Image source, Embassy of France in Ghana/Twitter

French Minister for International Partnerships, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, has urged African countries to respect the rights of LGBTQ people.

Speaking on Monday at a press briefing in Ghana's capital, Accra, Ms Zacharopoulou said protecting LGBTQ rights was a core value and that she would continue to advocate for their rights wherever she goes in Africa.

"In my country and in the European Union, we promote human rights and of course in my ministry, we have an ambassador to promote LGBT rights; so what I can say is that this is our values and wherever I go in Africa, I will continue to say that we have to respect all of us, the LGBTQ community - this is a question of human rights and I always say that," she said.

Ms Zacharopoulou, who is on a three-day visit to Ghana, is the latest foreign leader to push for gay rights in Ghana.

Last week, US Vice-President Kamala Harris while in Ghana made similar comments about LGBTQ rights being human rights.

Ghanaian lawmakers are currently discussing the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Value Bill - which criminalises advocacy for gay rights and proposes jail terms for those who identify as LGBTQ.

President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo last Monday said the bill had been "modified" following his government’s intervention.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Image source, BBC/ Nichola Mandil

The government of South Sudan on Monday dispatched additional 300 soldiers to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) under the banner of a regional bloc.

They will be part of the East African regional force fighting the M23 rebel group.

It brings the total number of South Sudan troops in the country to over 1,000, according to Defence Minister General Chol Thon Balok.

The 300 soldiers will be deployed to Goma - the headquarters of the regional force. They will be replaced after a year.

“You are going in the name of South Sudan and under its flag, go and protect civilians in DR Congo, respect every man and woman of that country,” Gen Santino Deng Wol, the chief of defence forces, told the departing troops at Juba international airport.

South Sudan is the latest country to join the seven-nation regional force created in June last year to try to stabilise eastern DR Congo.

Image source, AFP

Kenya is preparing to launch its first-ever earth observation satellite in what is being described as a landmark achievement in the country’s space exploration efforts.

Nation-1 or Taifa-1 in Swahili, is scheduled to be launched next week aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The satellite is designed to provide earth observation data for use in agriculture, food security and environmental management, the defence ministry and Kenya Space Agency said in a joint statement.

It was "fully designed and developed" by Kenyan engineers in collaboration with a Bulgarian aerospace manufacturer, the statement added.

A delegation from Kenya is expected to travel to the US for the launch.

The mission is seen as a significant milestone for Kenyan scientific innovation. The country is suffering its worst drought in decades after five failed rain seasons.

In 2018, Kenya launched its first experimental nano-satellite from the International Space Station.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

The Democratic Republic of Congo has extended the current martial law for the 45th time in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri where a decades-long rebel insurgency rages on.

The 15-day extension took effect on Sunday, according to Mishapi Voice Radio.

“According to Minister of Justice Rose Mutombo, who presented the bill to the Senate on Saturday, the objective is to allow the DR Congo armed forces to have all the means necessary to continue military operations and definitively put an end to the ever-persisting insecurity in this part of eastern DR Congo,” the radio reported.

The state of siege, a special martial law regime, was decreed in the two provinces by President Félix Tshisekedi in May 2021.

The aim was to rein in the runaway rebel violence in the two provinces by putting in place military administrations and heightening security operations.

A renewed rebellion by the March 23 Movement (M23) in North Kivu has compounded matters further as resources are diverted to counter the incursion.

Image source, Getty Images

Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido has set a new record on Apple Music with his latest album Timeless.

It has had the most first-day streams ever for an African album, the music streaming service said in a tweet, external.

The 17-track album was released on 31 March and is the musician's fourth.

The album has already broken the record for the biggest debut week on Spotify Nigeria and the biggest first-day streams on Boomplay.

Image source, AFP

A Kenyan family on Sunday handed over a passport belonging to South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, which got lost in a 1993 plane crash.

The travel document had been kept by the family - along with those belonging to other passengers who were on board the plane that crashed in Kenya's north-western Baringo County.

The family in Sawmill village had also collected President Kiir's armlets from the scene of the accident.

South Sudan's Presidential Affairs Minister Barnaba Benjamin led a delegation that received Mr Kiir's travel documents and armlets at a ceremony attended by villagers on Sunday.

The event was largely symbolic - the family gave the passport to the South Sudanese embassy last year, but formally hand it over to the visiting delegation on Sunday.

At the time of the crash, Mr Kiir was the chief of general staff of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

Onboard the plane were five other people including the pilot, Mr Kiir's bodyguard, two Norwegian medics and a British national, who is said to have died on the spot.

Villagers rescued survivors who were trapped in the debris and organised for their transportation to the hospital.

As part of its appreciation, the South Sudan's government said it would build a modern hospital in the area, which will be named after President Kiir.

The crash site will also be transformed into a tourist attraction.

BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

The president of Tunisia, Kais Saied, has used his first public appearance in nearly two weeks to criticise opponents who were questioning the state of his health.

In a video posted online, the president described speculation that he was ill as "utterly crazy" and accused the opposition of trying to create a crisis.

Coughing occasionally during the address, he said that a power vacuum was not created if he caught a cold.

President Saied has ruled by decree since seizing power in 2021 and last year forced through a law giving his office unlimited powers.

More on this story:

• Tunisia's president - saviour or usurper of power?

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

Until then you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to our podcast Africa Today.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

And we leave you with this photo of members of of the Legio Maria Church, celebrating the Christian festival of Palm Sunday in Nairobi yesterday.

Image source, Getty Images

Media group Reporters without Borders has released a report which warns that the Sahel region is a dangerous place for journalists and that reporters there face a high risk of abduction.

"The deterioration of the state of the media in Chad, Burkina Faso and Mali has been exacerbated by military coups," the report adds, saying that this is creating an environment of "controlled media".

It also speaks of a "hostile environment" for journalists due to laws aimed at clamping down on press freedom.

It goes on to state that "threats, the risk of kidnapping, even assassination, have become part of the daily life of journalists in the region," and highlights the high incidence of extremist attacks.

Just last month, in a high-profile case, French journalist Olivier Dubois was released after being held captive in Mali for nearly two years by a group linked to al-Qaeda.

You can read the full report from Reporters without borders here., external

Zamalek fans could be banned after forming the shape of an "angry face" emoji inside their stadium.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Charges have been dropped against four Kenyan opposition MPs a day after the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, suspended protests and agreed to hold talks with President William Ruto.

The four were arrested a fortnight ago for unlawful assembly as thousands took to the streets.

Mr Odinga had called for protests twice a week after rejecting the outcome of last year's election and criticising the government's handling of the cost-of-living crisis.

There were several clashes between police and young demonstrators.

The rift between Kenya's rival politicians has threatened the stability of the country and the prospect of dialogue has been widely welcomed.

Rhoda Odhiambo
BBC Africa health reporter, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

Kenyan researchers have found two new strains from two common sexually transmitted diseases among a group of women in a town in western Kenya.

More than 400 women above the age of 15 were diagnosed with gonorrhoea and chlamydia with new mutations.

The researchers from the Kenya Medical Research Institute fear that the disease could spread to neighbouring Uganda as the town, Busia, is along the border where truck drivers stop.

This group of people are at an increased risk of getting HIV and sexually transmitted disease.

The researchers are planning to conduct more studies to establish how widespread the disease is and whether the new mutations can be treated by standard antibiotics.

They said the changes on the genetic makeup of the virus had not been seen before.

BBC World Service

UN human rights experts have accused senior government officials and military officers in South Sudan of committing serious abuses, including widespread attacks against civilians, killings and rape.

A new report, external says the state continues to fail in its duty to protect civilians and to ensure accountability for violations.

Amongst those recommended for prosecution are the governor of Unity State, Joseph Monytuil, and Lieutenant General Thoi Chany Reat of the South Sudanese military.

They are accused of state sanctioned extrajudicial killings carried out last August. They deny the allegations.

The UN report says sexual violence against women and girls remains systematic in South Sudan. (It says impunity for serious crimes is a central driver of the violence and misery that civilians face.)

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Police in north-west Nigeria have launched a search and rescue operation for two female students who've been abducted from a university hostel in Zamfara state.

They said an armed gang broke into the private hostel in Gusau and locked up two guards before kidnapping the students.

The incident has heightened fears of insecurity in Zamfara which has in the past seen numerous kidnappings for ransom.

In February last year gunmen abducted almost 300 female students from a boarding school in Zamfara.

They were released after several days in captivity. In August 15 students and four members of staff were seized from an agriculture college.

Image source, AFP

An Ivorian technology entrepreneur and smartphone designer has won the World Literacy Award 2023.

The award "recognizes individuals and organizations annually for their outstanding endeavours that promote literacy learning," according to the website for the prize. , external

Alain Capo invented a smartphone that lets people communicate in at least 16 of the languages spoken in Ivory Coast.

Last year, he told the Reuters news agency that he had made the phone so that people who cannot read and write were able to use smartphones.

Speaking at the ceremony at Oxford University in the UK, Mr Capo said he felt honoured: "It’s an amazing honour to receive this award and the global acknowledgment of the work in literacy as we increase access to education and literacy for all."

He also spoke about what drives him: "I’ve seen, first-hand, the inequalities of education worldwide, and it inspired me to step up and make a difference."

Coach Mario Marinica will not have his contract renewed after a disappointing Afcon qualifying campaign.

Image source, BBC Yoruba

Popular Nigerian musician Habeeb Okikiola, aka Portable, was on Monday arraigned in a court in south-western Ogun state on six counts of assault-related charges, which he denied.

After spending the weekend in police detention, the "Zazoo Zeh" singer has now been granted bail.

Reports say the rapper and singer resisted arrest and insulted officers who went to detain him last week.

He later handed himself over to police, in a scene which was captured in a viral video last week.

A police spokesperson told BBC Pidgin they had invited the musician to speak with them more than five times, none of which he complied with.

It is not entirely clear what police initially wanted to interview him about, however last week, police officer Prince Olumuyiwa Adejobi, external, tweeted that Portable faced a petition against him over the alleged assault of a man.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

East African bloc, Igad, has praised Kenyan President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga for agreeing to hold talks aimed at ending two weeks of protests about the cost of living and electoral reforms.

On Sunday, Odinga said that his Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition had called off its protests planned for Monday in response to what he called an olive branch from President Ruto.

In a Twitter post, external, Igad executive secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said the two leaders' move would help "resolve differences on national issues through peaceful means and preserve Kenya's unity and constitutional order".

The cancelled opposition demonstrations would have been the latest in a series of protests held on Mondays and Thursdays.

Image source, Twitter / Boni Khalwale

A school in western Kenya has been closed indefinitely after two students died of what is suspected to be a case of suspected food and water poisoning.

Public health officials on Monday shut down Mukumu Girls High School, in Kakamega county, after over 100 students were last week hospitalised with abdominal pains and diarrhoea.

Initial findings indicated the learners may have suffered food or water poisoning. Samples were collected and sent to the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) for analysis, local media reported.

Parents flocked to the school to collect their children after learning of the death of the two students.

Uganda's Anglican archbishop is stuck with prizes meant for women who wed when still virgins, state-owned New Vision website quotes him as saying.

Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu said the initiative focused on women as men's virginity was difficult to prove.

It includes a "big sum of money" which has never been won, the website reports, external.

A group of women, members of Mothers Union, was to verify eventual winners.

"This is the only project I have ever started with cash prizes, but failed to find one to take the cash," he is quoted as saying over the weekend.

He said the initiative was inspired by Mary the mother of Jesus who Christians believe was made pregnant miraculously by God while she was still a virgin.