Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa's Police Minister Bheki Cele said individuals suspected of running a regional kidnapping syndicate will be extradited to Mozambique.

“The extradition will be swift and is part of the commitment of both countries to combat trans-national crime, such as kidnappings, money laundering, drug trafficking and robberies,” Mr Cele said on Wednesday in Mozambique's capital, Maputo.

Mozambican Esmael Malude Ramos Nangy, 50, is currently detained in South Africa.

He is suspected of having orchestrated several kidnappings in South Africa and Mozambique.

Mr Cele told Mozambique's Interior Minister Pascoal Ronda at the bilateral meeting that other suspects were being tracked and located for their extradition.

Mr Cele added that the extradition process of one of the kidnapping barons currently detained in South Africa is being completed.

In Mozambique, there are currently around 280 people in detention on suspicion of involvement with kidnapping.

Jenny Hill
BBC News, Johannesburg

The former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, has said he will never vote again for the party he once led.

Mr Zuma, who's now standing against the governing ANC under the banner of the new MK party, addressed supporters outside the high court in Johannesburg.

He was appearing there as part of his ongoing efforts to take private legal action against President, Cyril Ramaphosa over the alleged leak of Mr Zuma's medical records.

General elections are due at the end of next month, in which the ANC could lose its majority for the first time since the end of apartheid 30 years ago.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Image source, IOM South Sudan

South Sudan's vice-president has urged the Muslim community to support Sudanese refugees who have fled the ongoing war in their country.

"Help the government to avert the economic crisis the country is facing," Vice-President Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, told worshipers during Eid al-Fitr prayers in the capital, Juba, on Wednesday.

Many businessmen in South Sudan are Muslims from Somalia and Sudan.

Eid al-Fitr is a feast that marks the end of the Holy month of Ramadan – the Muslims’ month of fasting.

Civil war broke out in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on 15 April last year. Next Monday will mark one year since the beginning of the conflict that has killed at least 14,000 people.

According to UN estimates, more than 560,000 people have fled the conflict in Sudan and crossed over into neighbouring South Sudan – most of them South Sudanese who had also fled the violence in their county in 2013 and 2016.

The UN estimates that an average of 1,850 new arrivals from Sudan enter South Sudan every day.

Ahmed Alid denies murdering 70-year-old Terence Carney after "chancing" upon him in Hartlepool.

Image source, Getty Images

Police in Kenya have arrested seven suspects in connection with a gang rape of a woman in western Bomet county.

The incident, captured in a viral video, happened in Chebanyi village last December, the police said.

The clip trending as "sigor boys" on X, formerly known as Twitter, shows several men in a dimly lit room taking turns to sexually assault a woman, who is heard screaming.

The video has shocked the country, with many calling for justice to the unidentified woman.

Police said in a statement on Thursday they arrested the suspects following an operation in the area.

Two of the suspects were positively identified and police say they are pursuing the other individuals.

Police said that they will bring the suspects to court and apply to hold them for longer to complete investigation.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service newsroom

Image source, AFP

The authorities in the Comoros say dozens of prisoners have escaped from a prison in the capital Moroni, by simply walking through the main gate.

The islands' public prosecutor, Ali Mohamed Djounaid, said 38 inmates were missing from Moroni Prison, the largest in the archipelago.

He blamed negligent security guards.

A government spokesperson said the escape appeared to have been pre-planned.

Image source, Getty Images

The Johannesburg High Court has postponed the hearing of a bid by South Africa's former President Jacob Zuma's to privately prosecute current leader Cyril Ramaphosa.

The court on Thursday adjourned the case to 6 August.

Mr Zuma is seeking to prosecute President Ramaphosa for failing to act against prosecutor Billy Downer and journalist Karen Maughan for allegedly disclosing his medical details, which were contained in court documents during his corruption trial.

The former president argues that the alleged leak was in violation of the law.

Last year, President Ramaphosa successfully asked the court to block the prosecution.

Mr Zuma then challenged the decision at the Supreme Court of Appeal, but he was dismissed, with the court arguing that the prosecution of the president would be unlawful and unconstitutional.

Mr Zuma is seeking to overturn that court decision, which would allow him to pursue legal action against his successor.

Image source, Junior Pope Odonwodo/Instagram

Nollywood actor Junior Pope Odonwodo, popularly known as Jnr Pope has died in a boat accident while traveling to film a movie in Nigeria's Delta state, his fellow actors have said.

The film star was earlier reported to have survived the accident when doctors attempted to resuscitate him in a hospital.

"It's so so sad that our joy was short lived. Two notable hospitals tried their best to revive him but to no avail. We finally lost him," Emeka Rollas Ejezie, the president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), posted on Facebook, external.

Videos shared on social media showed rescuers carrying the actor, who appeared unconscious, out of River Niger where the incident happened late Wednesday.

Hours before the accident, the 39-year-old actor had shared a video of him and four others on his Instagram page travelling to the movie location on a boat.

He was heard expressing concerns about the lack of safety measures and praying for a safe journey.

Junior Pope has acted in more than 150 Nollywood movies and is best known for playing roles of a criminal, villain, a bodyguard and a hitman.

Fellow actors have taken to social media to mourn him.

Nollywood is still reeling from the loss of two other industry stars, John Okafor, better known as Mr Ibu and Amaechi Muonagor.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Reuters

Sudan’s military leader Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has said the army "will not hand over the authority of our state to any internal or external party”.

"Anyone who conspired against the Sudanese people inside and outside the country will not have any role to play in the future running of this country,” Gen Burhan said while addressing worshipers after Eid al-Fitr prayers at a mosque in the central Gedaref state.

He also stressed that “the state will only be run by those who have stood firm against injustice and violations,” the state news agency Suna reported.

The military leader warned that there would be no conversation on the return of democratic rule until the conflict that erupted in April 2023 has ended.

The army has drawn support from Islamist parties that were influential during the long presidency of Omar al-Bashir who was ousted in April 2019.

Talks between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces mediated by the US and Saudi Arabia were expected to resume in Jeddah after Eid.

In an audio message on his X account to mark Eid al-Fitr, RSF leader Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, said that “there is no other option for the Rapid Support Forces but victory”.

Hemedti also pledged to prosecute any member of his forces who commits violations against innocent citizens and directed his forces not to tolerate any outlaw who threatens the stability of citizens.

Image source, Nafdac

Nigeria's drug regulator has recalled a batch of Johnson & Johnson children's cough syrup after tests showed it contained "an unacceptable high level" of a toxic and potentially fatal substance.

The substance, diethylene glycol, "was found to cause acute oral toxicity in laboratory animals", Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (Nafdac) said on Wednesday, external.

It added that human consumption of the Diethylene glycol results in toxic effects, including abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state, and acute kidney injury, which may lead to death.

The substance has been linked to the recent deaths of dozens of children in Cameroon and The Gambia.

Laboratory tests on the recalled Benylin Paediatric syrup, batch no 329304, also showed that it caused "acute oral toxicity in laboratory animals", the regulator added.

Johnson & Johnson, which manufactured the syrup in South Africa in May 2021 with an expiry date of April 2024 - has not commented on Nafdac's statement.

The syrup's packaging says it can be used for relieving cough and congestive symptoms and for treating fever and other allergic conditions among children aged between two and 12 years.

Image source, Reuters

The ruling military junta in Mali has suspended all political activities in the country until further notice.

A spokesman, Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga, said the suspension was motivated by what he called "sterile discussions" during an attempt at national dialogue earlier this year.

He said all activities by political parties and "associations of a political nature" had been suspended on the grounds of maintaining public order, in a statement on state television on Wednesday evening.

More than 80 political parties and civil groups recently called for presidential elections "as soon as possible" and an end to military rule.

Mali has been ruled by the military since 2020, following a coup.

The junta said presidential elections would be held in February but they were postponed, sparking outrage among political groups.

Favour Nunoo
BBC News, Accra

Image source, British Museum

The United Kingdom has returned 32 royal artefacts looted from Ghana's Asante Kingdom in the 19th Century.

The royal objects were taken from the Palace in Kumasi during the Anglo-Asante Wars, including the infamous Sagrenti War of 1874.

They were returned on Tuesday by the British Museum (BM) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A).

The 150-year-old, mostly golden royal regalia, will be on loan for an initial three years and renewable for another three years.

The loan deal is not with the Ghanaian government but with Otumfuo Osei Tutu II - the current traditional ruler of the Ashanti people.

Legal restrictions in the UK have made it impossible to return the artefacts permanently.

The return of the artefacts coincides with the silver jubilee anniversary of Asantehene Osei Tutu II, who first started the negotiations in May last year.

"Gold and silver regalia, associated with the Asante royal court, will be displayed at the Palace Museum as part of a long-term loan commitment by the Victoria & Albert and the British Museum," the Asante Palace said in a statement.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II will receive the objects in specially designed Belgian cases in Kumasi, after which the Manhyia Palace Museum will be closed for three weeks for installation works and encasing.

The gold artefacts are the symbol of the Asante traditional authority.

Many of these items will be seen in Ghana for the first time in 150 years. The items include 15 pieces from the British Museum and 17 from the Victoria & Albert Museum.

They will be on display and open to the public in May.

Read more:

• UK to loan back Ghana's looted 'crown jewels'

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In recent years Ethiopia has seen an increase in the killing of political and cultural figures.

Young people were recruited as call-centre agents in a "sophisticated internet fraud syndicate".

Police believe the suspects are part of a gang "syndicate" responsible for car-jackings in Johannesburg.

Nigeria boss Randy Waldrum says his side must "prepare properly" for the 2024 Olympic Games women's football tournament.

Sol Bamba played at two World Cups and under some of the most celebrated managers in the world - but reckons Neil Warnock and Jim Leishman were the best.

The Future Eagles were set to fly to Spain on Tuesday, ahead of their first match on Friday.

Ibrahim Mahama's work spans about 2,000 sq m and is made from traditional Ghanaian robes.