BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

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Residents of Ethiopia's capital city, Addis Ababa, are complaining about the growing price of teff, the grain which is a staple in their diet, privately-owned Addis Fortune newspaper, external website reports.

The newspaper quotes one retailer as saying prices jumped by over 30% last month.

"Ethiopia has been struggling to respond one of the worst droughts in half a century, which has left 8.5 million people in need of an urgent assistance,” Addis Fortune reports an agricultural economist as saying.

It is the second time prices has risen in the last 12 months, Addis Fortune adds.

The last time was in October, when political unrest in Oromia and Amhara regions was at its peak.

"If the shortage is fixed, we can easily reverse the price hike,” one co-operative union manager told Addis Fortune.

Image source, AFP

Nigerian Tony Elumelu, one of Africa's richest people, has made a call for more financial help for Sierra Leone in the aftermath of the mudslide, in which nearly 500 people died and more than 600 people are still missing.

He's been tweeting about his visit to the country and the donation he has made:

Mr Elumelu feels that the mudslide has not got the media attention it deserves:

Read more: Sierra Leone mudslide: 'I lost everything'

Image source, Olivia Acland

Mayeni Jones
BBC Africa, Angola

Voting has been extended in three provinces in Angola, the BBC understands.

In the majority of the country the polls closed on Wednesday evening.

Angola's electoral commission says there were 15 polling stations that did not open.

Spokesperson Julia Ferreira said a plane that was taking election materials to remote areas had crashed in Moxico.

She added that polling stations had also not opened in Benguela province and Lunda Norte.

Long-serving President Jose Eduardo dos Santos will be stepping aside once the result of the election is known.

Juliet Njeri
BBC Monitoring, Nairobi

A push by some newly elected Kenyan MPs to reject a proposal to cut their salaries is likely to put the legislators on a collision path with President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Daily Nation reports, external.

Homa Bay Woman Representative-elect Gladys Wanga has accused the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) of unfairly targeting MPs.

"There is a sustained campaign by SRC to reduce MPs to beggars and people who move from one office to another asking for handouts and this will not happen under our watch,” Ms Wanga said.

In June, the SRC said the cut was part of a plan to reduce Kenya's public sector wages by 35%. President Kenyatta has publicly backed the proposal.

The Daily Nation says the plan is to cut MPs' basic monthly salaries from $6,900 (£5,385) to $6,000 (£4,683). But allowances will also be cut and the $48,000 (£37,460) car grant has gone.

The newspaper says MPs who wished to remain anonymous fearing public outrage said they would “do all they can” to reject the proposal.

The push for higher salaries has sparked outrage on social media, with hashtag #MPsPay trending in Kenya:

Some new MPs have distanced themselves from the campaign:

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) in South Sudan says a child was killed when one of its planes hit a house as it attempted to land during a thunderstorm in the capital, Juba.

Four other people were injured.

The cargo plane, which was contracted to airdrop food, hit a tree and the metal roof of the house. Its main landing gear collapsed when it tried to land.

The cargo plane was then diverted to Uganda's Entebbe airport.

The UN says an official investigation is under way.

WFP South Sudan Country Director Adnan Khan said the UN would provide support to the grieving family.

The UN radio station in South Sudan has been tweeting about the story:

BBC World Service

Scientists have developed an insecticide that exploits a mosquito's attraction to sweet substances and makes it believe it is drinking a sugary treat.

The drug is laced with chemicals that mimic the sweet smells that lure the insects.

It has been found to almost totally eradicate mosquitoes in the malaria-plagued Tanzanian villages where it has been trialled.

The drug, Vectrax, could bolster efforts to suppress malaria, Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases worldwide.

The Brazilian scientist who developed the drug, Agenor Mafra-Neto, says the aim was to make it affordable and get it distributed through UN and non-governmental aid agencies.

He explains to BBC Newsday why it works:

Gabriella Engels, the South African woman who was allegedly assaulted by Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe, has taken the first step to challenge the South African government's decision to give her diplomatic immunity.

Ms Engels is being supported by pressure group AfriForum, which has tweeted the first page of the application to the high court in the capital, Pretoria:

Ms Engels and AfriForum argue that Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane misinterpreted the law under which she can grant immunity, Times Live reports, external.

It adds that they believe the law excludes the granting of immunity to people who may have caused death or injury to a South African.

Ms Engels alleges that Mrs Mugabe hit her with a plug and electrical cord in a hotel room in Johannesburg when she was demanding to know where her sons were.

South African police said that Zimbabwe's first lady did not turn up at a police station as had been arranged and she then left the country with her husband on Sunday.

Mrs Mugabe has not commented on the case.

Image source, AFP

Read more: Saving Grace: The cost of diplomatic immunity - BBC News

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