Image source, AFP

Russia is set to build a new nuclear power plant costing as much as $21bn (£15.7bn) in Egypt.

Rosatom, Russia's state-owned nuclear company, said it would be completed by 2029, according to news agency Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, two years after the initial deal to loan Egypt 85% of the construction costs in return for servicing the reactors for 60 years was signed.

This is one of a series of plants Russia is building across the continent.

In October, it was revealed it would build two in Nigeria, while a similar deal in South Africa has run into trouble.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) says it will refer Jordan to the UN Security Council for its failure to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir when he attended an Arab League summit in the kingdom in March.

Jordan failed to comply with its international obligations by ignoring the ICC's request to arrest Mr Bashir, even though it is a signatory to the Rome Statute which set up the court in 2002, the ICC said in a statement, external.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Mr Bashir in 2009, accusing him of genocide and war crimes in Darfur.

He denies the allegation, and accuses the court of being political.

Image source, AFP

Ishaq Khalid
BBC Africa, Abuja

A protest has been held in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to demand the dissolution of the police's controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars).

Police chief Ibrahim Idris promised to "reorganise" the squad after a social media outcry about alleged brutality by the force.

But civil society groups, which organised today's protest, say they do not believe the squad can be reformed, and they want it to be shut down.

Sars officers have been accused of extra-judicial killings and corruption.

Nigerians have shared stories of alleged abuse by the squad on Twitter under the hashtag #ENDSARS, external.

Mabel Emmanuel and Steven Ekhiator met and started a family in a Libyan detention centre, having failed to make the crossing to Europe.

Last week they were flown home to Nigeria with their baby boy.

Here their remarkable story above.

Video journalist: Abdulmalik Fahd Abdulmalik, BBC News Pidgin

The wait is almost over! Exactly a month after we revealed the five players on the shortlist for the BBC African Footballer of the Year, we are now counting down the hours before the winner is announced.

It’s been our biggest vote ever - more football fans made their voices heard than ever before.

Here's a quick reminder of our five contenders:

• Gabon’s and Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
• Guinea's and RB Leipzig's Naby Keïta
• Senegal’s and Liverpool’s Sadio Mané
• Nigeria’s and Chelsea’s Victor Moses
• Egypt’s and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah

So who will it be? To find out, join us at 17:30 GMT on a special BBC World News programme on TV, radio, online and social media.

Image source, Reuters

Ivory Coast is to pay its soldiers 15m CFA francs ($25,500; £20,000) each to leave its large and mutiny-prone army, news agency Reuters reports.

The government is hoping to retire 4,400 troops - almost a fifth of its reported 25,000-strong army - by 2020, the agency said.

A thousand of those will voluntarily retire by the end of the year.

However, officials would not confirm exactly what the pay off would be - but Reuters and a number of other outlets report it will be more than $25,000 per soldier.

This is far more than the average wage, understood to be in the region of $1,200 a year.

Ivory Coast was Africa's fastest growing economy in 2016, but it suffered earlier this year after numerous uprisings by low-ranking soldiers.

In May, a five-day mutiny over pay ended with the government offering thousands of soldiers almost $12,000.

Many soldiers are former rebels who fought in a series of civil conflicts.

Read more: Why are Ivory Coast soldiers up in arms?

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority has extended the deadline for President Jacob Zuma to file papers on why he shouldn't be prosecuted for corruption.

Mr Zuma now has until the end of January to submit arguments in relation to charges linked to a $2bn (£1.5bn) arms deal.

The original charges were dropped before Mr Zuma became president, but this year the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled he should stand trial.

Mr Zuma denies a series of corruption allegations made against him.

Read: Zuma the survivor

Image source, AFP

The release of two musicians who were serving life sentences for the rape of primary school pupils is indicative of the Tanzanian president's "punitive" attitude towards children, a child rights activist has said.

Kate McAlpine, director of Community for Children Rights in northern Tanzania, said she was “horrified but unsurprised” by President John Magufuli's decision.

On Saturday, he pardoned Nguza Viking, known as Babu Seya, and his son Johnson Nguza, known by the stage name Papii Kocha, who were given life behind bars after being convicted of raping 10 girls, aged between six and eight years.

Ms McAlpine said this was the latest example of Mr Magufuli showing a lack of understanding about violence against children.

Earlier this year, the president banned pregnant school girls from returning to school.

“Pregnant schoolgirls are pregnant because they are victims of violence," Ms McAlpine said.

“He has a blind spot when it comes to recognising children as victims.

“There seems to be a punitive attitude towards young children.”

Ms McAlpine said the fact the two men were jailed in the first place was unusual in a country where most child rape cases are resolved between families.

Rapists have also been known to pay of police and court staff.

She said: “It’s extremely rare for child rape cases to get to court in Tanzania - and even rarer for the culprits to get life sentences.”

Read our earlier post on the release here.

Image source, AFP

A polling company says that South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) will lose its majority should it choose President Jacob Zuma's ex-wife and former African Union Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as its leader, South Africa's TimesLive reports, external.

According the the newspaper, Ratepop Research found just 6.9% of black voters of the opposition Democratic Alliance would switch to the ANC in the 2019 general election if Ms Dlamini-Zuma is voted in as leader at a party conference starting on Saturday.

In comparison, the company found 50.9% would change their votes in favour of the ANC should Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa be elected leader.

The two politicians are going head-to-head for the role which would make them well placed to become South Africa's new president in 2019.

Mr Ramaphosa, a former business tycoon and trade unionist, took the lead at the beginning of this month, however, it is still all to play for.

Five employees of a Chinese-owned telecoms company have been kidnapped and killed in central Mali while laying fibre-optic cables, security and local officials have said, AFP news agency reports.

The bodies of the four Malians and one Togolese employees were found abandoned at a roadside on Saturday, following their abduction a day earlier near the town of Niafunke, AFP quoted a local official as saying.

The motive for the attack is unclear.

Both militant Islamists and criminal gangs are active in the region.

Earlier this month, the prime minister's office said that efforts to improve internet access in parts of Mali have been hampered by instability and rocky terrain, AFP reports.

Image source, AFP

Up to 6,000 Africans who fought for the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Iraq and Syria could return home, and threaten the continent's security, the African Union's top security official has warned, news agency AFP reports.

African nations needed to coordinate intelligence activities to counter the threat, said the AU's commissioner for peace and security, Smail Chergui.

Speaking at a meeting in Algiers, he added:

Iraq's government declared victory over IS on Saturday. The group has also been driven out of its strongholds in Syria.

Tens of thousands of foreigners joined IS after it declared a caliphate in 2014, and captured territory in the two neighbouring states.

Read: IS losing grip of 'virtual caliphate'

Image source, Michuzi blog

Two popular singers serving life sentences after being found guilty of raping primary school children have walked free from a Tanzanian prison, having received a presidential pardon.

Nguza Viking, known as Babu Seya, and his son Johnson Nguza, known by the stage name Papii Kocha, were among more than 1,000 prisoners freed by President John Magufuli on Saturday.

The rhumba musicians had served 13 years after being convicted of raping 10 girls, aged between six and eight years, who were were all pupils at the same Dar es Salaam school.

They were reportedly met by cheering fans and family after emerging from the prison.

Dr Juma Malewa, Tanzania's commissioner-general of prisons, praised them for their good behaviour while incarcerated. According to Tanzania's The Citizen newspaper, external, he added:

However, others have not welcomed the move, which has ignited a heated debate around the country.

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Image source, afp

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Welcome to BBC Africa Live where we will bring you the latest news and views from around the continent.