Nkechi Ogbonna
West Africa business journalist, BBC News

Image source, AFP

Nigeria’s state oil company says it is increasing the price of petrol two days after President Bola Tinubu announced during his inaugural speech that a subsidy on petroleum products would be scrapped.

In a statement, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says the move is in line with market realities: "It is pertinent to note that prices will continue to fluctuate to reflect market dynamics."

The price for petrol is currently set at 185 naira ($0.40, £0.32) per litre.

The state regulator did not specify what the new price would be or when it would come in, but a leaked list, confirmed by the NNPC, said the new price range would be between 488 naira and 550 naira a litre.

BBC reporters have already seen prices of 537 naira per litre at government petrol stations in cities like Lagos and the capital, Abuja

In the last two days, there has been a scarcity of fuel, with winding petrol queues nationwide as people feared a price increase.

Nigeria’s newly sworn-in President Bola Tinubu announced during his inauguration on Monday that the country’s decades-long fuel subsidy would be removed. His office later clarified that this would not happen until the end of June - and urged people to stop panic-buying.

The prices of kerosene and diesel have remained unchanged - but the uncertainty over prices is likely to lead to further chaos as people stock up.

Read more:

• Nigeria fuel subsidy: Tinubu's plan to scrap measure sparks rush to stock up

Despite winning the first set, Mayar Sherif loses 3-6, 6-4 6-1 to Russia's Anastasia Potapova in the second round at Roland Garros.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

A court in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, has begun calling witnesses as it examines a petition against the victory of President Bola Tinubu in February's election.

The opposition Labour Party says it is presenting additional material to support its argument that the poll was rigged.

Opposition lawyers are also submitting documents which they say show that Mr Tinubu made a settlement with the United States authorities after he had been investigated for involvement in drug trafficking.

He was never personally charged and has denied any wrongdoing.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, AFP

Two Mozambican citizens were arrested in neighbouring Malawi after being caught in possession of a pangolin, a protected species.

The suspects, aged 40 and 46, were arrested by the Malawian police in the central Mchinji district, where they were allegedly looking for a potential buyer for the pangolin.

Mchinji police public relations officer said that on questioning, the suspects revealed the animal had been captured in Chifunde in Mozambique's western Tete province where they come from.

They are due to appear in court to face charges of trafficking a protected species.

Pangolins are the most-trafficked mammals in the world with high demand for their scales and claws used in traditional medicine - with fears they could become extinct.

Ama Ata Aidoo challenged Western perceptions of African women through her award-winning works.

A Ugandan lawyer has been shot dead in central Wakiso region, north-west of capital Kampala.

Police told local media that Ronald Mukisa, 45, was killed on Tuesday night as he was arriving home.

Kampala police deputy spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire said neighbours heard shots as Mr Muskia, who works in the capital city, was parking his car at around 23:00 local time.

An unidentified individual shot at him several times and then quickly fled the scene, escaping on a waiting motorcycle, he said.

Police have asked anyone with relevant information regarding this incident to assist officers in investigations.

It comes at a time the country is witnessing increased gun violence.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has set 23 August 2023 as the date for the country's general election - including presidential and parliamentary polls.

Tensions have been rising ahead of the vote, with the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) calling for an audit into the voters' roll citing missing names, including some of its officials and voters being moved several kilometres away from their wards of residence.

The electoral body has said the ongoing voters' roll inspection exercise will resolve some of these anomalies.

As we reported earlier, Zimbabwe's government summoned the acting US ambassador to the country over election-related social media posts, which it said amounted to activism and meddling in internal affairs.

The US, which stands by its remarks, had encouraged Zimbabweans to "make sure your voice is heard" in the vote.

Grant Ferrett
BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

A US judge has ruled that relatives of those who died when a Boeing 737 Max aircraft crashed in Ethiopia can seek compensation for the pain and suffering of the victims.

The judge Jorge Alonso in Illinois said a jury could reasonably conclude that the passengers were aware they were hurtling to their death.

Boeing had argued that those on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight had died instantly.

The plane crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa four years ago.

The latest ruling was issued ahead of possible trials in the US to establish how much the victims' families should receive.

Three years ago, Boeing admitted liability for the crash - and for another in Indonesia.

Image source, Ama Ata Aidoo

Tributes have started pouring in for renowned Ghanaian poet and author Ama Ata Aidoo, who died on Wednesday morning after a short illness.

A family statement confirmed her death and said funeral arrangements would be announced in due course.

The prolific writer has published award-winning novels, plays, short stories, children’s books and poetry - that influenced generations of African women writers.

She served as Ghana's minister of education in the early 1980s but resigned upon realising she couldn't achieve her aim of making education free.

She later moved to Zimbabwe to become a full-time writer and also lived and taught in the United States.

She has received international recognition as one of the most prominent African writers of the 20th and 21st centuries, including winning the 1992 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for her book Changes.

Her work including plays like Anowa have been read in schools across West Africa, along with works of other greats like Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe.

Those paying tributes online say her legacy will forever live on.

More on this:

• Ama Ata Aidoo: Ghana's famous author and feminist dies

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

The UN Security Council has renewed an arms embargo and sanctions imposed on South Sudan for an additional year, including asset freezes and travel bans on some individuals.

The council voted on Tuesday with 10 votes in favour and five members abstaining.

It directed all UN member states to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of arms to South Sudan.

The arms embargo was extended until May next year, with the council expressing concern over “the continued intensification of violence prolonging the political, security, economic, and humanitarian crisis in most parts of the country”.

The countries that abstained were China, Russia, Ghana, Gabon and Mozambique.

Ambassador Akuei Bona Malwal from South Sudan protested against the vote, saying “it was done in bad faith, and ill intention”.

Despite a peace accord signed in 2018, violence continues and as of April of this year 2.3 million people in South Sudan were classified as internally displaced.

Image source, AFP

The president the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, has said that his country will hold a constitutional referendum in July that would potentially allow him to seek re-election in 2025.

In an address to the nation on Tuesday, President Touadéra said he had consulted the Speaker of the national assembly and the president of the constitutional court before announcing the plan for a referendum.

Mr Touadéra said he had decided “to submit this project for a new constitution to a referendum".

The current constitution contained "provisions that could compromise [CAR’s] development", but he added that he was committed to allowing a political transition.

Plans to scrap term limits have been debated since last year, with opposition parties arguing it just a move to allow Mr Touadéra to run for a third term.

The 66-year-old was elected president in 2016 as the country was emerging from a civil war that followed the overthrow of former President Francois Bozizé in 2013.

He was re-elected in 2020, despite widespread accusations of electoral flaws.

Image source, AFP

Sudanese officials say the army has suspended ceasefire talks with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accusing the group of repeatedly violating previous truce agreements.

The army took the decision "because the rebels have never implemented a single one of the provisions of a short-term ceasefire which required their withdrawal from hospitals and residential buildings, and have repeatedly violated the truce", a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, has told the AFP news agency.

A Sudanese diplomatic source also informed the Reuters news agency about the army's withdrawal from the fragile ceasefire talks, which are aimed at enabling humanitarian access.

Both the army and the RSF have not publicly commented on the said withdrawal.

On Monday, mediators from the United States and Saudi Arabia said the army and the RSF had agreed to extend a humanitarian ceasefire by five days.

However, fighting continued in several parts of Sudan, including the capital, Khartoum, where the RSF said its positions had come under attack.

The army said it had repelled an RSF attack on the central city of El-Obeid.

Image source, Eusebius McKaiser/Instagram

South Africans have taken to social media platforms to pay tribute to renowned author and broadcaster Eusebius McKaiser who died on Tuesday.

His manager, Jackie Strydom, told Daily Maverick, external that McKaiser had suffered a suspected epileptic seizure.

His analytical articles and columns were widely published in many publications, including the New York Times, Mail & Guardian, Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, City Press, Newsweek International and Financial Mail.

McKaiser also hosted talk shows on Radio 702, the Talk at Nine Show, and he presented on Interface on SABC3.

He was outspoken about issues of racism and a strong advocate of the LGBT community.

South Africans reacted to his death with shock on social media.

President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said the broadcaster was "a brilliant mind".

Thirteen people have died in a span of three days and four others have been admitted to hospital in critical condition after eating suspected toxic food in Namibia.

Local media report that all are from a household of 22 people in Kayova village, in north-eastern Kavango region.

Most of those who died were children and are reported to have been in desperate need of food.

State broadcaster NBC quoted the health ministry as saying that the family had consumed porridge made with pearl millet flour and pounded fermented sediment from a homemade beverage.

The ministry has sent a team of workers to provide psycho-social support and counselling to the bereaved family.

Samples of the porridge have reportedly been sent to South Africa to test for food poisoning.

The Newsroom
BBC World Service

Reports from Burkina Faso say around 40 people were killed in two separate attacks by alleged jihadists at the weekend.

Around 20 army volunteers died near Bourasso close to the Malian border on Saturday.

A similar number of people died in another attack in the same area on Sunday.

Sources say that following Saturday's violence, tens of insurgents were "neutralised" in an airborne operation by government forces.

Burkina Faso's Prime Minister Apollinaire Kyélem de Tambèla told parliament that his government would never negotiate with the jihadists.

Image source, MFA Russia/ Twitter

On a trip to Burundi, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said preparation for an inter-governmental deal on nuclear energy is in its final stage.

Mr Lavrov made the remarks on Tuesday after holding talks with Burundi's Foreign Minister Albert Shingiro in Bujumbura, Russia's state news agency Tass reports.

The two countries signed a nuclear energy roadmap deal in November last year, in which Russia agreed to assist Burundi set up atomic plants.

"The roadmap on nuclear energy has already been signed between Rosatom [Russian state energy corporation] and its Burundian partners," Mr Lavrov said.

He said both parties were committed to co-operating in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Before his departure for Mozambique, Mr Lavrov met Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye for further bilateral talks.

The visit comes as part of Mr Lavrov’s tour of African nations, following his recent trip to Kenya and ahead of his arrival in South Africa.

Mr Shingiro reiterated that Burundi would not take sides in Russia's war against Ukraine.

A choir from South Africa raised £1,600 through a song and dance performance in Bath.

Shingai Nyoka
BBC News, Harare

Image source, US embassy in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwean government summoned the acting US ambassador to the country over election-related social media posts, which it said amounted to activism and meddling in internal affairs.

Last week, the US embassy encouraged Zimbabweans to register to vote "and make sure your voice is heard".

In a statement on Tuesday, Rofina Chikava, Zimbabwe's acting permanent secretary in the ministry of foreign affairs, confirmed the meeting.

She had told Elaine French, the US embassy's charge d'affaires, that the posts were unacceptable and deviated from diplomatic norms, Ms Chikava said.

A spokeswoman for the US embassy said there was no problem with the social media posts, while also confirming the meeting between the two.

"We stand by our recent social media posts calling for peace during the election season," Meg Riggs, the spokeswoman, is quoted as saying.

Tensions are rising ahead of the planned general elections.

The opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has called for an audit into the voters' roll citing missing names, including some of its officials and voters being moved several kilometres away from their wards of residence.

The electoral body has said the ongoing voters' roll inspection exercise will resolve some of these anomalies.

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Journalist Soraya Ali travels to Somalia to see if it really is how her mother remembers it.