BBC News Africa

BBCCopyright: BBC

A summit to tackle the global education crisis caused by the pandemic is getting under way in London.

Hosted jointly by Britain and Kenya, it aims to raise more than $5bn (£3.5bn) for a fund to buy books, train teachers and build classrooms.

The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, is expected to warn that the pandemic risks creating a "legacy of wasted talent".

At one point it was estimated more than a billion children were out of school because of lockdown measures.

Many are yet to return to the classroom, particularly in developing countries.

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria and the Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai, are among those attending the summit.

Read more:

• Global fundraiser for 88 million more children in school

AFPCopyright: AFP

Burundi has agreed to receive Covid jabs, but the government says it will not urge people to get vaccinated, the health minister has said.

Dr Thaddée Ndikumana told reporters that the vaccines were proposed by the World Bank and they took decision “to welcome them".

He said the government will not mobilise people to be vaccinated, that only those who need it could go seek the jab.

Burundian authorities have been sceptical about the vaccines - and previously said they would monitor how effective they are elsewhere before agreeing to let them in.

The minister on Thursday evening confirmed reports of Covid cases rise in the northern provinces, bordering Rwanda and in the economic capital Bujumbura.

For that reason, he said, they would open treatment centres in those affected regions.

Burundi has so far reported nearly 6,000 Covid cases and and eight deaths since the pandemic began in country in March 2020 - records that some have questioned.

Nigerian Instagram celebrity Hushpuppi , whose real name is Ramon Abbas, has pleaded guilty to money laundering in a US court.

He was arrested, along with other suspects, in Dubai last June over defrauding someone in connection with a $1.1m (£788,000) school financing deal.

Hushpuppi was then extradited to the US to face charges in the US.

His plea document reveals that he admitted to his role in the school-finance scheme as were as other fraudulent activities, including what's known as business e-mail compromise schemes, that totalled $24m, a statement from the US Attorney's Office says.

The statement adds that Hushuppi worked on the school fraud with a Kenyan and Nigerian who posed as consultants and bankers to defraud a Qatari businessperson.

Hushpuppi became well-known on Instagram for his expensive lifestyle including a collection of luxury vehicles.

Read more:

• How the US caught flashy Nigerian Instagrammers 'with $40m'

Somalis online have questioned why some state governments received donations of ballot boxes from the UN.

The UN office in Somalia (Unsom) donated the election materials to the South-West regional state, state-owned Somali National TV reported.

However, some people online termed it as a "dependency syndrome", arguing that ballot boxes, which are made from plastic, could be bought locally.

Others said it was a shame and embarrassing that the government was unable to hold elections without donations.

Somalia's regional states are due to hold parliamentary and senate elections that were delayed over disputes among stakeholders.

The states are in the process of organising their respective senate elections.

Jubbaland is expected to hold its election on Thursday.

Past delays of the elections led to deadly violence in the capital Mogadishu as leaders failed to agree on how elections were be held.

Here are some of the tweets reacting to the ballot box donations:

EPACopyright: EPA

A huge container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March, disrupting global trade, has arrived in the Dutch port of Rotterdam.

The Ever Given, loaded with more than 18,000 containers, took three weeks to make the voyage from Egypt.

The 400-metre ship was impounded for three months until the Suez Canal Authority reached a deal with the owners and insurers.

EPACopyright: EPA

Tunisian President Kais Saeid has dismissed the head of the national television station, Mohamed Lassaad Dahech, and appointed a provisional replacement.

Earlier Mr Saeid sacked a large number of senior government officials.

He assumed executive and judicial powers at the weekend after suspending parliament and removing the prime minister.

The president's opponents have accused him of staging a coup.

But he insists that he acted within his powers at a time of crisis.

Tunisia is beset by a crippled economy and surging Covid infections, causing growing international concern.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Civilians have borne the brunt of unlawful killings, kidnappings and the widespread destruction of houses during the four-year separatist conflict in Cameroon, Amnesty International says.

The rights group collected witness accounts and analysed satellite images to study the impact of the violence.

In a series of attacks in February this year more than 4,000 people were forced from their homes in Nwa in the North-West region.

They were targeted by Fulani vigilantes who are accused of siding with Cameroonian government forces.

Amnesty also found evidence of reprisals throughout the conflict by English-speaking separatists against Mbororo Fulani communities which had left more than 160 civilians dead.

The report concluded that all parties to the conflict had committed human rights violations and abuses whilst civilians had been caught in the middle.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Intense fighting is being reported in Ethiopia's Amhara region - the latest sign that the war in Tigray is spreading to neighbouring regions.

Officials in Amhara said federal soldiers as well as Amhara regional troops had been involved in the fighting against rebels of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

It comes as regions continue to mobilise forces to fight against the TPLF.

Despite this, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's spokesperson said a unilateral ceasefire declared last month had not been suspended.

Both the government and the TPLF have accused each other of escalating the conflict.

In a separate development the authorities in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region say security forces have killed more than 100 fighters from an armed group that's been behind numerous ethnic-based attacks.

This comes in the aftermath of deadly violence in the eastern part of the country in which a large number of civilians were killed in areas bordering Afar and Somali regions.

South Africa's government has said it is "appalled" by last week's decision to grant Israel observatory status at the African Union (AU).

Its foreign office accused the body of making a "unilateral" decision without consulting its 55 member countries.

"The decision... is more shocking in a year in which oppressed people of Palestine were hounded by destructive bombardments and illegal settlements of the land," the Department of International Relations and Cooperation said.

"The unjust actions committed by Israel offend the letter and spirit of the Charter of the African Union," it added.

The statement also said South Africa would ask AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat to give a briefing to member states.

The move has also outraged South African opposition party the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

It has called on Mr Faki to resign, saying his decision was "shameful" and "an assault on Palestinian human rights".

Israel had held observer status at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was disbanded and replaced by the AU in 2002.

Its efforts to re-join had been thwarted by some AU member countries.

The authorities in Morocco have confirmed the arrest of Uyghur activist Yidiresi Aishan (also known as Idris Hasan).

He was detained on his arrival in the North Africa nation from the Turkish city of Istanbul last week.

The Moroccan security services said that the Chinese national was detained at Casablanca airport because of a “red notice” from Interpol.

China was seeking his extradition for belonging to a terrorist organisation, Moroccan officials said.

His wife first broke the news about his arrest, posting a call on Twitter for help:

Uyghur activists say he has been arrested for denouncing the Chinese government’s oppression of the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority group - as part of a wider campaign to hunt down suspected dissidents abroad.

They have been calling on social media for the deportation to be stopped as they say his life will be in danger.

The 33-year-old computer engineer is a father of three and has been living in Turkey since 2012.

He also works for an online Uyghur newspaper.

• Who are the Uyghurs and why is China being accused of genocide?

South Africa's parliament has been told that President Cyril Ramaphosa has approved the deployment of 1,500 troops to Mozambique to help battle jihadist militants.

The three-month mission for South Africa's force is part of a deal agreed last month by the southern African regional body Sadc.

Several hundred soldiers recently arrived from Botswana.

Rwanda has also sent troops and they are reported to have helped the Mozambican army retake a base from the Islamist militants earlier this week.

The conflict, which began in 2017, has left hundreds of thousands of Mozambicans displaced and has caused the shut- down of a multi- billion dollar gas project.