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Ethiopian and Tigrayan forces trade blame for breaking a truce which enabled vital aid deliveries.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team, but we'll be back on Thursday morning Nairobi time.

Until then you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to our Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

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And we leave you with this picture from photo-journalist Ricci Shryock taken in Guinea-Bissau

Israel Campos
BBC News, Luanda

Image source, Reuters

I’ve been going to a lot of polling stations here in the capital, Luanda, and from what I have seen, it’s been a very peaceful election day.

There are people reporting on social media about some irregularities in other parts of the country, but colleagues who I’ve contacted in other places have been telling me that the process has been going ahead smoothly.

Up to now, none of the political parties have commented.

Talking to young people in Luanda, there is hope that this election will have an impact on their lives – and it could change the history of the country.

There are eight parties taking part, but the MPLA – in charge for more than 40 years – is facing its main challenge from Unita.

Voters cast one ballot and the leader of the party with the most votes will become the president.

The main battle is between incumbent João Lourenço and Unita’s Adalberto Costa Júnior.

The main question now is when the results will be announced.

Counting has already started at the polling stations and officials will send the results to the central tallying centre in Luanda.

According to the law the electoral commission has 15 days to declare the outcome – but it hasn’t taken that long after previous votes.

Read more:

• Angola election: Long-dominant MPLA faces tough Unita challenge

Chiagozie Nwonwu
BBC Disinformation Unit, Nigeria

Image source, Twitter

A photograph circulating online that allegedly shows elderly men being detained by Nigerian army personnel in a forest is actually of Cameroonian soldiers with civilians from that country.

The image is from 2020, not this year as various publications have suggested.

The picture is being shared with a caption that reads: “This is how the Nigerian military are harassing, killing and maiming our fathers that went to farm… this happened in Abia state today 24th Aug 2022.”

However, an investigation by the BBC Disinformation Unit has found that the image is from Cameroon and shows soldiers from that country’s Rapid Intervention Battalion, known by its French acronym (BIR). They are accompanying civilians who reports say they had rescued from Cameroonian separatist fighters.

Using reverse search tools, we were able to trace the photo to a Facebook post, external with seven related photos from 16 October 2020.

The caption states that the BIR had rescued dozens of civilians.

Checks with military fatigue database Camopedia also showed that the uniform of the soldiers in the photos matched that of the BIR, external.

A story published on 17 October 2020 by Cameroonian English language news website Kontripipo confirms that the military had rescued civilians in Cameroon the day before, using the same picture that has just gone viral in Nigeria.

Cameroon is Nigeria’s neighbour to the east and shares similar topography and vegetation, which is helping give credence to this disinformation.

Both Cameroon and Nigeria are facing separatist campaigns that have given rise to disinformation of this nature in the past.

Image source, Facebook

The Tigrayan authorities have responded to the statements from the Ethiopian federal government alleging that a plane carrying weapons for Tigray had been attacked.

In one version of the story, the defence ministry said that the plane had been coming from Sudanese airspace and had been shot down.

In response Getachew Reda, the adviser to the Tigrayan leader, described the federal government as "clowns".

They "are making up stories about planes carrying weapons to Tigray and one of them being shot down by their Air Force. It’s a blatant lie!"

In a statement, external, the Tigrayan authorities said: "No plane entered Tigray; nor was an imaginary plane shot down."

UN Secretary General António Guterres has called for "an immediate cessation of hostilities" as fighting resumed in Ethiopia's civil war in the north of the country after a five-month lull.

"I am deeply shocked and saddened by the news of the resumption of hostilities in Ethiopia... My strong appeal is... for the resumption of peace talks between the government and the TPLF [Tigray People's Liberation Front] with, at the same time, the full guarantee of humanitarian access to people in need and the re-establishment of public services," Mr Guterres said.

The conflict, which began in November 2020 in Tigray, has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians and left millions in need of food aid.

In recent months there had been positive signs that peace talks were imminent. But the progress is now in jeopardy, says the BBC's Kalkidan Yibeltal in Ethiopia.

Thousands take part in a nationwide strike against the high cost of living, demanding government action.

Charles Gitonga
BBC Africa Business Reporter, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

The Kenyan authorities are in talks with their Nigerian and Ethiopian counterparts to repatriate tens of millions of dollars belonging to national carrier Kenya Airways. The money is stuck in those countries owing to a foreign currency shortage.

Kenya Airways says its business has suffered the impact of high fuel prices and the shortage of dollars in Lagos and Addis Ababa, leading to a loss of $82m (£70m) in the first six months of this year.

But its officials declined to disclose how much it is unable to repatriate from the two countries.

The airline says government officials are exploring diplomatic channels to find a solution.

Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association, IATA, has said up to $464m belonging to foreign carriers is stuck in Nigeria.

Earlier this month, Dubai-based Emirates Group said it would suspend all flights to Nigeria from September, over the dollar issue.

Foreign airlines are required to sell their services in host countries using the local currency, which is later converted to US dollars and repatriated to the airline’s home country.

A shortage of foreign currency therefore makes it hard for airlines to withdraw their earnings.

We previously reported the statement from the security adviser to Ethiopia's prime minister that a plane was shot at in the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, while weapons were being unloaded.

Ethiopian state media has a different version of the story.

In a tweet quoting the ministry of defence, EBC says that the plane was shot down after entering Ethiopian airspace from Sudan.

In subsequent tweets, the EBC appears to be citing a government statement blaming the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which it calls a terrorist organisation, for the resumption of fighting

There has been a civil war in Ethiopia between Tigrayan forces and the federal government since November 2020. There had been a lull in fighting recently as both sides observed a humanitarian truce.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Ethiopia says it has hit an aeroplane in Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region.

It said weapons were being unloaded from the aircraft.

In a tweet on Wednesday, external, the prime minister's senior security advisor Redwan Hussien said the plane belonged to Ethiopia’s "historical enemies known for working consistently to weaken" the country, without saying who he meant.

There has been no independent confirmation of the claim and Tigrayan forces have not responded.

Teklemariam Bekit
BBC News Tigrinya

Image source, AFP

The Eritrean government has seized control of a Catholic-owned technical school, sources have told the BBC.

The Hagaz Agro-Technical School is run by the LaSalle Brothers organisation and has been providing training in farm machinery, rearing of crops and animals, as well as soil conservation for the last 23 years.

The school is also known for producing Shalku wines, the drink grappa and jam. From its dairy cattle it produces yoghurt and cheeses.

Another Catholic-owned training college, the Don Bosco Technical School in Dekemhare, is set to be handed over to the government in September.

In 2019, the Eritrean government took control of secondary schools and health facilities run by religious bodies across the country.

The government cited a regulation passed in 1995 that limited the activities of religious institutions in the Horn of Africa nation.

Eritrean bishops objected to the regulation, arguing that the church’s social services did not act in opposition to the government.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Eritrea wrote to the Eritrean government, saying "the Church's life is connected with the service of the people".

The bishops have repeatedly called on the Eritrean government to nurture an inclusive democracy and end authoritarian tactics.

Many analysts believe the latest seizures are a retaliation for the Catholic Church's call for reforms in the one-party state.

Roman Catholics make up about 4% of Eritrea's population.

The church is one of only four religious groups allowed to operate in the country, along with the Eritrean Orthodox, Evangelical Lutheran, and Sunni Islam groups.

Other religious groups are viewed by the government as foreign agents.

Evelin Uachave
BBC Monitoring

Angola's only female presidential candidate Florbela Malaquias has voted and urged people to go home after voting as opposed to waiting at the polling stations.

She is running for president among seven men who include the incumbent João Lourenço.

The 63-year-old lawyer and former journalist is running on the Humanist Party of Angola ticket.

Ms Malaquias is a former member of the main opposition Unita party. She also fought with the Armed Forces of the Liberation of Angola group during the civil war.

Female presidential candidates have not been common in Angola.

Richard Kagoe
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

Somalia’s new President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has vowed an all-out war against militant group al-Shabab.

This comes days after the militants staged a deadly attack on a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, killing 21 people and leaving more than 100 injured.

In his first address to the nation since Friday night’s attack, President Mohamud promised to crush the al-Qaeda-linked group.

He said his priority is ending the 15-year insurgency.

Security forces eventually ended the siege at the Hayat Hotel, a popular spot for government officials, after 30 hours.

The attack was the first in the capital by the group since the president was elected by MPs in May.

Read more on the fight with al-Shabab:

• Somalia and al-Shabab: The struggle to defeat the militants

Image source, Getty Images

The Duchess of Sussex has been talking about how her son's Zimbabwean nanny saved him from being involved in a nursery fire on a trip to South Africa in 2019.

Meghan Markle, speaking during an interview on her new podcast Archetypes, external with Serena Williams about the pressures of being a mother, she describes how she was expected to carry on performing in public after learning about the accident.

She says that she had just arrived in South Africa and had to go straight to an engagement while her son, Archie, was being looked after by his "amazing nanny, Lauren" (she does not mention her surname) - who she says is from Zimbabwe.

Lauren was supposed to put him down for a nap but just before she tied him on her back and left the nursery to get a snack.

It was in that time that a heater caught fire out in the nursery, the duchess says.

When they arrived back and saw what had happened, "as a mother you go: 'Oh my God.' Everyone's in tears, everyone's shaken. And what did we have to do? Go out and do another official engagement... We had to leave our baby."

The duchess implies that she had to maintain the appearance of everything being fine and get on with the job, when all she wanted to do was be with Archie.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News, Nairobi

The UN has warned that thousands of people in South Sudan are trapped by heavy fighting between rival armed groups.

Flooding in the north of the country - which has led to dozens of deaths - has also hindered their escape.

Since the fighting began 10 days ago, in the northern town of Tonga, the UN says only about 200 people have been able to flee to safety in Malakal, the state capital.

It’s not clear what triggered the clashes, but South Sudan is reeling from months of inter communal fighting caused by tribal feuds, cattle rustling and long-running border issues.

The clashes are putting at risk a fragile peace deal signed in 2018, designed to end more than six years of civil war.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

The Ethiopian government has blamed Tigrayan forces for starting fresh fighting along the region’s borders.

The government’s communications office says they have breached a humanitarian truce that has been in place since March.

The statement comes after the Tigrayans accused the government of launching attacks on their southern positions from neighbouring Amhara on Wednesday morning.

The trading of accusations makes it clear that after months of a lull, the two sides are now engaged in active fighting.

Addis Ababa’s statement added that the army and security forces were responding to the attacks “successfully”.

The latest developments are feared to worsen a humanitarian crisis that has blighted the Horn of African country since the start of the war in late 2020.

Evelin Uachave
BBC Monitoring

Image source, AFP

The presidential candidate of Angola's main opposition party, National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), has cast his vote, state-owned broadcaster TPA has reported.

Adalberto da Costa Junior voted in the Nova Vida urban district, Kilamba Kiaxi municipality, in the capital Luanda.

According to reporter Nelson Cunha from TPA, Mr Junior, was accompanied by his wife and a jubilant crowd, which "hindered" the work of the reporters attempting to cover the event, as the view of the cameras seemed to be obstructed by the crowd.

The Unita candidate took the occasion to address the press and highlight the lack of sufficient voter registers for the agents monitoring the process.

"I noticed that the voting is taking place without the voter register being distributed to the agents, there is only one voters' register at the polling station. Still I would like to urge all Angolans to vote. This is an historic event, I hope everyone casts their vote in an atmosphere of peace and respect for the laws," he said.

Unita is one of the eight political parties, seeking to elect its candidate to the presidency and to the 220 seats in the Angolan legislative assembly, in what analysts have described as a highly contested election.

Read more:

• Angola election: Long-dominant MPLA faces tough Unita challenge

The BBC's Lebo Diseko has been snapping some of the people gathering for the workers' march in the South African capital, Pretoria.

Two of the country's largest unions are leading the strike, calling for a “total shutdown” of the economy in protest against high unemployment levels, and rising fuel and electricity costs.

At the front of the march in Pretoria, one woman told the BBC why she was on strike:

Marches are expected in many major cities, including the seat of parliament, Cape Town.

This poster from the South African Federation of Trade Unions has the stark message for those wondering whether to take part: "Don't moan; Mobilise or starve."

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Image source, Getty Images

Tigrayan forces in northern Ethiopia say the federal army has launched a new offensive against them.

In a statement, the Tigrayans said there had been a fresh wave of attacks on Wednesday morning along the region's southern border with Amhara.

Addis Ababa has not yet responded to the accusations.

An increase in tensions over the past two weeks is threatening to undo a humanitarian truce reached between the two sides in March.

The war - which broke out in November 2020 - has seen the killings of tens of thousands of civilians.