Image source, AFP

Lawyers for the former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, have told the International Criminal Court that his rival, the country's current leader Alassane Ouattara, took power by force. 

Mr Gbagbo is on trial for alleged crimes against humanity. His lawyers said Mr Ouattara, who became president after violently disputed elections in 2010, was helped by the French military.

Mr Gbagbo is the first former head of state to be tried at the ICC. About 3,000 people were killed during post-election fighting five years ago.

Who is Laurent Gbagbo?

South Sudan government troops killed 50 people by stuffing them into a shipping container in baking heat, ceasefire monitors have said in a report noting the latest atrocities in two years of war, the AFP news agency reports, external. 

The incident took place in October in Unity State, according to the report by an African-Union-backed monitoring group, which was made public late on Sunday.

Metal containers are often used as makeshift prison cells in South Sudan.  

The government has not commented on the allegations, but in the past has strongly denied carrying out atrocities in the conflict.

Thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced since conflict broke out in December 2013.  

Image source, AP

Image source, AFP

The Nigerian government's decision to reinstate a senior general implicated in mass murder makes a "mockery" of its commitment to end war crimes, and underlines its "monumental failure" to stamp out impunity, rights group Amnesty International has said in a statement. 

Major General Ahmadu Mohammed was in command of operations when the military executed more than 640 detainees following an attack by militant Islamist group Boko Haram attack on a detention centre at a military barracks in March 2014, Amnesty says. 

He was retired for unrelated reasons, but was reinstated earlier this month despite a promise by President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the allegations against him and other senior officers, it added.

"Young men and boys, rounded up by the military, were either shot, starved, suffocated or tortured to death and no one has yet been held to account. It is unthinkable that Major General Muhammed could resume command of troops before an investigation has even begun,” Amnesty said. 

Nigeria's government has not yet commented on Amnesty's statement. 

Read: On patrol with Nigeria's army

The Ugandan army is expected to clarify today why a prominent opposition figure and former close ally of President Museveni was arrested over the weekend, less than three weeks before general elections, the privately owned  Daily Monitor newspaper reports, external. 

General Sejusa went into exile three years ago after accusing Mr Museveni of grooming his son to succeed him. This is not the first time he has been arrested since he returned to Uganda.  

Last week, Gen Sejusa was quoted in local media describing the ruling NRM government as “a dictatorial regime that must be dismantled", the Daily Monitor reports. 

A white Zimbabwean farmer has been handcuffed and forcibly removed from his farm after police stormed the property to enforce a claim made by a black British doctor, London's Telegraph newspaper reports, external.

Phillip Rankin was first ordered off his tobacco farm in September last year following a claim for land made by Dr Sylvester Nyatsuro, who was born in Zimbabwe but now has British citizenship, it adds.

Lawyers for Dr Nyatsuro said he is a mere third party in the dispute which is between Mr Rankin and the state, The Telegraph reports.  

They deny he applied for specific ownership of Mr Rankin’s farm and say it was allocated to him because it was state land and it was up to Mr Rankin to prove otherwise, it adds.   

Image source, AFP

The African Union has agreed to draw up a "road map" which will lead to its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), at the end of its two-day summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. 

The new AU chairman, Chad's President Idriss Derby, said the ICC was targeting African leaders.

The AU was waiting for the ICC to address its concerns, he added. 

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who put forward the proposal, said that he and his deputy William Ruto has been subjected to “cases built with weak investigations and pursued with politicised zeal” by the ICC. 

The ICC says it pursues justice impartially for Africans affected by conflict.

Image source, AFP

Nigeria is holding exploratory talks with the World Bank help it fund a forecast $11bn (£7.7bn) budget deficit. 

The Nigerian economy has been hit hard by the collapse in oil prices and the World Bank says it's been asked for $2.5bn, with a further $1bn reportedly sought from the African Development Bank. 

"We have held exploratory talks with the World Bank. We have not applied for emergency loans," Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun told Reuters news agency. 

The new government of President Muhammadu Buhari had been planning to run a budget deficit to try to stimulate the country's economy, but the gap between revenue and expenditure has been growing and it's now being forced to seek help, correspondents say. 

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