Image source, Prince Gyasi

A Ghanaian photographer known for his hyper-real style, external has been picked to create the next Pirelli calendar.

Prince Gyasi says he is honoured to have been chosen, and promises part of the project will take place in his home country because "representation and culture are very important" to him.

The 27-year-old started out as teenager taking photos on an old iPhone and has since exhibited in Japan, Brazil and France.

Gyasi's vivid images are influenced by his experience of the neurological condition synaesthesia, which causes a mixing of the senses - in his case he associates colours with words, such as aquamarine and "Wednesday".

The tyre company's calendar has existed for six decades, often showing semi-naked women on its pages, which many critics have regarded as harmful objectification.

There has been a shift in recent years about how women are portrayed, though it not clear if this is a deliberate move. The BBC has asked the company for comment.

You may be interested in:

• How the Pirelli calendar went from pin-up to political

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service newsroom

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it has facilitated the release of 125 Sudanese soldiers held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The ICRC said the troops - many of whom were wounded - had been taken by bus from the capital, Khartoum, to the city of Wad Madani to the south.

The war between Sudan's army and the RSF has caused a major humanitarian crisis, displacing nearly three million people.

More on Sudan:

• The unsung heroes keeping Khartoum residents alive
• Why an accountant took up arms in Darfur hotspot

Image source, Sprite promotional image

Nigerians are being warned that some bottles of Sprite are contaminated.

"Particles" have been found in five crates of the soft drink at shops and a production facility, external, says the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.

It is not clear what those particles are, but the authorities say it is the 50cl-size Sprite bottle in particular that is affected.

Some consumers online say the announcement is too vague and are demanding more information.

Rwanda's government says it takes issue with the ruling by the UK court that the country is not safe for asylum seekers and refugees.

Yolande Makolo, spokesperson for the Rwandan government, said:

Image source, Getty Images

More on this:

• UK asylum deal: Is Rwanda a land of safety or fear?
• Follow the latest updates on the BBC's dedicated live page

The British government has lost the latest round in the legal battle over its controversial Rwanda deportation policy.

The Court of Appeal ruled in favour of a group of people who arrived in the UK in small boats, plus an asylum charity, who argued the policy is unlawful.

A panel of three judges were split over whether Rwanda qualified as a "safe third country" for UK asylum cases to be heard, and two said it did not.

It is likely ministers will challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court.

• Follow the latest updates on the BBC's dedicated live page

Image source, AFP

German car manufacturer BMW has announced that, as of next year, its X3 models will be exported from South Africa to countries all over the world.

They will be produced in the company's Rosslyn plant with an investment of 4.2bn South African rand ($225m; £180m), said Milan Nedeljkovic, chairman of the management board of BMW South Africa, in a statement.

From there the "plug-in hybrid" would be exported "all over the world," he said.

South Africa is a manufacturing hub for several international manufacturers including Toyota and Ford.

The UK government wants to send asylum seekers to Rwanda - but the Court of Appeal rules against them.

Risto Pyykkö
BBC World Service newsroom

Image source, AFP

Morocco is recalling its ambassador to Sweden following the burning of a Quran at a demonstration in Stockholm.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital, Rabat, called the action offensive and irresponsible at a time when Muslims were celebrating one of the holiest days in their calendar.

The organiser of the demonstration - who is said to be Iraqi-born Salwan Momik - is being investigated for incitement to hatred.

A Swedish court had ruled the protest should be allowed to go ahead on the grounds of freedom of expression.

The Newsroom
BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

A court in France has sentenced to life imprisonment a former Rwandan police officer, after finding him guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Philippe Hategekimana's crimes took place during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when Hutu militias killed hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The prosecutors had described him as having played a central part in carrying out the killings, not only murdering people but inciting others to do so.

Hategekimana, who had worked as a senior gendarme in Nyanza, a town in the south of the country, fled to France after the genocide.

He acquired refugee status and French nationality under the name of Philippe Manier.

He had worked as a university security guard in France and fled to Cameroon in 2017 when he heard a complaint had been filed against him, AFP reports. He was arrested in Yaoundé and extradited to France the following year to face trail.

It was the fifth such trial in France of an alleged participant in the genocide. The killings of around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus took place over 100 days in 1994.

More on this topic:

• Rwanda genocide: 100 days of slaughter

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Inspired by seeing a bagpipe player in his youth, Chukwu Oba Kalu wanted more Nigerians to play.

Assignment tells the story of a young street trader from Lagos who ended up at the heart of an organ harvesting plot involving a senior Nigerian politician and a hospital in the UK. The young man was tested, trafficked and tricked into a plot to remove his kidney, to donate to the daughter of one of Nigeria’s most powerful politicians. As Mark Lobel discovers, the criminal trial and conviction is the first of its kind in the UK – and has led to police investigating more potential cases.

Presenter Mark Lobel Producer Kate West Editor Carl Johnston Studio mix by Graham Puddifoot

The Bishop of Dover says she does not hear complaints about people arriving from Ukraine or Hong Kong.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now. There will be an automated news feed here until Thursday morning.

You can also follow the latest at BBCAfrica.com and listen to the new BBC Focus on Africa podcast for more on the big topics in the news.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with these children celebrating Eid in Sudan's Gezira state, where many people from the capital, Khartoum, have fled following the outbreak of a civil war in April:

Image source, AFP

A new tool has been launched to gauge the cost of internet shutdowns often used by African governments to supress opposition.

The Internet Society’s NetLoss, external is able to calculate a wide range of economic impacts.

For example, according to NetLoss, a recent blackout in Guinea to quell anti-junta protests cost nearly $500,000 (£395,000) and led to job losses.

African nations should recognise “the damage they do to a country’s economy, society, and infrastructure”, the Internet Society says.

Although both sides announced a ceasefire, fighting continues on one of Islam's holiest days.

The South Africa government’s decision to terminate the special residency permits of around 180,000 Zimbabweans has been ruled “unconstitutional” by the country’s high court.

The Zimbabwe Exemption Permit system was introduced about 13 years ago to deal with the surge of migrants from its northern neighbour. They had fled economic hardships and political crackdowns.

The four-year visas were repeatedly extended, but in 2021 the government said it intended to end the scheme that had allowed the Zimbabweans to live and work in South Africa.

If implemented it would force Zimbabweans to return home unless they obtained regular work visas - even if they had children who were born in South Africa and were South African citizens, the Associated Press agency reports.

The Helen Suzman Foundation, the human rights organisation which challenged the government’s decision, hailed the ruling by the Gauteng High Court in the capital, Pretoria.

According to the AFP news agency, the home affairs ministry said it would appeal.

African painted dogs have been spotted in the far north-east of Uganda for the first time in about 40 years, the country's wildlife authority has said.

Also known as African wild dogs, they have been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"African painted dogs, which went extinct in Uganda in the 1980s, were sighted on Monday morning around the Narus River in Kidepo Valley National Park," AFP quotes a statement from the Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) sent to the agency on Wednesday as saying.

Earlier, UWA had posted some fairly blurred photos on Twitter of two dogs taken by one its rangers “before the pair skipped out of view”.

Local wildlife conservationist Paul Oketcho told AFP the discovery was a happy development, given Uganda has a history of not conserving such wildlife.

"Rhinos, elephants and lions are facing extinction due to poaching and mismanagement by those in charge of wildlife," he said.

Image source, Getty Images

It is up to African nations to decide whether they continue working with the Wagner mercenary group, the Reuters news agency quotes Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson as saying.

Thousands of Russian mercenaries have been deployed to the continent since 2018, mainly working in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali.

Maria Zakharova's comments follow the failed mutiny by Wagner over the weekend against Russia's President Vladimir Putin who went on to disband the group - though its fate in Africa remains unclear.

"Whether they continue on in African countries, whether they continue to work under contracts and stay there depends on the sovereign authorities of the African countries,” Ms Zakharova is quoted as saying.

"The African countries themselves, their leadership, their political leaders have turned to specialists, experts, instructors, signed contracts with them and invited them to their territory.

“What is important, they pointed out not politicised appraisals, but the efficiency of those hired to perform very difficult tasks."

• Read more: Wagner's network in Africa faces uncertain future