Russian foreign minister meets his Nigerian counterpart in Moscow

Northern Nigerian communities who have lost faith in the struggling security forces' ability to protect them are increasingly setting up vigilante groups to battle insurgents themselves. Also, rap is gaining ground in Egypt and although the scene is still overwhelmingly dominated by men, women are increasingly picking up the mic. And Kenya's birds of prey are falling prey to encroaching human activity. Some conservationists fear it may be too late to roll back the damage

The Nigeria Labour Congress organized a march to protest the increase in electricity tariffs in Abuja on Monday. Protesters carried banners opposing the electricity rate hikes and chanted slogans against the government.

Moscow has opened a new front with Ukraine after taking several villages near Kharkiv. Russia’s spring offensive takes form as President Vladimir Putin replaces defence minister Sergei Shoigu with another Kremlin loyalist – Andrei Belousov, the deputy prime minister in charge of the economy.

For almost a month now, tens of thousands of Georgians, particularly young people, have been protesting a controversial bill on “foreign agents”. Inspired by Russia's 2012 law, the new legislation will require NGOs and media outlets to register as agents of foreign influence if 20 percent or more of their funding comes from abroad. Opponents fear that the bill would be used to crackdown on political dissent like in Russia. Taline Oundjian and Régis Genté report.

Another showdown in the country that launched the so-called coloured revolutions. Georgia’s parliament has shrugged off some of the biggest protests in its post-Soviet history by approving a “foreign agents” bill that mirrors legislation in neighbouring Russia. The opposition argues it is the way for the government to curb media freedom and dissent in a country which only recently graduated to EU candidate status.

Yusuf Zakariya Alkanawi created a new script for the Hausa language after discovering that the original had disappeared following centuries of interaction with Arabic and Latin scripts. The Quranic school student hopes that more Hausa speakers will embrace the new script.