Al-Shabab, the militant group which is linked to al-Qaeda and once controlled much of Somalia, is now classed as a "transnational money-laundering network" by Washington.

The US Department of the Treasury said on Monday it was taking action, external to "support the Somali government" in their "campaign to degrade this deadly terrorist group".

Sixteen people and companies in the Horn of Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus are targeted by the new US sanctions - which accuse them of money-laundering and deprive them of the right to own property in the US or have any business dealings with US citizens.

Among them are:

• Haleel Commodities L.L.C.
• Qemat Al Najah General Trading
• Faysal Yusuf Dini
• Hassan Abdirahman Mahamed
• Farhan Hussein Hayder

It is not known if they intend to appeal.

Image source, AFP

Released on Monday, Thankz Alot by Nigerian star Kizz Daniel carries a simple message:

"I am incredibly grateful for the love and support I have received from my fans throughout my career," he says.

"Thankz Alot is my way of expressing my appreciation and giving back to them for their unwavering support."

While some of the tracks on the EP have been previously released, it features new songs as well as a remix with Davido.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, AFP

Four people have died and three others are wounded after being struck by lightning in Mozambique, which is now bracing for Storm Filipo.

The lightning strikes happened in the northern town of Mogincual, in Nampula province.

Meanwhile, the southern and central provinces of Gaza, Inhambane, Sofala and Zambézia have been placed on alert for severe thunderstorms expected later on Monday.

Storm Filipo has now reached the Mozambican coast and could evolve into a severe tropical storm, before dispersing back out to sea.

Increased rainfall has already been recorded and there are fears of mudslides. Boats and vessels are being warned by Mozambique's National Institute of Meteorology (Inam) to take precautions.

Natural disasters are common in Mozambique, particularly during the rainy and cyclone season which runs between October and April.

Barbara Plett Usher
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

The newly appointed US Special Envoy to Sudan has begun a diplomatic tour of East Africa and the Gulf.

Tom Perriello's trip comes weeks before the first anniversary of Sudan's civil war, and shortly after the UN Security Council's call for a ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

His visit will take in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - which has been widely accused of funding and arming the Sudanese paramilitary RSF. It denies the charges.

Sudan is suffering from the biggest displacement crisis in the world, and aid agencies warn it risks becoming the world’s largest hunger crisis.

The new US envoy said his trip was focused on the urgent need to end the war, and to get humanitarian access to all the Sudanese people.

But even before he departed, reports said a top general in Sudan's army rejected a Ramadan ceasefire - unless the RSF leaves civilian and public sites.

The Americans are also pushing to open more land routes for aid from Chad - the army had closed access points, saying the RSF was using it to transport weapons, and has only re-opened one.

Image source, AFP

A TV anchor who was acquitted of murder has now been hired for a senior job in the Kenyan government, to the astonishment of some in the country.

Jacque Maribe was cleared of murdering a businesswoman called Monica Kimani, who was found with her throat slit. But Ms Maribe's ex-partner Joseph Irungu, also known as "Jowie", was found guilty.

Giving the verdict last month, the judge said Ms Maribe should instead be prosecuted for giving the police false information.

However she has since been appointed as head of communications for Kenya's Ministry of Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management, prompting criticism.

"As a Kenyan who likes fairness, I must ask if the position was vacant all along or if someone was occupying it in acting capacity or if someone has been fired to bring her in," lawyer Wahome Thuku asked on X (formerly Twitter)., external

"That Maribe story is a clear indication that the government has jobs, just not for you," another commenter said., external

But Public Service Minister Moses Kuria told the private Nation website, external that this new job was "the right thing" for Ms Maribe. "This is a country of justice, equal opportunities and one that will lend you a hand to rise from your ruins," he said.

Ms Maribe - who had spent six years on trial - told the same publication that "the truth, which always sets us all free, has worked - and I thank God for everything".

Damaging winds and more than 250mm (10in) of rain could affect parts of the country as the tropical storm makes landfall.

Ruth Nesoba
BBC News Africa

Image source, African Union/X

Representatives from Ethiopia's federal government and the Tigray regional state have started talks in Addis Ababa to end the delays in implementing the Pretoria peace agreement.

The deal, brokered between the two parties and signed in South Africa in November 2022, aims to bring stability to the region after the conflict between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government that started in November 2020.

Challenges in implementing the agreement have caused tensions, prompting the African Union to mediate discussions to find a resolution.

The Pretoria Agreement addresses issues such as power-sharing, regional autonomy and resource control, aimed at resolving the conflict's root causes through negotiation.

Getachew Reda, who is the interim president of Tigray's administration, has announced that no further bilateral meetings will be held with the federal government until all pending issues are resolved.

Kenya's ex-President Uhuru Kenyatta and Nigeria's ex-President Olusegun Obassanjo are among the mediating team.

Image source, SOCIAL MEDIA

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Kenyan man accused of practising law without qualifications after he skipped court, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) bar association says, external.

The case has captivated Kenyans ever since the man was outed as an illegitimate lawyer last October, eliciting reactions from outrage to support and amusement.

At the time, legal officials in Kenya urged police to arrest the man, who had been practicing under the name "Brian Mwenda".

They said the man was a "masquerader" who had stolen the identity of a real lawyer, named Brian Mwenda Ntwiga.

He handed himself into the police shortly afterwards.

He was then charged with six counts, including forgery and identity theft, but pleaded not guilty.

Image source, Getty Images

Bobi Wine's documentary may have missed out on an Oscar on Sunday, but there was no shortage of glamour from him on the red carpet.

The Ugandan politician, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, paired his trademark red beret with a suit that featured embroidered edging. His wife Barbie wore a dress embellished with tassels and beadwork.

Bobi Wine: The People's President, directed by fellow Ugandan Moses Bwayo, lost out to 20 Days in Mariupol in the best documentary feature category.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Da'Vine Joy Randolph burst into tears on Sunday as Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o praised her Oscar-winning turn in The Holdovers.

"Da'Vine, my friend, your performance is tribute to those who have helped others heal in spite of their own pain," Nyong'o said at the Academy Awards in Hollywood.

"It's also a tribute to your grandmother, whose glasses you wear in the film. What an honour to see the world through her eyes and yours."

A relative newcomer and fan favourite, Da'Vine Joy Randolph was named Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars - adding to her clutch of awards this season including a Golden Globe and Critics' Choice award.

Image source, AFP

The Nigerian government has identified schools in at least 14 states and the capital, Abuja, as vulnerable to attacks following a renewed wave of mass abductions of students.

Hajia Halima Iliya, the national coordinator of state-run Financing Safe Schools in Nigeria, said the agency had collected data to guide intervention measures.

The agency was formed after the 2014 abduction of hundreds of girls from Chibok in the north-eastern Borno state.

Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Benue, Yobe, Katsina, Abuja, Kebbi, Sokoto, Plateau and Zamfara are among the most vulnerable states, according to the agency.

This comes amidst a surge in kidnappings in Nigeria.

The country's spate of abductions worsened on Saturday as more than a dozen students and four women were kidnapped from a school in Gada, Sokoto.

Parents of the kidnapped students have urged the government to help secure their release.

Image source, Greenfield Planners Sdn Bhd

Film star Idris Elba, who is leading the construction of a smart city in Sierra Leone, says he took on the project to change the stereotypical perception of Africa.

Elba is building the eco-city on the rural Sherbro Island off the coast of West Africa along with Siaka Stevens, a grandson of Sierra Leone's former president, who shared the same name.

They are partnering with the renewable energy company Octopus Energy Generation.

The island city will have a wind and solar farm to provide power to residents.

Currently, less than a third of homes in Sierra Leone have electricity.

"Are we ever gonna make a profit? I don't think so, but it is about being self-reliant, it's about bringing an economy that feeds itself, that has growth potential," Elba told the BBC Newsday programme.

"I'm very keen to sort of reframe the way Africa is viewed. We often view the framing of Africa as an aid model and this opportunity is completely different," he added.

Elba told Newsday that the city is intended to attract business and innovation, while also appealing to holidaymakers and empowering local communities.

The actor also plans to set up a film studio there, along with a retirement home for his mother.

Elba's mother is a Ghanaian who moved to the UK, while his late father was of Sierra Leonean origin.

Image source, AFP

The kingdom of Eswatini has been forced to deny reports it was offering citizenship to men from other southern African countries because of a shortage at home.

A faked viral letter, pretending to be from King Mswati III, expressed concern over the "scarcity of men" in Eswatini.

The faked letter also claimed the king would help willing men from southern Africa to marry wives and get free houses in the kingdom.

"The public is notified that this circulating notice is fake," the Eswatini government said in a short statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), external.

It is not clear who authored the fake letter which had excited plenty of social media users in the region.

Eswatini, Africa's last absolute monarchy, has a population of about 1.2 million people.

Natasha Booty
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

A political row has broken out in South Africa, after the main opposition party called for US observers to watch over the general election later this year.

Writing to Washington's top diplomat Anthony Blinken, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said having American election observers in place would "safeguard" South Africa "against any attempts to disrupt the democratic process".

Furious replies followed, with the president and other senior African National Congress (ANC) figures variously branding the DA's letter "disingenuous", "astounding", and an an attempt to "hide" something.

After 30 years in power, the ANC faces its toughest battle yet at the polls on 29 May.

Falling support amid corruption and an economic crisis could leave them without a parliamentary majority for the first time since white-minority rule ended.

Read more:

• South Africa's ANC pitches for votes as majority threatened

Image source, Getty Images

Authorities in Uganda have reportedly halted the recent ban on meat sales in the capital, Kampala, amid an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

Health officials had last week imposed the ban and ordered the closure of all slaughter places to curb the spread of the outbreak.

But Minister for Kampala City and Metropolitan Affairs Minsa Kabanda on Sunday told the Daily Monitor newspaper that the ban had been halted as the government continued to assess the impact of the disease in the capital.

Ms Kabanda however urged people to ensure that animals were tested before being slaughtered.

Traders had opposed the ban and accused the government of failing to prevent the disease from spreading.

Foot-and-mouth disease has been reported in 40 districts across the country, according to the local media.

Jesse Mugambi will receive €50,000 to build a nightclub and music studio in his native Kenya.

Image source, Arab League/X

The leaders of Libya's two rival governments have agreed to form a single unified government, signalling progress in ending a political stalemate that has persisted for more than a decade.

In a joint statement on Sunday, the leaders said they had agreed on the "necessity" of forming a new unified government that would supervise long-delayed elections and "unify sovereign positions".

The talks were held in Egypt's capital, Cairo, and were led by the Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

The negotiation involved the president of the Libyan Presidential Council and the head of the High State Council, both based in Tripoli, as well as the speaker of the House of Representatives in the rival Benghazi-based administration.

Libya began to fracture after the fall of long-serving ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The country is split between the internationally recognised government in the west, led by interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in Tripoli, and an administration in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi.

Image source, AFP

Chadian junta-appointed Prime Minister Succès Masra has announced he’ll run for the presidency, a week after the leader of the junta, interim president Mahamat Déby announced his own candidacy.

Mr Masra, a former opposition leader, signed a reconciliation deal with Mr Déby after his return from exile, before he was appointed prime minister in January.

He told supporters at a rally on Sunday that he was seeking the top seat so as to unite the people and "heal hearts".

The opposition have criticised the move, saying it’s a ploy to give the appearance of pluralism to an election which Mr Déby is certain to win.

It is "a farce, a fake candidacy to accompany the head of military power", Max Kemkoye, the spokesman of a group of opposition parties GCAP, told the AFP news agency.

Mr Déby's main rival, opposition leader Yaya Dillo, was killed in a shootout with security forces on 28 February. The government had blamed him for a deadly attack on the country's security agency, which he denied.

He was widely predicted to be the main opponent of Mr Déby in the election.

Mr Déby took over as Chad’s leader after his father was killed by rebels after three decades in power.

Image source, Getty Images

There has been criticism in Nigeria of a decision to rename an airport after President Bola Tinubu.

The government in the state of Niger said Minna International Airport had been renamed in recognition of the president's contribution towards developing the region.

But some Nigerians have described it as a vanity project.

President Tinubu is in Minna to inaugurate the remodelled airport, which was formerly known as Abubakar Imam International Airport, after a Nigerian writer and journalist who pioneered the region's first Hausa language newspaper.

Last year, the aviation authorities announced plans to rename 15 airports after prominent Nigerians, including former presidents.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.