Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Reports from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, suggest that looting has become such a severe problem that it's causing shortages of basic supplies.

A doctor has told the BBC that a criminal gang - armed with knives and guns - tried to break into his hospital overnight, as rival military factions continue to fight for control of the city.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been seen looting banks.

As well as the destruction caused by airstrikes and clashes between the rival forces, there are worrying signs of anarchy in Khartoum.

Both sides have been taking part in talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah to try to ensure civilians can get supplies and humanitarian aid can be given out.

But they have not committed to ending the war through dialogue.

Nduka Orjinmo
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Getty Images

A tribunal has begun hearing a petition by several opposition candidates in Nigeria to annul Bola Tinubu's victory in February's presidential election.

Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar are challenging Mr Tinubu's victory on several grounds - including the fact that the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) failed to upload the result on its website portal in real-time.

They allege that this was in breach of the Electoral Act, and Inec's promise to ensure transparency.

Inec is defending the case, saying the final result reflected the will of the electorate and delays in uploading the results were caused by technical glitches and a spike in traffic.

Mr Obi - who contested the presidency for the first time, and had been popular among young voters in the south - was in court for the start of the case.

At least three other opposition figures have thrown their weight behind the bid to overturn the result.

A verdict is not expected before Mr Tinubu's inauguration on 29 May.

He was officially declared the winner with 37% of the vote, with Mr Abubakar polling 29%, and Mr Obi 25%.

Mr Tinubu - a member of the ruling party - will succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, who is stepping down at the end of his two terms.

Zeinab Mohammed Salih
Journalist, Omdurman

Image source, Getty Images

Sudanese military fighter jets are continuing with air strikes in the capital Khartoum and the adjacent cities of Bahri and Omdurman, despite ceasefire talks taking place in Saudi Arabia.

Ground battles are also taking place between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in two areas in the centre of Bahri - Shambat and Halfiya.

The fighting in Shambat is near a huge base of the army, while the battle in Halfiya appears to be for control of a key bridge, which is currently in the hands of the RSF.

The fighting has left people terrified, forcing them to hide in their homes.

But many people are still hopeful that the talks in Saudi Arabia - the first between the warring sides - would lead to a ceasefire, even though an unnamed Saudi diplomat has told AFP news agency that "no major progress" has been made so far.

Meanwhile, the army has detained two pro-democracy activists in Bahri, accusing them of supporting the RSF.

Their colleagues have demanded their immediate release, saying the allegations against them are false.

Neighbourhood resistance committees - formed to campaign for democracy in Sudan - have played a vital role in providing humanitarian aid to residents since the war broke out on 15 April.

Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo had jointly staged a coup in 2021, but are now involved in a fight for power, dashing hopes of a transition to civilian rule.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

A day of national mourning is being held in the Democratic Republic of Congo where more than 400 bodies have been recovered following floods and landslides in the east of the country.

Many people are still missing and are feared to be under mud that covered two villages in Kalehe district.

Some bodies were found in nearby Lake Kivu.

A government delegation from the capital Kinshasa has been sent to the area - four days after the floods and landslides hit.

The Congolese doctor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege has criticised the fact that the victims were buried in mass graves. He has called for more dignified burials.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

The Ethiopian government has repatriated a journalist who was arrested in Djibouti in collaboration with Djiboutian authorities and Interpol, the state television (ETV) reported.

Gobeze Sisay, the owner and founder of an internet-based media, Amhara Voice, “was wanted for terrorist acts … to subvert the constitutional order in Amhara Region”.

Mr Gobeze was in a list of wanted people the federal government also accused of plotting to subvert the constitutional order in Amhara.

He was arrested and charged with multiple criminal charges last September before being released on bail in November.

Detention of journalists has been on the rise in Ethiopia in recent months.

Image source, Getty Images

Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko says he will no longer obey court summonses or co-operate with the justice authorities unless his security is guaranteed.

"It is no longer justice, it is judicial banditry, and that is why I made the decision, still within the framework of my civil disobedience campaign, to no longer collaborate with this justice to no longer appear before it,” he said.

Mr Sonko said he had been subject to five court summonses which he had obeyed except one on legal grounds - despite “propaganda” that was not respecting institutions.

He said he had been the “subject of so much fierceness, so much brutality and an attempt almost at physical liquidation” after being summoned by court.

He was appearing to refer to his March claim of an assassination attempt when police allegedly sprayed a toxic liquid on him during a forced transfer to Dakar court.

Mr Sonko is facing two court cases that may bar him from contesting the presidency in next year’s elections.

He is facing trial later this month for rape and death threats over a complaint filed by an employee of a beauty salon. He denies the charges saying they are politically driven.

He was in March found guilty of defaming the tourism minister but he appealed against the judgment. The hearing on that appeal was set for Monday.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

Autopsies on at least 112 bodies of cult victims exhumed from shallow graves in Kenya’s coastal Kilifi county have ruled out organ harvesting.

Government pathologists said some of the victims died of starvation, strangulation and suffocation.

Kenyan police are expected dig up more graves in search of victims of the cult whose leader, Pastor Paul Mackenzie, allegedly encouraged them to fast to death in order to go to heaven.

Mr Mackenzie is in police custody pending investigations.

The Kenyan Red Cross said that 360 people had been reported missing, while the authorities say at least 60 others have been rescued alive.

President William Ruto has formed a commission of inquiry to investigate the deaths of the followers of the Christian cult.

Grant Ferrett
BBC World Service

Saudi Arabia says it expects talks which began in Jeddah on Saturday between Sudan's warring military factions will reach an effective ceasefire.

In the first confirmation that the meetings had started, the Saudi foreign ministry said both sides recognised the need to ease the suffering of the Sudanese people.

It said, as well as stopping the fighting, the aim was to ensure the delivery of relief supplies and the restoration of essential services.

There's been no comment from the Sudanese army or its rivals from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on the talks.

The meetings in Jeddah are the first since the fighting broke out more than three weeks ago.

Image source, Getty Images

Uganda’s security forces say they have discovered explosives intended for use during planned anti-government protests in the capital Kampala.

An activist group, Uganda Freedom Activists, has called for nationwide protests on Monday against corruption and economic hardships in the country.

Defence spokesperson, Brig Felix Kulayigye, in a tweet, external said the explosives were found in Nabweru on the road to Kazo in central Wakiso district.

“These were to be used today in the city by those planning to paint it red,” Brig Kulayigye said.

Four people were arrested for alleged possession of improvised explosive devices, the army said.

Police warned the activists against organising the protests, terming them unlawful.

The activists have, however, vowed to go on with the protests, describing Brig Kulayigye as a "liar".

Image source, Getty Images

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday for talks aiming for a ceasefire between Sudan’s warring military factions, a spokesperson said.

Mr Griffiths is in Jeddah “to engage in humanitarian issues related to Sudan,” UN spokeswoman Eri Kaneko said.

Representatives from Sudan's warring armies are in Saudi Arabia for their first face-to-face negotiations.

The "pre-negotiation talks" between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) started on Saturday in Jeddah. They are sponsored by the US and Saudi Arabia.

Several ceasefires have broken down since the fighting began weeks ago.

Hundreds of people have been killed and nearly 450,000 civilians displaced since the fighting began.

The Newsroom
BBC World Service

A journalist has been shot dead in the troubled north-west of Cameroon.

It's the third killing of a journalist in the country this year.

Reports say Anye Nde Nsoh was in a bar in Bamenda when unidentified gunmen opened fire.

He worked for a weekly newspaper, the Advocate.

Bamenda is one of the areas worst-affected by several years of conflict involving English-speaking secessionists.

The other two Cameroonian journalists killed in recent months died in the capital, Yaoundé.

Image source, Government of Nigeria/Twitter

Multiple flights have been cancelled at Nigeria's Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in the capital Abuja after a plane crash-landed, disabling the runway.

The Max Air 737-400 flight experienced tyre bursts on Sunday as it landed in Abuja, from Yola, in north-eastern Adamawa state.

The management of Max Air said that all the 143 passengers, an infant and six crew members on board were safely evacuated with no casualties.

The incident has triggered many flight cancellations and delays across the country, according to local media.

The aircraft has since been moved and the authorities said they were clearing the runway for reopening.

Many passengers are reportedly still stranded at the airport.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Police in Nigeria say they have rescued 58 people who had been abducted and held hostage by criminal gangs in central Kogi state.

It was not clear how long they had been held.

A police spokeswoman said the rescue was a joint operation in Udulu Forest which was carried out with local volunteer defence groups.

She said the kidnapping gang escaped with injuries and one of the hostages died during the operation.

The incoming president Bola Tinubu - who is due to be sworn in later this month - faces several serious security challenges including kidnappings for ransom.

They became common across several states during Muhammadu Buhari's time in office.

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Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowned himself Emperor of the Central African Republic in a lavish ceremony on 4 December 1977.

He'd already been president for several years since taking power in a military coup - but he wanted more.

In 2018, Janet Ball spoke to his son Jean-Charles Bokassa.

(Photo: Jean-Bédel Bokassa at his coronation. Credit: Pierre Guillaud / AFP via Getty Images)

Joseph Mbilinyi pioneered Swahili rap and then turned to politics, but ended up in jail.

In the 1990s he'd become one of Tanzania's biggest stars under the stage name Sugu. He'd released albums, toured the country and abroad, and helped create a new genre called Bongo Flava. He's known for hard-hitting, often political, lyrics. In 2010 he took that message to parliament when he was elected as an opposition MP. But he ended up being jailed after speaking out against the president of the time.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Rob Wilson Editor: Munazza Khan

ANC spy Sue Dobson infiltrated the South African government. Then her cover was blown.

After training, Sue had got a job within the government's propaganda unit, and she was feeding back good intelligence to her ANC handlers. Then she got a phone call. The security services were after her, and she was a long way from safety.

Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Deiniol Buxton Sound design: Joel Cox

Sue Dobson was a white South African who risked her life as an ANC secret agent

Sue was a student when she was first recruited as a spy for the African National Congress liberation movement in the 1980s, and she knew that if she was caught she'd face prison, torture or death. Sue's mission would require her to infiltrate the pro-apartheid media establishment, but first she needed to learn spycraft and weapons handling. Her training would take place in Soviet Russia.

Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Deiniol Buxton Sound design: Joel Cox

After eight-year-old Juwon, who has the ability to sense danger, gets removed from Bible class by her Sunday school teacher, she follows an agama lizard into the bowels of the Heaven’s Gate mega church.

Her journey into the labyrinth exposes the inner financial workings and hidden activities behind the scenes, plunging her deeper and deeper - until she is confronted by a spellbinding sermon and a congregation worshipping in a hypnotised frenzy.