Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

The UK has imposed sanctions on the Speaker of Uganda's parliament, as well as two MPs, for alleged corruption.

A statement said they had stolen from the poorest communities in the country and would be subject to travel bans and asset freezes.

The British Foreign Office said the two former ministers, Mary Goretti Kitutu and Agnes Nandutu, had stolen thousands of metal roofing sheets which were meant for vulnerable communities in the Karamoja region.

It said the Speaker, Anita Among, was also involved. She has also been accused of corruption involving parliamentary funds.

Ms Among has described the allegations as rumours that were triggered by her support for Uganda's tough anti-LGBT legislation.

• Read more: Beaten and forced to flee for being LGBT in Uganda

Newsday
BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Some farmers in Uganda have hired gunmen to protect their cocoa as thieves attempt to cash in on the crop's increased value.

Global cocoa prices have reached their highest point in over a decade as dry weather hinders farming in Ghana and Ivory Coast, the biggest producers of cocoa in the world.

According to Mutanga Grace, a Ugandan cocoa farmer and CEO of Mkulima Exports Uganda, roughly 30% of the cocoa beans produced in the East African country is being stolen.

He told BBC Newsday that farmers in the country are forking out armed guards and dogs in an attempt to protect their cocoa, which is a key ingredient in products like chocolate, ice creams and cakes.

"Cocoa in the country right now is like a hotcake, someone takes little but has taken a lot, a lot of money," he said.

Read more:

• Cocoa price hits record high as El Niño hurts crops

Some asylum seekers earmarked for Rwanda could abscond before they are detained, the Home Office admits.

Image source, Getty Images

Several African film stars will join Beyoncé and her daughter Blue Ivy in an upcoming Lion King prequel, titled Mufasa: The Lion King.

South African actor John Kani, who voiced Rafiki in the initial 2019 live action remake of The Lion King, will reprise his role.

The younger Rafiki will be voiced by another South African great - actor and comedian Kagiso Lediga.

The film, which will explore Mufasa's origin story and his childhood with brother Scar, will be released across theatres in December.

South African actress Thuso Mbedu, who has starred in African hits and Hollywood ones, such as The Woman King, will also have a role in the Disney film.

Nigerian actress Folake Olowofoyeku, who currently plays an immigrant Nigerian nurse in Emmy-nominated US sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola, will also have a role in the movie.

The Lion King prequel will also feature Ugandan-British actress Sheila Atim, who also starred in the Woman King.

Thandiwe Newton, an Emmy award-winning British actress with Zimbabwean roots, will have a major role voicing Eshe, Mufasa's adoptive mother.

Read more:

• Blue Ivy Carter joins mum Beyoncé in Lion King prequel

Barbara Plett Usher
BBC News, Mai Mahiu

Image source, BBC News

Over the past week my team and I have been reporting on the floods laying waste to parts of Kenya.

On Tuesday, we visted the Mai Mahiu area, where around 50 people were killed when a deluge swept villagers away as they slept.

We followed rescue workers down along the blasted banks of the river, they were carrying shovels, rakes and sticks to poke through the branches of uprooted trees.

We stopped at an enormous mound of broken branches, covering a crushed house, we are told.

A family of six lived in the house and they may be buried under this mound.

Rescue workers called in a bulldozer, which has been removing the debris in an attempt to find the family.

On the far side of the river, corrugated iron roof panels lurch down over the husk of a house still standing.

Veronica Karanja, 17, and her father David have come back to view the damage.

That dreadful night the teenager was swept out by the water but managed to hang on to a tree until it subsided.

When she made it back, she couldn’t find her father, until he called out. He had been hit in the head and lost hold of her 9-year-old brother Paul.

David has just returned from the morgue to view the body, his eyes cast down, his arm in a sling.

The family lived off their livestock but it is all gone now. Nine-hundred hens and 21 pigs whisked away by the water - only five are left.

Abu Huzeifa had a $5m bounty on his head and was accused of being behind a 2017 attack on US troops.

Image source, Getty Images

Fans and fellow fighters have sent condolences to Cameroonian-French boxer and mixed martial artist Francis Ngannou after he announced the death of his 15-month-old son, Kobe.

The former UFC champion posted on X and Instagram on Monday night: "Too soon to leave but yet he's gone.

"My little boy, my mate, my partner Kobe was full of life and joy. Now, he's laying without life. I shouted his name over and over but he's not responding.

"I was my best self next to him and now I have no clue of who I am. Life is so unfair to hit us where it hurts the most."

Irish fighter Conor McGregor was among those who comforted Ngannou, writing on X: "I pray God has the best and safest place in heaven for him, until you meet again".

Fans have also applauded Ngannou for showing bravery and vulnerability by openly asking for help.

"Please help me if you have an idea because I really don't know what to do and how to deal with this," he said.

Ngannou, 37, left Cameroon for France in 2012. He achieved global stardom in mixed martial arts (MMA) before making the transition to boxing.

Ian Wafula
BBC News, Mai Mahiu

Image source, Ian Wafula/BBC

At least 76 people are missing in Kenya amid a devastating deluge that has already claimed dozens of lives, the Kenya Red Cross says.

People in villages near Mai Mahiu, about 60km (37 miles) from the capital, Nairobi, were swept away as they slept on Monday morning.

The incident occurred after water blew through a blocked tunnel underneath a railway line.

About 50 people had been confirmed dead by Monday evening, with the Red Cross adding on Tuesday that 110 survivors have been rescued.

For a second day, rescuers are attempting to save those who are trapped under debri but remain alive. They are also trying to retrieve dead bodies from the mud amid fears that the death toll could rise further.

"I'm trying to salvage things that were carried away by water and look for missing people as well," Stephen Kamau, a villager who narrowly survived the disaster, told BBC.

"I woke up in a different world. Everything had been swept by water. We are in fear. My heart is heavy."

Officers from state youth agency the National Youth Service (NYS) have joined locals and the Red Cross in their search efforts.

In total, nearly 170 Kenyans have been killed in heavy rains and floods over the past month.

Image source, Ian Wafula/BBC

Read more:

• Kenya flooding: Around 50 killed in villages near Mai Mahiu town

Mansur Abubakar
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Wizkid and Davido, two of Nigeria's biggest musicians, have captivated social media users across the nation with a war of words.

The two superstars have millions of fans across the world and have long been considered rivals. Many Nigerian music lovers class themselves as either "Team Wizkid" or "Team Davido".

A skirmish between the two began on Monday night after fans on social media platform X begged Wizkid to release a new song.

He responded to the requests by posting a video, which had previously been circulated widely, of a man on his knees, begging an unknown person for a favour.

Wizkid told his fans that if they begged him like the man in the clip, he would drop his new song.

Previously, social media users suggested the subject of the video in question is Davido, but the 31-year-old star has not commented on the rumours.

On Monday night, Davido responded to Wizkid's taunt by saying he refuses to waste his "clout" on "someone whose career was resurrected a few years ago just to die again".

As well as drawing attention on social media, the clash has sparked debate on blogs and between fans offline.

Fans of both singers are still having a field day defending their idols and popular music channel Hip TV has launched a poll on X in a bid to determine which musician has "won" the battle.

Wizkid and Davido are arguably two of Africa's biggest music stars. They have both won several MTV and BET music awards and have collaborated with international artists including Drake, Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

A joint force made up of troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger has killed a "major Islamic State commander" with a $5m (£4m) US bounty on his head, Mali state television has reported.

ORTM TV said Abu Huzeifa's killing was part of an operation that was carried out in a tri-border area between the three Sahel countries.

Huzeifa, a member of the Islamic State’s Sahel Province (ISGS) affiliate, was killed in the Malian region of Menaka on Sunday, the broadcaster said.

He had been linked to several high-profile militant raids in the area, including an attack in 2017 in which four US soldiers and a similar number of Nigerien troops were killed.

The US State Department had offered a $5m bounty, external for information on Huzeifa and his alleged role in that attack.

Malian social media users celebrated the operation, praising the regional troops for succeeding where Western forces "had failed".

ORTM TV said Huzeifa was a Moroccan national who first arrived in Mali in 2012 and married a local woman.

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are battling an Islamist insurgency, with groups linked to both IS and al-Qaeda killing thousands of people in the region over the past year.

Last month, the three countries' military governments said they would form a joint force to fight jihadists, months after forming a mutual defence pact.

Image source, EPA

The high court in Ghana's capital, Accra, has dismissed a bid to force the president to sign a tough anti-LGBT bill passed by parliament in February.

The bill imposes a jail term of up to three years for anyone identifying as LGBT and will intensify a crackdown on the community's rights.

Last month, President Nana Akufo-Addo's office said he would not make the bill law until the Supreme Court rules on its constitutionality, sparking a political row in the West African country.

The finance ministry has warned that the country could lose at least $3.8bn (£3bn) in World Bank funding if the controversial bill becomes law.

But several legislators and citizens are pressuring President Akufo-Addo to sign it.

On Monday, Justice Ellen Lordina Serwaa Mireku backed the presidency's argument in the High Court, ruling that it would be inappropriate to force Mr Akufo-Addo to sign the bill.

The proposed law faces two pending Supreme Court challenges, Reuters news agency reported.

The two challenges were filed separately by two Ghanaians - activist Amanda Odoi and lawyer Richard Dela Sky.

They are seeking to block the bill from becoming law.

The motion to compel Mr Akufo-Addo to sign the controversial bill was filed by MP Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor.

His lawyer said he would appeal against the ruling, local media reported.

Image source, Getty Images

South Africans and boxing fans are paying tribute to legendary boxer Dingaan Thobela, who died on Monday following an undisclosed illness.

He was aged 57.

The former world boxing champion was discovered dead at his apartment in Johannesburg after family members failed to get hold of him on the phone, a spokesperson told AFP news agency.

"When mobile phone calls to him went unanswered, we came to his flat, gained entry and discovered he had died," a relative said.

Thobela, who had been nicknamed "The Rose of Soweto" after the township he grew up in, was one of South Africa's most successful boxers.

He competed professionally from 1990 to 2006, winning three world titles in two weight divisions.

He had a record 40 wins out of the 56 fights he entered, 26 of which were knockouts.

"In the ring you dazzled us with your incredible speed, skill, devastating power, and tenacity," one user on social media platform X said.

"So many moments he gave us. Some memorable and some work of comedy," another said.

Shingai Nyoka
BBC News, Harare

Image source, Getty Images

Zimbabweans will start using fresh banknotes and coins on Tuesday as the country rolls out its third currency in a decade.

The currency, of which a digital version was launched earlier this month, is the latest attempt to control soaring inflation in the country.

But there are signs the Zimbabwe Gold, or ZiG, is already facing problems.

A digital version has lost a quarter of its value against the US dollar on the black market.

The ZiG is backed by gold and foreign currency reserves to help maintain its value, the central bank said.

The highest denomination of ZiG available is the 200 ZiG note, which is worth about $15.

Individuals will be allowed to withdraw a maximum of ZiG 3,000 and companies ZiG 30,000 per week, authorities said.

There are no limits of cash withdrawals for the parliament, courts and international organisations, local media reported.

Image source, AFP

Kenya's President William Ruto has called for a special cabinet meeting to discuss the ongoing flooding crisis in the country.

About 169 people have been killed in floods that have devastated Kenya over the last month, government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said, external.

He added that the death toll includes 45 people who died on early Monday morning after their villages were swept away near Mai Mahiu, about 60km (37 miles) from the capital, Nairobi. However, the Kenya Red Cross says 50 were killed in this incident.

In an interview with the BBC on Monday, President Ruto defended his government's flood response, following criticism from county governments that it was slow.

Mr Ruto said the cabinet meeting on Tuesday would discuss additional measures on flood mitigation.

Asked if there are immediate plans to declare the flooding a national disaster, President Ruto said his priority was to provide the required resources to the affected areas.

The government has delayed the opening of schools across the country with more rain expected, according to forecasters.

More than 130,000 people have been displaced by the floods, with many people taking shelter in schools.

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Kenya's capital, which sits on a floodplain, has not taken enough measures to mitigate against flooding.

China has taken big stakes in mines across the world extracting minerals vital to the green economy.

Painless and easier to store than injections, it remains early days for microneedle-patch technology.

Villagers were swept away as they slept after a tide of water crashed downstream.

Kenya's President William Ruto says that he will deploy 'every resource' to help tackle the flood emergency.