Simon Ponsford
BBC World Service newsroom

At least one UN peacekeeper has been killed in an attack in northern Mali. Four others were seriously injured.

The UN says their patrol was hit by an explosion, followed by direct fire.

The assault was in the town of Ber, in the Tombouctou region that has seen jihadist violence for more than a decade, and thousands of deaths.

The UN has deployed about 12,00 peacekeepers in northern Mali, to tackle the insurgency - about 300 have been killed.

Some six million people have been displaced by the unrest.

Image source, Sony Pictures

A 14-year-old boy has contributed a scene to the latest film in the blockbuster Spider-Man franchise after executives spotted his talent on social media.

Preston Mutanga, who lives in Canada, had recreated the trailer for Across the Spider-Verse shot-for-shot in the style of LEGO blocks and posted it online.

Christopher Miller, a writer and producer on the film, told Rotten Tomatoes, external that a colleague first brought Mutanga's talents to his attention - saying "look at this, we should get this kid to do this animation".

"So we contacted him and his family and offered him a contract to do it. And he made those shots that are in the film," Miller adds.

"He did it in spring break [from school] and said 'any revisions I can do after my homework' - and it was a delight."

Mutanga himself says:

The 14-year-old plans to become an animator full-time, according to the New York Times., external

Lion Tsigab
BBC Tigrinya

Image source, LEUL KINFU/UNICEF

In the month since the US and the UN suspended food aid to Ethiopia's war-ravaged Tigray region, doctors at the biggest hospital there say seven malnourished children have died.

That marked increase in May makes up more than half of the 13 total deaths since the start of year, staff at the Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekelle told the BBC.

What's more, medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says nearly 70% of health facilities in Tigray have been deliberately vandalised and had equipment looted to make them "non-functional".

At present, 32 children are in very critical condition and receiving treatment in an intensive care unit at the Ayder Referral Hospital.

"Children in the ward are most vulnerable and couldn’t recover with food assistance outside of the hospital,” medic Simret Nigusse told the BBC's Tigrinya service, adding that international humanitarian agencies were wrong to halt operations in Tigray.

USAid and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) froze aid to Tigray after discovering that food shipments were being diverted and sold at local markets.

This week both went a step further, announcing they would be suspending food to the whole of Ethiopia, with some exceptions for only the most vulnerable.

Tigray suffered from dire shortages of food, fuel, cash and medicines during a brutal two-year conflict between forces loyal to Ethiopia's government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

The conflict came to an end last November when the two sides signed a peace deal in South Africa. Aid then began trickling in, though some areas still remain inaccessible.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

The government of Burkina Faso has offered a bounty of up to $293,000 (£233,700) for 20 "wanted terrorists".

The security ministry published on its Facebook page on Thursday the list of the 20 individuals "actively wanted for their involvement or complicity in planning or carrying out terrorist acts" in the Sahel country.

According to French public broadcaster RFI, several people on the list were already included in a previous notice published a year ago by the army.

An eight-year Islamist insurgency has killed more than 14,000 people and displaced over two million in Burkina Faso.

This announcement came days after gunmen killed more than 20 people in attacks, most of them security forces.

The insurgency has been described as the world’s most neglected displacement crisis by the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Grant Ferrett
BBC World Service newsroom

Image source, AFP

Saudi Arabia has announced another attempted ceasefire between the warring military factions in Sudan.

The Saudi foreign ministry said the Sudanese army and its paramilitary rivals had agreed a 24-hour truce.

It is due to begin on Saturday at 05:00 GMT.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have made repeated mediation efforts since the fighting erupted in April.

The foreign ministry in Riyadh warned that if the ceasefire failed, it would consider suspending peace efforts.

Previous truces have been largely ignored.

The UN estimates that nearly 1.5 million people have been forced from their homes since the fighting began, many of them crossing to neighbouring countries.

You may be interested in:

• Sudan conflict: Children rescued from orphanage in Khartoum
• Sudan crisis: Mediators over a barrel in mission to end fighting

Chelsea target Andre Onana says Inter Milan have 'nothing to lose' as they prepare face Manchester City in the Champions League final.

Simon Ponsford
BBC World Service newsroom

Image source, AFP

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) says it is suspending some food aid to Ethiopia while it addresses worries that donations are being diverted from those in need.

It will continue to help the most vulnerable, such as children and new mothers, and welcomed what it called the Ethiopian government's commitment to investigate.

The United States - the biggest donor to Ethiopia - also suspended aid a day ago, saying it had uncovered a campaign to divert assistance.

It did not say who was behind it.

Donors have heard allegations that Ethiopian government entities were the orchestrators, and military units the beneficiaries.

More than 20 million people in Ethiopia need food aid because of drought and the recent war in the Tigray region.

The world's largest ruby, described as a "once-in-a-lifetime" jewel, fetches $34.8m at auction.

Jonathan Shapiro - the cartoonist known as Zapiro - talks to HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur about some of his most controversial work.

Farah Yussuf
BBC Monitoring

Image source, Getty Images

The authorities in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, have banned protests planned for Friday by supporters of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.

On 1 June, a court in Dakar acquitted Sonko on charges of rape and issuing death threats but sentenced himto two years in prison for "corrupting" a young woman in 2021.

Under Senegal’s penal code, "corrupting" is described as "anyone who offends against morality by inciting, promoting or facilitating the debauchery or corruption of young people of either sex under the age of 21".

Violence sparked by the two-year jail term claimed the lives of at least 16 people and injured hundreds last week.

Sonko, a former tax inspector, is the mayor of Ziguinchor city and chairman of the Patriots for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (Pastef) party.

He came third in the 2019 presidential election with 15.7% of the vote.

Sonko's supporters consider his sentencing politically motivated and part of a government plot to stop him standing in a presidential election scheduled for February 2024.

Friday's protests were also about fears President Macky Sall may attempt run for an unconstitutional third term in office.

The opposition has vowed to hold the banned demonstrations on Saturday.

Image source, Getty Images

A Russian citizen has been killed by a shark off the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

A tiger shark attacked the man as he was swimming off the city’s Dream Beach on Thursday afternoon, Egyptian and Russian officials say.

An eyewitness caught the moment of attack on camera and shared the video with Reuters. It shows the man, in his early 20s, thrashing about in the sea before being dragged under water.

According to Reuters, a diver described how a lifeguard at a nearby hotel had raised the alarm and people had rushed to help, but were unable to get to the man in time.

Swimming, snorkelling and other water sports in the area have been banned for two days, starting from Friday, Egypt's environment ministry said.

The shark had been captured by a specialist team and was being examined to determine the cause of the attack, it added.

Russian Consul-General Viktor Voropayev named the man as V Yu Popov, saying he had been living in Egypt for a while and was not a tourist, the Tass news agency reports.

The consulate passed on its condolences to his family and friends, and urged Russians be vigilant when in the water and abide by swimming and diving bans imposed by the Egyptian authorities, Tass said.

Image source, AFP

Wazir Khamsin
BBC World Service News

Image source, Getty Images

The spiritual head of the Anglican Church has urged the clergy in Uganda to reject a new anti-gay law just approved by President Yoweri Museveni.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said there was no justification for Anglicans to support legislation that went against Christian teaching.

The leader of the worldwide Anglican communion said he had written to Stephen Kaziimba, the head of the church in Uganda, to express his "grief and dismay" that the church has supported the law.

Gay sex is now punishable by life in prison, while what the law calls "aggravated homosexuality", including transmitting HIV, attracts the death penalty.

Image source, Reuters

Angolan President João Lourenço has sacked the minister responsible for economic and social development following protests triggered by the government’s decision to end fuel subsidies

He replaced Manuel Nunes Júnior, a seasoned minister and economics professor, with the central bank governor, José de Lima Massano, a statement said.

The withdrawal of the subsidies - which Mr Nunes Júnior said was aimed at cutting government spending - came into effect on 1 June, leading into a steep rise in fuel prices.

The oil-rich nation has since experienced a wave of protests, with more expected over the weekend.

On Monday, five people died and eight were injured after police opened fire on a group of protesters the city of Huambo.

Angola is one of the largest oil exporters in sub-Saharan Africa.

Image source, AFP

Rights group Amnesty International has called on Senegalese authorities to carry out independent investigations into the deadly violence during protests last week, saying at least 23 people died.

The death toll by Amnesty is higher than the official number of 16 announced by the government.

The rights group says three children were among 23 killed. It said the deaths "including some by gunfire" were recorded in the capital Dakar and the southern town of Ziguinchor during the violent protests on 1 and 2 June.

"We call on the authorities to carry out a credible, independent and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these deaths and to ensure that those responsible for unlawful killings are prosecuted according to fair trial standards," it said.

Senegal's government had earlier said it had launched an inquiry into the protest deaths. It has not responded to Amnesty's statement.

There has been a wave of recent protests in Senegal relating to the trial of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.

Last week deadly protests erupted after Mr Sonko was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail for immoral behaviour, but cleared of rape charges.

His supporters say his charges are politically motivated.

The Newsroom
BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

The Sudanese government has declared the UN envoy to the country, Volker Perthes, to be "persona non grata", meaning it no longer recognises his position in Sudan.

"The Government of the Republic of Sudan has notified the Secretary General of the United Nations that it has declared Mr Volker Perthes... persona non grata as of today," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Perthes was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Thursday for a series of diplomatic talks, according to the UN mission's Twitter feed.

The head of the Sudanese armed forces - and Sudan's de facto leader - General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, recently accused Mr Perthes of stoking the country's conflict.

He demanded he be replaced.

Before the start in April of the conflict between the army and its paramilitary rival, the Rapid Support Forces, the UN mission in Sudan had been targeted by protests denouncing alleged foreign interference.

Image source, Tunisia Presidency/Twitter

Four Tunisian soldiers on military duty have died after their helicopter crashed into the sea in the country’s north-west.

President Kais Saied on Thursday offered condolences to the bereaved families, saying the "accident cost the lives of four army men".

He said there was a need to "renew military equipment" as he met the country's defence minister following the incident.

President Saied also said such incidents could occur in any country – while admitting that the deterioration of some equipment in Tunisia "had led and continues to lead to such tragedies".

In 2021, three soldiers were killed in an army helicopter crash in the southern Gabes province – the findings of the investigations into that incident have not been released.

The Newsroom
BBC World Service

Image source, Sotheby's

The biggest ruby ever to come to auction has been sold in New York for a record sum of just under $35m (£28m).

The stone, a whopping 55.22 carats, was discovered last year in a mine in Mozambique.

Uncut it was 101 carats. It has been called the "Estrela de Fura” meaning “Star of Fura” in Portuguese. The name refers to the company that mined the stone.

Polished rubies of more than five carats are extremely rare.

Sotheby's, who auctioned the gem, described it as a "once-in-a-lifetime" jewel.

The same auction also saw a record sum achieved for a pink diamond.

The 10.5 carat gem from Botswana - described as a fancy purplish-pink stone - sold for just under $35m.

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