Niger Delta security – JTF explains attack on militants

Stacks of hairy yams line a market in Ibadan, Nigeria, where traders haggle over quality and price before loading them into cars for the last mile to consumers. Nearby, a man navigates heavy traffic with a hand cart piled high with the tubers. Yams - pounded into paste, ground into flour, boiled or fried – provide sustenance and livelihoods across West Africa.

Israel has struck Gaza for a second day, targeting the Islamic Jihad militant group. The group confirmed that one of their top commanders was killed in an airstrike. Palestinian militants have since been firing back.

A Sudanese security armoured vehicle on Thursday fired tear gas at demonstrators in Khartoum while it was pelted with rocks and bricks, as an anti-military campaign carried into its tenth month.

France withdrew the last of its troops from its former colony on Tuesday. Their exit from Mali coincided with a letter Mali sent to the UN stating that France helped Islamist militants to destabilize the Sahel country.

A US report suggests Afghan special forces should have been prioritized for evacuation. Many who fled the Taliban ended up in Iran. US-trained soldiers could now be used by Iran in regional conflicts.

Aid organizations say tens of millions of people are facing extreme hunger in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. They are dependent on grain imported from Ukraine and also from Russia. Cary Fowler is the U.S. special envoy for global food security and is on the line.

Security preparations and road diversions were underway in London on Wednesday ahead of a procession that will see Queen Elizabeth's coffin taken from Buckingham Palace to lie in state in parliament.

Twitter shareholders have approved Elon Musk's $44 billion offer to buy the social media platform, months after the billionaire tried to back out of the deal. The case will be heard by a US court in October. Meanwhile, a Senate panel has heard explosive testimony about security practices at Twitter. A whistleblower alleges that a Chinese agent was on Twitter's payroll and that management routinely ignored warnings about data security. Also in the show, US inflation hovers near 40-year highs.

US Secretary of State Blinken directly challenged Russia with allegations of war crimes in Ukraine. Blinken told UN Security Council members they should not let Putin "get away with it."

The chancellor met Saudi Arabia's crown prince and will also head to the UAE and Qatar. Europe's largest economy still needs to secure new oil and gas supplies while not being seen as soft on human rights.

A wave of floods in northern Nigeria is washing away rice fields and is posing concerns for food security. Nkiru Okpareke, CEO of Enviro Gro Farms joins CNBC Africa for this discussion.

"Serious damage" caused by "substantial explosions – not done by an amateur". That's the assessment of the EU’s Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni after gas leaks were discovered in the Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany earlier this week.