Summary

  • 'Machete men' gang lynched in Mozambique

  • Largest solar plant in West Africa launched in Burkina Faso

  • #ThisFlag pastor acquitted of anti-Mugabe plot

  • Buhari anger over 'Nigerians sold like goats' in Libya

  • Egypt army given 90 days to secure Sinai

  • 'Mass protest' against Togo's Eyadema dynasty

  • WHO fears over battle against malaria

  • 'Four solders killed' in Cameroon

  • Migrant crisis to top African and Europe summit

Live Reporting

Lucy Fleming and Farouk Chothia

  1. #ThisFlag pastor acquitted of anti-Mugabe plot

    Zimbabwe's #ThisFlag movement activist and pastor Evan Mawarire has been acquitted of trying to overthrow then-President Robert Mugabe's government.

    He shared his delight on Twitter:

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    He was arrested at his church in the capital, Harare, in September on a charge of subversion after releasing a video about the worsening economic crisis in Zimbabwe, including long queues for fuel and price increases.

    The pastor's acquittal comes about a week after Mr Mugabe, 93, was forced to resign following pressure from the military and the ruling Zanu-PF party.

    Opposition Senator David Coltart welcomed the ruling, tweeting that "Zimbabwe can move forward if this spirit continues".

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    Read more: What next for Zimbabwe?

  2. 'Four solders killed' in Cameroon

    Four soldiers have been killed overnight in the Cameroon’s English-speaking South-West province, a government source has told the AFP news agency.

    "Four soldiers were killed around 02:00 in the Mamfe area,” the source is quoted as saying.

    In the last year, there has also been crackdown by the armed forces on protests in English-speaking regions in the west of the country, where people are complaining of marginalisation in mainly French-speaking Cameroon.

    emonstrators march during a protest against perceived discrimination in favour of the country's francophone majority on 22 September 2017 in BamendaAFP

    People in western Cameroon have been protesting about their perceived marginalisation

  3. How to stop the migrant crisis?

    Analysis

    Tamasin Ford
    BBC Africa, Abidjan

    African migrants are seen aboard a rescue ship as they arrive at a naval base in Tripoli on November 25, 2017, after their rubber boat was rescuedAFP

    Many African migrants, exploited by smugglers, die making the dangerous crossing across the Mediterranean

    Young people are the focus of this year’s African Union and European Union summit taking place today in Ivory Coast.

    German leader Angela Merkel and France’s President Emmanuel Macron are there - along with eighty other heads of state.

    Investing in youth for a sustainable future - that’s the tagline as 60% of the population across Africa is under 25.

    It’s the youngest continent in the world.

    And it’s getting younger, not older, as the number of young people is expected to double in the next decade.

    But many think the summit’s focus on young people is simply another way of saying, “the migrant crisis”.

    Hundreds of thousands of Africans, mainly from West and East Africa, make the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean every year.

    Some are escaping atrocities.

    But many, like those from Ivory Coast, are economic migrants, simply aspiring to a better life - chasing the European dream, a dream that doesn’t exist.

    It’s hoped presidents, prime ministers and policy makers from both continents, Africa and Europe, will address the root causes of migration.

    The EU is expected to offer new investment and loan agreements - because if people’s situations in their home countries don’t change, the migrant crisis is only going to get worse.

  4. Fight against malaria 'stalling'

    A mother and her child sit on a bed covered with a mosquito net near Bagamoyo, Tanzania - 2009AFP

    The WHO is worried about is lack of access to preventative measures such as bed nets

    The UN's World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the global fight to eradicate malaria shows signs of stalling following recent success.

    Pedro Alonso, director of the WHO's global malaria programme, is quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying:

    We want [this to be] a wake-up call to the malaria community. We are not on track, and we need to get back on track."

    Last year the number of people infected by malaria was up by five million on the previous year.

    Funding has been allowed to plateau over the last 10 years, the WHO said.

    It also said a complacent attitude to the disease has seen a drop in the use of preventative tools such as bed nets, indoor spraying and primary healthcare.

    More than 400,000 people died of the disease in 2016, the vast majority being children under five.

  5. Zimbabwe honours white ex-minister

    Zimbabwe has declared former Health Minister Timothy Stamps - who was once the only white person in the government of ousted President Robert Mugabe - a national hero following his death on Sunday at the age of 81, the state-run Herald newspaper reports.

    A delegation of the ruling Zanu-PF party visited Dr Stamp's home yesterday, describing him as someone who was "keen on the welfare" of Zimbabweans and would be "missed a lot", the newspaper adds.

    Zanu-PF official Obert Mpofu said:

    We have been requested by His Excellency [new President Emmerson Mnnangagwa] to come and inform the family that he has been declared a national hero... His name is like a family name in communities."

    Dr Stamps played a key role in promoting reconciliation between black and white people after Zimbabwe's independence in 1980.

    He was elected an MP on a Zanu-PF ticket in 1985, and served as health minister from 1986 to 2002. For much of this period, he was the only white person in the government.

    The Herald described him as a health adviser to Mr Mugabe and the cabinet at the time of his death.

    Dr Stamps died at the Borrowdale Trauma Centre in the capital, Harare, after suffering from a lung infection.

    In 2000, journalist Andrew Meldrum wrote in the UK-based Guardian newspaper that he was "one of the most persuasive advocates" of Mr Mugabe's government.

    School children hold an image of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe during the country's 37th Independence Day celebrations at the National Sports Stadium in Harare April 18, 2017AFP

    Mr Mugabe was forced to resign last week after 37 years in power

  6. Wise words

    Today's African proverb:

    Two pieces of meat confuse the fly’s mind."

    A Hausa proverb sent by Adam A Adam in Gashua, Nigeria

  7. Good morning

    Welcome to the BBC Africa Live page, where we'll be keeping you up-to-date with news and trends from across the continent.