Is it the end of the relationship between France and its ex-African colonies?

BBC Monitoring
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Four Nigerian opposition parties on Tuesday filed legal challenges to President-elect Bola Tinubu's victory in the 25 February presidential election.

The People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, Action Alliance Solomon Okangbuan and Allied People’s Movement’s Chichi Ojei all filed petitions with the Presidential Election Tribunal hours before the lapse of a constitutional deadline to challenge the election results.

The two top opposition leaders, Mr Abubakar and Mr Obi, asked the tribunal to declare that Mr Tinubu was “was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election”, local media reported.

Mr Obi alleged rigging in 11 states including Rivers, Lagos, Taraba, Benue, Adamawa, Imo, Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna and Plateau.

Mr Abubakar and Mr Obi also want the Presidential Election Tribunal to withdraw Mr Tinubu’s election win certificate.

Image source, Getty Images

Zimbabwe has awarded civil servants a 100% salary increment as part of efforts to improve their welfare, the government-owned daily The Herald reports.

However, the increase just about keeps pace with Zimbabwe’s high inflation, which stands at 92.3% according to latest figures. This means the prices in shops are rising at almost the same rate as the salary hike.

The pay review includes an improved $250 Covid-19 allowance for all civil servants and a $80 monthly allowance for teachers, a statement from the finance ministry is quoted as saying.

The review takes effect from 1 March in the security sector and 1 April for the rest of the civil service, a finance ministry official is quoted as saying.

A representative of the teachers' union interviewed by the newspaper said the review was "exciting" but said the increment of Covid-19 allowance was still low.

A nurses association representative said more talks were scheduled on Wednesday over the allowance.

In 2020, the Zimbabwean government said it could not afford to increase salaries during a doctors' strike that lasted more than four months, paralysing the country's healthcare sector.

Image source, Idriss Deby Itno

A court in Chad on Tuesday handed life sentences to more than 400 rebels over the killing of former President Idriss Déby.

The former president died of his injuries in April 2021 following clashes with rebels in the north of the country. He was one of Africa's longest-serving leaders after spending more than three decades in power.

The mass trial of the 465 members of Front for Change and Concord in Chad (Fact) rebel group started in February in the capital, N'Djamena, behind closed doors.

They were found guilty of acts of terrorism, undermining national security and endangering the life of the head of state among other charges.

The group has described the trials as flawed and a "masquerade".

One defence lawyer suggested there would be an appeal.

Image source, Getty Images

At least 10 fishermen drowned on Tuesday when a Moroccan fishing trawler sank off the coast of the disputed Western Sahara.

Five sailors were rescued while two crew members were still missing, the authorities said, with a search under way.

The incident happened in the province of Aousserd, 220 km (136 miles) away from Dakhla city, the state-run Moroccan news agency, MAP, said.

It was not yet clear what caused the trawler to sink.

Western Sahara, which is disputed between Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario movement, has a long coastline and access to rich fishing waters.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Burkina Faso's army has killed "several militants" in the country's north, along the border with Niger and Mali, the state-owned news agency Agence d'Information du Burkina (AIB) has reported.

"Several terrorists were neutralised, and important logistics destroyed overnight, between Monday and Tuesday by the air force in on the three-border area [Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso]," the agency said, quoting security sources.

AIB added that an intelligence mission enabled the location of a "terrorist base" in the tri-border area, which led to the killing of "several terrorists and the destruction of important logistics".

Burkina Faso, which is currently under interim military rule, has made the crackdown on militants across the country a top priority.

Between 16 and 17 March, the army killed several militants and destroyed their bases in the north-eastern part of the country.

A court in Ghana's capital Accra on Tuesday sentenced five members of the banned separatist Western Togoland Restoration Front (WTRF) to five years imprisonment each, and hard labour.

They were arrested in 2020 for attacking a police station and freeing inmates, as well as blocking roads in an attempt to prevent people from other parts of Ghana from accessing the eastern Volta Region.

The court said the actions of the five were "premeditated, aggravated and an affront to the national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country".

They were also sentenced for belonging to WTRF, a prohibited group, agitating for the Volta and Oti Regions to secede from Ghana.

Freya, 11, is raising money to help support schools in rural Kenya where pupils walk much further.

A Kenyan governor has ordered newly appointed county executives to regularly give 10% of their income to the church, a local newspaper reports.

Nandi Governor Stephen Sang said the directive was needed because local churches require support from leaders and the county government.

“Chief officers serving in my final term must act differently and work smart by paying back to society,” he is quoted as saying by the Daily Nation website, external.

The governor made the remarks during the swearing-in of the officials in an event attended by church leaders.

It's unclear how the governor plans to enforce the order, but he said he will be making follow-ups with the clerics on the records and names of those who don't tithe.

The practice of giving part of your income to the church, known as tithing, is a longstanding part of Christianity but there are conflicting views on whether it should be obligatory.

Governors in Kenya and their executive staff wield enormous control on public funds meant for schools, roads and hospitals.

Image source, Twitter / Namibian presidency

Thousands of Namibians on Tuesday flocked to the VIP tent at the independence celebrations after President Hage Geingob ordered all invited guests to forgo their prepared lunch.

Local media reported chaos in Outapi, the capital of the northern region of Omusati, where the celebrations were held.

Some attendees reportedly stormed VIP tents when rumours about a shortage of food prepared for the day started spreading among the crowd.

Audrin Mathe, a senior official in the ministry of communication, said organisers of celebrations initially catered for 15,000 attendees but that number grew to more than 20,000 people.

"That is why President Geingob ordered from the podium that the VIPs attending give up their food [to the public]," Mr Mathe told Windhoek Observer.

During his speech, President Geingob said, “we live in an ever-changing world with numerous challenges as well as opportunities”.

The Namibian government last week shelved plans to serve extra dishes like Greek salad to VIPs during the independence day celebrations, following criticism on social media.

Watch below how attendees at the independence Day celebrations raided food at the VIP tent.

Image source, Reuters

Prosecutors in the US state of Virginia have released video footage which shows the final moments of a black patient who died in custody in a mental hospital.

Irvo Otieno, who was handcuffed and in leg irons, is seen being pinned down by a large group of police and medical staff.

Seven sheriff deputies and three medical staff are charged with second-degree murder in the black man's death.

A grand jury on Tuesday indicted the 10 people accused in the case.

The prosecutor released video of the incident to the public on Tuesday.

Mr Otieno, who emigrated to the US from Kenya when he was four, was initially arrested on 3 March as the suspect in a possible burglary, a police news release said.

He was placed under an emergency custody order, used when it is believed that a person could harm themselves or others as a result of mental illness.

Read the full story here.

David Bamford
BBC World Service News

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Tunisia has dismissed concerns expressed by the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, warning of a looming economic collapse in the country.

Mr Borrell said on Monday that a very dangerous situation was developing in which new flows of migrants would head from the North African country to southern Europe.

Tunisia's foreign ministry described the comments as "overblown".

Italy, which lies just north of Tunis, has expressed its fears of a Tunisian collapse.

On Tuesday, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said Rome was making every effort to ensure a proposed $2bn (£1.6bn) IMF loan for Tunisia goes ahead.

The Newsroom
BBC World Service

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The Tanzanian health ministry says a mysterious disease that killed five people has been identified as Marburg haemorrhagic fever.

The virus causes high fever, often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure.

It is part of a group of viruses that includes Ebola.

Tanzania's health minister, Ummy Mwalimu urged citizens to stay calm, saying the government had managed to control the spread of the disease.

She said three patients were receiving hospital treatment and 161 contacts were being traced by the authorities.

Last week a rapid response team was sent to the north-western region of Kagera, which borders Uganda, to investigate the outbreak.

The World Health Organization has applauded Tanzania's rapid reaction, adding that it stood ready to ensure "there were no gaps in response".

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Small-scale growers are empty handed after forking out large sums for equipment and training.

The failures in post-war Iraq would have wider consequences for the Western desire to intervene in crises. As first Libya and then Syria slip into violence, how far did Iraq lead to a retreat and were the right lessons learned?

Presenter: Gordon Corera Series Producer: John Murphy Producers: Ellie House, Claire Bowes Sound Designer: Eloise Whitmore, Naked Productions Production coordinators: Janet Staples, Brenda Brown Series Editor: Penny Murphy

Uganda's parliament drafts new law that criminalises identifying as LGBT in the country.

Can Morocco become just the second African nation to host a World Cup after announcing a joint bid with Spain and Portugal?

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

There will be an automated news feed here until then. You can also get the latest on the BBC News website and listen to the Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of Tuesday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of the journalist Olivier Dubois who's been reunited with his family after almost two years being held captive by militants in Mali:

Image source, AFP

Image source, Amensisa Ifa/BBC

On a recent deployment to northern Ethiopia, BBC cameraman Amensisa Ifa captured a number of striking images in the Simien mountains and near the storied city of Gondar.

Among his favourites is this historic crown for priests in Deresege's St Mary Church, shown above.

He also spotted several Walia Ibex - "there are only a few hundred left of this endangered species who've suffered the effects of poaching and habitat depletion", he explains.

Image source, Amensisa Ifa/BBC

Amensisa also met and photographed 75-year-old Mechene Tigabu in Deresege. Here he is in front of the local church.

Image source, Amensisa Ifa/BBC

Meanwhile this Unesco-protected 17th Century fortress in Gondar, known as the Fasil Ghebbi, gets its name from King Fasiledes who once called it home:

Image source, Amensisa Ifa/BBC