Riot police have appeared at the hotel in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, where the opposition MDC Alliance party was due to give a press conference and told journalists to leave.

The party leader, Nelson Chamisa, had promised to relate evidence supporting his claim that the election result was rigged.

Reporters have tweeted images from the scene:

Image source, AFP

China, a key ally of Zimbabwe, has endorsed the country's elections results and suggested that the international community needs to show more support.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Geng Shuang said:

China is a long-time trading partner of Zimbabwe. It joins Tanzania, South Africa and Burundi in accepting the outcome of the polls.

It is also where, in the 1960s, President Emmerson Mnagagwa received his military training.

Anne Soy
BBC Africa, Lubumbashi

Image source, AFP

Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo have set up roadblocks in the south-eastern city of Lubumbashi where the exiled opposition leader, Moïse Katumbi, had been due to arrive, in spite of authorities threatening to arrest him if he tried to enter the country.

The former governor of Katanga province left the country in 2016, and was later convicted of property fraud and sentenced in absentia to three years in prison.

The Congolese government refused him permission to land by plane in Lubumbashi.

An official from his opposition coalition said in a tweet that Mr Katumbi would instead enter the country by road from the city of Ndola in neighbouring Zambia.

Last month, Mr Katumbi said the Congolese government had cancelled his passport.

Another opposition leader – Jean-Pierre Bemba – returned to DR Congo on Wednesday after more than a decade.

He has submitted his candidacy for the presidential election in December.

The ruling coalition has however said he is not eligible to run because of a conviction for bribery at the International Criminal Court. He has launched an appeal against that conviction.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, SPL

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the current Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo began with the death of a 65-year-old woman in Mangina Hospital - about 30km (17 miles) from the city of Beni.

The head of the WHO's emergency response, Peter Salama, says seven members of her immediate family also died.

The UN health agency says there are also several cases in neighbouring Ituri province.

This outbreak comes just days after another outbreak - that killed 33 people in north-western DR Congo - was declared over.

• Read more: Ebola outbreak latest

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

Pope Tawadros II, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, has announced his intent to shut down his official Facebook page and make better use of his time, the state-run Mena news agency reports.

It quoted him as saying on Facebook:

His Facebook page, which is still active at the moment, external, says he joined the social network in October 2009.

The Church was also giving monks a month to shut down all their social media accounts and give their time solely to the monastic order, Mena added.

It comes on the heels of several other decrees imposed by Coptic Orthodox Church after the mysterious death of a bishop at a monastery near Cairo on Sunday.

Some of the restrictions include:

• No new monks to be accepted into monasteries for a year
• The ordination of priests to be suspended for three years
• Members of the monastic order banned from appearing in the media
• They are also banned from living in monasteries unless they have been tasked by the Church to do so.

The circumstances surrounding Bishop Epiphanius' death remain unclear. He was found with head injuries in what is reportedly being investigated as a possible murder.

Zimbabwe's economy is in a desperate state with high unemployment and a cash crisis.

Two-thirds of Zimbabweans live in rural areas. Brazio, a farmer, says he is just trying to feed his family and sell his produce.

Watch his interview with BBC Newsday.

Read more:

• Hustling for cash to survive in Zimbabwe
• Reality Check: Are 90% of Zimbabweans unemployed?

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Harare

Image source, AFP

It was a close finish. The "crocodile" just scrapped through to legitimise his presidency, eight months after Robert Mugabe was ousted as president.

But Emmerson Mnangagwa may have to put celebrations on hold.

The opposition MDC Alliance is alleging foul play and intend to take the matter up in court.

Zimbabwe’s constitution allows for a legal challenge to the presidential results but MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa now has the huge task of proving his bold claims.

There is no room for inflammatory talk in court, just hard evidence.

Mr Chamisa has been criticised here for prematurely declaring victory and fuelling tensions particularly in the capital, Harare.

If his challenge is to succeed it won’t be through the scenes we saw on Wednesday, which led to six people being killed.

Plus a significant number of people voted for Zanu-PF and in a democracy, those votes matter.

Aside from the disputed results, both leaders have injected new life into their parties.

They have each ignited hope for what Zimbabwe could become.

But how the next few days play out will be the true test of how ready the political leaders are to embrace true democracy - where there are winners and losers but still a country to run.

Zimbabwe opposition leader Nelson Chamisa described last night's presidential election result as "fake".

He took 44.3% of the vote to Emmerson Mnangagwa's 50.8%, official figures show.

Mr Chamisa's MDC Alliance vowed to launch a legal challenge. It has seven days to go to court.

Image source, Getty Images

Supporters of Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa have been celebrating his victory in Monday's presidential poll.

The results, announced late on Thursday, gave Mr Mnangagwa 50.8% of the vote - avoiding the need for a second round. The opposition MDC Alliance says it will mount a legal challenge.

News agency photographers snapped these people in Mbare, a suburb of the capital, Harare.

Image source, AFP

Image source, Getty Images

The authorities are encouraging people to go back to work in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, reports the BBC's Vernon Mataruse who is in the Central Business District.

Things have been much quieter following Wednesday's violence in which six people died.

A policeman, driving around in a police vehicle and using a loudspeaker, was saying; "Zimbabwe is open for business."

"As the police we are here to protect you. Feel free to walk around and open your business. All is well, fear not."

Vernon also photographed this scene in front of the headquarters of the MDC Alliance in central Harare, showing police waiting outside:

Things are quiet in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, at the moment as people digest the result of Monday's presidential election, the BBC's Taurai Maduna reports.

It's been an unsettled week in the city. On Thursday, central Harare was a ghost town after Wednesday's clashes between security forces and MDC Alliance supporters left six people dead.

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza appear to be among the first world leaders to congratulate Emmerson Mnangagwa's win in Zimbabwe's disputed presidential election.

Both tweeted their messages a short while ago:

Regional power South Africa recently played a key role in November's negotiations which resulted in the resignation of then-President Robert Mugabe.

Andrew Harding
BBC News, Harare

In a late-night announcement, the incumbent candidate in Zimbabwe's presidential election, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was declared the winner.

He secured 50.8% of the vote. That was just enough to avoid a runoff.

But the result has been rejected by officials from the opposition MDC Alliance, who insist it was rigged.

President Mnangagwa said he was humbled by the result, and urged Zimbabweans to unite behind his presidency. He tweeted that this was a "new beginning" for the country.

But the opposition has questioned the remarkably high turnout, and maintains that the election has been stolen.

They have promised to take to the streets in huge numbers.

Much now depends on whether they can prove that the figures are substantially out of step with credible independent tallies.

If not, the international community is likely to give the governing Zanu-PF the benefit of the doubt.

The process was seriously flawed, and was overshadowed by a violent security crackdown on Tuesday, but it was an improvement on previous elections.

Image source, AFP

Today’s African proverb:

Image source, Getty Images

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Welcome to the BBC Africa Live page where we'll be keeping you up-to-date with developments in Zimbabwe as well as other stories across the continent.

BBC Africa Live
Damian Zane

We're closing the BBC Africa Live page for now as we continue to wait for Zimbabwe's electoral commission to start releasing the results of the presidential election.

Keep up-to-date with the latest from Zimbabwe by checking the BBC News website.

A reminder of today's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this picture of police in central Harare, which was largely deserted a day after violent clashes left six people dead:

Image source, Reuters

Zanu-PF supporters are in a carefree and a jovial mood outside Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, following news that the ruling party has won a parliamentary majority.

Voters in rural areas have traditionally supported Zanu-PF.

The BBC's Pumza Fihlani has been to Concession, an hour's drive north of Harare, to find out why.

Video journalist: Christian Parkinson

As we wait for Zimbabwe's presidential election results to be released from 22:00 local time (20:00 GMT), here's a quick look back at the day.

There was an anxious mood in the capital, Harare, this morning and President Emmerson Mnangagwa tried to calm things in a series of tweets expressing condolences for those who died in Wednesday's clashes.

He called for an independent investigation and said that his people had been talking to opposition leader Nelson Chamisa:

Mr Chamisa later said that he had not spoken to the preisdent, but he had talked to a Zanu-PF official.

The Commonwealth observer mission expressed concern over Wednesday's violence and deplored the use of excessive force. Its chairperson, Ghana ex-President John Mahama, thought it could jeopardise the peace in Zimbabwe:

The centre of Harare has been very quiet, but the US Embassy was not sure the situation was safe and sent this message to US citizens in the city:

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was aware that the delay in announcing the presidential election result was an issue:

And Mr Chamisa remained convinced that he had won the vote:

But 29-year-old governing Zanu-PF supporter Lloyd Chingulu, who lives outside the capital, Harare, told the BBC that the MDC should stop complaining:

Six people are now confirmed to have died following Wednesday's violence in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, the police spokesperson said on the public broadcaster.

She added that 14 people were injured.

Our reporter has been tweeting her comments:

Image source, EPA

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Harare

There is an air of nervousness tonight in Harare, an opposition MDC stronghold which usually has a bustling city centre.

Earlier, I was in the small town of Concession, an hour's drive north of the capital. It is a Zanu-PF stronghold, and the mood there was carefree and jovial.

Locals have elected a Zanu-PF MP to parliament once again, and expect to walk away with the presidency as well.

Patience Simeon, 29, told me: "The MDC need to know that Harare is not Zimbabwe. We have also lost seats in other parts of the country but did not go to the streets. Why turn a peaceful election into violence? What happened on Wednesday is wrong."

Lloyd Chingulu, also 29, agreed, saying: "I don't know why people are panicking. If they lose they must accept the result. There are winners and losers in every match."

Nevertheless, one thing became clear from my conversations with people in Harare and Concession. They want the same thing - the economy to grow and for jobs to be created. But for that to happen, they may need to set aside political rivalries.