Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Addis Ababa

Ethiopia and South Sudan have jointly appealed for urgent international assistance to help at least 15 million of people facing starvation in the two countries. 

Famine has been declared in parts of South Sudan while Ethiopia is facing yet another drought that has hit several countries in the East and Horn of Africa. 

Speaking in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said countries in the region had agreed to share meagre resources in averting what he said was looming famine. 

For his part, South Sudan’s president said his government would allow safe passage for humanitarian assistance to reach millions that are facing starvation. 

Earlier this week the UN warned that the world needs to act quickly to avert further disaster in the world’s youngest nation.

The two countries also signed several agreements on border security, infrastructure and energy that will see Ethiopia selling electricity to South Sudan while exporting oil from their neighbour. 

There have been more than 100 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by United Nations and French peacekeepers in the Central African Republic.

The BBC's Fergal Keane investigates:

Kenya's Daily Nation is reporting that Deputy President William Ruto has given a shoot-to-kill order to the police against bandits who have been operating in Baringo county in the Rift Valley region who have killed at least 10 people and forced hundreds flee the area. 

Yesterday, bandits attacked a government truck ferrying relief food to the area.

See earlier posts for more details

The death of a Kenyan politician - Nderitu Gachagua, the Governor of Nyeri, who was 63 - in a hospital in the UK has revived a public debate about whether politicians should seek private medical care. 

It comes as a strike by doctors, which has paralysed medical services in public hospitals, enters its fourth month next week.

The doctors are pushing for the implementation of a comprehensive reform deal signed in 2013 aimed at improving public health care, including increasing their pay, which the government has refused to honour.

Talks are ongoing to resolve the crisis. 

Some social media users have hijacked the hashtag  #RIPGachagua, external  - which was being used for tributes to Mr Gachagua - to criticise the contrast between medical care given to politicians and that received by ordinary Kenyans. 

Here's a sample of the tweets: 

South Africa's national police chief Khomotso Phahlane says 136 people have been arrested in incidents during operations over the past 24 hours.

Random acts of violence, looting and destruction of property had occurred during the course of this morning, Mr Phahlane said.

It was unclear how many of those in custody were South Africans and how many foreigners.

Mr Phahlane said anyone found to have been inciting violence would be prosecuted.

However Mr Phahlane defended the decision to allow the Pretoria protest to go ahead, saying the march was allowed under the South African constitution.

The picture agencies have filed some photos of a group of mainly Somali migrants in Pretoria's Marastabad area who had armed themselves in case they were attacked by South Africans protesting against foreigners.

The group faced off against a group of South Africans but they were prevented from clashing by police, who dispersed them using a low-flying helicopter and rubber bullets.

Image source, AFP/Getty

Image source, AFP/Getty

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

The Nelson Mandela Foundation has condemned the march against foreign nationals that took place in the capital, Pretoria this morning. 

In a statement, it criticised authorities for allowing the protest to take place, calling it a "march of hared":    

The Foundation’s Chief Executive Sello Hatang says that there is a growing level of "othering" in South Africa:  

It said that Nelson Mandela rejected xenophobia saying in a speech in 1991 "we are one people": 

Marine biologist Katrin Ludynia from the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds explains what's killing African penguins off.  

Africa’s only breeding penguins live in colonies on the islands and rocky shores between Namibia and South Africa, where they spend most of the time at sea feeding on small shoaling fish such as anchovies and sardines. African penguins are also called "jackass" penguins because they emit a loud, braying donkey-like call. 

The black and white plumage camouflages them from predators: the white chest and belly helps hide them from aquatic threats below, and the black back protects from aerial predators above.  

Image source, @HermanMashaba

Civil society organisation Save South Africa says Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba has "a lot to answer for" amid tension and a major police operation to disperse groups of armed South Africans and foreigners in the city of Pretoria.

Mr Mashaba has today said xenophobia has no place in the country - but Save South Africa say his previous comments linking illegal immigrants to crime have "sparked attacks".

The statement, external says:

See earlier post for more details

Fact-checking organisation Africa Check have debunked a claim by a South African politician that there are at least 13m foreign nationals living in the country. 

Mario Khumalo, the leader of South African First, a new political party, reportedly made the claim in an interview with Times Live, adding that one-third of Malawians live in the country, City News reports, external . 

Africa Check interviewed Mr Kumalo who said he could not substantiate his figures but claimed that the number was an "estimate" and that the government was not revealing the real figure because it is "embarassing and shocking". 

According to South Africa’s  2016 Community Survey, external  there are an estimated 1.6m foreign nationals in the country. A 2011 survey said 2.2m of people were born outside the country, City News says. 

UN figures also debunk Mr Khumalo’s claim, although their estimate is higher than South Africa’s official estimates. 

It puts the number of international migrants in the country in 2015 at  just above 3m. 

At least two people have been shot with rubber bullets as police attempt to disperse groups of South Africans and immigrants.

One cameraman was shot twice in the back while a student was also reportedly, external shot in the back as he returned home from school.

Police have used helicopters, water cannon, rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas in an attempt to break up rival groups armed with sticks, stones and knives.

Image source, AFP

Johannesburg's mayor, Herman Mashaba, has condemned xenophobic attacks on social media - despite accusations that his previous comments linking foreigners and crime have helped fuel a climate of hostility.

Mr Mashaba has always denied inciting violence. 

Earlier this month his Twitter account retweeted a post by one resident who said "foreigners don't have respect for South Africa"

BBC reporter Nomsa Maseko's reaction to Mr Mashaba's latest tweets gives a flavour of the surprise they are causing.

Here is Mr Mashaba's full statement:

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

The South African president has appealed for calm ahead of the march by local residents against immigrants in townships around the capital Pretoria. 

President Jacob Zuma strongly condemned the acts of violence and intimidation directed at African immigrants living in South Africa. In a statement Mr Zuma said he would be championing the fight against crime to promote safer and more stable communities. 

Earlier this week angry mobs looted shops belonging to Somalis, Pakistanis and other migrants in townships around Pretoria and parts of south Johannesburg. Nigerian migrants have denied accusations that they are involved in prostitution rings and drug cartels. 

The president also condemned the incitement of xenophobia on social media platforms. He said “the threats and counter-threats on social media must stop. All must exercise restraint, respect the laws of the land". 

Patrick Kihara
BBC Monitoring, Nairobi

Image source, Google

Hundreds of people have been forced to flee their homes due to increasing insecurity in the country's Baringo County, about 217km (135 miles) northwest of the capital, Nairobi over the past few days. 

Yesterday bandits attacked a government truck ferrying relief food to the area and two weeks ago a local elected official and a would-be MP were killed when gunmen attacked a bar.

Local leaders have asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to address the attacks which they say have resulted in the deaths of 10 people so far. 

The area is home to two communities, the Pokot and Tugen, who have often clashed violently over pasture and water. 

On 8 February a local official was quoted by the Star Newspaper saying "hundreds" of police officers from the country's elite General Service Unit had been deployed to the region.

Private farms and conservancies in the neighbouring Laikipia county have also been experiencing armed incursions as pastoralists search for food and water for their livestock. 

The county also borders Turkana county where in 2014 Pokot raiders ambushed a police convoy and killed 21 police officers.

South African police have fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of citizens and non-nationals marching in the capital Pretoria, following looting this week of stores believed to belong to immigrants, the Reuters news agency reports. 

Meanwhile, a group of marchers have arrived at the Home Affairs office and are expected to submit a petition: 

Anti-immigrant violence has flared sporadically following near-record levels of unemployment, with foreigners being accused of taking jobs from citizens and getting involved in crime, Reuters reports.

In parts of the city many shops are closed and streets are quiet.

Foreigners in South Africa's capital, Pretoria have stood their ground against a march by residents. 

A video shared on Twitter shows one man saying that they do not want to fight but are "ready to protect our property". 

Police in South Africa's capital Pretoria are in the middle of a standoff between residents and a group of foreigners. 

Residents have been protesting against foreigners after a week of attacks on migrants (see earlier reports)

The two groups are armed with sticks, bricks and knives.

Police have used tactics including a low-flying helicopter to keep the sides apart.

A march against foreign nationals in South Africa is currently underway in the capital, Pretoria.  

Tension has been rising in recent days following what residents say is a growing crime wave and drug selling which they blame on foreigners.  

President Jacob Zuma has condemned the attacks against foreigners and called on residents to show restraint (see earlier post) 

Local media have been sharing pictures from the march. 

Image source, Reuters

South African protesters have blocked roads with burning tyres in parts of Pretoria ahead of a planned anti-immigrant rally in the city. 

Demonstrators are expected to march to the Department of Home Affairs in a protest against illegal immigration.

President Jacob Zuma has condemned an outbreak of violence against foreigners and called on residents to show restraint. 

He has also announced a crackdown on crime to promote safer communities, which the government says is an urgent priority as foreigners are being blamed by some South Africans for crime.

Mr Zuma said:

Vigilante violence against foreigners has taken place in Rosettenville in Johannesburg and Pretoria West and there is tension in other areas, the government says. 

Mr Zuma said many foreign citizens living in South Africa were law-abiding and contributed to the economy.

He said it was wrong to label them as drug dealers and people traffickers.

Dozens of shops and homes owned by immigrants were attacked earlier this week near Pretoria. 

John Solombi
BBC Africa

Image source, Google

An earthquake of magnitude 5.7  on the Richter scale struck  Africa’s deepest and second largest lake Tanganyika, early Friday morning. 

Much of the impact was however felt in the Zambian town of Kapula in the western region, which lies near the borders of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There are no reports of casualties although eyewitnesses say the quake has caused panic among residents of south western Tanzania.  

In September last year, a powerful earthquake hit north western Tanzania, killing 16 people and causing massive destruction on infrastructure in the region.

A website that monitors seismic activities has shared a visualisation of the affected areas: