Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Image source, Royalhouse Chapel South-Windsor Connecticut

Fans and fellow musicians have been paying tribute to Ghanaian gospel star Kofi Owusu Dua Anto, popularly known as Koda.

The musician died on Sunday from a condition yet to be made public. Multiple reports suggest was suffering from kidney disease.

Koda, who was also a producer, was famous for his uplifiting songwriting as well as his melodious and soulful voice, which resonated with many in the country.

Some of his most popular songs include Hossana, Nkwaa Abodo, Nsem Pii and Adooso.

The 46-year-old leaves behind a wife and three children.

The deaths come hours after the UK Parliament passes its Rwanda bill, which aims to deter small boat crossings.

Kenya's state-owned power company plans to invest 302.5m Kenyan shillings ($2.2m; £1.5m) in e-mobility projects over the next three years.

Most of the money will be spent on setting up electric vehicle (EV) charging stations around the country, in addition to Kenya Power's second charging station launched on Monday.

Kenya Power said in a statement, external that it was looking to set up nine other charging stations across Kenya by the end of July, plus "10 additional facilities annually in 2025 and 2026".

Its CEO says the EV stations will collect data to "inform the next steps of our support to the growing e-mobility industry".

The company also announced plans to increase the number of electric vehicles and motorcycles in its fleet, with 34 purchases planned by the end of the year.

The government heads for a showdown with peers over its law to send asylum seekers to Africa.

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has lost a trademark court battle with the newly formed uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party.

ANC wanted the party, which is backed by former President Jacob Zuma, to stop using the name and logo similar to that of the governing party’s disbanded military wing, uMkhonto weSizwe.

The ruling party argued that the use of the name by the new party would lead to voter confusion in the upcoming May polls.

A court in Durban on Monday rejected the ANC’s application in a move which means that MK party can continue its campaign ahead of next month’s general election.

Its co-founder Jabulani Khumalo said the party had "conquered" shortly after the court ruling.

“Right now our biggest focus is on campaigning and promoting Zuma," Mr Khumalo added.

Mr Zuma, 81, is campaigning against the ANC in the May elections.

An estimated 10bn barrels of oil has been discovered in Namibia, Portuguese oil company Galp Energia has said.

The company revealed that it had made the potential find after concluding its first phase of oil exploration in the Mopane field off Namibia's coast.

“In the Mopane complex alone, and before drilling additional exploration and appraisal wells, hydrocarbon in-place estimates are 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or higher," it said on Sunday.

Vast oil and gas reserves have been discovered in Namibia's Orange Basin, where Mopane is located, in recent years.

The discoveries have positioned the southern African country as a potentially significant player in the global oil industry.

The country is eyeing an entry to the oil producers' organisation Opec ahead of its planned start to oil production in 2030.

Image source, Reuters

Hundreds of people have held a demonstration in Agadez in the north of Niger, calling for the immediate departure of the 1,000 American troops based there.

The protest on Sunday was called by organisations that support the military authorities who seized power last year.

It came two days after the US agreed to withdraw its forces from the Sahel nation in response to last month's decision by the military-led government in Niamey to revoke an agreement that allowed American forces to operate in the country.

The US also agreed to close down a drone base from where it carries out operations against Islamist militant groups.

“Our message is clear: American soldiers, pack your bags and go home,” one of the protesters told AFP news agency.

Protesters were seen carrying the flags of Russia, as well as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Military leaders in these countries have been strengthening ties with Moscow.

Niger is in Africa's Sahel region, which is considered the new global epicentre of the Islamic State group.

The US has relied on Niger as its primary base for monitoring regional jihadist activity.

Dozens of Russian military instructors have arrived in Niger in recent weeks, bringing with them a state-of-the-art air defence system, according to state media reports.

Image source, Egypt Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Facebook

An Egyptian statue aged more than 3,000 years old has arrived back home, over three decades since it was stolen and smuggled out of the country, authorities have said.

The statue depicts a head of the ancient Egyptian King Ramses II, who was one of Egypt's most powerful rulers.

It is "part of a mass statue depicting King Ramses II seated next to a number of Egyptian gods", the ministry of tourism and antiquities said on Sunday.

The artefact, which dates back to more than 3,400 years, was taken from the Ramses II temple in the ancient city of Abydos.

Egyptian authorities spotted it in 2013, when it went up for sale at a gallery in London. The statue then moved to several countries until it reached Switzerland, where it was reclaimed in collaboration with Swiss authorities.

The antiquities ministry said that Egypt proved that it had rights to the piece and that the artefact left its borders illegally.

It will undergo restoration and maintenance at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

The Nigerian army has vowed revenge for the killing of six soldiers who were ambushed while on a peace mission in the central state of Niger last week.

The troops were on a "fighting patrol" in Karaga village in the Shiroro area last Friday when they were attacked by what the army called "terrorists".

An army statement said a number of the attackers had been killed, and others were still being pursued.

It vowed that the "unfortunate setback would be avenged by the troops”.

The slain soldiers included two senior officers and four other personnel, according to the army.

Two officers were injured during the attack.

The army has not confirmed local reports that one officer was abducted.

It is not clear who was behind the ambush but armed gangs, known locally as bandits, have been blamed for targeting security forces in recent attacks.

It comes as Nigeria hosts a two-day high-level African counter-terrorism summit in the capital, Abuja.

The ambush also comes a few weeks after 16 other soldiers were killed while responding to clashes between rival communities in the oil-rich southern Delta state.

Nigeria has suffered a wave of kidnappings for ransom, as well as battling various jihadist groups.

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Since it gained Independence in 1956 Sudan has had at least 2 major civil wars. The last one resulted in Southern Sudan becoming an Independent state in 2011. The latest civil war broke out last April between two rival factions of the military government, the Sudanese Army Force (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF. Thousands have been killed and the country is on the verge of a humanitarian crisis. Why aren't we hearing more about it? James Copnall, former BBC Sudan Correspondent finds out what exactly is going on from historians, personal testimony, government and humanitarian aid agencies.

Presenter: James Copnall Producer: Julie Ball Editor: Tara McDermott

Egypt has built more than 3km of wall in the past week, BBC Verify has discovered.

It was supposed to be a friendly match between Egyptian giants Zamalek and Czechoslovakian side Dukla Prague, but before the game started there was a deadly crush in the crowds.

The day before the game on 17 February 1974, the venue had been changed from the larger Cairo Stadium to Zamalek's home ground.

It was reported that 48 people died and 47 were injured in a stampede. Josephine McDermott hears from retired Egyptian international player and Zamalek winger Mahmoud Al Khawaga who was there.

Production and interpretation from Riham Eldeeb in Cairo.

(Photo: Zamalek Stadium on the day of the disaster)

In 1996, South Africa won the Africa Cup of Nations, bringing sporting joy to a country still recovering from Apartheid.

It was the Bafana Bafana team's first victory at an international football tournament.

In 2015, two members of the multi-racial side, Phil Masinga and Mark Fish, spoke to Will Yates.

A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: South Africa captain Neil Tovey lifts the Africa Cup of Nations. Credit: Gallo Images/Getty Images)

In 1984, Lamine Gueye of Senegal became the first black African skier to take part in the Winter Olympics.

The grandson of a prominent Senegalese politician, Gueye founded his country's ski federation and for a long time was the only member.

In 2017, he spoke to Tayo Popoola.

A Whistledown Production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Lamine at the 1996 World Championships. Credit: Jerome Prevost/TempSport/Corbis/VCG/Getty)

A BBC investigation exposes a sprawling network of fake social media accounts operating in Uganda.

The UK project to set a new land speed record will try to get back on the road with a new driver.

A visual guide to why heavy rain caused such devastation and killed so many people in the city of Derna.

The EU's Sentinel-1 satellite traces how the ground buckled in response to Friday's powerful quake.

Democratic governments in West and Central Africa are being increasingly challenged by the military.