Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, Burundi presidency

President Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi and chairperson of the East African Community (EAC) gathered regional leaders in Egypt on Monday night to discuss the rising insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Presidents Samia Suluhu of Tanzania, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, William Ruto of Kenya and DR Congo Prime Minister Sama Lukonde attended the meeting on the side-lines of the COP27 summit.

The resolutions of the meeting are yet to be announced.

On Monday a Congolese fighter jet flew into Rwandan skies before it returned to Goma in eastern DR Congo as tensions continue to rise between the neighbours. Kigali called it a “provocation”.

Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the M23 rebels that now control a big area of Rutshuru territory in North Kivu province. Rwanda has continuously denied the allegations.

Burundi, Uganda, and Kenya have sent army contingents in eastern DR Congo to combat armed groups that have kept the region volatile for nearly three decades.

Rajna Dattani was one of 40,000 Asians given just 90 days to leave the country by Idi Amin in 1972.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Getty Images

The UK has downgraded a warning to its citizens against travel to the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

Britain, the US, Canada and Australia had last month issued separate advisories to their citizens against all but essential travels to the city and its surrounding areas over fears of possible terror attacks.

The US had gone further to order the evacuation of its diplomatic staff members.

The travel warnings prompted a strong response from the Nigerian authorities who described the alerts as ''unnecessary'' and ''irresponsible''.

On Monday, the UK High Commission in Nigeria said the travel advisory to British citizens for Abuja has been changed from "Amber'' to ''Green.''

In a statement, it said the UK government ''no longer advises against all but essential travel'' to the city but that ‘'some risks remain’.’

It added that the warning against all travel to seven other states in Nigeria remains unchanged.

Nigeria is facing multiple security problems including violence by armed extremist groups and kidnappings for ransom by criminal gangs.

Other Western countries have yet to announce reviews of their earlier travel warnings to their citizens.

Rhoda Odhiambo
BBC Africa health reporter

Image source, AFP

Malawi's health ministry will soon launch a second vaccination campaign after receiving 2.9 million doses of the oral cholera vaccine as the outbreak spreads.

The World Health Organization (WHO) facilitated the vaccine's procurement with funds from the Global Vaccine Alliance (Gavi).

It comes as the outbreak spread to 27 of Malawi's 29 districts, killing more than 200 people and infecting 6,868 others since March, according to government data.

“The current outbreak represents the largest epidemic reported in the country in the past 10 years,” the WHO said in a statement.

The most affected age groups are between 21-30 years. Males are disproportionately affected.

"The outbreak is taking place in the context of tropical storm Ana (January 2022) and Cyclone Gombe (March 2022) which caused floods leading to the displacement of a population with low pre-existing immunity that now lacks access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene,” the WHO added.

An earlier cholera vaccination campaign in May reached more than 1.5 million people.

The outbreak was first reported in Malawi's southern region but currently the most affected districts are in the north.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, @CHIBUIKEAMAECHI

The authorities in Nigeria have announced that train services on the railway line between the capital, Abuja, and the northern city of Kaduna, will resume at some point this month.

Services were suspended eight months ago following an attack on a passenger train which left at least eight passengers dead.

More than 60 others were abducted. They were released piecemeal over a period of seven months, with the last batch freed in October.

Nigeria's Transport Minister Mu’azu Sambo said in Abuja that adequate security had been put in place to ensure the safety of passengers.

He did not disclose a specific date for the resumption of the services.

The country continues to battle growing insecurity with Jihadists and bandits attacks, kidnapping for ransom and separatist agitations.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

There is evidence of significant division between countries at the UN climate conference in Egypt about the future role of natural gas.

Several African countries want to exploit the resource at a time when Europe is struggling to find supplies.

But other nations believe the world needs to end its reliance on fossil fuels as fast as possible.

The former US vice-president Al Gore told the conference the dash for gas was a bridge to nowhere.

The International Energy Agency has said new gas fields are not compatible with global aims to achieve net zero emissions by the middle of this century.

For the first time the summit is debating whether richer nations should provide financial support to help developing countries combat the effects of climate change.

Read more:

• What is COP27 and why is it important?

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Rishi Sunak tells the COP27 summit in Egypt a greener planet is possible and there "is room for hope".

Coal provides most of South Africa's energy but its main concern is boosting supply, not going green.

Mubarak Bala's conviction on charges related to blasphemy has sent shockwaves throughout Nigeria.

Alaa Abdel Fattah's sister says she "hopes and trusts" Rishi Sunak will secure his release in Egypt.

Why has a visa ban been imposed on Nigerians? The BBC's Nkechi Ogbonna explains.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team until Tuesday morning Nairobi time.

There will be an automated news feed until then. You can also get the latest news from our website and listen to the Africa Today podcast.

Here's a reminder of Monday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this picture of a group of women in southern Senegal showing off their oyster collection devices they set up to prevent mangrove destruction.

Survivors Eva and Richard were on the Precision Air plane when it crashed into Lake Victoria.

Tarik Habte
BBC News

And we have lift off!

After a small delay caused by a fire alarm at Nasa's control centre in the US, two satellites built by Zimbabwean and Ugandan engineers respectively, have been launched into space.

Zimbabwe’s satellite, named ZimSat-1 was designed and assembled by three of the country’s scientists who were supported and trained in Japan.

Uganda’s satellite, the PearlAfricaSat-1 was also built by three of its own country’s aerospace engineers with the ambition that Uganda will set up its own command station to manage the satellite within the country.

Once in orbit, both satellites will collect images of the countries from space to help support research into weather forecasting, as well as monitoring border security and disaster prevention.

For more on this topic:

• How Ugandan Nasa scientist Catherine Nakalembe uses satellites to boost farming

Ameyu Etana
BBC Afaan Oromoo

Image source, .

A legend, a hero, a poet, a freedom fighter, a voice of justice and liberation, a cultural icon - these are some of the tribute messages by Ethiopians following the death of Ali Birra, the king of Oromo music, who died on Sunday aged 75 after a long illness.

Affectionately nicknamed Adeero - meaning uncle - he was part of a golden generation of Ethiopian musicians whose talent was appreciated much later in his life because of the artistic restrictions imposed by the country's earlier feudal and military regimes.

The Oromo ethnic group, despite being Ethiopia's largest, was culturally marginalised by successive governments.

Ali's six-decade-long career was therefore punctuated by arrests and harassments, but he continued to compose anti-regime songs earning him the moniker "fighter".

Some of his close friends were killed by the regimes he opposed, and rumours of his own death were also common over the years.

In one of his interviews with the BBC, he said he was "a lifelong learner".

Many Ethiopian musicians say Ali's influence cannot be disputed.

The country's foremost musical expert Sertse Firesbhat called him "a genius".

Ali composed hundreds of musical works on a number of issues in half a dozen languages including Arabic.

His name was originally Ali Mohammed, but he became known as Ali Birra, a nod to his early works, but also a name that means "spring" or "break of dawn" - in the Oromo language.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed referred to Ali as ''a light that does not go off'' adding that his death was ''a loss for Ethiopia" because "he promoted unity, perseverance and culture in his songs".

The authorities said Ali will be laid to rest in his eastern home town of Dire Dawa.

Before that thousands are expected to pay their last respects to him on Tuesday in the capital, Addis Ababa.

Kenyan runner Nancy Koech was born blind but has been helped to Paralympic glory by her brother Geoffrey Rotich.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

A leading Egyptian human rights activist and former political prisoner has urged world leaders to use the COP27 summit as a platform to highlight Egypt's rights abuses.

Speaking to the BBC, Hossam Bahgat, asked those attending the summit to speak out "in solidarity" with victims of rights violations.

He called for the immediate release of Alaa Abdel Fattah, a political activist serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly broadcasting misinformation.

Fears for Mr Fattah's safety are growing after he stopped drinking water, adding to his seven-month hunger strike.

Read more:

• COP27: Jailed activist Alaa Abdel Fattah stops drinking water

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Mubarak Unique Pikin/TikTok

A magistrate’s court in the northern Nigerian city of Kano has ordered two TikTok stars to be whipped and made to sweep the court premises for a month.

They were found guilty on Monday of defaming Kano state governor Abdullahi Ganduje in a comedy video they recorded and shared on TikTok and Facebook.

A skit by Mubarak Isa Muhammad, alias Unique Pikin, and Nazifi Muhammad Bala accused the governor of land grabbing, corruption and dozing off during public meetings.

Prosecution lawyer Wada Ahmed Wada said the young men had defamed the governor and that their action was capable of disturbing public peace.

The social media comedians pleaded guilty and asked for leniency.

Along with the 30 days of cleaning, the judge also ordered both to be given 20 lashes and pay a fine of 10,000 naira ($23;£20) each.

They were also ordered to publicly apologise to the state governor on social media.

Their lawyer, Bashir Yusuf, told the BBC they would not challenge the judgement given that they were not given a jail sentence.

In Nigeria, there have been growing numbers of young social media stars who use comedy to comment on social and political issues.

They sometimes mock public figures attracting massive followers to their accounts.

A Tanzanian fisherman tells the BBC how he tried to rescue pilots of a plane trapped under water.