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Mali has opened investigations into the attempted knife attack on interim leader Assimi Goita inside a mosque during Eid al-Adha festivities.

Prosecutor Bourama Kariba Konate said an inquiry been opened "to shed light on this event".

Colonel Goita had said he was doing "very well" and downplayed the significance of the assault.

Police made arrests at the Grand Mosque where the leader was attending the Muslim ceremony when animals are slaughtered to celebrate Prophet Ibrahim's sacrifice.

Colonel Goita has led two coups in less than a year - the first one being in August 2020, which ousted President Ibrahim Keita.

The second coup was in May 2021 when the interim leader Bah Ndaw was ousted.

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Former South African president Jacob Zuma has been granted permission to attend the burial of his younger brother, Michael, who is set to be buried on Thursday afternoon.

"As a short-term, low risk classified inmate, Mr Zuma’s application for compassionate leave was processed and approved," Correctional Services department spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo, said on Thursday.

Mr Zuma does not have to wear prison uniform while on the “compassionate leave”, with Mr Nxumalo noting that inmates need not be in uniform when out of jail.

The former president is currently serving a 15-month sentence in prison for contempt of court.

His jailing sparked unrest in his home province KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng - where more than 200 people died and hundreds of shopping centres and businesses were ransacked.

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Heavy fighting in Ethiopia's Afar region has continued for the last four days causing thousands of people to flee their homes, reports say.

More than eight months of conflict between pro government forces and fighters loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) recently spread to Afar.

Residents there have told the BBC of many civilian casualties.

A TPLF spokesperson has denied targeting civilians in Afar.

The Ethiopian military says it has been successful against the rebels there.

It's impossible to independently verify these reports.

On Sunday a UN humanitarian convoy was attacked in the same region - further undermining efforts to reach hundreds of thousands of people at risk of famine in Tigray.

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The death toll in South Africa from the violence that followed the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma has risen to 276.

Thousands of businesses were looted in the riots that mainly affected the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

It was a level of violence unprecedented in post-apartheid South Africa.

Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a minister in the president's office, said 234 people had died in KwaZulu-Natal and another 42 in Gauteng.

The unrest has now largely subsided following the deployment of 25,000 soldiers.

Police were carrying out "mopping-up operations to ensure opportunistic and copycat activities do not find traction", the AFP news agency quotes Ms Ntshavheni as saying.

A former DJ appeared in court on Wednesday on charges of inciting the violence - he is one of about a dozen people prosecutors believe instigated the unrest.

Several thousand others have been arrested for looting.

With teenage pregnancies on the rise in Zimbabwe, rights groups are pushing for schoolgirls to be able to obtain contraceptives without parental consent.

Florence Mutake, from the Shamiri Yemwanasiana, told the BBC's Newsday programme that the government's vice-president had rejected the proposal put forward by some MPs on "cultural and moral" grounds.

But she said it was an issue that needed to be addressed as more than 5,000 girls had become pregnant during the coronavirus pandemic - 2,000 of them aged below 16.

Schools closed for many months to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

"Girls are experimenting with sexual activities exposing them to unwanted pregnancies," Ms Mutake said.

"We are seeing more and more girls spending time at home with nothing to do."

Zimbabwean girls are allowed to get married aged 18 and 16 is the age of sexual consent.

The recent deal to make Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccines in South Africa is welcome but not enough to help the huge shortfall of jabs in poorer countries, the charity Oxfam says.

"To date, Pfizer have sold over 90% of their vaccines to rich nations only, while doctors and nurses are dying daily all over the developing world,” said Oxfam’s Robbie Silverman, who is also spokesperson for the People’s Vaccine Alliance.

Under the agreement announced on Wednesday, Biovac, which is based in Cape Town, is scheduled to start supplying vaccines to the market by the end of the year. It aims to produce 100 million doses annually.

“Africa is facing a shortfall of hundreds of millions of vaccines now, “Mr Silverman said.

“This also proves that the argument pharmaceutical companies have consistently made about developing countries not having the capacity or skills to be able to make vaccines is a myth.“Charity and largely symbolic measures by corporations will not deliver vaccines for everyone, everywhere.

"Only by sharing the technology and dramatically increasing manufacturing around the world, will we be able to finally gain the upper hand on the pandemic.”

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A well-known former radio DJ in South Africa has been denied bail after appearing in court on charges of inciting violence that followed the jailing of ex-President Jacob Zuma.

In a video on social media, Ngizwe Mchunu - a staunch supporter of Mr Zuma - called for the former president to be released.

Mr Mchunu has denied intending to create unrest.

Prosecutors say he is one of about a dozen key instigators of the violence that left more than 200 people dead and thousands of businesses looted.

Mr Zuma is serving 15 months in prison for contempt of court.

Meanwhile South Africa's transport minister has denied the looting was a result of failures by the government to address economic problems.

In an interview with BBC HardTalk, Fikile Mbalula described the disturbances as a well-orchestrated attempted coup.

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Tunisia's president has said that the military health department will take over management of the coronavirus crisis.

The country's intensive care wards are filling up and doctors are struggling to cope with a surge in cases and deaths.

President Kais Saied's announcement comes amid tensions in government over the handling of the pandemic.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi sacked Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi, who is an ally of the president.

"There's an extraordinary level of dysfunction at the head of the health ministry," Mr Mechichi said.

He accused Mr Mehdi of making "criminal" decisions that led to chaotic and violent scenes at vaccination centres when he opened them up over the Muslim holiday of Eid to those aged 18 and over.

But President Saied said that problems at the centres were orchestrated by people within the political system.

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An overloaded boat carrying food aid off northern Mozambique has capsized killing at least 12 people.

It was travelling between the costal city of Pemba and the island of Ibo off Cabo Delgado province, where an Islamist militant insurgency over the last four years has left thousands dead.

More than 30,000 people are estimated to have fled the mainland for refuge on the small Indian Ocean island.

Local marine official Tauacale Avelino told reporters the boat had been carrying 26 people and four tonnes of aid from the UN World Food Programme when it sank on Tuesday.

He urged boat owners to comply with safety regulations.

Read more: 'We fled to an island after Mozambique attack'

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South Africa's transport minister has denied that the recent week-long unrest was a result of failures of the government to address economic challenges.

Speaking to the BBC’s Hardtalk, Fikile Mbalula instead blamed an attempted insurrection.

More than 200 people died and thousands have been arrested for theft and public violence after hundreds of shopping centres and businesses were ransacked.

The protests followed the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma on contempt charges.

It is South Africa’s deepest political crisis since apartheid.

While Mr Mbalula acknowledged that the security forces were slow to quell the violence, he said that the unrest was a well-orchestrated attempted coup. He blamed - without evidence - former liberation war comrades.

Analysts say the protests were a result of the ever-widening gap between rich and the poor, and pent up frustration at high unemployment and policy failures.

Mr Mbalula denied that the government has failed, adding that the governing African National Congress (ANC) had had just 27 years to erase the effects of 300 years of colonial oppression.

Watch Mr Mbalula on Hardtalk:

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Algeria has set up an emergency committee to deal with the country’s chronic oxygen shortage.

The North African nation is not able to produce enough to meet the growing demand from hospitals dealing with a spike in coronavirus infections.

Health Minister Abderahmane Benbouzid said the crisis committee would oversee supplies to hospitals and health facilities nationwide.

He also gave instructions for hotels in larger cities to be used for patients needing oxygen treatment.

In the last 24 hours, 1,298 new cases and 23 deaths from coronavirus have been registered.

Algeria has started its vaccine rollout - about 3% of the population of 45 million have had one so far, either the Chinese Sinopharm or Russia’s Sputnik vaccine.

There are plans to start producing these two vaccines locally by September.

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The makers of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine say they have found a South African partner to manufacture their jab locally.

Under the agreement, Biovac, which is based in Cape Town, will be supplied with the ingredients from facilities in Europe.

It will complete the last step in the manufacturing process, known as "fill and finish".

Aspen Pharmacare - also in South Africa - has struck a similar arrangement with Johnson & Johnson to produce its single-shot vaccine.

Biovac is scheduled to start supplying vaccines to the market by the end of the year. It aims to produce 100 million doses annually.

This agreement is good news but on its own won’t solve the continent's supply crisis.

Only 2% of people in Africa have been vaccinated and infections are soaring.

You may also be interested in:

• Covid vaccine gap: How South Africa hopes to bridge the divide

• Covid in Namibia: 'Fifteen of my relatives have died'

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Zambia’s Copper Queens have lost 10-3 in their Olympic debut, to European champions the Netherlands.

But 104th-ranked Zambia did put up a fight at the Miyagi Stadium - with captain Barbra Banda scoring an impressive hat-trick

For the Netherlands, Arsenal striker Vivianne Miedema scored four goals, while ex-Gunners team-mate Danielle van de Donk picked up three assists.

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What is it about Thomas Sankara - dubbed “Africa’s Che Guevara” - that makes him so influential on the continent more than three decades after his death?

Known for both his charisma and revolutionary politics, he became president of Burkina Faso in 1983 and had an auspicious vision for his country.

“He was a pan-Africanist who spoke out against neo-colonialism and powerful Western leaders,” says the BBC’s James Copnall. “He had no fear.”

In 1987, Sankara was killed in the presidential palace in the capital, Ouagadougou.

For years, his supporters have accused his successor, Blaise Compaoré, of being involved in the murder - an allegation that Mr Compaoré denies.

And yet, Sankara’s message lived on and after all these years, many young Africans still look up to him.

“To eliminate corruption, you have to start with yourself,” says Burkinabe rapper Smockey. “Sankara died and he had nothing, only a little house. He had a bike, a guitar, and that’s it.”

I’ve been looking at Sankara’s enduring appeal for Wednesday’s episode of the Africa Daily podcast.

Subscribe to the show on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.