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The court of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) has ordered the suspension of its sanctions against Mali, pending a "detailed" court ruling, the body's spokesperson said.

In January, the organisation instructed the suspension of all financial institutions under its wing in Mali, after its ruling military junta decided to delay elections meant to restore civilian rule after coups in 2020 and 2021.

A month ago the military junta, which had repeatedly asked for the sanctions to be lifted, filed a complaint with the UEMOA Court of Justice to overturn the decision.

According to the interim government, the sanctions had severe consequences for the population, with Bamako blaming them for debt defaults worth $180m (£136m) since January.

The court's ruling does not apply to sanctions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).

The regional bloc, which is organising an extraordinary summit on the situation in Mali on Friday, froze Malian state assets, and suspended non-essential financial transactions.

Mali's military leader Col Assimi Goïta is invited to take part in the meeting but has not confirmed his attendance yet.

The Islamist militant attacks reported in the Nangade district in the northern province of Cabo Delgado have already displaced around 24,000 people since the beginning of the year, according to a press release from the United Nations refugee agency.

Another 5,000 people sought protection in the district of Mueda, with hundreds of families still on the move, the UNHCR said.

“The number of people arriving in Mueda continues to increase, as the threat of violence remains,” the press release stated.

It also warned that the reception centres were overcrowded.

"These people need urgent humanitarian assistance and protection services," UNHRC said, highlighting the psychological trauma experienced by the displaced people, including witnessing murders, beheadings and dismemberment of people’s bodies, sexual violence, kidnappings, forced recruitment and torture.

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

Marik, a 22-year-old Morrocan studying in the Ukrainian town of Zaporizhzhia, remembers getting a call from a friend in Dnipro at 05:00 on 25 February.

"She said: 'There are some lights in the sky, maybe the invasion has begun'. I said: 'Stop joking, that's impossible, it's not'."

Minutes later, he saw on Telegram that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the start of the attack.

Within an hour he had thrown his belongings together and boarded a train to Lviv.

Once in western Ukraine, a friend drove them as close as possible to the border before traffic forced him to turn back. Marik and his friends walked the last 24 miles (40km) overnight to the frontier with Poland.

There, officials put the international students in one line and fleeing Ukrainian women and children in another.

"It was like hell," he said. "We slept in the queue, standing. People made fires, it was so cold."

After three days in line, he finally crossed into Poland.

Now in Krakow, Marik says he will wait in the city in the hope the war ends quickly. If it does not, he'll go back to his hometown of Oudja in eastern Morocco.

But the medical student is keeping busy. His university has kept classes going online, despite the war.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Marik, a 22-year-old Moroccan studying in Zaporizhzhia, south-eastern Ukraine, remembers getting a call from a friend in Dnipro at 05:00 on 24 February.

"She called and said: 'There are some lights in the sky, maybe the invasion has begun.' I said: 'Stop joking, that's impossible, it's not.'" Minutes later, he saw on Telegram that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the start of the attack.

Within an hour, he had thrown his belongings together and boarded a train to Lviv in the west. Marik shows me dozens of videos of him and his fellow students on the 22-hour trip across the country.

Once in western Ukraine, a friend drove them as close to the border with Poland before traffic forced him to turn back. Marik and his friends walked the last 40km (25 miles) overnight to the frontier.

There, officials put the international students in one line and fleeing Ukrainian women and children in another.

Quote Message: It was like hell. We slept in the queue, standing. People made fires, it was so cold.

It was like hell. We slept in the queue, standing. People made fires, it was so cold.

After three days in line, he finally crossed into Poland.

Now in Krakow, Marik says he will wait in the city in the hope the war ends quickly. If it does not, he'll go back to his hometown of Oudja in eastern Morocco.

But the medical student is keeping busy. His university has kept classes going online, despite the war.

"Because Ukraine is so strong," he says. "We have a war, but we study!"

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A well-known Nollywood actor has addressed rumours reportedly circulated online that he had died, by cursing the person behind the gossip.

Speaking on Instagram Kanayo O Kanayo warned: "You will not live past the next seven days. You've got the wrong guy."

He said before people start rumours about famous people, they should think about the impact on their families.

"Do most people think that Nollywood actors or entertainers or popular people don't have families? What kind of life do they think we live? Somebody wakes up, compiles three, four, five pictures, and puts RIP," he said.

"My life has never been in anybody's hand. I want to thank all friends who have called since morning. I don't even have fever," he continued.

He concluded the video by thanking fans for their kindness.

Kanayo O Kanayo is a veteran in the industry and has featured in hundreds of movies over 30 years, according to Nigeria's Pulse news website.

More than 30 people were killed in twin jihadist attacks on Wednesday evening, police in central Somalia say.

The police chief for the Beledwyne district, Colonel Isak Ali Abdulle, told state television that the first attack used a suicide bomber, killing the local MP Amina Mohamed Abdi and several of her guards.

The second came from an explosive-laden vehicle, detonating a blast so powerful it destroyed a hospital and businesses nearby, causing mass casualties.

It followed an earlier assault on the international airport outside the capital, Mogadishu, in which eight people including five foreigners died.

The al-Shabab militant group has said it carried out both attacks.

There's been a recent increase in al-Shabab attacks as Somalis vote in parliamentary elections.

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Tanzania has explained why it is not taking sides in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and is calling for peace talks to bring the war to an end.

It comes a day after a delegation of European Union ambassadors in Tanzania called on the country and other African countries to raise their voices against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Tanzania's stance is echoed by its decision not to vote on a UN General Assembly resolution adopted earlier this month, calling on Russia to immediately suspend its attacks on Ukraine and withdraw its troops from the country.

Liberata Mulamula, Tanzania’s foreign minister, says Tanzania does not support war and believes that best way forward is to promote peace talks through diplomatic means.

“We are against wars, but we decided to be neutral. We stand by our policies and specifically our foreign policy which is clear that we can’t align with any party, especially in a situation like this,” she further said.

Ethiopia's armed forces killed more than 50 civilians in an air strike in the northern region of Tigray in January, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.

50 others were injured when a drone dropped bombs on a school compound housing thousands of people displaced by fighting, it added.

Most of the victims were women, children and elderly people sleeping in makeshift tents.

It also accuses Ethiopia of committing a war crime because there were no military targets in the area.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Liberia’s House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bill requiring mothers to breastfeed their children for at least six months.

The bill also seeks to regulate marketing of substitutes for breast milk to avoid the import and sale of substances that might affect infants and young children.

MPs said the bill was designed to “nurture a strong relationship between a mother and child,” according to the Liberian Observer website.

The bill was pushed by Rivercess Country District Representative Byron Zahwea.

It needs to be passed by the Senate before it becomes law.

In 2020, Unicef reported that five out of every 10 babies in Liberia receive plain water, other liquids, and foods in addition to breastmilk during their first six months of life, contributing to child malnutrition, illnesses and even death.

The report said that it costs Liberia $200,000 (£152,000) annually to treat children with diarrhoea and pneumonia, and type II diabetes in mothers that visit health facilities due to inadequate breastfeeding.

The World Health Organization and Unicef recommend that children initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life.

A Nigerian soldier said to have been under the influence of drugs killed at least three civilians and injured 13 others during a mass shooting.

The incident happened on Wednesday in the main square of Mafa town in the north-eastern Borno state.

Eyewitnesses said the fatalities included a three year-old girl, while 13 others sustained gunshot wounds and were receiving treatment at a hospital.

The soldier is among troops on the frontline fighting jihadist insurgents in the region.

Reports say the soldier was eventually disarmed and arrested by military authorities.

Security experts say such killings occur when soldiers suffer post-traumatic stress disorder due to long-time exposure to battles at the frontline, without constant psychological evaluation.

The Nigerian army is yet to react to the incident.

Jemila Ebrahim / WHOCopyright: Jemila Ebrahim / WHO

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has sacked the country’s health minister, according to a decree announced by state media on Wednesday night.

No reasons were given for the firing of Elizabeth Acuei Yol.

She is the first cabinet minister from the party of the First Vice-President Riek Machar, the Sudan People’s Liberation in Opposition (SPLM-IO), to be dismissed from the unity government.

President Kiir and Mr Machar formed the unity government in February 2020 after sealing a peace deal aimed at ending six years of civil war.

During her tenure, Ms Acuei was praised by health partners for the country's response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

But she also faced criticisms for her handling of the ministry's affairs, which saw her booed by MPs in December during a presentation in parliament.

The MPs urged Mr Machar to recommend for her dismissal over what they described as incompetence.

At least 15 people, including a female member of the Somali federal parliament, were killed in two suicide bombings in Beledweyne town in central Somalia.

Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble has termed the killing of Amina Mohamed Abdi “an assassination”.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has tweeted a message of condolence:

Other victims included former MP Hassan Dhuhul and Somali soldiers.

Local media reports suggest the death toll could be higher.

The Somali National TV has tweeted pictures of the victims killed in the attack.

The suicide bombings in Beledweyne occurred hours after al-Qaeda allied militants killed at least eight people, including five foreign nationals, in an assault on the Halane Camp, a fortified airport complex that houses UN offices and foreign missions.

Al-Shabab has said it was behind the attacks in Mogadishu and central Beledweyne.

The militants intensified attacks across Somalia as the Horn of Africa nation conducts much-delayed elections.