Kenya's capital generates thousands of tonnes of rubbish every day - much of it ending up littering the streets or in landfill.

But now a project called Community Cookers is helping schools and hospitals to set up ovens powered with this rubbish. They cost about £20,000 ($26,000) to build, but can then save the institutions on future fuel costs.

Listen to BBC Newsday's Alan Kasujja as he visits Mirema School in Nairobi to see one in action.

More than 40 people are believed to have been killed in southern Zimbabwe after a bus they were travelling in burst into flames, police say.

Dozens of others were injured.

State media reported that a gas cylinder belonging to a passenger was thought to have exploded.

The Chronicle newspaper says the Brooklyn Express bus was reduced to ashes, external.

Pictures published on Twitter earlier this morning by Zimbabwe's Red Cross show the remains of the bus which was completely destroyed by the flames.

It happened in Gwanda district, more than 500km (300 miles) south of the capital, Harare.

Image source, AFP

The US has announced it is reducing its forces in Africa by about 10% over the next few years.

Currently 7,200 military forces serve in the US Africa Command.

A Pentagon statement said in West Africa, where many jihadist groups are active, the emphasis would shift “from tactical assistance to advising, assisting, liaising, and sharing intelligence”, external.

Commander Candice Tresch, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told the Reuters news agency the cuts would leave “counter-violent extremist organisation” activities largely untouched in several countries, including Somalia, Djibouti and Libya.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters, said the reduction of troops would likely take place over three years and could include countries like Kenya, Cameroon and Mali.

When asked whether the reduction was a result of the attack in Niger in October 2017 in which four US troops were killed, a military official said the incident did not play a role in the decision, the Voice of America reports, external.

"Discussions about this shift were under way before that incident occurred," the official said.

US Defence Secretary James Mattis wants to focus resources saved in Africa for potential future conflicts with Russia and China, US media report.

• Read: Why the Sahara is terror's new front line

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Welcome back to BBC Africa Live where we'll be keeping you up to date with news and developments on the continent.

Clare Spencer
BBC News

That's all from BBC Africa Live for now. You can keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website.

A reminder of Wednesday's proverb:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this picture of a fast moving art project in Lagos, Nigeria.

Image source, Reuters

Morocco inaugurated Africa's fastest train today - which will halve travelling time between the commercial and industrial hubs of Casablanca and Tangier.

King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron boarded the train for the inaugural trip from Tangier to the capital Rabat.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Here are the top stats for the train spotters among you:

• The train is planned to run at 320km (198 miles) per hour
• It will more than halve the 200km (124 miles) Casablanca-Tangier journey to around two hours
• It is about twice as fast as South Africa's high-speed Gautrain linking Johannesburg's international airport to the city's financial district Sandton
• It cost 22.9 billion dirhams ($2.4bn; £1.8bn), according to state news agency MAP
• The line took seven years to build

Munira Hussein
BBC Africa

Tanzanian army lorries have arrived in southern Tanzania to pick up the country's entire cashew nut crop from the farmers.

For weeks farmers have been refusing to sell because they say the price is too low.

President John Magufuli stepped in and ordered buyers to pay roughly $1.30 (£1) a kilo by Monday. When they refused he promised to collect the whole crop. The lorries arrived earlier today.

Farmers are yet to be paid for their crops but farmers told me they believe they will get the money eventually.

Louise Dewast
Kinshasa, DR Congo

Image source, Getty Images

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) is one of the rebel groups operating in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of the latest outbreak of Ebola which has killed more than 200 people.

Little is known about the group but a new report offers insight into who they are and how they have evolved.

The ADF is known as a Ugandan Islamist group which fled to eastern DR Congo in the 1990s. While they are still being led by Ugandans, researchers believe many different nationalities are among the rank and file - including Congolese who were kidnapped and brainwashed.

There are many other rebel groups in the area and the ADF is believed to collaborate with them.

The report is based on interviews with a dozen of defectors and videos from social media channels. These videos show a “tentative attempt” by the ADF to align itself with other jihadist groups and rebrand – presenting for example a black flag similar to the one used by al-Shabab and the Islamic State group.

Jason Stearns from the Congo Research Group says that a striking feature of these videos is how they are trying to become "much more of an East African, international affair" with people speaking Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and Kiswahili.

With no clear understanding of the ADF, more attacks appear likely - and insecurity in the region will continue to seriously challenge health workers who are racing against the clock to contain the deadly virus.

The artist who depicted former US President Barack Obama, Kehinde Wiley, is opening a studio in Lagos, Nigeria, he has told the BBC.

Wiley's painting of Barack Obama is the first official US presidential portrait by a black artist.

The painting, which was unveiled in February 2018, hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC.

The artist tells BBC Africa he can't wait to "join the conversation" in Lagos:

BBC World Service

The Malawian military has announced that four of its soldiers serving in the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been killed by rebels.

A spokesman said the soldiers were ambushed on Wednesday in an operation with their South African and Tanzanian colleagues.

He said other injured soldiers were receiving medical treatment.

The spokesman said it was not known which rebel group was responsible for the attack.

Several, including the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces, are active in the east of the country.

The UN has raised the alarm over the escalation of fighting there, warning that the violence, which is unfolding alongside an Ebola outbreak, could hamper next month's elections.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Addis Ababa

Image source, Reuters

A year ago, many Ethiopians would not have dared to imagine the spectacle they are being treated to right now, as the government intensifies the crackdown on corrupt officials and people it alleges have carried out gross human rights violations.

The country has watched in disbelief – and then cheered as former high-ranking and powerful military and intelligence officials have been arrested on live television, handcuffed while surrounded by heavily armed security personnel and bundled into police vehicles. Times have indeed changed.

The corruption scandals now facing the Metals and Engineering Company have not been a secret in the country - they have been whispered in homes, pubs and coffee houses.

Other officials have already appeared in court facing charges that include the torture, rape and sodomy. These are again claims very familiar to thousands of Ethiopians, who over the years have been arbitrarily arrested and detained.

Since coming into office in April, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has endeared himself to the public, but by taking on the powerful military elite this week he’s won over even some of his doubters who thought he didn’t have it in him.

Image source, Getty Images

A global rights watchdog has called on Angola to halt mass deportations of mostly Congolese people.

More than 400,000 people were "forcibly returned" to the Democratic Republic of Congo or fled Angola last month following an operation targeting suspected diamond smuggling, says Human Rights Watch (HRW)., external

“Angola should stop forcing people to leave the country until it can provide individual assessment and due process guarantees to distinguish irregular migrants from refugees and registered migrant workers,” said Dewa Mavhinga Southern Africa director at HRW.

The Angolan government has vehemently denied that its security forces committed abuses during the operation against diamond smuggling, reports AFP news agency.

Chris Ewokor
BBC Africa, Abuja

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have reportedly attacked another community in Borno state in north-eastern Nigeria.

At least 200 houses were set on fire last night when the insurgents invaded Mamanti village, on the outskirts of Maiduguri, according to an aid agency official.

The suspected Islamist militants rode on bicycles as they shot wildly into the community, shouting "God is the greatest".

Heavy sounds of explosion and gun shots forced residents to flee in panic.

A resident of the village was killed, an official of the Borno state Emergency Management Agency told the BBC.

Last weekend suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked another village in Borno state - Bale-Shuwa in Jere Local Government area - burning down 65 houses. They killed one disabled person and stole several cows and goats.

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

A review committee of South Africa’s parliament has adopted a resolution to pave the way for land to be expropriated without compensation.

It follows a lengthy process of public consultations, including a report which recommends a section of the constitution be amended.

In a sitting of the Joint Constitutional Review Committee (JCRC), three political parties voted in favour of revising the constitution to make it more explicit on the expropriation of land.

The ruling African National Congress enjoyed the support of opposition parties the Economic Freedom Fighters and the little known National Freedom party - and that was enough to press ahead.

The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, voted against the planned amendment.

This is unsurprising as they have repeatedly raised concerns about the calls for land seizures.

But the committee is satisfied they are serving the will of people.

Its chairperson, Lewis Nzimande, expressed his gratitude to the thousands of South Africans who participated in the public hearings.

Still, there have been concerns in some quarters over South Africa’s land reform plans - with some pointing to Zimbabwe’s disastrous seizures as a lesson on what not to do.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has repeatedly assured investors and international partners that the redistribution of land will be done responsibly and within the law.

But this is just the first step in South Africa’s long journey to land restitution.

Understand the issue in less than five minutes by watching this video:

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Gabon's constitutional court has intervened to avert a political crisis brought about by the ill health of President Ali Bongo.

There have been no government meetings since he was taken to hospital in Saudi Arabia last month.

The court has amended the constitution to allow the vice-president or prime minister to run cabinet meetings if the president is temporarily unavailable - a move the opposition says is illegal.

Amid speculation that the president had suffered a stroke and some even questioning whether he was still alive, Mr Bongo's office finally admitted on Sunday that he was recovering from surgery.

In 2009 Ali Bongo succeeded his father Omar Bongo who had been president for more than 40 years.

Nigerian governors have rejected a deal to raise the minimum wage to 30,000 naira ($82; £64) from 18,000 naira a month, reports the AFP news agency.

Earlier this month union representatives agreed this pay rise with the private sector and government officials, averting a nationwide strike.

But state governors say they cannot afford to pay $82 a month, AFP reports.

Governor Abdulaziz Yari, from northern Zamfara State, is quoted as saying that 27 of the 36 states cannot even afford to pay the current minimum wage.

"We will be bankrupt," he warned.

He added that a committee would be formed by the governors to meet President Muhammadu Buhari resolve the row.

Image source, AFP

Ameyu Etana
BBC Afaan Oromo

Image source, Getty Images

Derartu Tulu, the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal, has been appointed as interim president of Ethiopia’s Athletics Federation - replacing legendary athlete Haile Gebrselassie.

His unexpected resignation on Monday came after protests over poor training facilities in Oromia region, home to many of Ethiopia's notable athletes.

He had campaigned vigorously over the last two years to bring change, saying the federation should be allowed to be led by sports personalities.

But recently he said that his presidency had been undermined, preventing him from enforcing some of the federation's law and regulations.

Image source, Getty Images

President of Oromia Athletics Federation, Dagnachew Shiferaw, told the BBC: ‘‘Haile didn’t provide what he promised when he came to power. And athletes question this."

Some in the athletics community are concerned that his resignation will be damaging for Ethiopian athletics.

One athletics expert told the BBC: ‘‘While huge competitions such as Doha Athletics Championship and Olympics are ahead, his resignation is damaging.’’

Haile had nominated Derartu as his replacement - and the federation's executive committee appointed her as interim president until an urgent congress meeting can be held in the coming months.

Watch: Africa's first black female Olympic champion

Image source, Getty Images

Kenyan imams have protested against immigration officials asking them to remove religious caps for passport photographs, reports Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper, external.

It cites as a letter sent to Kenya's immigration department by the chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK), Sheikh Abdallah Ateka, in which he says that when immigration officials insist they remove the headgear they are contravening Muslims's freedom to worship.

The newspaper points out that guidelines on the immigration department's website do allow people to keep hats on.

The imams also allege that members of other faiths, like Sikhs, are treated differently and do not have to remove their headgear before being photographed, the paper says.

BBC World Service

Ethiopia's former deputy intelligence chief has been arrested as an investigation into allegations of corruption and human rights abuses under the previous administration continues.

The former deputy head of the national security agency, Yared Zerihun, is the latest big fish to be arrested.

He has not yet commented on the allegations.

Since Monday more than 60 officials from the intelligence agencies and a military-run industrial conglomerate have been arrested.

The move has been widely welcomed by human rights groups.

For years Ethiopians lived under oppressive authoritarian rule where no criticism of the government or military was tolerated.

But when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in April he promised to stamp out high-level corruption and human rights abuses.

Image source, Reuters