The Ghanaian music genre was huge in the 90s, and its legacy lives on in Afrobeats.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to arrive in Mali’s capital, Bamako, on Monday for his second trip to Africa in two weeks.

Mali’s foreign ministry said Mr Lavrov will hold a meeting with junta leader, Col Assimi Goïta, and other officials during the two-day visit.

The Yerewolo movement, which advocates for closer ties between Mali and Russia, welcomed Mr Lavrov’s visit and called for the installation of a Russian military base in the northern Gao Region, aBamako website reports.

Mr Lavrov was expected to visit Mali during his trip to the continent in January, but instead toured South Africa, Angola, Eswatini and Eritrea.

Russia's influence in Mali has steadily increased since the deployment of Wagner Group mercenaries in December 2021.

Mr Lavrov said France had created a security void by withdrawing its troops from the Sahel nation, which Mali had asked Russia to help fill.

Wycliffe Muia
BBC Monitoring

Israel’s ambassador to Zambia, Ofra Farhi, was mugged in front of her bodyguards on a street in the capital Lusaka last week, with robbers taking her diplomatic passport and mobile phone.

Local media said Ms Farhi was crossing a busy street on Friday when a car pulled up alongside her and the occupants grabbed her bag, which had an unspecified amount of cash.

She was treated at a local clinic and continued on to her scheduled meetings with local officials.

The ambassador said in a statement that though it is the kind of incident that can happen anywhere in the country, "Zambia is very safe and peaceful "and "very friendly to Israel".

Zambian Foreign Minister Stanley Kakubo called Ms Farhi to reassure her of security.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen termed the incident as an example of the kind of dangers that diplomatic staff face "to serve the country".

Besides Zambia, Ms Farhi also represents Israel in Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Image source, AFP

Millions of voters in southern Ethiopia are casting their ballots on Monday in a referendum to establish a new regional state.

This is the third such referendum - all in the country’s south - held in the past four years.

Previous votes saw the formation of Sidama and South-Western Ethiopia regions.

More than three million people are registered to vote in this election - which will be held in six sub-regional administrative units (zones) and five districts that have been part of the Southern Ethiopian Nations, Nationalities and People’s (SNNP) region.

The new region is to be called Southern Ethiopia region, if it gets a yes vote.

Image source, Getty Images

Followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church begin three days of protests on Monday as tensions with the authorities continue to grow.

At least three people were killed and multiple others wounded over the weekend in Shashemene town, in Oromia region, after security forces fired shots into a church, according to reports by media outlets linked to the church.

Clashes were reported in others areas in Oromia with the church claiming mass arrests of its followers in some areas in the region.

Last week, the church’s highest body, the synod, ordered its adherents to wear black as a sign of protest during the church's Fast of Nineveh event starting on Monday.

It came after the church accused the government of aiding breakaway clergy from Oromia region - who appointed bishops without the synod’s knowledge.

The breakaway clergy said they had "overwhelming" support in Oromia.

A statement released by the federal government’s communication’s office did not say anything about the church’s accusations and the incidents of violence.

But it warned against unnamed forces that it said had unsuccessfully attempted to dismantle the country and were now working to worsen the problem.

Rallies were held in Dessie city, in the country’s north, and abroad in Washington DC.

Multiple celebrities have released statements expressing solidarity with the church while others have posted pictures - on social media platforms - of themselves wearing black.

Image source, Getty Images

South Africans Wouter Kellerman, Zakes Bantwini and Nomcebo Zikode won a Grammy Award on Sunday for Best Global Music Performance for their collaboration Bayethe.

The three artists have tweeted their reactions to the award:

Image source, Getty Images

A United Nations peacekeeper from South Africa was killed and another wounded in an attack on their helicopter in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday.

The UN mission in the country, Monusco, said the helicopter came under fire in the afternoon while heading to Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, where it managed to land.

It said another peacekeeper was wounded in the attack.

"Monusco strongly condemns this cowardly attack against an aircraft bearing the United Nations emblem," it said in a statement.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) also confirmed the attack.

"An Oryx helicopter came under fire in Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Sunday February 5, 2023," it said in a statement, external.

"The SANDF is in the process of informing family members of the soldiers who were involved."

Image source, EPA

President Cyril Ramaphosa has asked his deputy, David Mabuza, to remain in his position until a transition is finalised.

Mr Mabuza is reported to have told a funeral gathering on Saturday that the president had “accepted” his resignation and that an announcement on his departure was coming.

He said he believed it was logical for him to give way to Paul Mashatile, who was elected in December as the ruling ANC party’s deputy president.

But the presidency spokesman on Sunday said the president wanted Mr Mabuza to remain until the transition process was finalised.

Mr Mashatile is due to be sworn in as an MP on Monday. His entry to parliament will pave the way for the president to name him as the country’s deputy president.

Mr Ramaphosa is due to deliver his state of the nation address in Cape Town on Thursday.

Nigerian singer Tems won a Grammy Award on Sunday - becoming the first female artist from the country to win the prestigious award.

Her compatriot Burna Boy lost in the two categories in which he was nominated.

Tems, whose real name is Temilade Openiyi, won the award in the Best Melodic Rap Performance category for her contribution to the hit song Wait for U - a collaboration with musicians Future and Drake.

Tems is yet to comment publicly on the news, but fans have been congratulating her on social media.

Cat Wiener
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, AFP

Mali's military government has given the head of the UN peacekeeping mission's human rights division 48 hours to leave the country.

In a statement read out on national television, a government spokesman said Guillaume Ngefa-Atondoko Andali had committed "subversive actions" in his selection of witnesses to testify at UN Security Council briefings on Mali.

Last month, a Malian civil society activist who gave evidence at a UN meeting accused the government's Russian military partners of serious human rights violations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due in Mali on Monday for a visit aimed at boosting defence and security ties.

It will be the first official visit to the West African nation by a Russian foreign minister.

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Writer and broadcaster Lindsay Johns completes his exploration of South African food, as he discusses the national dish, and what it says about the Rainbow Nation.

South African cuisine is as varied as South Africa itself, and in this set of Essays, Lindsay has delved into its different cuisines for five personal and lyrical ruminations on what these foods evoke for him. Each Essay - covering one of South Africa's racial groups - offers distinct memories of different aspects of his many experiences in South Africa. We'll sample the different cuisines, and experience these nuanced and complex communities through Lindsay's eyes, ears, and taste buds.

In today's final Essay, Lindsay strolls through the picture postcard community of Bo-Kaap in Cape Town, on his way to eat a personal favourite - tomato bredie. His lunch companion, meanwhile, orders bobotie - a meal which originated in the country's Cape Malay community but has now become the national dish. And as he reflects on the series, Lindsay wonders what this development says about finding a balance between acknowledging South Africa's troubling past and making a future together.

Producer: Giles Edwards

Writer and broadcaster Lindsay Johns explores the food of South Africa.

South African cuisine is as varied as South Africa itself, and in this set of Essays, Lindsay will delve into the foods of the Rainbow Nation for five personal and lyrical ruminations on what these foods evoke for him. Each Essay - covering one of South Africa's racial groups - offers distinct memories of different aspects of his many experiences in South Africa. We'll sample the different cuisines, and experience these nuanced and complex communities through Lindsay's eyes, ears, and taste buds.

In today's Essay, Lindsay introduces Bunny chow, a dish made from a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with curry, which was created in Durban, and is today the most famous dish of Durban’s Indian community – one of the largest in the world outside India itself. Born at a time when Indian restaurateurs were prevented by law from serving food to black workers - the dish was served surreptitiously so that passing police forces would see only a loaf of bread - today it is a national staple.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Writer and broadcaster Lindsay Johns explores the food of South Africa.

South African cuisine is as varied as South Africa itself, and in this set of Essays, Lindsay will delve into the foods of the Rainbow Nation for five personal and lyrical ruminations on what these foods evoke for him. Each Essay - covering one of South Africa's racial groups - offers distinct memories of different aspects of his many experiences in South Africa. We'll sample the different cuisines, and experience these nuanced and complex communities through Lindsay's eyes, ears, and taste buds.

For his third Essay, Lindsay will describe the cuisine he knows, and loves, the best: Cape Coloured cuisine. We'll learn about snoek (barracuda), pickled fish, mince and cabbage stew and the Gatsby steak sandwich. It is, he says, the quintessential poor man’s fusion cuisine - and the most under-rated and overlooked food in the whole country.

Producer: Giles Edwards

Writer and broadcaster Lindsay Johns explores the food of South Africa.

South African cuisine is as varied as South Africa itself, and in this set of Essays, Lindsay will delve into the foods of the Rainbow Nation for five personal and lyrical ruminations on what these foods evoke for him. Each Essay - covering one of South Africa's racial groups - offers distinct memories of different aspects of his many experiences in South Africa. We'll sample the different cuisines, and experience these nuanced and complex communities through Lindsay's eyes, ears, and taste buds.

For this second Essay, we find Lindsay walking up Table Mountain in Cape Town, and munching on biltong, what he calls "the most regal and masculine of all amuse-bouches". We'll hear, too, about the importance of the braai, and about the central place of meat in white South African cuisine. But as Lindsay chews this all over, he mulls an important question: for many years this cuisine was seen as the ‘Oppressors’ food’ – so should he still be reluctant to eat it?

Producer: Giles Edwards

Writer and broadcaster Lindsay Johns explores the food of South Africa.

South African cuisine is as varied as South Africa itself, and in this set of Essays, Lindsay will delve into the foods of the Rainbow Nation for five personal and lyrical ruminations on what these foods evoke for him. Each Essay - covering one of South Africa's racial groups - offers distinct memories of different aspects of his many experiences in South Africa. We'll sample the different cuisines, and experience these nuanced and complex communities through Lindsay's eyes, ears, and taste buds.

For his first Essay, Lindsay invites listeners to join him as he samples the cuisine of South Africa’s Xhosa and Zulu township communities – smiley (a boiled sheep’s head in a drum), amangina (chicken, cow, pig, lamb and sheep’s feet served with hot sauce), and pap – a cornmeal porridge so popular it appears on the menu at South African branches of KFC. Lindsay says it does what it ought to do - "placate the belly and nourish the soul."

Producer: Giles Edwards

In the first episode of How We Hustle, Yianni Charalambous is joined by Grime legend, Lethal Bizzle to talk about how hustling in music opened up the doors for him to make money in the worlds of fashion, property development and more.

YolanDa Brown and her house band, the Band Jaminals, entertain an audience of children - the Band Jammers - with live music and special guests!

YolanDa gets everyone moving with the Clapping Song, encouraging everyone to clap and dance in a lively and fast way.

Joining YolanDa in this episode is singing superstar Shingai Shoniwa from the Noisettes. Shingai demonstrates some traditional African instruments made out of fruit – the Hosho and Mbira.

The Fact Jam then tells us more about these fascinating instruments - did you know that the Mbira is also known as the 'thumb piano'?

Shingai then performs Coming Home using these traditional African instruments and is then invited by YolanDa and the Band Jammers to take part in the Big Band Jam at the end of the programme.

YolanDa explains that the Big Band Jam in this episode will be based around things you can do on holiday, and a short film follows three Band Jammers as they explore possible lyric ideas for the Big Band Jam.

YolanDa and the Band Jammers are then ready for the Big Band Jam. YolanDa and the Band Jaminals join in as Shingai performs the Noisettes' hit song Never Forget You with new lyrics suggested by the Band Jammers!

Journalist Jonathan Guyer examines the different forms of noir fiction addressing the failed revolutions, jihadism, and chaos in Egypt.

Away from caliphate building and sectarianism, a neo-noir revolution has been creeping across the Middle East, allowing artists and writers to act as ombudsmen in the current political climate. Jonathan meets the writers who are latching onto the adventure, despair and paranoia prevalent in genre fiction to tell stories that transcend the present. He looks at Ahmed Mourad's novel, Vertigo, and Magdy El-Shafee's graphic novel, Metro, which Egyptian authorities seized all copies of before release.

Drawing parallels with the golden age of noir in America, Jonathan argues that, while the Middle East offers an ethereal backdrop like that of post-war America, the Middle East's neo-noir revolution is anything but nostalgic, giving authors and scholars an opportunity to critique imported wars, local autocrats and arrested revolutions.

What's surprising, he finds, is not that detective fiction is showing a sudden popularity in Cairo and beyond but that the genre has been relatively dormant for the last several decades. Sorting through the discarded vintage dime novels in creaky Cairo bookstalls, he discovers that detective fiction has had a long relationship with Arab readers.

Presented by Jonathan Guyer Produced by Sean Glynn and David Waters An SPG production for BBC Radio 4.