BBC News Africa

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The authorities in Nigeria's north-western state of Zamfara have banned some economic activities in a bid to tackle armed criminal gangs carrying out killings, kidnappings for ransom and cattle theft.

The state government has announced the closure of all weekly markets and restricted the use of motorbikes from dusk to dawn.

It has also banned the transportation of livestock outside the state while those bringing them in must be investigated to determine the "genuineness" of the livestock.

The weekly open-air markets are usually operated in rural areas where people gather to transact on basic goods including food items, livestock, farm inputs and textiles.

The authorities have also ordered petrol stations not to sell more than 10,000 naira ($24; £18) worth of fuel (equivalent of about 61 litres) to commercial drivers at a given time.

The authorities believe the armed gangs take advantage of these economic activities to facilitate their violent attacks on communities.

Nigeria is grappling with a worsening wave of killings and mass kidnappings for ransom by gunmen - and the authorities, communities and families appear to be taking desperate measures in the face of the crisis.

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Zambia’s new President Hakainde Hichilema has replaced the country’s top military commanders and the head of the police - and signalled a focus on the security forces being more accountable to the citizens.

The president late on Sunday announced new commanders of the Zambian army, the air force and the national service and their deputies, as well as a new inspector general of police.

All regional police commissioners have been relieved of their duties but their replacements have not been named.

Mr Hichilema said the new office bearers “must have the interest of the people at heart and serve the country diligently while ensuring human rights, freedoms and liberties are respected”.

He said the police must carry out proper checks before detaining suspects and that "no one should be arrested before investigations are concluded".

Mr Hichilema, who was voted in as president earlier this month in a landslide victory, has been the victim of police brutality in the past.

He has been arrested and detained multiple times in the past – and had promised to deal with the heavy-handedness of the security forces.

In northern Mozambique hundreds of internally displaced people who had fled jihadist attacks that began in 2017 have begun to return to their homes following military operations involving troops from Rwanda.

In recent weeks towns and villages in Cabo Delgado province that had been overrun by the Islamist militants have been recaptured.

In Rwanda local media has shown photos of the military helping displaced people set off in buses and lorries from displacement camps back to their homes.

The Mozambican authorities have however warned that some areas are still not ready to be repopulated as the jihadists destroyed basic infrastructure.

Close to three quarters of a million people have been forced to flee their homes because of the violence.

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Rebel forces from Ethiopia's conflict-hit Tigray region have accused the African Union of bias, days after the bloc appointed the former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo as a mediator.

A spokesman for the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Getachew Reda, accused the AU of siding with the Ethiopian government and barely acknowledging the existence of the 10-month conflict.

On social media he said the TPLF was not against the appointment of a mediator but said it would be naive to expect the mission to work.

The Ethiopian government has repeatedly said it would not be willing to hold talks with the TPLF which it has described as a terrorist organisation.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Rights groups in South Sudan say security forces have arrested several people, including activists and a bishop, ahead of planned protests on Monday. A police spokesman denied the arrests.

A coalition calling President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar to step down has called for the countrywide protests which the authorities have banned.

The authorities in South Sudan are clearly worried about Monday's demonstrations.

Civil society groups say a bishop in the town of Yei has been detained for alleged links to the protest organisers.

A radio station was also forced off air in Jonglei state over fears it would be used to mobilise people.

Many in South Sudan blame the feuding politicians for what's gone wrong since independence a decade ago.

That includes the civil war and staggering levels of corruption. The failure to implement a peace deal has also left the country extremely precarious and still at risk of further conflict.

The same politicians are keen to stop the protests gaining any momentum.

Nichola MandilCopyright: Nichola Mandil

Gunmen have kidnapped 15 traders in the oil-rich Unity State in the northern part of South Sudan, local media report.

They are demanding a ransom of about $17,000 (£12,400) to release them, the al-Maugif paper reports.

The local commissioner said the traders were abducted while travelling on the White Nile River on their way to the capital, Juba, to buy goods.

Mainza NationCopyright: Mainza Nation

Slapdee is one of the pioneers of hip-hop in Zambia. He started out in 2006, and he’s managed to stay on top ever since.

He says it’s all about staying in tune with the younger ones, the future fans.

“Every other artist will focus on the people coming to their shows, but you need to also focus on the ones coming up under them, the ones that can’t get in.

"They have more passion because they are dying to see you, and the day they turn 18 or are legally able to go to the clubs, you’re the first person they want to vibe to.”

Slapdee has been willing to change his sound to appeal to his target audience, and doesn’t care too much about his critics.

“Sometimes my own friends say: ' Yo, Slapdee, why are you making this childish music?'

"And I’m like: 'Bro it’s business!'

"You’ve got to know what you’re aiming for. For instance if you are targeting ninth graders now, it’ll take another three years to see the fruits.”

Slapdee has children of his own now, but when he was the age of the kids he is wooing, life was very tough for him.

Both of his parents died in a car crash when he was very young, and by the time he was 17 he was living independently in one of Lusaka’s roughest neighbourhoods.

“I’ve done almost every street job there is in Lusaka, I’ve sold fritters, ice blocks, you name it.

"I’ve done check your weight where you just walk around with a body scale, I’ve stolen stuff, I’ve done all the crazy stuff there is to do.

“I used to ask God like: 'Why would you put me in this position?' I’d go into a corner and cry sometimes: 'Why me?'”

But Slapdee didn’t allow despair or self-pity to swallow him up. He realised that he could turn his disadvantage into an asset.

“That was all content. I think the universe was preparing me for greatness - not that I am the greatest!

"My first three albums were basically about my hustles, and to date I think the influence I have is because of my story. It inspires people.”

You can hear my conversation with Slapdee on This is Africa this Saturday on BBC World Service radio, partner stations across Africa and online.

The Ugandan president has blamed a foiled suicide bomb attack at the funeral of a top military commander on the rebel Allied Democratic Front (ADF).

Officials said a man had been arrested in the northern town of Pader with an assortment of bomb-making materials ahead of Maj-Gen Paul Lokech's funeral.

President Museveni said the attack had been planned because Gen Lokech had overseen the recent arrest of suspects linked to the Islamist ADF group.

The government said he died last Saturday from a blood clot.

Last year, Gen Lokech was appointed Uganda's deputy police chief after working as a senior commander in the African Union force fighting Islamist militants in Somalia, where he was known as the "Lion of Mogadishu".

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Ghana’s chief imam Sheikh Osman Sharubutu has donated more than $8,000 (£5,800) to support the construction of a controversial national cathedral.

Ghana has a history of inter-religious harmony, although the donation is regarded as unusual.

The 102-year-old cleric said the gesture was to strengthen peaceful co-existence between Christians and Muslims.

The leader of Ghana's minority Muslim community has said before that he wants to ensure that his legacy is peace.

Two years ago, he attended an Easter Catholic Church service - causing a stir on social media.

The government recently launched an initiative to encourage Ghanaians to donate money towards the construction of the cathedral.

It is to be built in the capital, Accra, and is expected to cost more than $100m.

The complex, to be completed in 2024, is to include a Bible Museum and a 5,000-seat auditorium.

Although it will be privately funded, many have criticised the project, describing it as a misplaced priority given the current economic climate.

• Read more: Ghana's 100-year-old imam who went to church

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A Tunisian MP has filed a legal court against President Kais Saied for violating the constitution and suspending parliament last month.

Bichr Chebbi, of the Ennahdha party, is accusing the president of a power grab and using the military force to shut down parliament.

Ennahdha party, the largest party in parliament, has distanced itself from Mr Chebbi's court case.

But it has denounced the president’s measures, which have included the sacking of the prime minister.

The 63-year-old leader's actions have largely been welcomed by those deeply disillusioned by the performance of the country's political parties.

Mr Saied says he wants to save the country from collapse amid economic woes and rising Covid cases.

Read more:

• Tunisia crisis: Democrats, despots and the fight for power

Tunisia's Paralympic veteran Raoua Tlili has proven she reigns supreme by winning gold in the women's shot put F41 in Japan - and breaking a world record.

She produced the 10.55m record-breaking throw in the second round.

This is the 31-year-old's fifth Paralympic gold - following on from two at Rio in 2016, one in London in 2012 and her first Beijing in 2008.

It is also Tunisia's first medal at the Paralympics.

“I want to show everyone that a woman of short stature can do extraordinary performances," World Para Athletics quotes her as saying.

Algeria's Cherine Abdellaoui has won gold in the women's 52kg judo event at the Paralympics in Tokyo.

The 22-year-old beat her Canadian opponent Priscilla Gagne. A perfect present on the eve of her birthday.

Judo at the Paralympics is only open to athletes with a visual impairment.

The official Paralympics Twitter account said it was a tough fight for Abdellaoui - who won bronze at Rio in 2016 - to win Algeria's first gold of the Games:

Zambia’s new President Hakainde Hichilema has named Situmbeko Musokotwane, an experienced international economist, as finance minister.

It will be his second stint in the role, having served in the finance ministry from 2008 until 2011 under President Rupiah Banda.

Mr Hichilma, who was elected by a landslide earlier in August promising to fix the economy and create jobs, tweeted that the 65-year-old had a “a wealth of experience” which be valuable for his role:

Mr Musokotwane - a former deputy central bank governor who has also worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank - needs to tackle the country's $12bn (£8.7bn) external debt.

"The answer is to talk to the people we owe money so that we can pay at a slower pace stretched over a longer period," Reuters news agency has quoted him as saying after his appointment.

"Unless we do something to the budget, then the budget will be mainly for paying salaries and also servicing debt," he said.