Farah Lamane
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Djibouti has launched a $64m (£51m) sea port to exclusively export tonnes of salt from Lake Assal.

The Chinese funded project is the seventh sea port to be launched in this tiny Horn of African country.

It is expected to handle up to six million tonnes of salt annually and will also facilitate the export of minerals from within Djibouti and Ethiopia.

We've been reporting that Angola's Vice-President Manuel Vicente is facing a corruption trial in Portugal (see earlier entry).

It's over allegations that he paid a bribe to stop a corruption investigation against him.

Mr Vicente denies the charges but there are questions over whether he will appear in court.

Portugal's Publico website, external says that Mr Vicente's lawyer argued that the decision to go ahead with a trial does not apply to him as he was not formally notified of the decision.

The Observador website, external says that if the vice-president does not turn up then the court can issue an international arrest warrant, but Angola may not give him up.

It adds that he cannot be tried in absentia.

Image source, Getty Images

Authorities in South Africa will cull 400 fallow deer on Robben Island for the next nine months to ensure balance in the ecosystem, South African media are reporting.

The island, which hosts the prison where Nelson Mandela spent nearly two decades is now a popular tourist attraction with a variety of plant and animal species. .

The culling will be done at night by a professional hunter and the venison will be distributed to staff on the island‚ as well as to prison services in Cape Town.

Bongiwe Nzeku, Robben Island Museum marketing manager, told the Times publication why the culling was necessary:

BBC World Service

There has been fighting around the town of Beni in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, including heavy weapons fire.

Residents said an unknown group had launched an attack in the morning.

Some reports suggest a new rebel coalition has been created in the region.

A local army spokesman confirmed to the BBC that fighting had taken place, saying his forces had repelled the attack.

There are frequent outbursts of violence in Beni, and in the North Kivu region as a whole, with several militia groups operating in the area.

Kenyan women face harassment and violence on the campaign trail but despite these challenges many slugged it out in the party primaries and could now get elected in August's vote.

Writer and podcaster Brenda Wambui discusses the prospects for women candidates in this week's Kenya Election Watch podcast.

The show also looks at the recent opinion poll by Ipsos and assesses the state of the race. And we fact-check an ongoing row between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his rival Raila Odinga about who came up with the policy of free secondary education.

Listen here:

Leader of the South Africa's UDM party Bantu Holomisa described the constitutional court's decision that parliament's speaker can decide to hold a secret ballot on a no-confidence motion as a "victory for democracy".

The UDM took the case to the court after the speaker, Baleka Mbete, said that it was not within her power to do that.

The ruling was an implied criticism of the speaker, the BBC's Justine Lang says.

Karen Allen
BBC southern Africa correspondent, Johannesburg

Image source, Reuters

South Africa's constitutional court has ruled that the speaker of parliament does have the discretion to request a secret ballot in a vote of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma.

In a powerful ruling in which he touched upon issues of bribery, conflict of interest and fear, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said under the principle of separation of powers it was up to the speaker of parliament to decide how the vote is conducted.

Mr Zuma has faced mounting allegations of corruption and impropriety and faced criticism from within his own party.

Yet it was feared that members of the governing ANC would be reluctant to vote openly against him for fear of reprisals.

A new date for a motion of no confidence now has to be set.

South Africa's constitutional court has ruled that parliament's speaker can decide on whether MPs should vote in secret on a motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma:

Nigeria is projected to be the world's third most populous country by the year 2050, according to a report released by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The report said Nigeria would overtake the US in terms of population just as the world's population would reach 9.8 billion people from 7.6 billion today.

A Portuguese court has ruled that Angola's Vice-President Manuel Vicente should face trial over bribery allegations, the AFP news agency reports quoting Portuguese media.

He is accused of trying to bribe magistrates to shut down a corruption investigation against him.

The alleged bribes were made to Portugal's former public prosecutor Orlando Figueira, who also faces charges as part of "Operation Fizz".

Mr Vicente has denied the allegations.

Mr Vicente served as head of Angola's state oil company Sonangol from 1999 until 2012, a hugely influential position now occupied by the president's daughter Isabel Dos Santos.

Until news of the corruption scandal emerged last year, he had been strongly tipped as a potential successor to President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled Angola since 1979.

The original corruption investigation, halted in 2012, focused on the origin of money Mr Vicente used to buy a luxury apartment in Lisbon, local media reported.

Image source, AFP

As The Gambia marks six months since President Adama Barrow took office, the government says it is making efforts to reconcile with supporters of former President Yahya Jammeh, who ruled the country for 22 years.

The BBC's Shaimaa Khalil travelled to Mr Jammeh's birthplace to gauge the mood there.

Mr Jammeh is now living in exile in Equatorial Guinea.

South Africa constitutional court is now ruling on whether MPs can vote in secret on a motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma.

We will be keeping you up to date with what's been decided but you can also watch a live feed of the court proceedings here:

The BBC's Justine Lang is at South Africa's Constitutional Court ahead of the ruling on whether MPs can vote in secret on a no-confidence motion against President Zuma.

Before the ruling began she snapped some of the art works on display in the lobby:

BBC World Service

The United Nations says the Republic of Congo has decided to withdraw its peacekeeping troops from the Central African Republic, after new allegations of sexual abuse emerged.

A UN review said there were systemic command and control problems in the Congolese deployment.

Congo has more than 600 troops in its neighbouring country, as part of a 12,000 strong UN mission, known as Minusca.

The UN force has been plagued by accusations of sexual abuse, perpetrated by troops from various countries.

A contingent of 140 police from Congo will however remain.

Nomsa Maseko
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

South Africa’s constitutional court is expected to rule on whether a motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma should be taken by secret ballot.

This comes after pressure on Mr Zuma has been mounting following a controversial cabinet reshuffle in March, which saw nine government ministers including widely-respected Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy fired.

Mr Zuma, who has been implicated in a number of corruption scandals, has survived previous no confidence votes in the past.

But his opponents believe that if a secret ballot is allowed, MPs of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which has a majority of lawmakers, would vote for his removal.

Image source, AFP

The speaker of parliament, Baleka Mbete, who is also a top ANC official has argued that rules of the House do not allow for a secret ballot but the opposition has rejected this.

In April, political parties were given the go-ahead by the constitutional court to make submissions in the secret ballot case.

President Zuma has lost a number of prominent court cases against him recently, this includes being ordered to pay back a portion of state funds used to refurbish his private home in Nkandla.

BBC World Service

Gambia's Information Minister Demba Ali Jawo has told the BBC that he understands the impatience of those who are frustrated by the rate of change since President Adama Barrow was elected nearly seven months ago.

The minister said it was impossible to improve everything straight away after more than 20 years of authoritarian rule by former President Yahya Jammeh:

He called upon Gambians who were thinking of leaving for Europe to stay and, in his words, change the face of the country.

The minister said that reconciliation was the watchword of President Barrow's government.

He said one day the exiled former leader would be free to return but he was not welcome back yet.

Image source, Gett

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