1. Kenya urges probe over baobab uprooting for exportpublished at 12:35 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    Baobab near Sabaki river, Malindi, KenyaImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Baobab trees have huge trunks and may live for hundreds if not thousands of years

    Kenyan President William Ruto has directed the environment and forestry ministry to look into the ongoing uprooting of baobab trees at the coast.

    It follows reports about concerns by environmental experts about the export of the massive trees in Kilifi country to Georgia.

    Local newspaper Daily Nation last week reported that Kenyan authorities had authorised a foreign company to cut the trees for botanical purposes for two years.

    Last month, the Guardian newspaper said campaigners were accusing people of "biopiracy", external. Buyers were persuading locals to part with the trees on their land.

    But on Monday, Mr Ruto said there “must be adequate authorisation and an equitable benefit-sharing formula for Kenyans”.

    He also asked the ministry to ensure that the uprooting “sits within the Convention on Biodiversity”.

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    The baobab trees have huge trunks and may live for hundreds if not thousands of years, often dwarfing other plants around them.

    They store large quantities of water inside their trunks to endure the harsh conditions of the arid areas in which they live.

  2. DR Congo peace talks with rebels delayedpublished at 11:45 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    Mercy Juma
    BBC News, Nairobi

    Displaced people in GomaImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    Rebel activity has displaced hundreds of thousands in eastern DR Congo

    Peace talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo government and rebel groups that were scheduled to begin on Monday in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, have been postponed.

    Organisers of the third Inter-Congolese peace dialogue say they are trying to build a conducive environment for the talks - which bring together the government and armed groups operating in eastern DR Congo.

    Meanwhile Kenya’s President William Ruto is currently in the DR Congo for bilateral talks with President Félix Tshisekedi.

    Kenya is playing a crucial role as a member of the East African Community in support of the Nairobi Peace Process.

    On Monday, clashes resumed in Rutshuru territory, towards Masisi, North Kivu Province in the east of the country. Hundreds more people have been displaced.

    Kenya’s former President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is the lead negotiator, says he had a call with Rwanda’s Paul Kagame who agreed to talk to M23 about them laying down their weapons.

    Map of DR Congo
  3. Doping puts Kenyan athletics on 'road to nowhere'published at 11:15 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    Kenyan athletics will be on the road to "nowhere" if the current spate of doping cases continues, says former world javelin champion Julius Yego.

    Read More
  4. SA ex-President Jacob Zuma ordered to return to jailpublished at 11:06 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    Pumza Fihlani
    BBC News, Johannesburg

    Jacob ZumaImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Jacob Zuma stepped down from the presidency in February 2018

    South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal has ordered former President Jacob Zuma to return to prison after upholding an earlier ruling that his medical parole had been unlawful.

    But it is not clear if he will spend any more time in jail.

    The 80-year-old was given a 15-month sentence last year for contempt of court over his refusal to testify during an investigation into corruption.

    His imprisonment prompted violent protests in KwaZulu Natal province and other parts of South Africa that left more than 300 people dead.

    Zuma was released after two months in jail, after his lawyers argued that he had an undisclosed terminal illness.

    In their unanimous judgement on Monday, the judges said that prison authorities should decide if the time the former president has unlawfully spent out of prison should count towards his sentence or not.

    The former president's lawyers had argued that Zuma needed medical care that could not be provided in prison and now may take the matter to the Constitutional Court.

    It’s a legal matter but one that has had political implications in the past. There are some concerns that his return to prison may lead to a repeat of the unrest seen last July.

  5. South Africa pit bulls burnt to death after attacking childpublished at 10:20 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    Pit bull dogImage source, Getty Images

    Members of a community in Cape Town, South Africa, stoned to death and then burnt three pit bull dogs who had attacked a young girl.

    The incident comes as calls to ban the breed in South Africa grow.

    A local animal welfare charity reported that the child was mauled in a field in the Gatesville neighbourhood of Cape Town. She "sustained severe injuries and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment", the SPCA has said, external.

    The dogs were then attacked, with people stoning, stabbing and hitting them "before burning them to death".

    Video of the burning shows people standing around the fire shouting approval, IOL news site reports, external.

    “We are tired of these people wanting to parade with their pit bulls knowing they are a danger to society. It’s not enough our children are being slaughtered by vicious criminals, and brazen gangsters,” a resident is quoted by IOL as saying.

    Sunday's attack followed reports of a three-year-old boy dying after being targeted by two dogs in Free State province, IOL reports.

  6. Veteran leader on course for Equatorial Guinea poll winpublished at 09:51 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    Beverly Ochieng
    BBC Monitoring

    President Teodoro Obiang Nguema MbasogoImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    President Obiang, 80, is the world's longest serving president

    Votes are being counted in Equatorial Guinea where President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is set to extend his 43-year rule.

    Preliminary results on the presidential election show that 80-year-old leader has received the majority of votes counted so far.

    But the Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) party – one of only two opposition parties allowed to compete in the polls – has claimed flagrant and rampant irregularities that have plagued past elections.

    The final results are expected later on Monday.

    A diminished pool of opponents – many of whom are in exile – guarantees Mr Obiang a landslide victory, while the ruling party is expected to retain its commanding majority in the legislature.

    Media restrictions and the repression of opposition marred the otherwise peaceful election.

    A surprise decision to hold elections early was criticised, leading to a deadly raid by security forces on an opposition leader’s home in September.

    Mr Obiang seized power in a military coup in 1979 when he overthrew his uncle who was serving as president.

    He was widely speculated to hand over power to his son, Vice-President Teodorin Obiang Nguema, who is embroiled in numerous corruption scandals abroad.

  7. Mozambique says at least 300,000 at risk from floodspublished at 09:11 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    Jose Tembe
    BBC News, Maputo

    A man stands next to a house in an area flooded by the rains of cyclone Eloise in the Chinamaconde community of the Dondo district of Beira last yearImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    The latest alert warns people living near rivers (file photo)

    Mozambican water authorities say around 300,000 people are at risk of being affected by flooding along the Zambezi basin during the current rainy season, which runs between October and March.

    At the beginning of this year, the Zambezi basin floods left a trail of destruction including a bridge on the Revúbuè River, whose central deck was destroyed and is currently undergoing reconstruction.

    Many homes and buildings were destroyed, including those belonging to state bodies.

    The scenario could be repeated during the current rainy season where moderate and above normal rains are forecast.

    The situation is being worsened by discharges from the Cahora Bassa dam since the beginning of October.

    The latest alert focuses on people living near rivers.

    There are more than 800,000 people along the Zambezi basin, of which around 300,000 are exposed to floods, according to the state water resources agency.

  8. Zimbabwe to open new Chinese-built parliamentpublished at 08:30 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    Zimbabwe's new ParliamentImage source, Getty Images

    Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa will on Wednesday formally open a new 650-seat parliament in the capital, Harare, that was funded by China.

    President Mnangagwa will use the occasion to deliver a state of the nation address, the state-run Herald newspaper reports quoting the clerk of parliament.

    The finance minister will on the next day present the 2023 national budget, the newspaper adds.

    China funded the project as a gift to Zimbabwe. It houses the national assembly and the senate.

    A Chinese company was behind the construction.

    Zimbabwe's new ParliamentImage source, Getty Images
  9. SA hosts first global conference on clubfootpublished at 07:40 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    BBC World Service

    The first global conference on clubfoot begins in the South African city of Cape Town on Monday.

    The congenital condition, in which a baby is born with one or both feet twisted inwards, affects about one child in 800.

    The charity MiracleFeet says the vast majority don't receive the correct treatment and are often ostracised.

    But specialists in countries including Uganda, Tanzania and Senegal have perfected a non-invasive method of turning the foot outwards using a series of plaster casts applied each week.

    They say teenagers and even some adults are now able to correct their feet in this way.

    Read more:

  10. Equatorial Guinea opposition to reject poll resultspublished at 06:56 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    BBC Monitoring
    The world through its media

    Electoral officials count votes as the voting ends for presidential, legislative elections in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on November 20, 2022.Image source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    The electoral authorities and the ruling party have not commented on the allegations

    Equatorial Guinea's main opposition party says irregularities took place in the country's general elections on Sunday in which the world's longest-ruling leader, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, sought to extend his 43-year rule.

    The Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) said it would not recognise the results of "the fraudulent elections" and that any person declared the president-elect would be considered "illegitimate" by the party.

    In a statement on Sunday, the party said that the vote was "taking place amid flagrant and widespread irregularities" across the country except in the capital, Malabo.

    The electoral authorities and the ruling party have not commented on the allegations.

    The CPDS said its agents saw voters being forced to elect candidates of the the president's Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE).

    It also said the opposition was barred from monitoring the voting process, through what it described as "trickery".

    In a number of polling stations, election officials allowed people to vote on behalf of absent family members, the party added.

    It denounced the confiscation of voter cards from voters who it said were singled out as opposition supporters.

    The CPDS's presidential candidate, Andres Esono Ondo, also alleged "fraud and irregularities across the country, including public vote and chairs or heads of polling stations voting on behalf of others". He also said "people were being prevented from voting freely".

  11. South Africa power cuts: Eskom runs out of dieselpublished at 06:12 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    Nobuhle Simelane
    BBC News, Johannesburg

    Electricity pylons in South AfricaImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Scheduled blackouts, or load shedding, is frequent in South Africa

    South Africa's power utility Eskom has run out of money to buy diesel for its critical plants, according to the minister of public enterprises.

    It means people will experience rolling blackouts of up to six hours a day.

    In a statement, external, Minister Pravin Gordhan said that his department would be working with the national treasury to find money to buy supplies of diesel.

    Mr Gordhan met with the Eskom board on Sunday night and called for "exceptional interventions to create more reliability" in power supply.

    Eskom is constrained by a massive $26bn (£22bn) debt and has old, inefficient power stations that require constant work to keep them running.

    Read more:

  12. Kenyan building collapses after tenants evacuatedpublished at 05:43 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022
    Breaking

    A five-storey residential building collapsed on Monday in Ruiru on the outskirts of the capital, Nairobi, barely a day after its tenants were evacuated.

    The evacuation was witnessed by the local governor, Kimani Wamatangi, on Sunday after the building developed cracks.

    It had more than 100 tenants, according to local media outlets.

    The National Construction Authority was earlier reported to have found it to be structurally unsound.

    Local television station Citizen TV has tweeted a picture of the building:

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    Last week, two multi-storey buildings under construction collapsed not far from the latest incident.

  13. Equatorial Guinea counts votes as Obiang seeks sixth termpublished at 05:05 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    Will Ross
    Africa editor, BBC World Service

    Electoral officials count votes as the voting ends for presidential, legislative elections in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on November 20, 2022.Image source, Getty Images

    Vote-counting is under way in Equatorial Guinea in an election where the world's longest-serving president is seeking a new terms to extend his 43 years in office.

    First results are not expected until Monday at the earliest, the AFP news agency reports.

    President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who is now 80, has banned all opposition parties except for one.

    Equatorial Guinea does not have close elections. The president usually wins with at least 93% of the votes and that is widely predicted to happen again.

    At the president's age, there had been speculation that his son, Teodorin, would be taking over. He’s been convicted in France for funding a lavish lifestyle using public money from his country.

    Read more:

  14. French-speaking bloc discusses conflict in Africapublished at 04:43 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    David Bamford
    BBC World Service News

    Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, Gabon's President Ali Bongo, Burundi's President Evariste Ndayishimiye, Secretary General of Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) Louise Mushikiwabo and other heads of Francophone countries pose for a group picture during the 18th Francophone countries Summit in Djerba on November 19, 2022.Image source, AFP
    Image caption,

    Leaders of Francophone countries met in Tunisia

    The leaders of French-speaking countries have held a summit on the Tunisian island of Djerba to discuss growing instability in parts of Francophone Africa - including in parts of the Sahel and the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    The head of the group, Louise Mushikiwabo, said there had been long discussions about the main conflict zones.

    She said the group could support and quicken efforts "to mediate between parties in conflict".

    DR Congo Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde refused to pose for a group photo next to Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

    Kinshasa has accused him of supporting M23 rebels fighting in the east.

    Rwanda has always denied the allegations.

  15. Wise words for Monday November 21 2022published at 04:31 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2022

    Our proverb of the day:

    Quote Message

    A snake is only killed when its head is cut."

    An Ngonde proverb sent by Balekene Mkhuju in Karonga, Malawi.

    A drawing of a snake

    Click here to send us your African proverbs.

  16. Green Lions: Cameroon 90published at 00:00 Greenwich Mean Time 12 November 2022

    Every World Cup has a team that captures the heart of the world, but maybe none has ever been as popular as the Cameroon side of 1990. When the Green Lions defeated reigning world champions Argentina in the opening game, it was arguably the biggest upset in World Cup history. Barely afforded a hope upon qualification, the Cameroon team provided joy at Italia 90, both on and off the pitch.

    Green Lions tells the story of a team of amateurs who became heroes. Young men, and one veteran, who dared to dream, achieved the impossible and inspired a generation around the globe.

  17. Kenyans petition Prince William over land evictionpublished at 17:52 British Summer Time 4 May 2022

    The Talai clan say they were evicted from their land for tea plantations, some still owned by UK firms.

    Read More
  18. Frog from Africa found in primary school bananaspublished at 14:43 Greenwich Mean Time 16 February 2022

    The frog is found at a Wirral school after surviving a trip of 5,000 miles from the Ivory Coast.

    Read More