Author: BBC World Service

The crisis in Mali continues to deepen. An alliance of Tuareg rebels called the CMA, which had signed an agreement with the government, has announced that it is resuming hostilities. That comes after Mali’s military government ordered the expulsion of French troops and UN peacekeepers from the country, with a jihadist insurgency still proving impossible to overcome.

Could the deaths of thousands of people in Derna, Libya and the extensive damage to property and infrastructure been mitigated? We hear the views of a construction engineer

Plus, how the self-declared Republic of Somaliland is using an app to boost literacy skills.

There are scenes of utter devastation in Libya's eastern city of Derna, after a powerful storm caused two dams to burst, sweeping away large parts of the port city. Some aid has arrived, but with the country struggling under divided political administrations in the east and west, Libya's Prime Minister in Tripoli said they would only accept "necessary aid". We look at how the catastrophic impact of Storm Daniel has brought the country’s fragile and complex political situation to the fore.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has lifted a year-long visa ban imposed on Nigerian travellers. Flights were stopped last year after Dubai’s Emirates airline suspended operations in Nigeria as it was angered by moves preventing it from transferring its revenues overseas because of a foreign currency crisis.

Also…Conservationists in Egypt oppose the government’s plan to build a highway through Cairo’s centuries old cemetery The City of the Dead.

There are scenes of utter devastation in Libya's eastern city of Derna, after a powerful storm caused two dams to burst, sweeping away large parts of the port city. Some aid has arrived, but with the country struggling under divided political administrations in the east and west, Libya's Prime Minister in Tripoli said they would only accept "necessary aid". We look at how the catastrophic impact of Storm Daniel has brought the country’s fragile and complex political situation to the fore.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has lifted a year-long visa ban imposed on Nigerian travellers. Flights were stopped last year after Dubai’s Emirates airline suspended operations in Nigeria as it was angered by moves preventing it from transferring its revenues overseas because of a foreign currency crisis.

Also…Conservationists in Egypt oppose the government’s plan to build a highway through Cairo’s centuries old cemetery The City of the Dead.

We look at why Morocco’s government has been selective over offers of humanitarian assistance from abroad, after the devastating earthquake which has killed more than 2,800 people.

Four East African countries have reportedly incurred an estimated $30 billion in losses between 2021 and 2023, due to extreme droughts and devastating floods.

Plus we meet the Queen of African horror writing, who is scared of ghosts.

We look at why Morocco’s government has been selective over offers of humanitarian assistance from abroad, after the devastating earthquake which has killed more than 2,800 people.

Four East African countries have reportedly incurred an estimated $30 billion in losses between 2021 and 2023, due to extreme droughts and devastating floods.

Plus we meet the Queen of African horror writing, who is scared of ghosts.

The number of people killed in Friday's powerful earthquake in Morocco has risen to more than two thousand people, the interior ministry says. With a magnitude of 6.8, the earthquake which hit central Morocco is the biggest the area has seen since before 1900.

We explore the impact of military rule in Guinea two years after the fall of former President Alpha Conde.

And we hear how a British-Nigerian performance artist is using opera to reconnect with her Pidgin-speaking roots.

The number of people killed in Friday's powerful earthquake in Morocco has risen to more than two thousand people, the interior ministry says. With a magnitude of 6.8, the earthquake which hit central Morocco is the biggest the area has seen since before 1900.

We explore the impact of military rule in Guinea two years after the fall of former President Alpha Conde.

And we hear how a British-Nigerian performance artist is using opera to reconnect with her Pidgin-speaking roots.

The number of people killed in Friday's powerful earthquake in Morocco has risen to more than two thousand people, the interior ministry says. With a magnitude of 6.8, the earthquake which hit central Morocco is the biggest the area has seen since before 1900.

We explore the impact of military rule in Guinea two years after the fall of former President Alpha Conde.

And we hear how a British-Nigerian performance artist is using opera to reconnect with her Pidgin-speaking roots.