Image source, EPA

A Nigerian senatorial candidate was on Wednesday shot dead and his body burnt by attackers while on his way from a campaign rally in the southern state of Enugu.

The death of Oyibo Chukwu of the Labour Party happened three days before Saturday's general elections - which are being described as the country's most competitive polls in 24 years.

His aides who were with him were also shot dead before their car was set ablaze with the bodies inside, local outlets report.

“Our party members are being targeted for assassination by political parties that felt threatened by the rise of the Labour Party in the state and are afraid they may lose the Saturday’s election,” said Chijioke Edeoga, a candidate for the governor's seat in the state.

The Labour Party has not commented on the attack, but its presidential candidate Peter Obi has been urging supporters to vote "correctly, peacefully, and hopefully".

BBC World Service

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Tunisian police have arrested Chaima Issa, a prominent opponent to President Kais Saied and a senior official in the National Salvation Front.

Earlier, Issam Chebbi, leader of the Republican Party and another fierce critic of the president was also arrested.

Lawyers acting for the detained head of a private Tunisian radio station say he is facing politically motivated money laundering charges.

Noureddine Boutar - arrested earlier this month - is head of the popular Mosaique FM.

The station has long been critical of Mr Saied.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

South Africa's government says it will take on nearly two-thirds of the struggling state power company's total debt of $23bn (£19bn).

This comes as breakdowns at Eskom's power plants have led to unprecedented power cuts that are damaging the country's economy.

The national treasury decision should free up money for spending on maintenance, transmission and distribution.

President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a state of disaster over the energy crisis earlier this month - a move which allows the government to take emergency measures to intervene.

Eskom has been plagued by corruption and mismanagement. It has received more than $14bn worth of bailouts since 2008.

The latest move by the government comes as the outgoing Eskom chief executive, who was due to exit the company next month, leaves with immediate effect.

The firm's board resolved on Wednesday, external that Andre de Ruyter would not be required to serve the balance of his notice period.

In an interview with a local TV station on Monday, Mr De Ruyter had questioned the government's ability to deal with the corruption at the utility firm.

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The Indomitable Lionesses are denied a third consecutive appearance at the Women's World Cup after an injury-time penalty awarded by VAR sees them lose their play-off 2-1 to Portugal.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now. There'll be an automated service until Thursday morning.

You can also follow the news here or listen to our podcast.

Our wise words of the day:

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And we leave you with this picture of an environmentalist in the Congo forest.

BBC Africa Eye

Police in Kenya have been ordered to open an investigation over allegations of sexual abuse at tea plantations which supply some of the biggest British brands.

Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Noordin M Haji, asked the Inspector General of Police “to undertake comprehensive investigations into the allegations... and the resultant investigation file should be submitted to the office within seven days”.

The sexual abuse allegations were documented in a joint investigation by BBC Africa Eye and BBC Panorama.

The governor of Kenya’s Kericho county, where the plantations are based, has called for the immediate arrest of four tea farm managers, external alleged to have sexually abused their employees for years, on plantations which supply PG Tips, Lipton and Sainsbury’s Red Label.

More than 70 women told the BBC they had been sexually harassed and abused by their managers at plantations operated, for years, by two British companies, Unilever and James Finlay & Co.

In the UK, Starbucks has suspended purchasing from James Finlay & Co.

In a statement, the world’s largest coffee chain said it was “deeply concerned” and has taken immediate action to suspend purchasing from the company.

Starbucks joins a list of companies in the UK that have said they will take action against the Scottish firm.

James Finlay & Co said it immediately suspended two managers named in the report and it was investigating whether its Kenyan operation had "an endemic issue with sexual violence", the company added.

Unilever said it was "deeply shocked and saddened" by the allegations. The company sold its operation in Kenya while the BBC was secretly filming.

The new owner, Lipton Teas and Infusions, said it had suspended two managers, and had ordered a "full and independent investigation".

Watch the full BBC investigation, Sex for Work: The True Cost of Our Tea, external

Ameyu Etana
BBC Afaan Oromoo

Image source, Asefa Alemu

A Ethiopian civil engineering graduate, who wrote a widely shared social media post lamenting a lack of job opportunities in the country, has told the BBC his degree is "worthless".

Asefa Alemu has vowed to return his degree to Assosa University.

The 29-year-old currently works as a labourer in Debre Markos town, about 300km (186 miles) north of the capital Addis Ababa.

He earns enough to sustain himself but he is struggling to repay 40,000 Ethiopian birr ($730; £600) he owes in unpaid fees.

He blames corruption for his plight.

His Facebook post struck a chord with some graduates, who shared their frustrations.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

People living in areas prone to flooding in Mozambique's southern province of Gaza will be forcefully be removed amid heavy rains, the authorities there have said.

A planned release of water from the Massingir dam could also result in death, said provincial Secretary of State Lourenço Líndonde.

"There are times when our populations are resistant to government measures, but we, as a government, must work to prevent deaths. No government, no state can want its population to die," Mr Líndonde said.

Gaza is also likely to be affected by Cyclone Freddy, which has caused destruction in the island of Madagascar.

Image source, Getty Images

Kenyan comedian Eric Omondi has been freed following his arrest on Tuesday after leading a group of half-naked men in a protest outside parliament.

The group had carried banners while demonstrating against the high cost of living in the country. They demanded to meet the speaker to submit their grievances.

Police fired tear gas to disperse them and arrested 17 people.

On Wednesday they were charged with creating an unlawful assembly outside parliament but denied wrongdoing. They were each released on a cash bail of 10,000 shillings ($80; £65).

Their lawyers said the group had wanted to meet members of parliament to address the issue of poverty.

In February 2022, the comedian locked himself in a cube outside parliament to lobby MPs to increase the quota of locally produced music being played on radio and TV in the country.

Image source, Getty Images

Nomsa Maseko
BBC News, Johannesburg

The captain of the Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov, due to take part in military exercises in South Africa, has denied that a supersonic missile, described as "unstoppable" will be tested during the drills.

Media reports had suggested the warship had been equipped with Zircon cruise missiles for the exercise.

“There’s no hidden meaning in the exercises that will be performed," Capt Oleg Gladkiy said at a media briefing on Wednesday at Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal.

The Russian warship has the letters VZ painted on its side - a symbol of the country's invasion of Ukraine.

The war games will coincide with the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine this Friday, but South Africa has denied that this move was provocative, saying that the exercise was organised two years ago.

While the naval exercise is expected to focus on coast guard and anti-piracy drills, it is also an opportunity for Russia and China, which is also taking part, to expand their influence in Africa.

Media access to Richards Bay harbour, where the 10-day drill is taking place, has been restricted.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

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Guinea's transitional leader Col Mamady Doumbouya has urged the constitutional review committee to consider the "needs and realities" of the country and draft a robust new supreme law," the privately-owned Africaguinee website reported.

"Our country needs tranquillity, not just permanent transitional periods. So today we are talking about the constitution. We need to be able to think about putting in place a strong constitution adapted to our needs and realities," he said on Tuesday while launching the constitutional review symposium in the capital, Conakry.

He warned the committee against drafting a "copy and paste or tailor-made" constitution for the country.

The junta leader said that the National Transitional Committee is committed to drafting a new constitution for posterity and not one to suit the interim authorities.

Opposition groups and the civil society have called for protests to demand the resignation of the transitional government.

The junta has pledged to hand over power to civilian authorities at the end of the two-year transition period that started in January.

The 13th edition of the African Games, scheduled for August, will now be held some time next year because of a delay in completing the necessary facilities.

Image source, Getty Images

Tanzania banned The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books because some pages were "pushing agendas against our culture", the country's minister of information told the BBC Focus on Africa programme.

"The ministry was not comfortable with some of the content in some of these books. Sometimes it is not the whole book but maybe you can find two or three pages that are pushing agendas that are against our culture," Nape Moses Nnauye said.

He said the government had faced a dilemma about how to separate the pages they didn't approve of from the rest of the book.

“That’s why the government thought that we can have better content than what is there. I want to insist that not all versions of the Wimpy Kid, just some versions, were not as per our culture," he said, without going into details.

Mr Nnauye said that criticism about the banning of the books did not come from parents in Tanzania but from oustide the country.

"Parents in Tanzania were shocked because they didn’t know [about the issue with the book] and some of them took harsher action than banning the books, some of them destroyed the books," the minister said.

He said people should respect the views of Tanzanian parents.

Last week Education Minister Adolf Mkenda said the book series endangered the quality of education for children.

The authorities warned that schools using the books would face disciplinary and legal measures, including having their registration revoked.

The banned books in the series include:

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Gateway

BBC World Service

There's been heavy damage to buildings, along with power cuts and flooding in eastern Madagascar as Cyclone Freddy struck the region.

Four people are reported to have been killed.

Among the casualties was a 77-year-old man who drowned near the town of Mahanoro.

Roofs were torn off buildings there.

The weather system has rapidly weakened as it heads south-west across Madagascar.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News

Image source, AFP

At least 10 people have been confirmed to have died following an attack in Somali’s capital, Mogadishu.

The authorities say they have ended the siege at a building which was attacked by fighters from the al-Shabab Islamist group.

Heavily armed fighters from the group stormed a building occupied by pro-government militia on Tuesday night and killed several people.

It took hours for the authorities to end the siege in the AbdiAziz district. Heavy gunfire and explosions could be heard late into the night.

Security forces say they killed four members of al-Shabab, which had said it was behind the attack.

The group has lost a huge amount of territory in recent months following an offensive by Somalia’s military backed by African Union and US forces, and clan militia.

But attacks like this in the heart of the capital show they remain a deadly threat to the federal government.

President Chakwera says a Scottish fund for poor countries hit by climate change has helped Malawi.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

The US government issued a travel advisory on Tuesday warning its nationals of possible militant attacks and kidnappings in Togo.

Americans have been warned against travel to northern Togo and areas close to the Burkina Faso and Benin borders due to frequent militant attacks, according to the advisory published by the US State Department.

"Attacks may occur with little or no warning. The current travel policy for embassy personnel prohibits travel north of the town of Dapaong, along with the district of Kpendjal and Kpendjal-Ouest without special authorisation," the advisory said.

It also cautioned Americans against travelling to Sokode, Bafilo and Mango towns near the Benin border.

Northern Togo residents recently fled their homes after a militant attack on two villages bordering Benin killed 10 people.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

US First Lady Jill Biden is expected in Namibia on Wednesday as she begins a five-day visit, external to Africa that will also take her to Kenya.

The White House said the visit will boost US partnerships in Africa and further mutual priorities for the continent.

Jill Biden is the fifth high-profile US official to visit the continent since the US-Africa leaders in Washington last December.

US Trade Secretary Janet Yellen, Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee and US-Africa leaders' summit representative Johnnie Carson are the other senior officials who have visited the continent since the summit.

Analysts say the US’s renewed focus on Africa is an attempt to counter Chinese and Russian influence.

Aboubakar Famau
BBC News, Dodoma

Image source, BBC / Aboubakar Famau

When the war in Ukraine broke out, Tanzania's Zanzibar archipelago was host to hundreds of stranded Ukrainian tourists.

Some of them later sought refuge in countries around the world while a group chose to remain in Zanzibar.

Alona Rogova, a mother of one, says she opted to remain because the island is a good place to raise her child.

“We were here before the war... but this is a great place for our child -that is why we stay here because of him.”

But there is still anxiety and fear – not knowing what is happening to their loved ones back in Ukraine.

Anton Kiryshko said the fighting was just 30-40 metres from his mother-in-law's home and all her windows were destroyed.

"It`s winter, cold, you don`t know when you will die there, anywhere in Ukraine you are not safe, anywhere,” he said.

Image source, BBC / Aboubakar Famau

About 90% of Zanzibar`s economy depends on tourism. Traditionally, most visitors came from countries like Italy, the US, UK and France. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, new markets like Ukraine emerged.

The Zanzibar government says it has done all it could to make Ukrainians who stayed behind feel at home.

“The government has been supportive in helping and providing them with visa extension. You know after entering the country, you can only stay for three months, so after a while, they were given extensions because that is what the law requires,” said Simai Mohammed, Zanzibar's tourism minister.

The spice Island of Zanzibar has long been popular with tourists, who stay for a few weeks and then go home. But for the Ukrainian families who have stayed on, the hospitality and support of the locals has proved a lifeline.