Image source, AFP

Moroccan authorities were on Thursday battling to put out multiple wildfires burning through forests in four provinces in the north amid a heat wave.

Hundreds of families have been evacuated "as a precaution" from Larache and Taza provinces, and transport in the areas has been disrupted.

No casualties have been reported so far.

Firefighters, soldiers and police officers have been trying to prevent the fires from causing more destruction. But strong winds, the forests' density and a difficult terrain have slowed the efforts, according to the authorities.

The country, which has had intense droughts, has recently been hit by soaring temperatures.

"It is the heat that causes this kind of fire. It was yesterday at dawn that the fire reached our village," the AFP news agency quoted Ahmed Mezouar, a resident of Larache, as saying.

The fire has reportedly burnt at least 1,000 ha (2,500 acres) of forest so far in Larache and Ouezzane areas.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Tokyo is to be the host of the 2025 World Athletics Championships, beating competition from Kenya, Poland and Singapore.

Announcing the decision the World Athletics President, Sebastian Coe, said Tokyo offered a compelling bid among an extremely strong field of candidates.

The announcement was made on the eve of the opening of the 2022 Championships in the US state of Oregon.

Last year, Tokyo hosted a delayed Olympics games behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The army in Togo has expressed its profound regret for killing seven teenagers on Saturday night who it mistook for jihadists.

In a statement, the army chief, Dadja Maganawe, said that the group had been killed when they were attacked by an army aircraft on night patrol.

All the victims were aged between 14 and 18.

Media in the northern Savanes region reported that the teenagers were on their way home from celebrating the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.

The Togolese army has been on high alert following the country's first deadly militant attack in May, when eight soldiers were killed near the border with Burkina Faso.

Lalla Sy
BBC News, Abidjan

Image source, AFP

Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara held a meeting with his predecessors Laurent Gbagbo and Henri Konan Bédié in an effort to reconcile the country.

The three long-time rivals have monopolised political life in Ivory Coast for over a quarter of a century.

This was the trio's first meeting together since a bitter civil war in 2010.

On Thursday, President Ouattara welcomed Mr Gbagbo and Mr Bédié to a warm reception at the presidential palace where they held talks for more than an hour.

At the end, Mr Gbagbo read a brief statement to journalists, saying: "Today's meeting was a reunion to renew contact and exchange in truth on the major issues of the nation".

The trio said they hoped that the meeting would be a sign of the improved political climate in Ivory Coast.

The meeting was one of the recommendations of talks between the government and the opposition held earlier this year to calm tensions in the country.

President Ouattara expressed optimism that such meetings would become regular so that he can take his predecessors’ opinions and recommendations and give them an opportunity to share their experience and their knowledge of the country.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

A selection of the best photos from across Africa and beyond this week.

Nigeria reach a ninth straight Women's World Cup after beating Cameroon 1-0 at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team for now. There will be an automated news feed until we're back on Friday morning.

You can also keep up to date on the BBC News website, or by listening to the Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with these pictures just posted by Ghanaian photographer Derrick Ofosu Boateng:

African sprinters have turned heads before World Athletics Championships, but can they take medals home from Eugene?

Rhoda Odhiambo
BBC West Africa correspondent, Lagos

A Nigerian actor has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a minor between 2013 and 2014.

The trial of Olanrewaju Omiyinka at a special offences court in Lagos lasted a year.

The 49 year old is popularly known as Baba Ijesha in Nollywood - as Nigeria's film industry is called.

The judge ruled that Omiyinka should be sentenced to 16 years in total for the four charges of which he was found guilty.

However, as he is to serve the sentences at the same time, he will spend a maximum of five years in prison.

Two counts of sexual assault were dropped because of a lack of sufficient evidence.

Last year, Omiyinka admitted in court to molesting the victim, but said it was in the context of a role he was playing in a film campaigning against child sexual abuse.

Women and child rights activists say the ruling will serve as an example to anyone intending to take advantage of a child.

His lawyers are planning to appeal against the judgment.

Image source, Reuters

Google’s paid-for search results distort competition, according to a provisional ruling from South Africa’s competition commission, the Reuters news agency reports.

The ruling is quoted as saying that the search results which can appear at the top of Google’s list are not clearly identified as being paid-for, which “favours large, often global, platforms".

The company also promotes its own work, which “distorts competition in Google's favour”.

South African competition commission wants these kinds of search results to be identified with borders and shading.

In a response quoted by Reuters, Google says it will work with the commission.

"The competition Google faces is always increasing: there are more ways than ever that people can find information, from specialised sites for travel and shopping, or from other search engines, social media and elsewhere," the news agency quotes a spokesperson as saying.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The military-led government in Mali says it is suspending all new rotations of UN peacekeeping troops due to national security reasons.

This comes days after 49 Ivorian soldiers were arrested on arrival in the country on suspicion of being mercenaries.

Officials in Ivory Coast said they were there to support the UN mission, known as Minusma, under an agreed contract between the two countries.

The junta in Mali, which is trying to put down an Islamist insurgency, says its foreign ministry was not informed of the deployment via the official channels.

Former winners Asisat Oshoala and Thembi Kgatlana are on the updated 10-player shortlist for African women's Player of the Year award.

Charles Gitonga
BBC News

Image source, Reuters

The Kenyan government has rolled out a fresh round of fuel subsidies in a bid to prevent a rise in prices at the pump.

A litre of petrol will remain at the current price despite the recent rise in the cost of oil, eliminating fears of another hike as Kenyans grapple with the rising cost of other essential goods.

The government had earlier hinted that it could remove the subsidy ahead of its monthly review.

In June, the authorities had described the existing fuel subsidy as "unsustainable".

However, there was a last-minute change of heart and the government authorised the spending of some $141m (£120m) to retain current retail fuel prices for another 30 days.

Without the subsidy, a litre of petrol in the Kenyan capital Nairobi would have hit $1.80. At the moment, it costs $1.34.

Over the last year, Kenya has spent over $860m to subsidise fuel in the face of rising prices in global market.

BBC Focus on Africa

The governor of South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria state has said that the authorities are doing what they can to ensure there is peace after at least 150 people died in ethnic clashes.

These were sparked by cattle raids and disputes over grazing.

Governor Louis Lobong Lojore told BBC Focus on Africa that officials were "speaking to the communities concerned to mobilise them to stop raiding each other".

The UN has warned that the country risks a return to civil war because of continuing inter-communal fighting that has displaced millions of people.

Listen to the Focus on Africa interview:

Teklemariam Bekit
BBC News Tigrinya

Image source, The Act of Good Samaritan

Eritrean refugees in the Alem-Wach refugee camp in Ethiopia's Amhara region say their situation has worsened due to the rainy season.

They told the BBC that their camp was flooded and their shelters were under water with no dry land nearby to be found.

"It's a safety hazard because the area is waterlogged and it's difficult to move," Ms Yodit, an Eritrean refugee at the camp, explained.

She said the refugees there had fled camps in the northern Tigray region during the war for their safety and the "majority [of them] paid a lot of money to brokers and smugglers" to reach there.

The refugees say no effective steps have been taken by relevant government agencies and the UN refugee agency to improve the situation in terms of supply, food, medical care and security.

The UNHCR however says it is awaiting funding to improve food supplies and is in discussions with the Ethiopian authorities to improve health and security services at the refugee camp.

More than 10,000 Eritrean refugees are housed at the camp in Amhara region's Dabat district.

Habteab Eyob, who supports the refugees, said "the camp was built on unfavourable farmland, and the tents cannot withstand heavy rain and wind".

He describes the environment as inhabitable.

"Children in particular are suffering greatly, they are starving," he says.

"We left our homeland to give our children a better future," Ms Yodit said, adding that refugees faced war in Tigray and worse living conditions in the Alem-Wach camp.

Forward Rosella Ayane is excited by Morocco's potential after the side qualify for the Women's World Cup for the first time.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

The World Health Organization is warning that Africa is facing a growing risk of outbreaks of diseases that spread from animals to people.

It says these zoonotic outbreaks have increased by more than 60% over the last decade with a large spike recorded since 2019.

Most of the cases have involved the Ebola virus, other viral haemorrhagic diseases, dengue fever, anthrax and monkeypox.

The WHO's Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said there was a need to act now to stop Africa becoming a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases.

The WHO says among the reasons behind the spread of these diseases are rapid population growth, increased demand for food derived from animals and encroachment on wildlife habitats.

Image source, Getty Images

A visit to Kenya is not complete without tasting the roadside delights of nyama choma - or grilled meat. And now you can chew it in the knowledge that the lexicographers in Oxford have put it in their world-famous English dictionary.

It's one of 200 new and revised entries from East African English in the latest update of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

The OED is one of the most respected sources for the language.

Other things you can munch on that now have an official stamp are:

• chapo - a thin pancake of unleavened wholemeal bread cooked on a griddle
• chips mayai - in Tanzanian and Kenyan cooking - a thick omelette having fried potatoes mixed in with the eggs during cooking, served open rather than folded
• katogo - the name of a typical Ugandan breakfast dish consisting of matoke boiled in a pot with various other ingredients

And if you fancy just a little snack, you can now have a biting, which is a bite-sized piece of food.

In other areas of life, sambaza meaning "to share or send something" is now in the OED, along with tarmacking which is "the action or process of walking the streets looking for work". If you work with someone you can call it a collabo and be happy that it is correct English.

And if you fancy celebrating the inclusion of these words then you can shout "oyee!" - which according to the dictionary experts is a way to express "encouragement, incitement, or support: go on! go for it! long live! hurrah!"

You can see a full list of the words here., external

Also on this topic:

• War of words as Nigerian English recognised by Oxford English Dictionary

Image source, Getty Images

The human rights of a top Zambian female footballer were violated after she was subjected to a gender eligibility test ahead of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), Human Rights Watch says.

Barbra Banda was ruled out of the competition, which is currently taking place in Morocco.

"Such sex testing procedures are flagrant human rights violations because they are stigmatizing, stereotyping and discriminatory," Human Rights Watch says.

Last week, Andrew Kamanga, the president of Zambia's FA said: "All the players had to undergo gender verification, a Caf requirement, and unfortunately she did not meet the criteria set by Caf."

"It's unfortunate that we find ourselves going into the tournament without our best players."

Human Rights Watch has called on football's world governing body to change its procedures.

Similar issues have affected South African athlete Cater Semenya, who has been barred by athletics' governing body from her preferred 800m distance.

Last year, two Namibian teenagers, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, were forced to step down from the 400m weeks before the Tokyo Olympics after they were informed of their elevated testosterone levels.