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  1. Dozens killed in South Africa bus crash

    Forty-five people have been killed in South Africa after the bus they were travelling in crashed, the authorities say.

    One eight-year-old child is reported to have survived.

    The bus crashed through a barrier and plunged into a ravine before catching fire in Limpopo province in the north-east of the country, local media are saying.

    There are reports that the passengers had been travelling from Botswana on a pilgrimage to attend an Easter service in South Africa.

    Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga went to scene of the accident.

    "I am sending my heartfelt condolences to the families affected by the tragic bus crash... Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time. We continue to urge responsible driving at all times with heightened alertness as more people are on our roads this Easter weekend,” she said.

  2. Scroll down for this week's stories

    We're back on Tuesday

    That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for this week - we're back after the break on Tuesday.

    In the meantime you can listen to the our Focus on Africa podcast here and our Africa daily podcast here.

    A reminder of Thursday's wise words:

    Quote Message: The forest yields when you are tired." from A Shona proverb sent by Kudzai Makomva in Harare, Zimbabwe
    A Shona proverb sent by Kudzai Makomva in Harare, Zimbabwe

    Click here to send us your African proverbs.

    And we leave you with this picture of the Safari Rally currently taking place in Kenya:

    Rallying - World Rally Championship - Safari Rally Kenya - March 28, 2024
  3. A fortnight of waiting and praying

    Janet Ball

    BBC Africa Daily podcast

    Empty classroom
    Image caption: The kidnapping in Kuriga left an empty school behind

    It's every parent’s nightmare.

    Dahiru Abdulahi’s 16 year-old daughter, and 20 other children from his extended family, went to school earlier this month, as they did every day, but then they didn’t come home.

    Mr Abdulahi was working at the school in Kuriga in the north-west of Nigeria when armed men arrived on motorbikes, surrounded the children at assembly time and took them and their teacher away.

    “A bandit ran after my daughter, she beat him with her elbow, but another bandit grabbed her hijab and took her to his motorbike," he told the BBC's Africa Daily podcast.

    The teacher, Abubakar Issa, died in captivity. It’s reported he was shot in the leg.

    Mr Abdulahi described the panic which followed the abduction of more than 130 children:

    Quote Message: "When they invaded the school they shot randomly. All the students, all the children running without knowing where they were going.
    Quote Message: All the parents come out en masse, seeking to know the direction their children were going. We felt disappointed. We cry and cry. All the parents, crying and crying, everywhere in the town.”

    What followed was more than a fortnight of waiting and praying.

    Nigerian President Bola Tinubu took a tough line, saying there would be no ransom paid despite the kidnappers calling and demanding $690,000 (£548,000).

    The government is desperate to stamp out kidnap-for-ransom, which has become lucrative for the so-called bandits who plague the country.

    This month alone, there have been six mass abductions in the north of the country – with many including children.

    But Mr Abdulahi and his community have been lucky.

    Unlike after many kidnappings, on Sunday the parents finally had cause for celebration: video footage was released of all 137 children being bussed to safety and meeting senior government officials.

    After seeing a photograph of his daughter shaking hands with the state governor on social media he celebrated that she was at least safe.

    He also said that she will continue to go to school because she wants to become a doctor. "She will not be discouraged. I will assist her and guide her to further education," he said.

    You can listen to the Africa Daily episode here.

    Read more on the kidnapping:

  4. South Africa's ex-President Zuma barred from election

    Jacob Zuma
    Image caption: Ex-President Zuma has been campaigning for the MK party

    South Africa's former President Jacob Zuma has been barred from running in May's general election, the country's electoral commission (IEC) has said.

    Mr Zuma's backing of the new uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party has been seen as a possible threat to the governing African National Congress (ANC).

    The former president, who served from 2009 to 2018, has been suspended by the ANC.

    His was the first name on the MK's candidate list, but the IEC received objections to him potentially becoming a member of the National Assembly.

    "In the case of former President Zuma, yes, we did receive an objection, which has been upheld," IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya is quoted by News24 as telling a press conference.

    Mr Zuma received a 15-month prison sentence in 2021 for contempt of court and the constitution says anyone who has had a prison sentence of longer than 12 months is not eligible to run for election.

    The IEC said that the ruling did not prevent the MK party from taking part in the 29 May poll, News24 reports.

    For the first time since the start of the democratic era in 1994, the ANC's vote share could fall below 50%, according to several opinion polls. The MK party is seen as popular in Mr Zuma's home region of KwaZulu-Natal.

    Read more on South Africa's election:

  5. Power blackout hits much of Ethiopia

    Kalkidan Yibeltal

    BBC News, Addis Ababa

    Ethiopia’s state-run power company has said large portions of the country have been hit by an electricity blackout due to “issues in our system”.

    Ethiopian Electric Power did not disclose exactly what those issues were but said in a post on its Facebook page that it was investigating what prompted the outage.

    All parts of the country, except Bahir Dar, a city in the north-west, and its surrounding area, have experienced the power problem which began around 15:40 local time (12:40 GMT).

    In a separate statement, the company said it had begun restoring power in the capital, Addis Ababa, and some other parts of the country hours after the problem occurred.

  6. Mozambique approves extradition treaty with Rwanda

    Will Ross & Jose Tembe

    BBC News

    The Mozambican parliament has ratified an extradition agreement with Rwanda despite concerns it could be used against critics of Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

    Mozambican opposition MPs voted against the deal saying it could enable political persecution.

    Mozambique's Bar Association expressed the same concern.

    The Rwandan authorities have been accused of targeting critics in several countries across Africa, including Mozambique. This is denied by Rwanda.

    The two countries have a close relationship, with Rwandan troops deployed in northern Mozambique to help fight Islamist militants.

    Several thousand Rwandans who fled the 1994 genocide live in exile in Mozambique.

  7. Russian warship docks in Eritrea port

    Tesfalem Araia

    BBC Tigrinya

    Two navy men talking to each other

    In a rare visit, a Russian navy warship has arrived at Eritrea's main Red Sea port of Massawa, amid tension in the region caused by Iran-backed Houthi militants.

    Senior Eritrean military chiefs and officials were there to welcome the ship, the Marshal Shaposhinkov, as it docked on Thursday,

    Russia's ambassador to Eritrea was also present.

    According to Eritrea’s Minister of Information Yemane Gebre Meskel, the frigate belongs to Russia’s Pacific Fleet.

    He said, in a post on X, that it was there to mark the "30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Russia and Eritrea”.

    A US naval task force is deployed in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to protect commercial and military ships sailing up and down the vital trade route from Houthi attacks.

    Eritrea has always viewed Western military presence in the region with suspicion. The Horn of Africa nation has recently forged closer ties with Moscow.

    The Houthis, who control northern Yemen, have been attacking ships passing through the Red Sea in response to the war in Gaza. The militants are part of the "axis of resistance" against Israel.

    Despite Houthi claims that they only target ships connected to Israel, they appear to have been attacking other vessels with no links to the country.

    In January, US and British warships began striking Houthi targets in retaliation to missile and drone launches by the militants.

  8. Harmful practices continue to hold girls back - Jewel Taylor

    Moses Kollie Garzeawu

    Journalist, Monrovia

    Jewel Talor
    Image caption: Ex-Vice-President Jewel Taylor hopes the young people at the meeting can be inspired to make changes at home

    Poverty, early pregnancy and harmful cultural practices are hindering the progress of young women in West Africa, Liberia’s former Vice-President Jewel Howard Taylor has said.

    She was speaking at the opening of the West Africa Adolescent Girls Summit in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, which has brought together 200 adolescent girls and boys from across the region, as well as government officials.

    Mrs Taylor acknowledged that some gains had been made but said she hoped the young participants would be inspired and help create change in their home communities.

    Young people can sometimes be excluded from decision-making processes because they are seen as inexperienced, apathetic, or incapable of contributing meaningfully to discussions, Ame Atsu David, regional co-director for Africa at the Global Fund for Children, told the BBC.

    In a video address recorded for the summit, former Nigerian First Lady Aisha Buhari also outlined that there are enormous challenges facing young women and girls due to traditional religious norms.

    She told the gathering that “religious misconceptions” had further hindered girls’ access to formal education, relegating them to domestic duties.

  9. Rwanda receives second group of asylum seekers in a week

    A UNHCR worker attends to an asylum seeker being sent from Libya to Rwanda
    Image caption: More than 2,200 refugees and asylum seekers have arrived in Rwanda from Libya since 2019

    Rwanda has received 57 Eritrean and 35 Sudanese asylum seekers, days after 91 other refugees and asylum seekers arrived in the country from Libya.

    The 183 refugees and asylum seekers will remain in Rwanda pending the processing of their resettlement applications, the UN's refugee agency said on Wednesday.

    The arrivals are part of a programme supported by the UN's refugee agency, African Union and European Union.

    Since 2019, the programme has sent more than 2,200 refugees and asylum seekers of various nationalities from Libya to Rwanda. Over 1,600 of them have been resettled in the US and across Europe.

    The latest arrival of the refugees and asylum seekers in Rwanda comes as the UK attempts to pass new legislation that would allow it to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

    The UK Supreme Court had earlier quashed the plan, terming it unlawful.

  10. SA power sector causes severe pollution problems - report

    he Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. Arnot coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga, South Africa, on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023
    Image caption: South Africa is looking to move away from its reliance on coal to renewable sources of energy

    Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt suffer the highest levels of air pollution in Africa, environmental NGO Greenpeace said in a new report.

    The high air pollution levels have propelled the three countries to record most of the continent's nearly one million annual air pollution-related deaths, the report added.

    "Exposure to air pollution is the second leading risk factor for death in Africa," the report added.

    South Africa has especially been singled out as the leading air polluter in Africa and one of the countries with the highest air pollution-linked health risks.

    It hosts two of the world’s largest and six of Africa's biggest nitrogen dioxide emission hotspots.

    Four of the country's thermal power stations, which are run by state power provider Eskom, are among the world's 10 largest sulphur dioxide emission points.

    The report also provides accounts detailing the challenges faced by communities that have been most hit by air pollution on the continent.

    "The pollution from coal plants like those operated by Sasol in our region has not only tarnished our health, leading to failed health assessments and chronic diseases... but it has also clouded our future, leaving us jobless as companies opt to hire from outside, citing our unfitness for work, " Fana Sibanyoni, an activist from the coal-rich Mpumalanga province.

    The region's multiple coal mines and coal-fired power stations have been linked to extreme air pollution levels.

  11. Burkina Faso junta extends anti-jihadist emergency measures

    Will Ross

    Africa editor, BBC World Service

    The military rulers in Burkina Faso have decided to extend by a year a string of emergency measures aimed at combating jihadist violence.

    The original decree stipulated that everyone over the age of 18 who was physically fit could be called up.

    It also said people's rights and freedoms could be curbed and it legalised the setting up of local defence groups.

    Correspondents say there have been cases where critics of Burkina Faso's military rulers have been abducted and forcefully recruited to help in the fight against the Islamist militants.

    Since 2015 more than two million people have been displaced by the jihadist violence.

    Read more on this story:

  12. Deadly cyclone hits northern Madagascar

    Cyclone over Madagascar

    A cyclone that hit northern Madagascar on Wednesday has left at least six people dead and forced 2,000 out of their homes.

    Local news reports say that “flooding caused significant damage” with roads and bridges affected.

    The AFP news agency, citing the disaster management authority (BNGRC), puts the death toll from cyclone Gamane at 11.

    It reports that six of the victims drowned, while the others died after being hit by falling trees or collapsing houses.

    "It's rare to have a cyclone like this. Its movement is nearly stationary," Gen Elack Andriakaja, BNGRC director-general is quoted by AFP as saying.

    "When the system stops in one place, it devastates all the infrastructure. And that has serious consequences for the population. And significant flooding.”

  13. French MPs condemn 1961 massacre of Algerians in Paris

    People standing around a plaque
    Image caption: A commemorative plate dedicated to the victims of the massacre was unveiled in 2019 on the banks of the Seine

    The French National Assembly has overwhelmingly approved a resolution condemning the 1961 Paris massacre of Algerians.

    Some historians say up to 300 protesters were killed when police broke up a demonstration in support of Algerian independence.

    Some were beaten to death, others drowned in the River Seine.

    The resolution also calls for an official day of commemoration.

    The massacre happened in the context of the Algeria's independence war.

    The police prefect in charge, Maurice Papon, was later convicted of crimes against humanity for collaborating with the Nazis.

    Read more on this story:

  14. Ugandans urged to give honest responses in census

    Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has urged citizens to make themselves available for the country's census in May and to be truthful when asked the census questions.

    "When data collectors come to your homes during the census, please... provide them with honest answers to their questions," President Museveni posted on X.

    "This is in order to enable them [to] process the most accurate information about you, your household, institutions and community," Mr Museveni said, adding that accurate responses will enable the government to accurately plan the delivery of public services.

    Uganda is set to hold the census between 10 and 19 May. It is the sixth census in the country's history and the first that will be done digitally.

    The exercise was postponed from the initially scheduled date in August last year due to financial challenges, amid international funding cuts linked to Uganda's controversial anti-homosexuality law.

    It is budgeted to cost 134bn Ugandan shillings ($34m; £27m).

    Uganda's last census in 2014 placed the population at 36 million.

    The state statistics agency estimates that the population has grown by more than 30% since then, and now surpasses 45 million.

  15. Tinubu forms team to find solutions to ailing economy

    Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu arrives for the Compact with Africa (CwA) conference at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, 20 November 2023.
    Image caption: Nigeria is going through tough economic times with wages not keeping up with food and fuel price increases

    Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has formed a taskforce to come up with emergency solutions to try and fix the country's ailing economy.

    The prices of food and fuel have shot up but many are struggling as their wages are not keeping up with the changes.

    The severe economic difficulties have led to widespread hardship and mounted pressure on Mr Tinubu's administration.

    Some have pointed to the government's dropping of the fuel subsidy and allowing the currency, the naira, to devalue as being among the causes of the problems. But the authorities have argued that reforming the economy is essential for the future of the country.

    The president has directed the team to "submit a comprehensive plan of economic interventions" within two weeks, which will then be implemented over the next six months.

    The taskforce is made up of key government officials and industry leaders.

    The president also established the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC) - which he will chair - to oversee the economic reforms.

    Read more:

  16. CAR opposition leader sentenced for defamation

    Richard Hamilton

    BBC World Service newsroom

    Crepin Mboli-Goumba
    Image caption: Crepin Goumba was arrested earlier this month after accusing magistrates of corruption

    One of the main opposition leaders in the Central African Republic has been given a one-year suspended prison sentence for defamation and contempt of court.

    Crepin Mboli Goumba, a lawyer and coordinator for the opposition group BRDC, was arrested earlier this month after accusing magistrates of corruption.

    He was ordered to pay a fine of around $130,000 (£105,000). Prosecutors had sought a one-year jail term for him. His lawyers said they would appeal against the sentencing, AFP news agency reported.

    Human Rights Watch has accused President Faustin Archange Touadera's regime of repressing civil society, media and opposition parties.