BBC Focus on Africa radio

Image source, Fatima Mohamed Abdi

A woman whose three children and sister were stuck inside Hayat Hotel during the recent siege by al-Shabab militants says she feared she wouldn't see them alive again.

"I had gone to run some errands in Mogadishu, and I left my three children with my sister," Fatima Mohamed Abdi tells the BBC.

"My sister phones me and she says, 'There has been an explosion in the hotel's lower ground'.

"You can imagine how terrifying it is to be told that your children are inside the hotel where explosions are happening. I was devastated that I really couldn't do anything," Ms Abdi adds.

"I was trying to calm them down over the phone, telling them I was waiting outside for them.

"It took over a four-hour wait but they were rescued all together. I was worried they might be crying, or even worse, but when they came out they were OK physically and mentally - they were even trying to calm me down," she recalls.

"Before they were rescued, I wasn't sure if I would ever see them again. So, you can imagine, it was the happiest moment of my life."

Emery Makumeno
BBC News, Kinshasa

Image source, Getty Images

The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have declared a resurgence of Ebola, following confirmation of a case in the eastern province of North-Kivu.

A woman died last week in the town of Beni. It is the second outbreak in the country this year -- the previous epidemic was declared to have ended in July.

The WHO's Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said the authorities in North-Kivu had successfully stopped several flare-ups of the deadly virus before and was confident they would bring this one under control soon.

Scientists say it is unrealistic to think Ebola will ever be eradicated, but it is now easier to prevent a crisis.

This is the 14th outbreak in DR Congo. The first outbreak was back in 1976.

More on this topic:

• Why Ebola keeps coming back
• Why Ebola is so dangerous

Peter Mwai
BBC Reality Check

Image source, Reuters

Raila Odinga, the losing candidate in Kenya’s presidential election, has included fresh accusations of fraud in his petition to overturn the outcome of the vote.

His lawyers have filed testimony from anti-corruption campaigner John Githongo, in which he claims to have evidence of widespread, systematic manipulation of the computerised results database.

In his affidavit, Mr Githongo says a source approached him with evidence that a team of more than 50 people worked to intervene in the tallying process, digitally altering results from counting stations in Mr Ruto’s favour before uploading them onto the election commission website.

Mr Githongo says one of those involved was Dennis Itumbi, a digital strategist working for the declared winner of the election, William Ruto.

Reacting to the accusation on Twitter, Mr Itumbi has said: “The Fiction presented as a serious case! I am reading about myself in what sounds like a wild novel.”

To verify whether systematic tampering of the declaration documents has taken place, the forms lodged with the electoral commission will have to be compared with the original hard copies of the forms completed by returning officers at local counting stations.

Mr Odinga’s petition was lodged with the Supreme Court on Monday, which has 14 days to make a ruling.

Kenyans who were forcibly evicted from the Rift Valley by British colonisers have filed a case at the European Court of Human Rights, according to their lawyers.

They argue that the UK’s treatment of their complaints has violated the European Convention on Human Rights to which the UK is a signatory.

The lawyers also said the UK Government had refused to engage with the victims or their representatives, and a request in May 2022 to meet Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was refused.

"The UK Government has ducked and dived, and sadly avoided every possible avenue of redress. We have no choice but to proceed to court for our clients so that history can be righted," lawyer Joel Kimutai Bosek said.

"We have taken all reasonable and dignified steps. But the UK Government has given us the cold shoulder. Our people have no choice except to take them to court," Kericho county Governor Paul Chepkwony said.

The Supreme Court in Kenya will make the final ruling following a legal challenge to the presidential election result.

Ahmed Rouaba
BBC News

Image source, ALGERIAN CIVIL DEFENCE

A teenage girl is being hailed as a hero on Algerian social media after she succumbed to serious burn injuries sustained while rescuing children from the recent wildfires.

Dounia Bouhelassa,18 was a scout leader.

She is believed to have rescued dozens of children from a park in the city of El Kala, east of the country.

The little scouts with their leader Dounia were engulfed in flames while walking in the woods last week.

Eight scouts were injured in the incident.

Dounia died while being treated at a hospital in her home city of Constantine.

More than 40 people have died and 200 others injured in the wildfires that have hit the north east of Algeria.

Image source, AFP

India has rejected three out of the eight cheetahs that were recently relocated from Namibia.

The three were said to have been captive-bred and could not hunt.

But Namibia has denied the allegations that the cheetahs were captive-bred.

Tourism ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said the cheetahs were "captured when they were young and were exposed to hunting", The Namibian newspaper reports.

He added that Namibia would not "replace the three rejected ones, as we do not want to compromise our cheetah population".

The cheetahs were to be settled in a national park in Madhya Pradesh state.

India's former population of Asiatic cheetahs was declared extinct within the country 70 years ago.

The transporting of the cheetahs was the first time a large carnivore was moved from one continent to another to be reintroduced into the wild.

Read more on this story:

• Inside India's plan to bring back extinct cheetahs

Kenya's electoral body has revealed that there was an attempt to attack its personnel who were preparing responses to presidential election petitions.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said "an organised group of goons wielding crude weapons" was repulsed by security at the premise.

Nine election petitions including one by opposition leader Raila Odinga were filed at the Supreme Court on Monday and will be determined within 14 days.

The IEBC is a respondent in all the election petitions.

The body is mandated to conduct general elections in the country and its declaration of Deputy President William Ruto as president-elect after the 9 August elections is being challenged in court.

Image source, Getty Images

Souths Africa's Eastern Cape province will for the first time in history translate examination papers into IsiXhosa and Sesotho, public broadcaster SABC quotes an official as saying.

The Grade 12 exams that are being translated are mathematics, physical science, life sciences, history, agricultural science and accounting.

In an interview, education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said the changes were meant to give all languages equitable status and were in line with the country's constitution.

"As the constitution permits, we ensure that all languages are given equitable status. So that at least learners or people that are speaking certain languages, do not feel inferior," Mr Mtima is quoted as saying.

IsiXhosa and Sesotho are two of South Africa's 11 official languages.

The Eastern Cape is the homeland of many Xhosa speakers.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, UK Embassy

UK High Commissioner Jane Marriott has dismissed claims that she and her country interfered in Kenya's recently-concluded general election.

Ms Marriott was reacting to allegations on social media that she pressured the electoral commission to declare William Ruto as president-elect following the disputed poll.

Some users shared unverified photos of her shaking hands with Mr Ruto and the electoral body chairperson Wafula Chebukati.

In a series of tweets, external, Ms Marriott said the UK "does not support nor have a view on any candidates or parties in elections", terming the claims "misinformation".

“Who Kenyans elect is a matter for the people of Kenya. We met people from across the political spectrum to explain the UK’s programmes and partnerships with Kenya, including independent institutions,” she said.

Ms Marriott said Kenya would remain a vital UK partner, adding that Britain was ready to support the leaders elected by the people.

Presidential poll loser Raila Odinga on Monday urged unnamed foreign countries to cease meddling in Kenyan politics.

Tanzania will over the next seven days conduct a population census, a vital exercise for national plans.

Tuesday has been declared a national holiday to allow citizens to take part in the exercise fully.

Tanzania conducts a census every 10 years and this year's is going to be the sixth since independence from Britain.

In the 2012 census, results indicated there were 43,625,354 million people in Tanzania mainland and 1,303,569 in Tanzania Zanzibar.

UN data estimates Tanzania's 2020 population to be almost 60 million.

President Samia Hassan was among the first to be counted:

Image source, Getty Images

Uganda's police has charged four of its officers who stormed a wedding reception over the weekend and arrested the bride over a theft charge.

The four have been charged for discreditable conduct, which upon conviction, could see them dismissed from the force, police spokesperson Fred Enanga said.

Following her arrest on Saturday night, the bride was driven to a police station in Mbarara, in western Uganda, where she was detained overnight. She was released on Sunday.

Police say the arrest was "reprehensible and based on poor judgement".

"It turned out that what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life ended in a nightmare," Mr Enanga said in a statement, external.

One officer involved in the arrest is in custody while the other three are still in hiding, the police spokesman said.

The theft charge against the bride followed complaints by her former employer where she worked as a bank agent. The parties had last month been advised to seek a civil remedy, the police spokesman said.

The Police Professional Standards Unit is investigating possible collusion between the four officers and the complainant.

Image source, Getty Images

A Kenyan election official who was in charge of a constituency in the just concluded elections collapsed and died on Monday.

Geoffrey Gitobu was at the electoral body's offices in Nanyuki town, in central Kenya, when he collapsed and was pronounced dead at a hospital near the office.

He was in charge of elections in Gichugu constituency, Kirinyaga country in central Kenya.

Mr Gitobu had not complained of any illness and was in Nanyuki to visit his family over the weekend before heading to the office on Monday.

He was to report back to his Kirinyaga base on Wednesday, the County Returning Officer Jane Gitonga is quoted by the Star newspaper as saying.

The official's death comes days after another officer in charge of a constituency in the capital, Nairobi, was tortured and murdered after disappearing from a tallying centre.

The electoral commission's chairperson Wafula Chebukati had earlier said officers were being intimidated and threatened over the 9 August general election.

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Egyptian media are reporting that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is hosting a five-nation Arab summit in the Mediterranean coastal city of New Alamein.

The leaders of Bahrain, the UAE, Iraq and Jordan are said to be attending.

Among the topics expected to be discussed are the conflicts in Yemen, Syria and Libya, the latest round of Israel-Gaza fighting earlier this month and Egypt and Sudan’s dispute with Ethiopia over its Renaissance Dam on the Nile.

Read more:

• Egypt-Ethiopia row: The trouble over a giant Nile dam
• River Nile dam: Why Ethiopia can't stop it being filled

The university plans to hold five public events to mark 50 years since Ugandan Asians arrived.

Image source, Getty Images

A Sudanese state official has issued a warning over rising waters in Blue Nile river caused by ongoing floods.

Sennar State's Minister of Infrastructure and Urban Development Al-Mutassim Al-Taher said the current situation in the city of Sinja was manageable so long as the water levels don't rise higher.

Citizens should take precautions and raise alerts where necessary, added the executive director of Sanja locality, Abdullah Muhammad al-Bashir.

Flooding in the Blue Nile could break the river banks and and wreak havoc.

At least 79 people have died this month alone because of heavy rains pounding the country, according to the government.

Thousands of houses have collapsed as villages flooded.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Reuters

The World Bank on Monday signed off a $300m (£255m) grant to Mozambique, marking the resumption of aid to the country since 2016 after the hidden debt scandal.

Mozambique Finance Minister Max Tonela said the money will be used to improve living conditions in areas such as health, education, social protection, access to energy and drinking water.

“This $300m will be used to finance infrastructure projects that help to boost our economy and improve the living conditions of our population,” said Mr Tonela.

The World Bank's country director in Mozambique, Idah Pswarayi-Raddihough, said the funding was made possible by the government's efforts to improve transparency in the public sector.

The agreement followed a scandal that triggered Mozambique's worst financial crisis since independence from Portugal.

It involved more than $2.7bn (£2bn) of undisclosed state debts - money that the government borrowed to set up a sophisticated tuna industry - to buy trawlers and military patrol boats, but much of it was allegedly diverted to corrupt officials.

The son of Mozambique's ex-president and 18 others have gone on trial over the "tuna bonds" affair. They deny any wrongdoing.

Read more:

• Mozambique 'tuna bond' scandal: Ex-President Guebuza's son on trial
• Is there something fishy about Mozambique's debt?

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Raila Odinga's lead counsel, Paul Mwangi, alleges malpractice in the communication of the Kenyan vote results.

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

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

A reminder of our African proverb of the day:

And we leave you with this photo of Ethiopians in Addis Ababa at Entoto Kidane Mehret Church as the Orthodox faithful celebrate Filseta which commemorates the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary to heaven.

Image source, Getty Images