Mike Thomson
BBC World Service News

Image source, Getty Images

Libyan security forces have arrested two American citizens for allegedly trying to convert Muslims there to Christianity.

Neither have been named by the authorities. Both are reported to have worked at the same private language school in the capital Tripoli.

One of the men is accused of working as a missionary for the Assemblies of God organisation - based in the US state of Arkansas.

Two Libyans were also arrested on similar charges. Islam is the state religion of Libya.

While Christians are free to worship there, attempting to convert Muslims to other faiths is banned.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Zimbabwe's main opposition party says it is expecting Nelson Chamisa to stand for a second time against Emmerson Mnangagwa in presidential elections.

The Citizens Coalition for Change said Mr Chamisa - who's a lawyer and a Christian minister - was the only nominee and would be vetted before being formally announced as a candidate.

The party has accused the governing Zanu-PF party of carrying out a crackdown on its political opponents ahead of the election which is due in August.

Some opposition campaign rallies have been banned by the police.

Last week Mr Chamisa accused the government of weaponising the law and unjustly incarcerating a CCC lawmaker, Job Sikhala, who has been in prison since June after being accused of publishing falsehoods.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo has ruled out political negotiations with the M23 rebel group.

As part of an internationally brokered peace deal the group has been withdrawing from areas it had captured.

President Félix Tshisekedi said according to the agreement the M23 rebels are to demobilise before returning to civilian life.

The group - which is widely reported to be backed by Rwanda - had previously said it was expecting negotiations with the Kinshasa government.

Correspondents say with the president ruling that out, the peace process could stumble.

Over the last 18 months around three quarters of a million people have been displaced by the fighting.

BBC World Service

Tunisian officials say 25 people are now known to have died after their boat was wrecked off the port city of Sfax on Wednesday.

Seventy-two of the 110 onboard were rescued. Several are missing.

All of them were from sub-Saharan Africa. Tunisia has taken over from Libya as the main departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East.

The Tunisian National Guard says 14,000 migrants have been rescued in the first three months of this year – five times more than in the same period last year.

Nigeria's Olakunle Olusegun says staying with Krasnodar despite the war in Ukraine has impacted his career.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

An activist who raised a rainbow flag on one of Kenya’s highest peaks, says she will climb up the mountain again to hoist it after it was taken down by traditional elders.

Juelz Nimo, was part of a team that climbed Mt Kenya in 2019 as part of a campaign to raise awareness on the safety of LGBTQ people and other human rights defenders.

But the flag was this week taken down and burnt by traditionalist elders, who claimed it desecrated the mountain which is considered a holy site by communities in central Kenya.

Nimo told the BBC that raising the flag again at the third highest peak of the mountain would be a sign of defiance in the face of growing hate against the gay community in Kenya.

On Wednesday, Kenyan MPs passed a motion to ban public debate and promotion of same sex relations in the country.

The vote was adopted by acclamation in the national assembly which had just slightly above the required quorum of 50 legislators.

But the resolution is largely symbolic and non-binding as it would require a bill to be drafted for it to become law.

The motion was tabled by Mohammed Ali, a former investigative journalist, who claimed that the LGBTQ community was growing in the country due to publication and broadcast of books and media promoting same sex relations.

During the motion’s debate MPs called for stiffer penalties against people in same sex relations.

Mayeni Jones
BBC News, Lagos

Image source, Lasema

Nigerian authorities say they’re investigating the cause of the collapse of a seven storey building under construction in an upscale neighbourhood of Lagos.

Seven people have been rescued from the rubble and taken to hospital with minor injuries. One is still missing. The victims are all construction workers. There are no fatalities so far.

It’s not clear what led to the collapse, but the head of the Lagos emergency management agency blamed a truck which had driven into the building.

Meanwhile authorities say that the construction didn’t have the right permits.

A social media video of the collapse has gone viral. In the dramatic footage, a small number of people are on the roof as it caves in.

The incident happened on Wednesday afternoon in Banana Island - one of Lagos’ most expensive and exclusive gated communities.

Although building collapses tend to be rarer in affluent neighbourhoods, they are common in Nigeria.

Regulation is poorly enforced and construction materials are often substandard.

In 2021 a luxury high rise under construction collapsed just a few miles down the road from Wednesday’s incident, killing dozens of people.

An inquest blamed negligence by the agencies responsible for the approval and supervision of the construction.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Getty Images

Police in Mozambique have seized 124kg (19.5 stone) of hard drugs hidden in a truck carrying bananas at the border with South Africa.

According to police, a drug that was presumed to be methamphetamine was found.

The truck was driven by a South African who managed to escape, however, the police are in possession of his documents and say they are on the hunt or the man.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Ethiopia’s state-linked rights watchdog has called for investigations into the killing of civilians and humanitarian workers during recent protests in Amhara region.

The killings were reportedly carried out by security forces and other unknown people

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said that worsening insecurity could lead to abuse of rights and urged security forces against using excessive forces.

Protests in Amhara began last week in opposition to moves by federal authorities to dissolve a regional paramilitary unit.

The government says the unit will be integrated with the army or police to create a unified force, but opponents argue its dissolution could leave the region vulnerable to attacks by neighbours.

Many of the major cities in the region appeared to have returned to normalcy on Wednesday afternoon after days of protests, with businesses and offices reopening.

A resident in the regional capital, Bahirdar, has told the BBC that the reduced protests could be linked to the upcoming Ethiopian Easter to be celebrated this Sunday.

Image source, Office of vice-president/Twitter

Tanzanian Vice-President Philip Mpango has ordered police to close roads for only a few minutes and not for hours when clearing VIPs to pass.

It came after police closed roads for four hours as Mr Mpango toured the northern Mwanza region on Wednesday.

He said this happened despite him warning the inspector general of police against long closure of roads.

"I don't want to hear this happening again. Let the public use the roads. Is 10 minutes not enough?" Mr Mpango wondered.

He apologised to Mwanza residents over the traffic congestion he had caused.

Patricia Oyella
BBC News, Kampala

Thirty-two Kenyan nationals have been sentenced to 10 years in jail by a military court sitting in Uganda’s north-eastern district of Moroto.

They were found guilty of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, as well as illegal possession of ammunition - offences triable in a military court in Uganda.

Uganda’s deputy army spokesperson, Col Deo Akiiki, has confirmed the sentences.

Each offence attracts a 10-year jail term and the court ruled that the convicts will serve the sentences concurrently.

The Kenyans are all residents of the bordering Lodwar district. They were convicted on their own plea of guilty and will serve their sentences at Moroto government prison.

Uganda's army said the arrests were part of a disarmament exercise in the region.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

Egypt’s deputy foreign minister on African affairs has accused Ethiopia of “buying time” through negotiations while continuing to fill its disputed Nile dam without an agreement.

In a statement, external on Wednesday, the minister condemned statements by Ethiopia that had accused Cairo of “politicising” the Nile dam dispute.

The fresh row received mixed reactions in Egyptian local media.

Prominent pro-state host Ahmed Moussa said, external Addis Ababa intentionally built the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam to “harm” Egypt and Sudan.

Opposition TV host Muhammad Nasser blamed the, external Egyptian government and media for not taking a stronger stance against the issue.

Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have been embroiled in a years-long dispute over the dam, which Sudan and Egypt fear would reduce their shares of water from the River Nile.

Read more on the trouble over a giant Nile dam

A prominent Ethiopian journalist has been arrested by people who are believed to be security officers, local media report.

Reports say Dawit Begashaw, a freelance journalist, was "abducted by security forces" on Wednesday evening.

Mereja website, external said the whereabouts of the journalist remains unknown.

According to Mereja, another journalist, Meskerem Abera, was arrested over the weekend.

"In recent months, non-state-affiliated media outlets are coming under relentless attacks as the Ethiopian government moves to stifle critical voices," the website added.

Media watchdogs accuse Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's administration of eroding press freedom gains in the country amid ethnic conflicts and a civil war in the north of the country.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

Nigerian Information Minister Lai Mohammed says president-elect Bola Tinubu will be sworn in on 29 May despite court cases challenging his victory.

Groups dissatisfied by the outcome of the 25 February presidential election are agitating for an interim government as outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari officially leaves office in May.

Mr Mohammed said there was "no basis" for the constitution of an interim government. He said the opposition political parties have the right to challenge the presidential election in court

Four presidential candidates filed legal challenges on 21 March against Mr Tinubu's victory, alleging widespread rigging and manipulation of tallies.

It takes about eight months for the judiciary to determine a presidential election petition. The petition must be heard within 180 days from the day it is filed. A petitioner can appeal the tribunal’s judgement at the Court of Appeal within 21 days from the decision date.

If petitioners are dissatisfied with the appellate court’s decision, which is delivered within 60 days, they have 21 days to appeal it at the Supreme Court, whose decision is final.

More on this topic:

• Can Nigeria's election result be overturned?

Tanzania deports the rapist and murderer who faked his death in jail, and was at large for a year.

Image source, AFP

Liberia's Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the opposition's request to halt the ongoing nationwide voter registration ahead of October's presidential and legislative elections.

The Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) claimed listing voters without first demarcating constituencies according to the recent national census was unconstitutional.

But in a unanimous verdict, the court said it saw no basis for "disturbing" the voters' registration exercise since the National Elections Commission's (NEC) was not in violation of the constitution as alleged.

According to the court, the case did not constitute an election matter.

The court ruling allows the electoral body to move ahead with phase two of the voter registration exercise, having already conducted phase one last month, which was overshadowed by a series of technical glitches.

Liberia’s population has grown by 50.4% to 5.2 million people, according to 2022 provisional results released in February.

Opposition fears the new numbers might be manipulated to favour President George Weah who is facing strong challenges in his re-election bid.

BBC World Service

Mali jihadists affiliated to the Islamic State group have taken over a village in Ménaka - a region that is now largely under militants control.

The Islamist militants seized another village - Tidermene - on Monday night following months of fighting.

A local official who fled to the regional capital Ménaka confirmed the capture and said the insurgents were moving around the village with weapons.

Since early last year, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara has launched a major offensive in the area as well as in Gao - another region of northern Mali.

There have been battles with the Al-Qaeda-linked fighters as well as Tuareg former rebels who signed a peace deal in 2015.

Image source, Reuters

Seventeen people, including three children, are missing after a boat they were using capsized in a river on Wednesday in central Malawi.

Police said the group of 22 people was crossing the Rusa River while heading to a funeral ceremony in Mchinji district.

Five people managed to swim ashore.

A local police commander, John Nkhoma, told Zodiak Online news website that the boat was small for that number of passengers.

More rescuers are on Thursday expected to start a search mission for the missing people.

Meanwhile, authorities in the district are advising community members to avoid sailing in flooded rivers.

Malawi is recovering from a devastating tropical storm last month that killed 511 people and left 533 others missing.

Image source, AFP

A South African rapist and murderer who escaped prison was returned to the country in the early hours of Thursday following his arrest last week in Tanzania.

Thabo Bester fled from jail last May by faking his own death in a fire and planting a corpse in his cell.

He was arrested with his girlfriend, celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana.

The pair arrived aboard a chartered plane at an airport on the outskirts of the commercial hub, Johannesburg.

They will be placed under heavy police guard, senior officials have told the BBC's Pumza Fihlani.

Arrangements are underway for Bester to return to a high security prison to serve a life sentence for murder, plus preparations for a court appearance on fresh charges with his girlfriend for his brazen prison break.

Bester is known as the "Facebook rapist" for using the social networking site to lure his victims.

He was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu. A year earlier, he was found guilty of raping and robbing two other women.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The Sudanese army has warned that the country's biggest paramilitary group is mobilising troops in cities across the country.

In a statement released in the early hours of Thursday, the military accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of clearly breaking the law.

There are growing fears of a confrontation between the two sides.

The RSF leader, Mohamed Hamdan "Hemeti" Dagolo, played a key role when the army seized power in Sudan in 2021.

This week leaders failed to meet a deadline to form a civilian-led government.

The breakdown of the talks has been blamed on differences between rival military factions.

Read more on this topic:

• Sudan crisis: The ruthless mercenaries who run the country for gold
• Top Sudan military figure says coup was a mistake