President Ruto was elected vowing to help poor Kenyans but since coming to power, life has got worse.

Favour Nunoo
BBC News, Accra

Ghana has launched an HIV Self-Testing programme as part of efforts to curb the spread of the virus in the country.

The kit will make it possible for Ghanaians to check their status with more privacy.

One of the available options, the oral HIV self-test (HIVST), involves swabbing the upper and lower gums with an oral swab.

The stick is subsequently dipped in a test tube solution for 20 minutes. A negative result will show one line on the stick, while a reactive result will show two lines.

Authorities however say a reactive result must be confirmed at a health facility.

Ghana's Aids Commission reports that there are more than 350,000 people living with HIV in the country, however only 71% know their status.

The introduction of HIVST has been welcomed by experts who describe it as a potential game-changer in scaling up HIV testing services in Ghana.

Image source, AFP

Several people in Kenya have been shot and injured as police battled opposition protesters in several parts of the county demonstrating against the rising cost of living and tax hikes.

Local media reported that five people were injured in Nakuru town in the Rift Valley region – with four sustaining gunshot wounds. Two others were shot and injured in Makueni in the east.

Earlier three people were reported to have been taken to hospital in in Migori in the west after they were injured during the protests.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga reportedly urged his supporters to end the protests at 17:00 local time and resume on Thursday.

Mr Odinga told the local Daily Nation newspaper website that the first day of a series of cost-of-living protests had been a success.

In Nairobi’s city centre and in other key towns, businesses remained shut and people stayed away for fear of getting caught in the protests.

Meanwhile, a number of people were shot and injured in different towns during the anti-government protests.

The opposition Azimio coalition says some of their leaders and close allies including some MPs and local area representatives had been arrested, with deputy leader Martha Karua condemning their “arrest without lawful justification”.

President William Ruto meanwhile said he was ready for talks but denounced the chaos and hooliganism during the protests, and urged the opposition to find amicable ways to address their concerns.

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Ghana’s Supreme Court has dismissed an application to stop parliament from considering a controversial anti-LGBT bill.

In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, the court said that the applicant, an academic researcher called Dr Amanda Odoi, failed to convince the court to stop parliament from continuing with a bill that was already being debated by MPs.

Dr Odoi wanted debates on the bill to be put on hold until the court heard her case which challenges the legality of the bill on the grounds that parliamentary leaders failed to do an economic impact analysis of its impact - if it were to be passed.

The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2021 would see LGBT people jailed for a maximum of three years and promoters of it imprisoned for up to 10 years.

It has been widely criticised as a violation of the rights of sexual minorities in the country.

Read more: Will Kenya be the latest African country to pass anti-gay law?

"Workers, women and children" are the people who will suffer most from continued demonstrations in Kenya, the secretary general of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions, Francis Atwoli, told the BBC's Newsday radio programme.

Mr Atwoli said he was now "worried", despite backing the opposition - who called for the protests - in last year's election.

"I was part of the Azimio brigade. The leader of the opposition in Kenya is my own relative so I have been trying to reach out to him," Mr Atwoli added.

As we reported earlier, schools have closed indefinitely as cost-of-living protests continue.

Last week, those demonstrations turned violent, with at least 14 dying, 10 of whom were shot by police.

The opposition, led by Raila Odinga, called for a series of protests after tax hikes were introduced last month by the government of President William Ruto.

The announcement ends months of speculation over the Russian president's planned visit.

Camilla Mills
BBC News

The only female candidate in Zimbabwe's presidential election has been added to the electoral ballot after winning an appeal barring her participation.

Elisabeth Valerio successfully challenged the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's decision to reject her nomination papers.

Officials said she had failed to pay the $20,000 (£15,000) nomination fee.

In her court challenge, Ms Valerio argued that she had provided proof of a bank transfer.

Earlier this month she said that women in Zimbabwe were being "denied the opportunity to participate".

There are now 12 candidates for the presidency with the election being held on 23 August.

Morocco’s women will make their first appearance at a World Cup after a period of investment supported by King Mohammed VI that aims to change attitudes in the country.

Morocco’s women will make their first appearance at a World Cup after a period of investment supported by King Mohammed VI that aims to change attitudes in the country.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Labour unions in Nigeria have expressed outrage over the hike in the price of fuel across the country and threatened to withdraw from negotiations with the government, unless prices are reversed.

The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress are accusing the government of “taking from the poor to pay the rich, and unleashing suffering, hardship and sorrow on Nigerians”.

Petrol prices hit the highest point ever on Tuesday to about 640 naira ($0.82; £0.64) per litre.

The increase has sparked uproar across Nigeria. Transport costs and food prices have continued to rise following the sharp increase in petrol recorded since May, after President Bola Tinubu announced an end to fuel subsidies during his inauguration speech.

The state-owned Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited said the new price increase was caused by market forces.

Meanwhile, President Tinubu has ordered a review of the $10 (£8) his government plans to pay 12 million poor households to cope with rising costs.

The payment, for six months, was to cushion the effects of removing the fuel subsidy.

There’s been widespread criticism that the money could end up in the pockets of government cronies.

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

International campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Tunisian security agents of committing "serious abuses" against black African migrants attempting to get to Europe.

The campaign group said it had interviewed more than 20 migrants and asylum seekers since March.

Seven were among more than 1,000 black Africans expelled or forcibly transferred by the Tunisian authorities to the country's desert border regions with Libya and Algeria this month.

President Kais Saied has accused the migrants of violence and changing the country's demographic make-up.

HRW wants the European Union to withhold funding that was to be used to return the migrants home.

Read more about the recent EU deal with Tunisia here.

The South African government has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the Brics summit being held in August.

An arrest warrant has been issued against Mr Putin by International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

South Africa is an ICC signatory and so would be obliged to arrest him if he goes there but South Africa are Russia are members of the Brics organisation and South Africa has remained neutral on the conflict in Ukraine, putting the country in an awkward position.

"By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister Mr Sergey Lavrov," a press statement from President Ramaphosa's spokesperson said.

Alongside President Ramaphosa, the leaders of Brazil, India and China will be at the event, in Johannesburg.

Brics is a bloc of emerging economies that are seen by some as an alternative to the G7 group of advanced economies.

Image source, AFP

Former Zimbabwe government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, who sought to challenge President Emmerson Mnangagwa in forthcoming elections, has told the BBC’s Focus on Africa podcast he is “surprised” by a court decision to bar him from running for office.

A Harare high court judge has invalidated Mr Kasukuwere's application to contest as an independent candidate over accusations he has lived outside Zimbabwe for longer than 18 months.

“Is it a requirement that when you want to be president you can’t leave a country for 18 months, you just have to stick in that place?” Mr Kasukuwere asked, arguing that this was not a legal requirement.

He also denied he was out of the country for 18 months, saying he has been “travelling the region”.

He also lamented the security situation in Zimbabwe, saying “everybody knows” that is part of the reason why he left the country.

Mr Kasukuwere, an ally of former President Robert Mugabe, fled the country in the aftermath of the military coup that ushered President Mnangagwa to power in 2017.

He returned briefly to Zimbabwe in 2018, but fled again to South Africa citing political persecution.

Mr Kasukuwere has filed a challenge to the ruling with the Zimbabwe Supreme Court, which he said he is hopeful he will win.

Read more about Zimbabwe's forthcoming election here.

BBC World Service
Newsroom

Algerian officials say at least 34 people have been killed in a road accident in the southern province of Tamanrasset.

The civil protection agency said a passenger bus collided with a utility vehicle before bursting into flames.

A further 12 people were injured.

Those involved have not yet been identified, but Tamanrasset is close to Niger and Mali, and is a frequent crossing point for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa trying to reach Europe.

Image source, AFP

Kenyan authorities have deployed security officers in key towns amid a resumption of cost-of-living protests organised by the opposition.

Police in the capital Nairobi have fired teargas against protesters who hurled stoned at them as the three-day demonstrations began on Wednesday.

People have kept away from the city’s central business district and many shops remain closed.

Schools in the capital and the coastal city of Mombasa remain shut, after a government order in anticipation that the protests would become violent.

The demonstrators have barricaded some roads in the capital and elsewhere in the country.

In Nakuru, in the Rift Valley region, police lobbed teargas to disperse protesters who blocked roads and lit fires.

Kenya’s opposition have called for the protests amid rising discontent over the tax hikes passed last month by the government of President William Ruto - who during the election campaign last year promised to champion the interests of the poor.

However, since President Ruto came to office, prices have continued to soar, while his government has raised taxes.

Read more:

• Kenya demonstrations: 'I feel betrayed by William Ruto'

Mollie Perella
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, Getty Images

A top Nigerian athlete, Tobi Amusan, says she has been charged with breaking anti-doping rules.

Amusan is the world record holder in the 100m hurdles.

The Athletics Integrity Unit accused her of missing three drugs tests within 12 months.

It could result in a two-year suspension from the sport.

Writing on Instagram, the 26-year-old described herself as a clean athlete.

She said she would fight the charge so that she could compete at the World Championships in August.

Anthony Irungu
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

Schools in Kenya's capital Nairobi and the coastal town of Mombasa have been shut indefinitely as three days of nationwide cost-of-living protests kicked off on Wednesday.

Last week's violent protests resulted in the deaths of at least 14 people.

"The government has received credible security intelligence that criminal elements planning to unleash terror and violence on the public [on Wednesday] intend to engage in armed skirmishes with security agencies around certain schools within Nairobi and Mombasa counties," the interior ministry said.

Police chief Japheth Koome has declared the anti-tax hike protests illegal, even though the high court had on Monday rejected a request to declare them illegal.

During similar protests last Wednesday, the police shot at least 10 people.

More than 50 schoolchildren were also teargassed while in their classroom in Nairobi and were subsequently rushed to the hospital in an unconscious state.

There have been reports of police firing teargas canisters at protesters in neighbourhoods around Nairobi.

Protesters armed with crude weapons have also barricaded roads in western Kenya and extorted money from road users.

Human rights organisations have strongly criticised the police for what they call their excessive use of force.

Local and international groups and foreign diplomats have expressed deep concerns over the situation in Kenya, urging dialogue to address the issues at hand.

Our proverb of the day:

Image source, AFP

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

South Africa's president is at odds with the opposition ahead of the Russian leader's proposed visit.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now - we will be back on Wednesday morning. There will be an automated news feed here until then.

You can also get the latest updates at BBCAfrica.com and listen to the new Focus on Africa podcast for stories behind the news

A reminder of the day's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave with this photo of Zambian rapper Sampa The Great performing earlier on Tuesday at the Paléo Festival in Nyon in Switzerland:

Image source, EPA