BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Thousands of bakeries in Tunisia have gone on strike over more than a year of unpaid government subsidies.

Their owners say they are owed nearly $80m (£65m).

The move follows similar action in October that ended after a partial deal – which bakers say the government has since reneged on.

Bread shortages have been a flashpoint for unrest in Tunisia, which has experienced a spike in protests over food shortages and living conditions.

Kenya intends to bid to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations alongside other countries in East Africa.

Delighted supporters spilled out on to London's streets draped in Morocco flags.

Ndambi Guebuza is among 11 defendants found guilty of corruption for a $2bn failed fishing project.

Image source, AFP

South Africa's justice ministry has confirmed that the man who killed the South African anti-apartheid hero, Chris Hani, has been released on parole.

Last month's decision by the constitutional court to free Janusz Walus drew widespread criticism in South Africa.

Mr Hani's widow described it as diabolical.

The hugely popular senior member of the ANC's military wing was shot dead in 1993.

The murder was a failed attempt to stop the country changing from white minority rule to democratic rule.

Last week Mr Walus received treatment in a prison hospital after he was stabbed by a fellow inmate.

Read more about the Walus case here.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

A Mozambican court has sentenced the son of a former president and others to prison for their role in the "tuna bonds" corruption scandal.

Ex-President Armando Guebuza’s son, Ndambi Guebuza, and two former heads of intelligence, Gregorio Leao and Antonio do Rosario, each got 12 years behind bars.

Eight of their co-accused were convicted and sentenced to between 10 and 12 years.

"The crimes committed have brought consequences whose effects will last for generations," Judge Efigenio Baptista said while handing down the sentences.

A total of 19 people had been charged with blackmail, embezzlement and money laundering over their alleged roles in Mozambique’s biggest financial scandal. Eight have been acquitted for lack of evidence.

The scandal involved the country borrowing more than $2bn ($1.6bn) from international banks, much of it without the knowledge or approval of the country's parliament, triggering an economic crisis.

Teklemariam Bekit
BBC News Tigrinya

Image source, Getty Images

Ethiopia has restored power supply to Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray state where federal troops fought rebels in a two-year civil war that ended last month.

Residents in the city are now enjoying full resumption of electricity after supply was disconnected for more than a year, sources in the city told the BBC.

"Electricity has been everywhere in the city since yesterday (Tuesday)," said a resident.

The state-affiliated Fana broadcast quoted a spokesman of the state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) as saying that power had been restored after repair on a high-voltage line.

State-run telecommunications firm Ethio Telecom has also restored services in Shire town and surrounding areas.

Families living abroad have told the BBC how they finally managed to call their loved ones after two years.

Power and telecommunication services were disrupted after war broke out in the Tigray region in November 2020.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

Image source, Yoweri Museveni/Twitter

The head of the Ugandan Medical Association, a grouping of Ugandan medics, has told the BBC that he has not resigned, despite reports that he had agreed to step aside.

Dr Samuel Odongo Oledo says he committed no crime in kneeling before President Yoweri Museveni to ask him to stand again for the presidency in 2026.

“I have nothing to apologise for,” he said.

Dr Oledo says he only agreed that the association’s ethics committee carry out investigations into his conduct. This process should take a week.

A video showing him with a group of mostly student doctors kneeling before President Museveni last week has been the subject of online conversations in Uganda for days.

“There is no crime in respecting the fountain of honour. We ought to thank the president for increasing the salaries of medics of all cadres. That is why I feel he should continue his work,” he told the BBC.

The surgeon says that he was a card-carrying member of the ruling National Resistance Movement party before he was elected president of the medical association, and all his colleagues have always been aware of his political affiliation.

But Dr Herbert Luswata, the association’s secretary general, insists that their group is non-partisan and that the president agreed to step aside.

Dr Luswata said that many of the doctors in the group who knelt before the president had not been informed of what they were going to participate in and were caught unawares.

Although President Museveni, who is currently serving his sixth term in office has not yet announced whether he will run in 2026, several groups have already endorsed him as their candidate of choice.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Colonel Assimi Goita/Tiwtter

Mali's transition leader Col Assimi Goita says the future of the UN mission in Mali (Minusma) will depend on a change of strategy and improved relations with the country’s army.

Col Goita tweeted, external that he had held discussions with the UN head of peacekeeping operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who has been on a two-day tour of Mali ahead of the renewal of Minusma's mandate.

The state-linked L’Essor , externalquoted Mr Lacroix as saying that this was about ensuring there was an agreement between Mali and the UN "so that when the time comes, the recommendations at the level of the [UN] Security Council are in line with the objectives of the Malian authorities”.

UN peacekeepers have been in the country since 2013, but relations with Bamako have recently deteriorated.

Several countries, including Germany and Cote D’Ivoire, have announced plans to withdraw from the mission or scale down their presence.

Wycliffe Muia
BBC Monitoring

Image source, Getty Images

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned of the potential harm of participating in some TikTok video challenges, saying they could expose devices to information-stealing malware.

An advisory shared on Tuesday by the NCC’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) said hackers had taken advantage of a viral TikTok challenge, known as the ‘Invisible Challenge’, to disseminate an information-stealing malware called the WASP (or W4SP) stealer.

"This malware may be capable of covertly collecting screenshots, video recordings, or the ability to activate any connected camera or microphone,” the advisory said.

It added that personally identifiable information (PII), including names and passwords, keystrokes from emails, chat programmes, websites visited and financial activity may also be harvested by the malware secretly monitoring user behaviour.

TikTok’s popularity continues to grow rapidly in Nigeria, especially among young people.

It is the ninth most popular social media app in the country, but has largely escaped the attention of regulatory authorities.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

Sudanese military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has said that the army will relinquish power as soon as civilian political groups in the country reach an agreement on the formation of a new transitional government.

Parties that signed the 5 December framework agreement - which paves way for the formation of a new civilian-led transitional government - are expected to set up committees to work on a new constitution for the country, Gen Burhan said.

He said the timeline for formation of a new government would depend on how fast civilian groups can reach an agreement on outstanding issues.

He insisted that the military “saved the country” on 25 October last year when it toppled a civilian-led coalition government in a coup.

Gen Burhan spoke on Tuesday to several pan-Arab news channels, including Al-Jazeera, Sky News Arabia and Al-Arabia TV.

The latest Sudanese political agreement was signed by the military junta and a faction of the former ruling civilian bloc Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC) and allied political groups.

While widely welcomed by the country’s international partners, the deal has been rejected by powerful pro-democracy protest organisers known as Resistance Committees and key pro-military and Islamist groups.

Rhoda Odhiambo
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

Kenya’s health ministry will launch a two-week vaccination campaign against measles targeting 1.2 million children aged between nine months and five years.

It follows an outbreak in seven counties where 90% of children below five years have missed out on the two-dose vaccine.

The ongoing drought has made it difficult for health workers to give children this life-saving vaccine, due to the movement of people from one place to another in search of food and water.

The ministry has not disclosed how many cases and deaths have been reported, but is urging parents and guardians to ensure their children get vaccinated to contain the outbreak.

Measles is a highly contagious disease characterised by a high fever and a rash. The vaccination coverage has steadily declined globally since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The campaign will begin on Friday and end on 18 December.

Nkechi Ogbonna
West Africa Business Journalist, BBC News

Image source, Nigeria Presidency / Twitter

Nigeria’s central bank has limited weekly over-the-counter cash withdrawals by individuals and corporates to 100,000 naira ($225; £186) and 500,000 naira ($1,125; £928) respectively.

This is in line with its policy to promote cashless transactions, it said.

It comes days after the West African country launched new banknotes.

In a circular, the central bank fixed the maximum daily withdrawal from ATMs at 20,000 naira with a weekly limit of 100,000 naira.

It also directed that only denominations of 200 naira and below be loaded on ATMs.

Withdrawals through point-of-sale (PoS) system, used mostly to pay for goods, will be limited at 20,000 naira.

The new restrictions will come to effect on 9 January.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Somalia's army and allied militias have pushed al-Shabab fighters out of a strategic town in the centre of the country that had been held by the Islamist militant group for six years.

In recent months the government has retaken control of dozens of villages and towns.

The combination of American air strikes, African Union troops, the Somali army and an allied militia are causing serious problems for al-Shabab.

The mayor of Adan Yabal said the town was taken without encountering any resistance.

The jihadist group had used it as a training base and a hub for its operations across central Somalia.

After President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's election in May, he declared all-out war against al-Shabab.

Now he says the effort to clear the group out of Hirshabelle and Galmudug states is in its final stages.

Despite losing territory the militant group has been carrying out frequent deadly bombing raids - especially in the capital, Mogadishu.

Image source, EPA

Jubilant fans poured into the streets of major cities of Morocco after the country reached the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time

The Atlas Lions stunned Spain 3-0 in a shootout after a goalless draw. They will they will face Portugal on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

"Impossible not Moroccan," was how the Moroccan Football Federation described the win.

Flares were set off and flags waved in the streets of the capital, Rabat, as cheering, singing and drumming continued deep into the night.

Morocco King Mohammed VI also joined in the street celebrations as he waved a flag while being driven through the streets.

The country becomes the fourth African team to reach the men’s World Cup quarter-finals after Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010).

Image source, AFP

Kenya plans to abolish boarding schools next year for students up to grade nine (about 14-15 years), which includes primary and junior secondary schools.

Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang told a head teachers’ conference that parents would have to take their children to day schools.

He said the government had made the decision to allow children to be under the care of their parents or guardians. Children from nomadic pastoralist communities will however be exempt from the rules.

Kenya has about 28% of its primary school children in boarding facilities, he said, noting that the number was relatively high compared with other countries.

He said it was the responsibility of parents to take care of their children, as first educators, saying “we can’t outsource parenting to teachers”.

“We need to start socialising ourselves that we need to be with our children, and the only way we shall be with these children is for them to be in a day school environment,” he said.

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Suspicions are raised as Nigeria's first online electoral register reveals a raft of underage voters.

The north African team beat Spain on penalties in their World Cup last 16 match.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

The M23 rebels, one of the main groups fighting in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, have said that they are ready to withdraw from areas that they occupy in the region, in respect to the resolutions of last month's summit in the Angolan capital, Luanda.

The rebel group has taken swathes of territory in Rutshuru and Nyiragongo in recent months leading to tens of thousands being forced from their homes. The M23 has also requested a meeting with the East African Regional Force as well as the mediators of the peace process being spearheaded by regional leaders.

A statement from Lawrence Kanyuka, the M23’s political spokesperson, adds that the rebel group supports regional efforts towards and a lasting solution to the instability in eastern DR Congo.

This comes on the day a week-long round of peace talks concluded in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

The M23 were not part of the summit, which brought together representatives from some 50 armed groups operating in the mineral-rich region.

The delegates agreed on disarmament and a stabilisation programme for former rebels.

Ex-Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the mediator, told delegates that any foreign armed groups based in the restive region should return to their home countries and engage in talks with governments there.

DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has on several occasions accused Rwanda of supporting the M23, something Kigali has continued to deny.

Some East African countries have already deployed forces under the East African Community flag, to fight the various armed groups based in eastern DR Congo.