Anne Soy
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

The war in Sudan could trigger the world’s largest hunger crisis, unless fighting stops, The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.

More than 10 months of fighting between rival forces has left nearly 14,000 people dead, over eight million displaced and much of the country’s population cut off and facing rising hunger.

As war rages, Sudanese families continue to flee to neighbouring countries.

Many have been displaced multiple times. They arrive at transit camps with close to nothing, hungry and desperate for help.

During a visit to a camp in neighbouring South Sudan, the head of the WFP, Cindy McCain, said the victims of the war had been forgotten.

She said aid agencies had to be given access to those facing emergency levels of hunger who were stranded in areas cut off by violence.

More on the conflict in Sudan:

• What is going on in Sudan? A simple guide
• Escaping Sudan: 'My mother’s body was left by smugglers in the desert'
• Sudan conflict: ‘Our lives have become a piece of hell’

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has condemned the killing of one of its staff in the country.

Charles Kiir Gone was serving with the peacekeeping mission in Wau, in the north-west.

He was reportedly killed during an attack by armed men in a relative’s home, where he was staying.

Mr Gone was on leave from work at the time of the attack that has been linked to cattle rustling, according to privately-owned Eye Radio news website.

UNMISS has condoled with the family and has urged authorities to immediately investigate the incident.

In a statement, UNMISS head Nicholas Haysom said the attack "illustrates the real and ongoing threat to the lives of UN peacekeepers supporting South Sudan on its journey towards peace”.

A vicious cycle of cattle raids and reprisal attacks have plagued South Sudan, with thousands killed in recent years.

Image source, Sarah Opendi/X

A bill meant to restrict the use of surrogacy to individuals with infertility or health challenges that prevent them from reproducing naturally was on Tuesday tabled in Uganda's parliament.

The bill also seeks to set the minimum age for surrogates to 18.

Medical practitioners who defy these provisions can be imprisoned for up to five years if the bill passes.

Medical practitioners can also be jailed for life if they use their own gametes or embryos or those not selected by their clients.

Donors must also be free of genetic diseases.

The Human-Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill was tabled by Ugandan MP Sarah Opendi and proposes more regulations for other aspects of human-assisted reproduction.

The bill also seeks to license fertility centres and regulate the donation and storage of sperm, oocytes and embryos.

The bill also seeks to introduce protections for children born through assisted reproduction.

Uganda will be global benchmark in legislating assisted reproduction if the bill is passed, Ms Opendi was quoted as saying by the private Daily Monitor newspaper.

Image source, Malawi Department of Disaster Management Affairs/Facebook

At least six people have died and four were injured from last week’s flash floods in central Malawi, local authorities said.

Over 14,000 people have been displaced, with most of them now staying in camps, the country’s Department of Disaster Management Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said many of the places that were affected by the floods are still inaccessible due to the extensive damage caused to roads and other infrastructure.

This has hampered the delivery of aid, with humanitarian workers mostly relying on boats to reach affected areas.

The agency has appealed for more help from individuals, companies and aid organisations to support government's efforts to provide relief.

It comes just a year after hundreds of Malawians were killed after Tropical Storm Freddy ripped through southern Africa.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Liberia's lower house of parliament has approved a motion to set up a war crimes court - more than two decades after the end of a devastating civil conflict.

In 2009 a Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended the establishment of the court but the move was resisted partly because a number of accused warlords remain influential.

About a quarter of a million people died during Liberia's civil wars between 1989 and 2003.

The atrocities included massacres, rape, cannibalism and the forced recruitment of child soldiers.

Lawmakers danced and sang as the resolution to set up a war crimes court was passed.

It will now be debated by Liberia's Senate before being passed on to President Joseph Boakai.

Image source, Getty Images

A US federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit that alleged that five major tech companies were complicit in the use of child labour to mine cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The lawsuit named Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Dell Technologies and Google's parent company Alphabet.

The court ruled that the purchase of cobalt by the companies did not mean they participated in forced child labour on Tuesday.

Circuit Judge Neomi Rao also said that the plaintiffs failed to show that the accused companies had influence to stop the use of child labour in the mines.

"We are far from finished seeking accountability," Terry Collingsworth, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told the Reuters news agency, adding that they might appeal against the ruling.

The case was first filed in 2019 by the human rights organisation International Rights Advocates, which was representing child workers who sustained injuries working in Congolese cobalt mines and the families of children who died in the mines.

It was dismissed by a lower court in 2021, prompting an appeal.

DR Congo produces 60% of the world's supply of cobalt, an essential mineral used in the manufacture of most electronic devices.

At least 25,000 children work on cobalt mines in DR Congo, according to the US Department of Labour, often in dangerous conditions.

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Scientists believe the species hunted the oceans 66 million years ago with "teeth like knives".

A large group of people raided a warehouse full of food in the country's capital Abuja.

More than 70 children are missing following the raids by fighters linked to Islamic State.

Nana Akufo-Addo says he will not assent to the anti-LGBTQ+ bill until a Supreme Court ruling.

An independent MP tables a bill in parliament to repeal the ban on female genital mutilation (FGM).

A student pilot and trainer crash in Nairobi National Park after colliding with a passenger plane.

Nathi Nhleko's resignation comes in the build-up to the general election in May.

The challenge began at Africa's most southerly point and will end at Tunisia's most northerly point.

Washington says the new tariffs on President Mnangagwa and other officials are more targeted.

Schools across Senegal have discovered a clever way for children to surf the web even when there isn't any signal.

They're using a special WIFI hotspot which works without an actual internet connection, so students and teachers can access all the relevant bits of the web, offline.

Around the world, innovators are coming up with solutions like this - all designed to get children learning. We also hear from an entrepreneur revolutionising how science is taught in Ghana and a night school in Pakistan for children not in formal education.

Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: Craig Langran Reporters: Borso Tall, Tooba Masood Series Producer: Jon Bithrey Editor: Penny Murphy Sound Mix: Annie Gardiner

(Image: Students using science kit, Dex Technology)

Tumaini (‘hope’ in Swahili) Festival is a unique refugee-led celebration of music, culture and solidarity in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi. Founded by Tresor Mpauni, who lived in the camp after being forced to leave the Democratic Republic of Congo, it uses arts and culture to build connections between refugees and the host community in Malawi. Each year it welcomes musicians and artists from all over Africa, and hosts guests from all over the world within the camp; providing a space to celebrate the artistic skills and organisational talents of an increasingly marginalised refugee community. Against considerable odds, they’ve created the largest festival in Malawi with over 50,000 people attending and over 115 artists performing in 2023. It is the refugee camp’s largest source of commercial income.

Peers back five changes to the draft law aiming to revive the UK's Rwanda deportation scheme.

The ministry urges the president not to sign the draconian bill over fears the World Bank could cut funding.