Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

The assault on a radio presenter during a live broadcast has been greeted by outrage in Ghana.

Abubakari Sadiq Gariba, a broadcaster at Dagbon FM in the northern city of Tamale, was live on air on Wednesday when two men stormed into the studio and seized him by the neck.

They threatened to slap him if he made any comment. The presenter then walked out of the studio with the two attackers.

Gariba has told the BBC he is fine but a heated argument continued outside the studio.

He said one of the men was a regular panellist on his show.

The man, a local politician, was upset about Gariba's perceived criticism of his view on a chieftaincy dispute in the area, according to the presenter.

The two attackers involved have not commented.

Video of the incident, external has been circulating on social media, raising questions about Ghana's recent record on press freedom.

Former President John Mahama has urged the government to create a more favourable environment for journalists.

Over a year ago, Radio Ada in southern Ghana was attacked by a dozen men, who destroyed equipment and assaulted journalists. The police failed to prosecute perpetrators.

There is also the unresolved murder of investigative journalist Ahmed Hussein Suale, who was shot dead in the capital, Accra, in 2019.

Families evacuated from Sudan say they were left with nowhere to go when they arrived in England.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service newsroom

Image source, AFP

One of Kenya's most famous televangelists has been released on bail, after appearing in court in connection with the deaths of more than 100 people - thought to have been members of a doomsday cult.

Ezekiel Odero, a wealthy pastor with a large following, is being investigated over allegations of murder, aiding suicide, abduction and money laundering.

Magistrate Joe Omido overseeing Pastor Odero's case said there was not "adequate information on the status of the investigation" against the church leader to justify continuing to detain him, according to the AFP news agency.

Prosecutors accuse him of having business links to the cult leader, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who is in custody facing terrorism charges over the killings.

Most of the dead, who were found in the Shakahola forest near the town of Malindi, were children.

In a court filing earlier this week, Pastor Odero said he strongly disassociated himself from Mr Mackenzie.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, AFP

Another ceasefire in Sudan has failed to hold, with heavy fighting continuing in the capital Khartoum.

Witnesses reported loud explosions and gunfire on the city's streets, while heavy bombardments also rang out in the adjoining cities of Omdurman and Bahri.

The armed forces have been posting images of military vehicles and weapons, which they say were captured from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The United Nations refugee agency said it was planning for an exodus of more than 800,000 people from Sudan. It said nearly $450m (£357m) would be needed to support them over the next five months.

Hanna Temuari
BBC News, Addis Ababa

A stay-at-home call is being observed in Gondar in Ethiopia to express anger over the government’s campaign to dissolve a paramilitary group and crackdown on recent violence in the area.

Businesses have been closed and roads blocked in the historic city in the Amhara region.

It comes as Ethiopia’s state-appointed rights watchdog called for more dialogue to ease tensions between the province and central government.

The country’s regional states have had their own special forces to protect their borders, and to fight rebels - but the government has moved to bring them under the military and police.

Huge anti-government protests broke out last month in Amhara over the issue and tensions have intensified after a senior figure within the ruling party was gunned down in the region last week.

The government blamed “extremist forces” for the killing and plotting to overthrow the regional government.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said in a statement that some of the clashes had involved heavy weaponry and the main road leading from the capital Addis Ababa to Dessie, a major city in Amhara, had frequently been closed.

Image source, AFP

A video of nightclub revellers being flogged in Somalia's capital sparks debate over a drug crackdown.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) "predominantly has only been targeting African leaders", a senior member of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) has told the BBC’s Africa Daily podcast.

There is an "inconsistency" in how the law is meted out that is unequal, Mmapaseka Letsike said.

Her comments come after South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, said the ANC, which he leads, had taken the decision to pull out of the ICC. His office later retracted his comments, saying South Africa remains a member of the ICC and the ANC had in fact rescinded a decision to withdraw from it at a party conference in December.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin is due to attend a Brics summit in the South African city of Durban in August. However the ICC has issued a warrant for his arrest, accusing him of war crimes.

As a signatory, South Africa is expected to hand him over to the ICC if he steps foot on its soil.

Ms Letsike - who is a member of the ANC's top leadership body, the national executive committee - said the party is reflecting on the "potential shortfalls" of South Africa remaining in the ICC.

You can listen to the full Africa Daily podcast here.

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, Getty Images

Pope Francis has sacked a Rwandan-born man, who has been serving as a clergyman in northern France for almost three decades, from priesthood.

A communiqué circulating online signed by the bishop of Évreux says that Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, 64, “automatically loses clerical rights” and “is excluded” from serving “anywhere else” as a priest.

The Office of the Diocese of Évreux has confirmed to the BBC the authenticity of the communiqué, which says it is based on a papal decree dated in March.

Mr Munyeshyaka, who fled to France after the Rwandan genocide in 1994, hasn’t commented on the decision.

He was suspended by his diocese in December 2021 after it emerged that he has legally acknowledged being a father of a 10-year-old boy.

Mr Munyeshyaka was ordained a priest in Rwanda in 1992, where he is accused of playing a role in the killing of hundreds of Tutsis who had fled to his church in the capital, Kigali, during the genocide.

Courts in France have cleared him of the genocide charges.

Image source, AFP

Image source, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

A driver trapped in the cabin of an oil truck that was surrounded by raging flood waters was dramatically rescued in coastal Kenya on Wednesday.

The man had been driving across the Galana-Kulalu causeway when the Galana river suddenly flooded and engulfed the vehicle.

The water had pushed the tanker on its side, smashing the windscreen and engulfing the cabin.

The man, who has not been identified, clung to the top of the cabin as onlookers watched from the shore, unable to help.

He was only saved hours later by a helicopter belonging to Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation organisation.

Sheldrick Trust said the man had been trapped for hours when their operations manager in the area raised the alarm.

He was saved minutes later, it said.

Dramatic footage shared by the organisation showed the helicopter hovering just above the vehicle that was submerged in the water.

A rescuer who was strapped to a harness, grabbed the driver’s hand and helped him onboard the helicopter.

“It was only a matter of time before the river engulfed the entire vehicle. Onlookers watched helplessly from the shore, horrified but unable to intervene, as the current made any sort of crossing impossible,” the trust said.

It said that flooding was a constant threat during the rainy season.

Much of the country is currently experiencing rains that have caused flooding in some areas.

Asia Abdelmajid, famous for her stage performances, is buried in the grounds of a kindergarten.

Rita El-Gazali, from Bournemouth, was stuck in Sudan after visiting her sick father in Khartoum.

The UN's top aid official tells the BBC he has asked the warring sides to allow humanitarian aid.

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa’s police service (Saps) has publicly apologised for revealing personal information of eight women who were raped last year at an abandoned mine.

The women were raped last July while they were shooting a music video at an abandoned mine in Krugersdorp, a mining town west of Johannesburg.

They were attacked by a gang of armed men.

National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola said that as police investigated the matter, names, age and physical addresses of the victims were “released inappropriately but no ill-intent was uncovered”.

The information was shared on police WhatsApp groups and ended up on public social media, according to police.

“The Saps regrets the disclosure of such personal information and apologises to the victims of the dreadful crimes for the information breach and the hardship caused as a result,” it said in a statement.

The information regulator ordered Saps to apologise for violating several provisions of the law on protection of personal information.

It noted that the police failed to take appropriate, reasonable, technical measures to prevent the unlawful accessing of the information.

A total 14 people were arrested in connection with the rape incident but charges were later dropped for lack of evidence.

Mohammed Bardo has been reunited with his wife and daughter after their escape from Sudan.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service Newsroom

Gunfire and explosions have echoed across the Sudanese capital Khartoum for the 20th straight day.

Witnesses reported loud blasts and exchanges of fire on the streets.

Heavy bombardments also rang out in the adjoining cities of Omdurman and Bahri.

The army said it was ready to abide by a new seven-day ceasefire, but there's been no word from the rival paramilitary, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The military said it killed RSF fighters and destroyed a number of vehicles "belonging to the rebels", after clashing with the group in the Bahri military region.

It is reportedly trying to push the RSF back from the area around the presidential palace and the army headquarters.

The United Nations aid chief, Martin Griffiths, said the determination of the warring parties to keep fighting risked turning the conflict into a global tragedy.

Image source, Getty Images

The Nigeria senate has passed a bill recommending life imprisonment, without the option of fine, for manufacturers of unlawful explosives in the country.

The passing of the bill on on Wednesday followed the consideration and adoption of a report by a senate committee on solid minerals, mines, steel development and metallurgy, local media reported.

The lawmakers said criminals were getting more innovative in the use of explosives to perpetrate crimes.

They said suicide bombers had killed dozens of Nigerians using explosives.

The bill will be debated by the House of Representatives before being forwarded for presidential assent.

Most of the explosives used by insurgents are reportedly made from ammonium nitrate and carbamide, which are locally available.

Image source, Getty Images

Morocco’s King Mohamed IV has approved the Amazigh new year as an official paid national holiday.

It follows a long-running campaign by activists for the recognition of the calendar recognised by the Berber people, or Amazigh as they prefer to be called.

The Amazigh, who constitute around 40% of the country's population of more than 34 million, celebrate the new year, also known as Yennayer.

The first day of the year is based on seasons and agriculture - and counting is said to have started when an Amazigh king defeated an Egyptian pharaoh 2972 years ago.

The current year is 2973.

The day is also celebrated by Arabic-speaking Moroccans who call it the beginning of the agricultural year corresponding to 13 January.

The royal palace said on Wednesday that the approval of the holiday showed the “king’s commitment to the Berber language, a fundamental part of Morocco's authentic identity and a shared asset for all Moroccans”.

Image source, Getty Images

The first group of 376 Nigerians fleeing the crisis in Sudan arrived in Abuja on Wednesday, after being stranded for days at the Egyptian border following visa issues.

The evacuees were airlifted in two planes - the Nigerian commercial carrier Air Peace and a military aircraft - from Aswan in neighbouring Egypt.

The visibly happy returnees were received by the foreign ministry and emergency services.

Sadiya Farouk, the minister of humanitarian affairs and disaster management, said each returnee would be given $200 (£196) to enable them to settle back down at home.

Nigeria had deployed 40 luxury buses to take the evacuees to Egypt for airlifting to the West African country.

Some 20 buses prepared to evacuate hundreds more Nigerians are reportedly blocked in Sudan. More than 5,000 Nigerians are believed to reside in Sudan, many of them students.

The fighting in Sudan has killed at least 550 people, displaced tens of thousands and triggered an exodus of foreigners and international staff.

Journalist Elizabeth Ohene covered King Charles's first trip to Ghana in 1977. She reflects on the changing attitudes in the country to the UK monarchy.

Image source, Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone/Twitter

The Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) has cleared presidential opposition candidate Samura Kamara to run in the June vote.

Mr Kamara, who was defeated by Julius Maada Bio in the 2018 ballot, has been on trial since February for alleged corruption.

He was charged in December 2021 for allegedly misappropriating more than $2.5m (£1.9m) in public funds, while he was serving as foreign affairs minister.

The electoral agency cleared him after his case was adjourned until July.

Mr Kamara, under his All People's Congress (APC), is seen as the main rival to President Bio.

The incumbent's candidacy has also been approved as he seeks a second term. Mr Bio will be running after a first term marred by economic hardship and rampant inflation.

Frustration over financial distress stoked protests last August in which six police officers and 27 civilians were killed.

Voters in June will also elect members of parliament, mayors and local councillors.