Ghana: Jerry Rawlings’ state funeral begins

Five mixed raced women taken from their mothers in DR congo as children have gone to court after suing Belgium for crimes against humanity. The trial is the first of its kind. About 15 000 bi racial children were forcibly separated from their black mothers in the former Belgian colonies of DR Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. They were called children of sin and dumped in orphanages by the state.

On October 17, 1961, tens of thousands of French and Algerian citizens took to the streets to protest a curfew imposed in Paris and its suburbs. Dozens were shot, beaten to death or drowned in the brutal police response.

The South American country is grappling with a surge in violent crime and deadly prison riots. The government has pointed to drug trafficking and consumption as the underlying problem.

Ghana's smock garment used to be reserved for royal use. These days, a flood of imported yarn has opened the market to near universal use, and the smock has become a Ghanaian clothing icon. Yet the country's collapsed cotton industry has left the financial fortunes of weavers and smock makers hanging by a thread.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan dissolves transitional authorities and declares a state of emergency during a statement on Sudan state television. The announcement comes after armed forces detained figures of the government in charge of leading the transition to democracy since the April 2019 ouster of autocratic president Omar al-Bashir.

Military vehicles patrol a street in Khartoum as Sudan's top general declares a state of emergency, dissolves the authorities leading the country's democratic transition, and announces the formation of a new government. Soldiers have also detained civilian leaders in what activists denounce as a "coup".

"The civilian-led transitional government should be immediately restored," State Department spokesman Ned Price tells reporters after a military takeover in Sudan.

The government had said it imposed the measure to fight terrorism, while critics said it granted President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi sweeping powers to crush dissent.

Despite a rise in infections, the parties set to form a new government want to end the national state of emergency. But Germany should not yet expect a "freedom day."

Six months ago, DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi placed North Kivu and Ituri – two provinces in the east of the country – under "a state of siege", effectively imposing martial law in a region that has been rocked by conflict for decades. Today, although the government claims that hundreds of armed militiamen have surrendered, massacres continue and security forces face mounting criticism. In the city of Beni, the justice system has ground to a halt and crime has soared. Our correspondents report.

The Ethiopian government has declared a national state of emergency amid fears that Tigray insurgents are preparing to march on the capital, Addis Ababa.

New security measures are implemented in the Ethiopian capital as a state of emergency is declared. Also, we speak to Sudanese philanthropist Mo Ibrahim about his hopes for a return to civilian-led rule in Sudan, a week after a military takeover. And we take a look at the role of small-scale farmers in Africa's push to tackle climate change, with Sara Mbago-Bhunu from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).