Image source, Getty Images

Niger's coup leaders have recalled their country's ambassador in Ivory Coast saying comments by the Ivorian president had amounted to "praising armed action" against them.

Alassane Ouattara had spoken of his determination to see Niger's democratically elected leader Mohamed Bazoum reinstated, on his return from a regional summit last week.

He had also said a military operation to restore democracy in Niger should start "as soon as possible".

He said Ivory Coast would contribute between 850 and 1,100 troops, alongside Nigeria and Benin.

The West African regional bloc Ecowas has reaffirmed its preference for a diplomatic resolution - but says military intervention remains on the table.

The bloc said it was shocked that the coup leaders had decided to pursue prosecution against Mr Bazoum for high treason.

Image source, EPA

Algeria has banned the American film Barbie, which has been showing in cinemas locally for weeks.

The authorities say the film, which was released last month, goes against Algeria’s moral values.

The Reuters news agency quoted an official source as saying that the film "promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances" and that it "does not comply with Algeria's religious and cultural beliefs".

The Barbie film has already surpassed the billion-dollar mark after its 21 July premier.

Some other countries including Lebanon and Kuwait have banned the film on grounds of morality.

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The piece was commissioned to mark the 50th anniversary of Ugandan Asians reaching Leicester.

The strike was among the most deadly in the region, where the army is fighting a paramilitary force.

Coup leaders accuse the detained Mohamed Bazoum of undermining national security.

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

You can also get the latest on the BBC News website and listen to the Focus on Africa podcast.

A reminder of Monday's wise words:

And we leave you with this photo of people performing in Kigali, Rwanda, on Sunday at the opening ceremony of the Giants of Africa festival, where youth from 16 different countries come together:

Image source, Presidency of Rwanda/ Getty Images

Youssef Taha
BBC World Service News

The authorities in Tunisia say at least five migrants have died and seven others are missing after their boat sank off the coast.

The vessel, heading for Europe, was carrying 35 people, mostly Tunisian nationals, including women and children.

Twenty-three passengers have been rescued.

The boat capsized shortly after setting sail from Sidi Mansour, near Sfax, which has emerged this year as a key hub for migrants hoping to reach Europe by boat.

The West Africa regional bloc, Ecowas, has condemned the push by Niger's military junta to bring treason charges against ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

The junta took power about three weeks ago, keeping Mr Bazoum in detention in the process.

The bloc said the move "represents yet another form of provocation and contradicts the reported willingness of the military authorities in the Republic of Niger to restore constitutional order through peaceful means".

It added that Mr Bazoum is the democratically elected president of Niger.

Read more on this story here.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Ethiopia’s lower house of parliament has approved a state of emergency declared in connection with the ongoing violence in the country’s Amhara region.

The cabinet had announced the emergency measure earlier this month.

The parliament’s session, unusually, was not televised but according to a report posted on the House’s Facebook page, the decree was approved with a majority vote.

Rights groups have already expressed concern over the decree as previous state of emergency declarations had led to accusations of abuses and mass detentions.

Favour Nunoo
BBC News, Accra

Image source, Getty Images

Opposition lawmakers in Ghana have expressed concern over the Ecowas plans to potentially launch military action in Niger as part of efforts to restore constitutional order in the country.

The lawmakers are demanding Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo to immediately stop all preparatory mobilisation towards deploying Ghanaian soldiers.

“The Ghanaian Parliament has not discussed this matter unlike other countries who have had the opportunity to debate these matters and to pass a resolution,” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of parliament’s foreign affairs committee told the BBC.

“He [President Akufo-Addo] doesn't have a mandate from the Ghanaian people in this matter... We do not believe a military intervention is the way forward,” he added.

The country’s minority lawmakers hold the view that diplomacy and constructive dialogue should be explored.

“Ghana's gallant soldiers must be kept far away from the looming bloodbath and escalating geopolitical confrontation which is bound to explode with far-reaching consequences for stability in an already volatile region,” Mr Ablakwa said.

Ghana’s minority lawmakers say scarce resources of the state should be directed at resolving the country’s economic challenges following a $3bn (£2.4bn) International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout rather than getting entangled in a "proxy geopolitical confrontation".

Gloria Aradi
BBC News, Nairobi

Worshippers at a South African church run by controversial Malawian preacher Shepherd Bushiri were robbed during an overnight vigil at the weekend.

Members of the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) in South Africa’s north-eastern region of Mpumalanga told police that three robbers armed with handguns raided the church, while they waited for other worshippers to join them.

The robbers made away with several of the congregants' items, including 14 cell phones, cash and bank cards. They also stole a white car belonging to one of the members, but abandoned it 7km (four miles) away.

Police said the robbers demanded the pin numbers for the churchgoers bank cards before making their escape.

Mpulamanga’s head of police said that the forces had begun investigations into the incident.

Azeezat Olaoluwa
BBC News, Lagos

Oil marketers in Nigeria have warned that the cost of petrol could rise again amid a foreign exchange crisis.

Prices are projected to rise to about 720 naira a litre ($0.93; £0.73) from the current average of $0.77. If that happens, it'll be the third major price increase since President Bola Tinubu came to power in May.

The value of the naira has continued to freefall at the foreign exchange market since the government unified the exchange rates.

This latest warning comes as the local currency trades at an all time high of 910-945 naira against the dollar at the parallel market.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (Ipman) says they fear fuel prices will continue to increase as long as the dollar rises in the foreign exchange market.

The oil marketers also said that many dealers who want to import the product have had to suspend the plan due to the scarcity of foreign exchange.

Chinedu Okoronkwo, the association's president, explained that "with fuel subsidy removal, the government is no longer determining pump prices but the market forces".

Apart from the foreign exchange crisis, the cost of transporting petroleum products from depots in Lagos to other parts of the country is also a contributing factor to the price of petrol.

This has forced oil marketers to sell fuel at higher prices to consumers especially those in northern Nigeria.

Nigerians are facing rising costs of food items and transportation amid high inflation rates and cost of living crisis.

Christian Atsu's partner Marie-Claire Rupio says she "hopes his name will never go away" in an exclusive interview with the BBC.

Gloria Aradi
BBC News, Nairobi

A Kenyan chef who has attempted to set a world record for nonstop cooking at least twice in the past is at it again.

This time Maliha Mohammed is attempting to set a 90-hour record for home cooking and has been streaming the challenge through her TikTok page.

By 0900 (0600 GMT) on Monday Kenyan time, Ms Mohammed had already been cooking for more than the record of 68 hours, 30 minutes and one second, set in 2018 by American Rickey Lumpkin II, according to the Guinness World Records, external.

She says the record she is pursuing differs from the one set earlier this year by Nigerian chef Hilda Baci.

“I will be cooking nonstop for the longest home kitchen cooking marathon. That is a different title from what Chef Hilda was cooking,” she said on her Youtube page., external

In response to criticism that she was imitating Ms Baci, Mohamed said that she applied for her attempt in December 2022.

Anyone seeking to break a Guinness record needs to submit an application and get approval from the body for their record to stand.

Ms Mohammed has performed previous cooking marathons - in 2018, she attempted to set a world record, cooking for 72 hours.

In 2019, she did a 75-hour cooking marathon. However, Guinness handed the cooking marathon record to Indian chef Lata London, who completed a cooking marathon of 87 hours and 45 minutes that year.

In her latest challenge, Ms Mohammed is cooking 320 Swahili, Kenyan, Middle eastern, Mediterranean and international dishes.

Gloria Lihavi
BBC News

The Johannesburg High Court has imposed 12 life sentences on Gerhard Ackerman, a serial offender who was found guilty of committing multiple sex crimes against children in South Africa.

Judge Mohamed Ismail of the Johannesburg, however, ruled that the 12 life sentences would run concurrently.

In April, the court found Ackerman guilty of attempted murder and several sexual offences against minors, who were mainly young boys.

Some of the sexual offences the court found Ackerman guilty of included rape, human trafficking, sexual grooming of minors and production, possession and distribution of child pornography.

Ackerman is still on trial for a separate child sexual abuse case, which he is accused of having committed at a Johannesburg country club in 2018.

Ackerman’s suspected accomplice, Paul Kennedy, who worked as an advocate and acting judge, died by suicide in February 2022, before the trial began.

Kennedy was accused of aiding Ackerman in operating the child sex abuse ring and transmitting HIV to some of the victims Ackerman sent him.

Following the sentence, Ackerman fired his lawyer. He also told journalists that he was innocent on most, if not all of the charges and would file for a retrial of the case.

Government forces in Ethiopia have been fighting with Amhara militias in a new wave of violence.

Image source, AFP

Tanzanian police have arrested a lawyer and an opposition politician, accusing them of incitement and planning to organise nationwide protests aimed at bringing down the government.

Boniface Anyasile Mwabukusi and Mpaluka Nyagali have both denied wrongdoing through a lawyer.

It comes after 22 people who'd criticised parliament for approving a port management deal between Tanzania and an Emirati company were arrested or threatened, according to Human Rights Watch.

The deal has been criticised by activists, citizens and opposition politicians, who see it as Tanzania’s government selling off their country, but the government denies this.

Critics are particularly concerned that the agreement failed to specify when the Emirati management of the ports would end.

Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi-Tsehai told the BBC's Newsday programme that the human rights situation in the country has been worsening and there had been a lot of pushback from citizens over the port deal, which has leading to crackdowns.

"It's never been this bad" where "mainly citizens who are not politicians" were being targeted, she said.

She said the two arrested had been involved in a case at a regional court seeking to stop an Emirati firm from running Tanzania's ports - which they lost - and were moving the case to a higher court for an appeal when they were arrested.

Madagascan chief-of-staff and a French associate arrested in London after meeting with mine company.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (Minusma) has said it "brought forward" its withdrawal from the northern town of Ber due to deteriorating security conditions.

In a statement on X, external, formerly known as Twitter, it urged all concerned parties to refrain from any actions that could further complicate the operation.

But it later said that its withdrawing convoy had been attacked twice, with three injured people evacuated to Timbuktu for treatment.

The UN further noted that attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law.

It came after the Malian Armed Forces (FaMa) said that at least seven of its soldiers had been killed and eight others injured in clashes with former rebels under the Coordination of Movements of Azawad (CMA).

In a statement, external, Malian troops also said its army killed 28 rebels and took control of Ber as part of the transfer of sites occupied by the UN peacekeeping force.

The statement made no mention of ex-separatists who accuse the Malian army of wanting to occupy Minusma positions in CMA-controlled areas, in violation of the May 2014 Algiers peace agreement.