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Sex workers living with HIV in Uganda have stopped taking their medication because of a lack of food and income as restrictions have left them with no clients.

The government has been giving food aid to some of those who are most affected by the restrictions that have been in place for two months.

But Joelia Namiiro, an HIV sex worker, says she has had to make difficult choices to fee her family, which means defying the rules.

"You wake up in the morning and the children are crying that they are hungry; they didn’t have supper.

"Do you think you will just sit at home? You have to take risks, and leave the rest to God.

"I have been risking it, and going out to work, because I must feed my children. My children will not die because I am worried about catching Covid-19."

The 30-year-old mother of four has also stopped taking her anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs because she cannot take them on an empty stomach.

She feels the government has abandoned those living with other illnesses and focused on Covid-19.

According to official figures, HIV prevalence among sex workers is at 37% compared to a national average of just 5.7%.

Uganda has brought its HIV prevalence down by focusing on vulnerable groups like sex workers.

Dr Stephen Watiti, a renowned HIV campaigner, fears that the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic may reverse the gains made in the fight against HIV.

Several sex workers he has counselled in the past have reached out asking for support.

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Some say they have stopped taking their drugs, while others only take them when they have food.

"We tell our patients, that you must eat something, before you swallow medicine. And indeed, I’ve been on medicine for over 20 years now - ARVs. And if you don’t eat and then swallow, it hurts you," he says.

In the first two weeks of the lockdown in March, more than 100 sex workers were arrested by the police across the country, for going out to work, according to their association.

Most have since been released.

But for the women in the Bwaise suburb of the capital, Kampala, and elsewhere, arrest is the least of their worries. Many are ready to risk their lives.

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Three Zimbabwean opposition members charged with holding an illegal demonstration and violating coronavirus lockdown measures have each been released on a $40 (£32) bail.

The court hearing on Thursday was conducted in a hospital ward where the three are receiving treatment for injuries they say were as a result of torture by state agents.

The next court date would be on 13 August, their lawyers said in a statement.

On 13 May, MP Joana Mamombe and youth leaders Cecilia Chimbiri and Nestai Marova took part in a protest with other Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) youth members.

The demonstration called for an end to lockdown restrictions, according to the prosecution.

The women say they were arrested after the protests, then abducted from the police station.

They say they endured hours of torture, including sexual assault, before being left in another town.

The government says they staged their own abduction.

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Rwanda's High Court has sentenced a former mayor to life in prison for his role in the 1994 genocide.

Ladislas Ntaganzwa - who was arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo five years ago - was found guilty of personally leading a series of massacres of Tutsi civilians, including an attack on a church where thousands had taken shelter.

The former mayor of southern Nyakizu was also accused of orchestrating the rape of many women.

Earlier this month, investigators tracking genocide suspects had a major breakthrough when the alleged financier of the genocide, Félicien Kabuga, was arrested in France.

He is due to be tried at a tribunal in Tanzania.

It emerged last week that another top suspect, former Defence Minister Augustin Bizimana, had actually been dead for several years.

You may also be interested in:

• How Félicien Kabuga evaded capture for 26 years
• Rwanda's 100 days of slaughter

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The board of the African Development Bank (AfDB) says it has not asked the president of Africa’s largest multilateral lender, Akinwumi Adesina, to step down.

It said it was treating allegations levelled against Mr Adesina with the seriousness they deserved.

The US had rejected the findings of a probe made into allegations of nepotism - the bank’s ethics committee had exonerated Mr Adesina.

Niale Kaba, the bank's board chairperson, said there was no governance or constitutional crisis at the AfDB.

Mr Adesina is accused by a group of whistle-blowers of appointing relatives to strategic positions at the bank as well as giving contracts to acquaintances. He denies any wrongdoing.

The US holds a 6.5% stake in the bank, the second-largest shareholding after Nigeria.

Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland - who are also shareholders - have also written to the Abidjan-based lender backing calls for an independent probe.

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Nigeria's information minister has said the country is yet to receive ventilators promised by US President Donald Trump in April.

Lai Mohammed has denied Mr Trump's remarks made last week that he had sent 1,000 ventilators to the West African country.

Mr Mohammed said that if the consignment had arrived, it would be announced publicly.

President Trump made the promise during a telephone call with President Muhammadu Buhari on 28 April.

He said the US was committed to helping Nigeria's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, during a tour of the Ford motor plant in Michigan, Mr Trump said the US had just sent 1,000 ventilators to Nigeria.

Nigeria has so far recorded 8,915 coronavirus cases, including 259 deaths.

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The wife of Nigeria's Kaduna state governor is under criticism for not using her influence to speak out against last week killings in the southern part of the state.

Hadiza Isma el-Rufai tweeted that although she was married to the governor, Nasiru el-Rufai, she had taken no oath of office and was not a "first lady".

About 14 people were killed by gunmen in a village in the state last week - the latest of a series of attacks that have left dozens dead this year.

The topic began trending on Twitter in Nigeria on Wednesday when the governor's wife celebrated the fact that she now had 80,000 followers.

She was then questioned by some about why she did not use her influence on Twitter to call for an end to the killings.

She replied with a tweet that has been shared widely, saying she uses the social media platform for "language, humour and other light-hearted issues".

"I don't tweet about serious matters like governance and politics. Though I'm married to a governor I'm not part of government."

Here are some of the reactions she received:

"So, everyone speaking up swore an oath or are related to the government! What happened to humanity? What happened to caring for others... What happened to a mother's heart... What happened to being a citizen of this country Sorry, but its a pity!" Chineze tweeted.

“'Though I’m married to a governor I’m not part of a government'... But did u campaign for your husband to win the election ma? And when you were doing that what exactly was at the back of your mind?" Praise tweeted.

"She has her opinion about the killings in southern Kaduna and I'm sure she is not happy about the loss of lives and if she chooses not to share what she feels with you on social media it is her right," Tijjani Ibrahim tweeted.

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Amnesty International has accused Ethiopia's military of extrajudicial killings, mass detentions and torture.

It has released a report that documents crimes allegedly committed by soldiers throughout 2019, the same year Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reform the country.

Amnesty says the army executed 39 people in Oromia state since January 2019 - the victims included four members of the same family.

It says the killings were carried out by forces from an military command post created to combat the Oromo Liberation Army - a rebel group operating in the region.

The report also details mass arrests and re-education programmes for suspected supporters of the armed group.

Amnesty has also documented the alleged role of security forces in inter-communal violence in the north-western Amhara state.

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It says at least 130 people were killed in January 2019 in inter-communal clashes between the Amhara and Qimant communities.

• Read: Abiy Ahmed's reforms in Ethiopia lift the lid on ethnic tensions

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South Africa's firebrand opposition politician Julius Malema has urged people not to fall for the "trap" of going to church, saying they will die after contracting coronavirus.

Places of worship are set to reopen from 1 June after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced easing of lockdown restrictions to level three - but only 50 or less people will be allowed inside at any time.

On Thursday, Mr Malema said the reopening of churches would expose worshippers to infections and urged religious leaders to keep them closed if they cared about the well-being of their people.

He advised members of his Economic Freedom Fighters party not to attend worship, saying "it's a set-up".

He said restaurants had better hygiene practices but remained closed and so worship places should not reopen.

Here is part of his speech at a media briefing:

• Read: South Africans start to doubt tough lockdown

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The chairperson of the African Union, Cyril Ramaphosa, has said the coronavirus pandemic is a major threat to developing countries' efforts to meet their development goals - which include targets on education, health and eradicating poverty.

Addressing a UN meeting on how to handle the pandemic's economic fallout, the South African president repeated a call for debts to be halted for a period of two years and for debt relief.

Last month the G20 group of leading economies, including China, offered to suspend bilateral debt payments by dozens of the world's poorest countries for the rest of the year.

At the same meeting the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on commercial creditors to join debt relief efforts.

• Read: Coronavirus in Africa tracker