A group of conservationists and residents living around the Nairobi National Park, in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, held a demonstration against plans to use part of the park for an ongoing railway project.  

The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project is a $3bn (£2.2bn ) flagship scheme launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta, which is set to run from the coastal city of Mombasa to Nairobi covering some 482km (300 miles).   

The government recently decided that a bridge would be constructed on parts of the park so that wildlife is not disturbed.

The demonstrators say that they were not consulted before the decision was made and that they were "sold out" by the management of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

They marched to the KWS offices to present a petition and alternative route proposals.

BBC's Anthony Irungu was at the demo and snapped these pictures: 

Crystal Palace defender Pape Souare will be out for up to six months after breaking his thighbone in a car crash, says manager Alan Pardew.

This means that the 26-year-old Senegal international will miss the Africa Cup of Nations in January.

He was airlifted to hospital after a crash on a motorway in London on Sunday.

"He isn't having the best of times, but we're all very supportive," said Pardew. "We love Pape and can't wait to have him back."

Souare is expected to be released from hospital on Saturday.

Read more from BBC Sport.

Image source, AFP

Ferdinand Omondi
BBC Africa, Mombasa

A court in Kenya has ruled that Hania Saga Rogo, the widow of a murdered Muslim cleric, will remain in custody for seven days as they investigate her alleged links with a recent attack in Mombasa. 

The prosecution had initially asked for 14 days.

It said she was being investigated for the offence of collecting funds for the benefits of persons involved in the commission of a terrorist act. 

Police have linked her with one of the suspects killed in the attack on a police station in Mombasa.

Mrs Rogo has not commented on the charges.

She is said to have been communicating with the suspect; her phone is with forensic experts for further examination. 

The case will resume on the 23 September.

Her husband Aboud Rogo, who was alleged to have been a recruiter for Islamist militants al Shabab, was killed in August 2012. 

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The high cost of broadband in the country has led to a campaign by South Africans to bring down the prices. 

The campaign dubbed #DataMustFall has seen users criticise mobile phone operators for their high tariffs.

The #DataMustFall , externalcampaign was spearheaded by television and radio presenter and entrepreneur Tbo Touch, real name Thabo Molefe.

The businessman announced on Thursday that he had been invited by parliament’s portfolio committee on telecommunications to address them next week on broadband costs, eNCA website reports, external

He said:

The hashtag '#datamustfall has been a top trending topic in Johannesburg this morning: 

His fame comes from his posthumous travels - lasting 170 years - as a museum exhibit in France and Spain. 

Generations of Europeans gaped at his half-naked body, which had been stuffed and mounted by a taxidermist. 

There he stood, nameless, exhibited like a trophy.  

But who was he, this person put on show like an animal?

Dutch writer Frank Westerman wanted to restore some dignity to the man.

Read more about what he found out on BBC News Online.

Image source, The Daily Monitor

A python measuring 20ft (6m) has been killed at the farm of Uganda President Yoweri Museveni in Kisozi, in the central district of Gomba, the Daily Monitor reports, external. 

Police shot the snake three times as it tried to enter the farm where Mr Museveni keeps a herd of cattle, the paper says. 

It also quotes a policeman explaining how the snake was killed:

Three people were arrested last week on allegations of stealing Mr Museveni’s cows from the same farm. 

Mr Museveni keeps long-horned cows in the farm that are traditionally herded by his ethnic Banyankore tribe.  

Eight Tanzanian truck drivers and and four drivers from Kenya have been freed after they were taken hostage in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the DR Congo's internal affairs minister has told the BBC.

The drivers were kidnapped in South Kivu province on Wednesday.

Tanzania’s foreign ministry said their abductors were demanding a ransom of $4,000 (£3,020) for each driver, the Tanzanian Daily News paper reports.

But Congolese Internal Affairs Minister Zakwani Salehe said no ransoms were paid, and government troops rescued the drivers, and one other person.

He told the BBC the kidnappers did not appear to expect to be attacked, and disappeared into the bush when troops appeared.

He described the kidnappers as “bandits” and it is not clear if they were linked to any of rebel groups which proliferate in eastern DR Congo.

Those rescued are in the hands of the army, which will escort them to the DR Congo-Tanzania border point, Mr Salehe said. 

The BBC’s Byobe Malenga in Bukavu says kidnapping foreigners for ransom appears to be an emerging phenomenon.

Last year, some Tanzanian clerics were also held in DR Congo but released after several weeks.

Image source, AFP

Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are working to restore relations after the IMF halted funding to the country in April over undisclosed debts.

In a brief statement, external, the IMF said its managing director Christine Lagarde met the president in Washington "to discuss the economic challenges that the country is facing".

Mr Nyusi is keen to reassure international lenders in the wake of the scandal earlier this year, the Reuters news agency is reporting.

The issue hit the economy hard with other countries and institutions following the IMF's lead, it adds.

The IMF said it will be sending a team to Mozambique next week.

Image source, Reuters

Namibian sprinter Ananias Shikongo has bagged his country's first-ever men's Paralympic gold medal by winning the 200m race in the T13 category, for people with a visual impairment, in Rio.

Shikongo, in a Paralympic record time of 22.44 seconds beat home favourite Felipe Gomes - who was the champion in London in 2012.

Afterwards he told the BBC that it was a big achievement for both himself and his country.

Image source, Getty Images

Other African gold medallists in Rio on Thursday included South African hand cyclist Ernst van Dyk, who won the men's time trial.

Image source, AP

Today’s African proverb: 

Image source, AFP

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