Tesfalem Araia
BBC Tigrinya

Babies born to Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia are being denied birth certificates, their families have told the BBC.

They say the Ethiopian refugee authorities stopped the service during the war in Tigray, which came to an end last November.

The northern region, which borders Eritrea, hosted several refugee camps and Eritrean refugees were victimised by all sides in the brutal conflict.

Many fled to the capital, Addis Ababa, to continue the long and cumbersome task of organising visas to join family members living abroad.

But the lack of crucial documentation for new-borns has meant that families expecting to reunite remain split.

One man, who lives in Germany, has been waiting desperately to bring his wife and children to live with him.

He has been able to visit them in Ethiopia over the last few years, but he wants them to be all under one roof.

“They told us: ‘Higher officials ordered us not to provide the documents.’ But they refuse to tell us who exactly made that decision,” he told the BBC about his birth certificate frustrations.

“Our wives and new babies are left in limbo,” he said.

His older children have now been granted visas and have had to travel to Germany before they expire - without their mother and youngest sibling.

“My children were separated from their father, some for more than 10 years, and now they are separated from their mother,” he laments.

Mothers who wait with their new-borns often find their own documentation expires.

“My wife was told she could travel without her babies, which is a cruel choice to make,” another Eritrean man in Germany told the BBC.

The Eritrean families are appealing to the Ethiopian authorities to end their ordeal.

The Ethiopian Refugee and Returnees Services (RRS), the agency which is supposed to issue the birth certificates, has not responded to BBC requests for comment.

According to the UN refugee agency, more than 157,000 Eritrean refugees are in Ethiopia - most fleeing political persecution and forced conscription.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service newsroom

Image source, AFP

The United Nations has warned of an increasingly dire humanitarian situation in north-eastern Nigeria.

More than 40,000 people have been killed and two million more displaced in fighting between the army and jihadist groups, including Boko Haram, over the last 14 years.

Matthias Schmale, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator in Nigeria, said the international community must act fast to prevent the situation becoming even more catastrophic.

"More than 500,000 people are facing emergency levels of food insecurity: one step away from famine. We are ringing the alarm bell," AFP news agency quotes him as saying.

Image source, Getty Images

"Unfair" regulations from the European Union (EU) will hit South African orange exports by 20% this year, the CEO of the Citrus Growers Association of South Africa (CGA) has warned.

"This means that approximately 80,000 tonnes of oranges might not make it to European supermarket shelves," Justin Chadwick said.

The 2022 rules are for pest control, and require exporters to perform special cooling treatments on their citrus fruits before shipping because of fears over an insect called the false codling moth and a condition called citrus black spot - where unsightly black marks appear on oranges.

Growers are now required to cool their oranges below 2C for 20 days before they are exported.

Mr Chadwick added that the new rules were "unfair and discriminatory" and would require citrus growers to invest $75m (£60m) in new technology and storage, the Reuters news agency reports.

The CGA wants the South African government to raise its concerns at the African Union-European Union Agriculture Ministerial Conference in Rome on Friday.

The body estimates that the new rules could result in a $26m (£20m) blow to the country's orange industry.

Artificial intelligence is developing at a rapid rate and is transforming many aspects of life in Africa.

BBC Arabic's Sudan Lifeline radio

Image source, AFP

Many people in Sudan, where an Eid truce between the military rivals is meant to be in place, cannot afford to celebrate the Muslim holiday properly.

Eid al-Adha, meaning “festival of sacrifice”, commemorates the time the Prophet Ibrahim was ordered by Allah to sacrifice his son - and as he was about to do so, the boy was exchanged for a ram.

To mark this remarkable test of faith, Muslims in some countries like Sudan sacrifice a sheep or goat and the meat is shared equally between family, friends and the poor.

But Abdel Ati Abbas, the country’s religious affairs minister, told BBC Sudan Lifeline that high prices after 10 weeks of war meant most families could not afford to buy an animal.

“This problem has been mainly reflected on the livestock market in Sudan, as most of the citizens cannot pay sacrificial cattle this year.”

Mohammed Abboud Soliman, a cattle trader from West Kordofan state, echoed this.

“Every Eid we used to buy a sacrifice sheep, but this Eid the situation is quite difficult because of war and because most of us did not get paid. We cannot pay for sacrifice sheep due to the high prices," he told the BBC.

The usual sweet Eid treats from bakeries are also in short supply.

In Omdurman, one of three cities that make up Greater Khartoum, bakeries have been looted.

One resident told the BBC: “Two bakeries have been exposed to robbery and unfortunately one of the bakers was killed. These two bakeries were very important as their production was fulfilling the need of a large area.

“Houses are daily subject to looting and robbery. The situation is deteriorating.”

Russian military advisers will continue their work with troops in the Central African Republic (CAR), but the operations in the country conducted by the Wagner mercenary group were its own business, the Reuters news agency quotes a Kremlin spokesperson as saying.

Dmitry Peskov’s comments seem to have done little to clear up the fate of the thousands of Russian mercenaries deployed in Africa following the failed weekend mutiny.

They are active in the CAR fighting rebels and in Mali helping the junta in its battle against Islamist militants.

Wagner has a network of companies associated with it - and they have pursued commercial activities, from gold mining to making vodka, in countries where the mercenary group has security missions.

"We have state co-operation with the Central African Republic, we will continue it, it is supported by the necessary agreements, and, of course, our military advisers will continue their activities in the necessary and demanded quantity,” Mr Peskov said on Wednesday morning, Reuters reports.

“The company [Wagner] had an independent business there, and the state [of Russia] had nothing to do with this business.

"Yesterday, President [Vladimir] Putin spoke about quite significant amounts of money that were allocated [to Wagner] through the Ministry of Defence. He named these figures, but the company was also engaged in its own business, which has nothing to do with the state.”

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

Muslims are celebrating Eid al-Adha, which coincides with the end of the Hajj - the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

The day starts with early morning prayers at mosques or prayer grounds. This is the view of worshippers at Tononoka Square in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa:

Image source, Getty Images

It is traditional to wear new clothes for Eid. In the Somali capital, Mogadishu, one young girl shows off some impressive sunglasses at prayers held at the city's main stadium:

Image source, Reuters

Women and girls often get their hands and feet decorated with henna for the festival. Here a young girl at a Mogadishu mosque shows off her designs:

Image source, Getty Images

On the eve of Eid in the Ivorian city of Abidjan, people were waiting their turn to get a henna tattoo:

Image source, Reuters

Here is one of the tattooist's happy customers:

Image source, Reuters

Eid al-Adha - which means "feast of the sacrifice" - commemorates the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son on God's orders.

At the Azhar mosque in the centre of Egypt's capital, Cairo, people celebrate with balloons and take selfies:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

These children are in a park in the South African city of Johannesburg for the Eid prayers, where it is a chilly winter's morning:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

A girl brings along her own mat for the prayers held by a roadside in Ibafo in Nigeria's south-western state of Ogun:

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

And in Sudan, where a ceasefire truce is supposed to be in place for the Muslim holiday, an imam performs his Eid sermon to crowds in Wad Madani - a city where many from the capital, Khartoum, have sought refuge:

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

The African Union (AU) force in Somalia has handed over three more military bases to the Somali army as part of a gradual withdrawal meant to conclude by the end of next year.

By the end of June the plan is to withdraw around 2,000 troops from Somalia.

Tuesday’s handover took place in Adale, Mirtaqwa and Hajji Ali, in the Middle Shabelle region, bases which fell under the control of the mission’s Burundian contingent.

So far this year the AU force has handed over six military bases, five of them in Middle Shabelle.

The first base, located in Heliwa district of the capital, Mogadishu, was handed over on 22 January. It was also run by Burundian forces.

It is not clear how many AU soldiers have already been withdrawn from Somalia.

Somalia has been training new soldiers in Uganda, Ethiopia and Eritrea to replace some 19,000 AU troops currently deployed.

This is happening as Somalia prepares for the second phase of a major military offensive against al-Shabab.

The al-Qaeda-linked militant group has released a new video showing the graduation of hundreds of new fighters.

You may also be interested in:

• Somalia’s men in sarongs taking on al-Shabab militants

The pilgrimage to Mecca is becoming increasingly unaffordable for many Muslims across the world.

The opposition has complained that the vote tallying was not transparent and have challenged the result.

Charles Haviland
BBC World Service newsroom

Image source, AFP

A one-day ceasefire declared by both warring sides in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, for the Eid al-Adha holiday, appears to be in tatters.

An emergency response worker, Duaa Tariq, told the BBC the sound of heavy artillery and gunfire had been heard in northern districts of the city since the early morning.

On Tuesday the armed forces chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, called on young people to join up and fight the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

But Ms Tariq said the RSF were the dominant force in the city.

"The RSF are in the neighbourhood... they now have houses they occupied from the people who left," she told the BBC's Newsday programme.

"They're occupying the market, the streets and they are everywhere."

Previous truces in the 10-week conflict have been equally badly honoured.

More on Sudan's conflict:

• Army outnumbered on Khartoum's streets

Huw Morgan
BBC World Service newsroom

Security sources in Burkina Faso say unidentified assailants have killed 31 soldiers and three members of the Homeland Defence Volunteers - a group of civilians given basic military training.

The army said more than 40 assailants were killed.

The volunteers work alongside the army, typically carrying out surveillance, information-gathering or escort duties.

The attack, on a supply convoy, took place on Monday in the northern province of Bam in the Central-North region.

At least 10,000 have been killed and more than two million displaced in the prolonged jihadist insurgency Burkina Faso has been facing from neighbouring Mali.

Will Leonardo
BBC World Service newsroom

Image source, AFP

Residents of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, are hoping the two sides in the country's civil war will respect the Eid ceasefire they have promised.

In recent days, the city has witnessed some of the fiercest fighting yet of the 10-week conflict that's displaced close to three million people.

Previous truces between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have not been well respected.

The army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan called on young men to join his forces as he announced his Eid ceasefire, amid reports the RSF has been gaining ground.

More on Sudan's conflict:

• Army outnumbered on Khartoum's streets
• The unsung heroes keeping Khartoum residents alive

The Newsroom
BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Eyebrows were raised in the Nigerian city of Lagos at the grand arrival in the city on Tuesday evening of President Bola Tinubu.

Witnesses said the country's new leader was accompanied by more than 100 vehicles on his return from the UK for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Dozens of SUVs accompanied by military escorts drove along closed-off roads, with video of the cavalcade posted online.

Mr Tinubu flew into Lagos in his Gulfstream jet.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

What does the Russian mercenary group's failed mutiny mean for its fighters in African countries?

That's all for today from the BBC Africa Live team, but we'll be back on Wednesday morning.

In the meantime you can catch up with the latest news on the BBC News website or listen to the BBC Focus on Africa podcast.

A reminder of our African proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this picture of people in Ivory Coast's Cocovico market in Abidjan shopping on the eve of the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha.

Image source, AFP

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, AFP

France has proposed a draft resolution that the UN end its peacekeeping mission in Mali on Friday.

The UN Security Council is due to vote on the resolution on Thursday.

It also calls for the withdrawal of all personnel within six months.

There has long been tension between the UN and Mali's military junta over the presence of the UN force, known as Minusma.

Earlier this month the Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop asked Minusma to leave without delay. French troops have already left.

Analysts fear the security situation could deteriorate, leaving the Russian mercenary group Wagner to combat Islamist militants who control large parts of the country.

Read more about Mali-French relations:

• Why are French troops leaving Mali, and what will it mean for the region?
• Why France faces so much anger in West Africa

President Julius Maada Bio has been re-elected in Sierra Leone securing 56.1% of the votes in a hotly contested general election, and beating his rival Samura Kamara.

This means he has enough votes to avoid a run-off.

Read more here.

Anthony Irungu
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga called for nationwide civil disobedience in an effort to reverse recent tax increases agreed by parliament while addressing his supporters in the capital, Nairobi.

Mr Odinga, who was runner-up in last year's presidential election, also called for a revival of mass protests against President William Ruto’s government.

“We must punish the traitors. We must repeal the finance bill," he told thousands of his supporters.

This comes a few days after President Ruto signed the controversial tax measures into law after it was passed by MPs last week.

The new law raises the value-added tax on fuel products from 8% to 16%.

It also introduces a 1.5% housing levy on employees’ basic pay, which will be charged to both the employer and the employee. The money is supposed to go to a fund to construct homes for the less well off.

"Through civil disobedience, we will deny Ruto the taxes he thinks he can extort from us by force. We are taking back our power," Mr Odinga said.

He appealed to public transport operators to increase the carrying capacity of their vehicles to cover the higher operational costs, while also urging police officers to permit overloading of the vehicles.

Mr Odinga also outlined a way to "embrace tax boycotts" including limiting petrol consumption through carpools to reduce the collection of taxes from fuel.

He also requested that employers disregard the "punitive" tax deductions, including the controversial 1.5% housing levy.

President Ruto has defended the new law, stating that the housing fund aims to build affordable homes for low-income individuals and generate job opportunities.