The BBC’s Global Disinformation team has found that one of Africa’s most popular pastors, Chris Oyakhilome, has been spreading anti-vaccine narratives to his followers through his sermons.

🧵bbc.in/4aFFgWj Chris Oyakhilome, known as 'Pastor Chris' founded the Christ Embassy church in Lagos, Nigeria, in the 1990s, amassing hundreds of thousands of followers worldwide.

We reviewed dozens of his sermons since 2023 and found he has been targeting the malaria vaccine.

1. If you walk through the cobbled alleys of occupied East Jerusalem's Muslim quarter, you will come across a community of Afro-Palestinians. Their history is closely linked to one of the holiest sites in Islam.  A thread by the BBC’s @rehakansara. 2. The Afro-Palestinian community, which numbers around 450, are descendants of pilgrims from Chad, Senegal, Sudan and Nigeria, who travelled eastwards to perform Hajj at Mecca and visit al-Aqsa Mosque but remained there.

"We have language on fossil fuels in our final agreement for the first time ever" COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber
#COP28

https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/1734836149003112904

So what are the key takeaway points:
1. Countries will "contribute... to transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner". It doesn't include any wording on the "phase out of fossil fuels" - something many governments wanted.

🇬🇭🧵1/9 It's been a year since X, formerly known as Twitter, fired almost all its staff at its only Africa office without severance pay, following the abrupt termination of their appointment by new owner Elon Musk. Here’s a thread on what’s happened since then. 2/9 The staff, who number fewer than 20, had only just moved into Twitter's new office in Accra, Ghana, after working remotely for about eight months because of Covid. Here’s a picture of them at the time of the takeover – many of whom subsequently lost their jobs.

🧵🇬🇭Ghana's parliament has unanimously supported amendments to the anti-gay bill would make identifying as LGBT punishable with a three-year prison sentence.

People who campaign for LGBT rights could also face up to 10 years in jail.

Will this be the last time? 💰🇬🇭

Ghana's getting another economic bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the tune of $3bn.

It's the 17th time the country's been helped out by the organisation, so why's the money needed now?
🧵👇🏿 1/10 2/10

"I am very excited for this game-changing partnership.”

Cameroon’s @francis_ngannou has signed a deal with the @PFLMMA.

If you’re not across the world of MMA (mixed martial arts), check out this thread to find out a bit about the former @ufc heavyweight champion👇🏿🧵 1/7 @francis_ngannou @PFLMMA @ufc In a video on his YouTube channel, Ngannou says he was 22 years old when he decided to leave his village for the city to follow his fighting dreams:

“At the time it wasn’t easy. People thought I was losing my mind.”

2/7

🎉 Exciting news 🎉

We're delighted to announce that the talented @WaihigaMwaura will be presenting Focus on Africa TV from Nairobi. He's a respected journalist and a former winner of the prestigious BBC News Komla Dumor award. We're thrilled he's joining our team ❤️ Full statement from @bbcpress on @WaihigaMwaura's appointment:

"We are very pleased to welcome Waihiga Mwaura as the new presenter for Focus on Africa TV. His talent, engaging story-telling, and on-screen presence makes him a great choice for the BBC award-winning show...

Why a senior wealthy Nigerian politician, his wife, and a medical “middleman” have been found guilty of an organ-trafficking plot in the UK 🧵👇🏿 In June 2022, a former Nigerian senator, his wife and an associate appeared in a court in London.

Ike Ekweremadu, Beatrice Ekweremadu and Dr Obinna Opeta were all charged with conspiring to exploit a man for his kidney.

They denied the charges.

A major UN conference on water is taking place in New York for first the time in nearly half-a-century.

Today is #WorldWaterDay2023; this year’s theme is “accelerating change” to solve the water and sanitation crisis. #UNWaterConference2023

Here's what you need to know👇 But the UN say that despite progress we are “seriously off-track” to meet this goal. #unwaterconference2023

THREAD 🧵

A bill passed by Uganda's parliament that would criminalise gay people has sparked fear among the LGBT community.

President Museveni might not sign it into law for weeks because of last minute changes, but what does Uganda’s new Anti-Homosexuality bill actually say? Elements of the bill discussed in parliament include:

- A person who is convicted of grooming or trafficking children to engage them in homosexual activities faces life in prison.

- Individuals and institutions which support or fund LGBT rights activities also face prosecution.

Around 43,000 people may have died last year because of the drought in Somalia, according to the first official death toll released by the UN.

Half of the victims are thought to be children under five. The UN warn the crisis is far from over and expect thousands more deaths in the next six months.

In 2011, a famine in Somalia killed over a quarter of a million people.

🌍 The scientific body that advises the UN on rising temperatures has just released a new report described by U.N. Chief @antonioguterres as a “survival guide for humanity”.

It’s one of the most important reports on climate change in decades. 

But what’s in it?

THREAD 🧵 In a nutshell, the report says technology is providing solutions, but that the climate forecast is worsening.

The report is a vital summary of six key pieces of research completed over the past five years

Read ⬇️
bbc.co.uk/news/science-e…

🧵Want to stay across Nigeria's upcoming election?

This thread will provide key details you need to know about the candidates, their campaigns and the electorate before the polls open on the 25th of February 2023.

#NigeriaDecides2023 Who are the presidential candidates? Click this link for more: bbc.in/3YUXEVi

Nigerians will head to the polls on Saturday for the first presidential elections since 2019. Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming vote. This election has cost $662 million, according to the Independent National and Electoral Commission (INEC).

⚠️ Kenyan researchers have detected a mosquito, native to South Asia, that is resistant to insecticides used in Africa.

Experts say the species, Anopheles stephensi, was detected during routine surveillance in Marsabit County in northern Kenya.

Here's what you need to know ⬇️ Data from hospitals in the area showed an increase in malaria cases - even though it was not the normal season for the disease.

The invasive mosquito species can thrive in both dry and rainy seasons and can breed anywhere.

bbc.in/3Kin3E9

The BBC Disinformation Team has discovered that political parties in Nigeria are secretly paying social media influencers to spread disinformation about their opponents, ahead of the country's general elections in February.

🎥 bbc.in/3QQjxSx

Here’s what we found out 🧵 At first glance, posts made by those with the biggest audience might seem sincere. But behind many publications, there is payment, according to the people we’ve interviewed. And it is coming from political parties in Nigeria.

The funeral of slain Kenyan model and fashion designer Edwin “Chiloba” Kiptoo has taken place in his family village of Sergoit, in the west of the country.

The 25-year-old fashion designer and model was an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.

Thread 👇 His body was found two weeks ago, dumped in a metal box by the roadside near the town of Eldoret where he was a student, in a killing that sparked global outrage.

THREAD

In June, at least 24 African migrants died trying to cross into Europe.

#BBCAfricaEye investigated this horrifying event, unveiling new evidence and painful testimony, contradicting the official version of events.

This is what we found. #BBCAfricaEye verified dozens of public and private videos filmed on June 24th, 2022.

WARNING: the videos are distressing. But they hold vital visual evidence about what happened on the deadliest day on record at the land border between #Morocco and #Spain.

Twenty years ago, a ship named the Joola capsized off the coast of the Gambia as it sailed from the south to the north of Senegal.

Nearly 1,900 lives were lost in the disaster, more than on the Titanic, but few outside Senegal know about this tragedy.

#THREAD 1/ | #Joola A new BBC Africa documentary investigates what happened that day and why the survivors and the relatives of the victims, believe justice still has not been done.

2/ | #Joola

THREAD: 🚨 RACISM FOR SALE

Police in Malawi have launched an investigation into allegations raised in a #BBCAfricaEye documentary about the Chinese video industry.

🎥Watch the documentary here⬇️


(1/7) The in-depth report by #BBCAfricaEye uncovered a Chinese video-making industry that exploits vulnerable children across the continent to make personalised greetings videos, which sometimes include racist content.

Some of these videos are filmed in Malawi.

(2/7)