanda denies involvement.

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