Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Reuters

Political analysts say Lesotho's mining magnate Sam Matekane - whose new party has won the most seats in parliamentary elections - captured the imagination of young voters, and those jaded with the country's broken politics.

He is a political novice but is well regarded in business circles, having made his money in the diamond, construction and transport industries.

But it is Mr Matekane's philanthropy that the people of Lesotho took notice of, especially in the last few years.

He has built a state-of-the-art school in rural areas and has funded the education of many children from impoverished communities.

Mr Matekane launched the Revolution For Prosperity (RFP) party earlier this year.

Its impressive electoral performance comes at a time when hundreds of thousands of Basotho are facing food shortages, unemployment is on the rise and there have been allegations of widespread corruption in government.

While campaigning Mr Matekane promised to make these areas a priority should he win.

Some are seeing the RFP’s electoral success as a warning to older parties not just in Lesotho but also in other parts of Africa that they risk dying if they do not deliver.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Lesotho's political scene has been shaken up by the businessman Sam Matekane.

For a party that was only formed six months ago this was a phenomenal performance by his Revolution for Prosperity (RFP).

It won seven times as many seats as the party that led the outgoing coalition.

Many people it seems are ready to trust a man who started out selling donkeys and went on to become the richest person in Lesotho.

There will be high expectations after promises of an economic turn around and jobs.

Some will keep a close eye for potential conflicts of interest between Mr Matekane's business affairs and the government.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Results from Friday's parliamentary election in Lesotho have seen a recently founded party led by a millionaire diamond magnate winning the highest number of seats.

However Sam Matekane's Revolution for Prosperity party won 56 seats, just short of securing the majority needed to end a long-running political gridlock.

The All Basotho Convention party, which led the outgoing government, lost a lot of support and only won eight of the country's 120 seats.

Over the last decade, numerous coalition governments have been undermined by infighting and no prime minister has served out a full five-year term.

Mr Matekane, who only formed the party six months ago, will now have to secure the support of smaller parties to form a government.

The trial of a former Liberian rebel commander charged with committing crimes against humanity has started in a Paris court, AFP news agency reports.

Kunti Kamara is the first Liberian to be tried in France under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which recognises that the prosecution of certain crimes transcends all borders.

He is accused of rape, murder and torture during Liberia's first civil war in the 1990s.

Mr Kamara admits he was a commander of a rebel group, the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (Ulimo), in Lofa county, north-west Liberia, but denies the charges.

If found guilty, he faces a sentence of life imprisonment. He was arrested four years ago.

Read more on this topic:

• Thousands dead but no prosecutions - why Liberia has not acted

Nigeria's Rivers United are looking to complete an upset after beating defending champions Wydad Casablanca in the first leg of their African Champions League preliminary tie.

A Red Crescent official in Tunisia has said the bodies of eight migrants have been recovered by fishermen off the south eastern coast.

It’s thought their boat sank near the end of last month.

The vessel is thought to have been carrying 18 people.

Families of those missing had been protesting in the town of Zarzis, saying more should be done to discover what had happened to those on board.

Cardiff City midfielder Andy Rinomhota is ready to rekindle his hopes of playing international football with Zimbabwe.

BBC World Service

Officials at Tunisia’s powerful UGTT labour union say the country has only enough petrol to last a week.

Fuel reserve levels are normally set at 60 days.

Long queues of cars have have been jamming roads in the capital, Tunis, waiting to fill their tanks.

Energy Minister Naila Nouira has denied that the fuel shortage is down to the government’s inability to pay for supplies, insisting instead that many motorists are taking more than they need.

She added that a tanker, full of petrol, is now being unloaded which will give the country several more days' supply.

Alfred Lasteck
BBC News, Dar es Salaam

Kenya intends to press on with the building of a natural gas pipeline from Tanzania's main city Dar es Salaam, to its coastal city of Mombasa and later to the capital Nairobi, in a bid to lower energy tariffs, Kenya’s President William Ruto has said.

Local reports put the costs of the 600km (372-mile) pipeline at about $1.1bn (£990m).

Mr Ruto spoke to Tanzanian media on Monday, shortly after holding bilateral talks with President Samia Suluhu, on his first visit to the neighbouring country since he took office in September.

Mr Ruto said the project would lower energy tariffs in the industrial sector, as well as for families in their homes.

In May last year, Mr Ruto’s predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta and Ms Suluhu signed a preliminary agreement covering the transport of gas from Tanzania to Kenya for use in power generation and, potentially, for cooking and heating.

The deal was said to be part of a longer-term plan to expand infrastructure links between the two big economies of East Africa.

You can listen to full media briefing of the two presidents, in Swahili and English, here:

BBC Pidgin

Image source, Miss Port Harcourt City 2022

Nigerian model Favour Rufus was diagnosed with glaucoma at the age of seven but she still had a clear vision of becoming a beauty queen.

Favour recently competed against 18 other models for the crown in Miss Port Harcourt City, the biggest state beauty pageant in Nigeria.

She finished second and, in a subsequent beauty contest, was crowned Miss Port Harcourt City Humanity 2022.

"A lot of people discouraged me from contesting. Most were not even family members,” Favour told the BBC.

She says it was one of her teachers who first noticed that she had eye problems after her performance in school dropped.

A visit to the eye clinic confirmed her worst fears.

"The doctor at the clinic told me it was too late. I had lost my left eye."

She was told her right eye was still fine, but would need regular use of eyedrops.

Favour said her right eye is extremely blurry at the moment, and she depends only on the mobility training she got from rehabilitation.

Despite the odds, she is determined to pursue her career as a beauty queen.

BBC World Service

The authorities in the embattled Ethiopian region of Tigray have accused the federal government and its Eritrean allies of launching an indiscriminate artillery bombardment of civilian areas.

They've urged members of the Tigrayan public to join the fighting.

The regional administration said attacks were concentrated in areas close to the Eritrean border, including Rama and Adigrat.

Ethiopia and Eritrea have yet to comment.

Peace talks organised by the African Union which were due to begin this week in South Africa have been postponed for what have been described as logistical reasons.

Fighting in the two-year civil war resumed in August after a months-long truce.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) say a 21-year-old man will be charged with murder following the discover of six bodies - five of them in an advanced state of decomposition - in a building in the main city, Johannesburg.

The local News24 site reports that the bodies were of six women.

"The [one] victim had her underwear below her knees. Her head and neck were covered with her skirt. All six had their hands and feet tied from behind," an unnamed eyewitness was quoted as saying, external.

Police said they launched an investigation after complaints of a foul smell coming from one of the rooms in the building.

The body of a woman was first discovered in the building, and her clothes matched the description of a woman reported missing earlier this month, a police statement said.

Five more bodies were found outside "where there is a makeshift workshop and rubbish dumpsters", the statement said.

"Unfortunately, the other five bodies are at the late stage of decomposition. They will be subjected to forensic analysis for identification," it said.

The 21-year-old man - who is believed to be the last person to have been seen with the woman - had been arrested, the statement added.

He is to be charged with six counts of murder.

Police have not yet given a possible motive for the killings.

South Afr

.

Image source, Dmytro Kuleba/Twitter

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has cut short his trip to Africa amid Russian strikes across his country.

"I am in constant contact with partners since early morning today to coordinate a resolute response to Russian attacks. I am also interrupting my Africa tour and heading back to Ukraine immediately," he tweeted., external

Mr Kuleba has been on an apparent counteroffensive tour following a visit to the continent by Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov in July.

He has been to Senegal, Ivory Coast and Ghana during the trip.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly made overtures to African leaders to condemn Russia over its invasion of his country.

Abdi Dahir
BBC Monitoring

Islamist militant group al-Shabab has warned independent Somali media and journalists against obeying a government directive that banned use of media materials created by the group.

The government published a list of banned pro-militant websites on Saturday and asked internet service providers to block them.

It also suspended 40 social media accounts that spread al-Shabab propaganda and warned Somali journalists that it would “regard all al-Shabab-related propaganda coverage – including their terrorist acts and their ideology – as punishable crimes”.

In response, al-Shabab issued a statement accusing the government of a campaign “to silence the truth”.

The group also warned internet providers against blocking its affiliated media outlets.

Al-Shabab has a sophisticated media machinery that includes several affiliated media outlets and dozens of accounts across social media platforms.

The group’s outlets produce a daily mix of audio, text and video material containing the group’s activities and messages that are aimed at winning public support.

Kenya's Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) has asked the government to ban employment agencies in the country that are sending migrant workers to Saudi Arabia.

This is after a viral video appeared to show a Kenyan woman breastfeeding dogs in the Gulf country.

The BBC has not verified the authenticity of the video.

But speaking to reporters on Sunday, Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli said the woman, who had left a two-month-old baby in Kenya, was compelled by her employer to breastfeed the puppies.

"I want to appeal to the administration to go the way the first government under former President Mwai Kibaki did. He banned all employment agencies in Kenya," Mr Atwoli said.

The union leader asked President William Ruto to stop the "indirect slavery" of Kenyan migrants and negotiate for their welfare with the gulf countries.

High unemployment rates in Kenya has prompted young people to migrate to gulf countries in search of jobs as domestic workers and labourers.

Many migrants have reported mistreatment in the Middle East and most recently in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Reuters

Chad's military ruler Gen Mahamat Déby will be sworn in on Monday as the transitional president, extending his stay in power by two years following recommendations from a contentious national inclusive dialogue process that concluded last week

Various opposition groups, the Catholic church and rebels responsible for last year's killing of Gen Mahamat’s father, Idriss Déby, boycotted the talks aimed at determining Chad’s political future.

The US warned it would impose sanctions on the ruling junta if it extended the transition. The African Union similarly warned Chad against extending the transition.

Gen Mahamat – who will be eligible for future elections – has pledged to ensure institutional reforms, including adopting a new constitution, an electoral code and creating a new election commission.

Lack of consensus over the transition could worsen political tensions and a long-running rebellion.

Image source, Getty Images

Ugandan pop star-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, says he was detained in Dubai at the weekend after arriving there to perform at a music concert.

He says he was held at the airport for 12 hours and was questioned about his political party, family and personal details.

He was later released without charge and the concert, whose proceeds were meant to benefit African migrants in the Gulf country, was later cancelled.

Mr Kyagulanyi has blamed Uganda embassy officials for the cancellation of his music concert

"The information I have is that the Ugandan embassy in Dubai influenced the cancellation of this concert because maybe if I was able to return these girls back home then the government of Uganda will be slapped in the face," he told the BBC's Newsday programme.

He added: "I have performed in Dubai many times for the last 15 years but this show was cancelled, and the cancellation was not adequately explained."

Mr Kyagulanyi participated in last year's presidential election which he lost to the incumbent Yoweri Museveni.

Image source, Getty Images

The trial of former Liberian rebel commander Kunti Kamara opens on Monday in a Paris court.

Mr Kamara, who is on trial under universal jurisdiction - an international law that recognises that the prosecution of certain crimes transcends all borders - is accused of rape, murder and torture during the country’s first civil war in the 1990s.

He denies the accusations.

"Since the start, Mr Kunti Kamara has indicated that he has nothing to do with these events, that he is not involved in the crimes he's accused of," his lawyer is quoted as saying by French state-owned television France 24.

Mr Kamara was arrested in France in 2018.

Onyango Otieno says that being diagnosed with depression allowed him to confront the mental health illness.

Image source, Getty Images

Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has disbanded the country's Judicial Service Commission and anti-corruption commission, according to the state broadcaster.

In a decree on Sunday, the president instructed the cabinet to form the commissions afresh.

The Judicial Service Commission is a body that oversees the operations of the judiciary and recruits judges.

The commission was appointed two years ago, amid an uproar by opposition parties, who argued that the caretaker government lacked the mandate to approve members of the body.