Andrew Harding
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) has dismissed reports of a plot to oust President Cyril Ramaphosa, calling them blatant lies and shameless gossip.

South Africa's Sunday Times said it had evidence that senior ANC officials were plotting with the country's former President Jacob Zuma.

The paper published a photo, showing what it said was a secret meeting last week between Mr Zuma and several key allies - and claimed the group was preparing a campaign to remove President Ramaphosa from power.

The ANC swiftly condemned the report as lies and shameless gossip.

But the party's chief whip, Jackson Mthembu, said the alleged plot should be taken seriously, and warned of the deep factional battles still raging in the party.

Mr Zuma was forced out of power last year and is now facing a corruption trial and other investigations.

His successor, Mr Ramaphosa, is still struggling to consolidate control over his party and to revive a struggling economy, ahead of national elections next year.

Image source, Getty Images

The powerful leader of a once-banned Ethiopian rebel group has vowed to "work very closely" with the government, following his return hom after more than a decade in exile.

Berhanu Nega, who was greeted by large crowds in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, is seen as the most significant opposition figure to go back to Ethiopia since Prime minister Abiy Ahmed took office in April, introducing sweeping political reforms.

Mr Berhanu, the leader of Ginbot 7, was sentenced to death in absentia in 2009 for plotting to kill government officials.

Welcoming Mr Abiy's reforms, Mr Berhanu said:

Image source, AFP

Image source, Getty Images

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has dissolved the government, saying he needed to tackle the crisis-hit economy.

The number of ministries is to be reduced from 31 to 21.

President Bashir said his intervention was necessary to solve the state of distress and frustration faced by the country.

There have been protests since January, when the price of bread doubled after the government eliminated subsidies.

The Sudanese currency was devalued, making it harder to buy foreign wheat and other produce.

Analysts say Sudan's economy has been struggling ever since South Sudan broke away in 2011, taking with it three quarters of its oil resources.

Read: Why the end of US sanctions hasn't helped Sudan

The CIA is set to carry out secret drone strikes against al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) militants from a newly expanded air base in the Sahara, The New York Times reports.

Barack Obama had sought to put the military in charge of drone attacks towards the latter part of his presidency following a backlash over a series of strikes, some of which led to the deaths of civilians.

But under the Donald Trump administration, the CIA is now moving aircraft to north-eastern Niger to target Islamist militants in southern Libya, signalling an expansion of its drone operations, The New York Times reports.

The newspaper quotes unnamed US and Nigerien officials as saying the CIA had been flying drones on surveillance missions for several months from a corner of a small commercial airport in Dirkou town in north-eastern Niger.

The drones would almost certainly be used in lethal missions in the near future, because of the growing threat posed by militants in southern Libya, a US official told the newspaper.

One of the journalists who wrote the article has tweeted about it:

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