Wedaeli Chibelushi
BBC News

Image source, AFP

An upcoming African climate change summit to be hosted by Kenyan President William Ruto has not been “hijacked by foreign interests”, his office has told the BBC.

The African Climate Summit, which will take place in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, from 4-6 September features speakers from Kenya’s government, the African Union and United Nations.

The French government, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the African Development Bank are among the summit’s partners.

Signed by more than 300 “gravely concerned” African organisations, a recent open letter to Mr Ruto says the summit has been “seized” by Western governments and organisations “hellbent on pushing a pro-West agenda and interests at the expense of Africa”.

Signatories include ActionAid Ghana, the African Union’s Youth Wing and South Sudan’s University of Juba.

In response, Mr Ruto’s special adviser for climate change, Ali Mohamed, told the BBC the summit was an “African endorsed event hosted by an African bank that is going to discuss the challenge to the global community”.

“The population of ordinary African people will truly be represented through the leadership and the experts who are attending the summit,” he said, adding that 13,000 people had registered for the event.

The open letter specifically takes aim at the summit’s agenda, saying it prioritises Western interests, such as carbon markets.

In the past, carbon market schemes have enabled rich countries to compensate for their emissions by financing climate projects in developing countries.

These schemes have been heavily criticised - opponents say they fail to reduce global emissions and have been linked to environmental and human rights violations in poorer countries. A new set of rules on carbon markets was agreed at COP26, but they remain to be finalised.

The letter also singles out the role of leading US consultancy McKinsey. The signatories allege the firm has “unduly influenced” the summit.

McKinsey was listed as a partner on the African Climate Summit website, but was removed from the index after the letter was published.

McKinsey did not comment on the allegations contained in the letter when approached by BBC News, but pointed to remarks made on Wednesday by Kenya’s environment minister, Soipan Tuya.

She said that because of the global nature of the summit "we have different partners".

"We have civil society organisations, we have consultancy firms that have come and listened to what we are saying and they have input and they have questions, but I can confirm that this is the African position that we are projecting,” she added.

Nigeria's Super Falcons receive an unprecedented financial reward from the government following their 2023 Women's World Cup showing.

Gloria Aradi
BBC News, Nairobi

A new US ambassador to Niger is expected to soon take up her role in the country's capital, Niamey.

Kathleen Fitzgibbon has been tasked with leading the US mission in Niger during what State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel described as a critical time.

The envoy is also expected to co-ordinate the US government’s efforts in addressing the coup and supporting Americans stuck in Niger.

Mr Patel did not clarify when the new envoy would travel to Niger. However, he told reporters on Wednesday that her travel to Niger does not signal a change in the American government’s stance towards the military's seizure of power.

He said the US remained committed to promoting security, stability, and democracy in the Sahel region.

"Her arrival does not reflect a change in our position, and we continue to advocate for a diplomatic solution that respects the constitutional order in Niger, and for the immediate release of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family," Mr Patel said.

Ms FitzGibbon is a diplomat with significant experience working in Africa. She was confirmed by the US Senate as the Niger ambassador on 27 July, a day after the coup.

Niger has been without an American ambassador since December 2021.

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

West African military chiefs have said they are prepared to use force to restore democracy in Niger following last month's coup if diplomacy fails.

The generals from the Ecowas group of nations are meeting in Ghana to co-ordinate possible military intervention.

The Ecowas peace and security commissioner, Abdel-Fatau Musah, said almost all member states were committed to contributing troops and are ready to intervene in Niger.

He added that the coup leaders in Niger still had time to pull back from the brink - but said all options were on the table if they did not restore civilian rule.

The threat of intervention has raised fears of a wider conflict, as the military governments in Mali and Burkina Faso have said they would side with their counterparts in Niger.

Ecowas officials say their resources will be used to support troops, but they will also welcome any outside help.

Nicolas Négoce
BBC News, Dakar

Image source, AFP

Popular Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who has been on hunger strike for two weeks in protest against his detention, has been taken into intensive care, according to his allies.

"Mr Sonko was the victim of an illness that occurred last night," said Ousseynou Ly, who is a member of Mr Sonko's Pastef party that was forced to close by Senegal's authorities.

A medical source at Hospital Principal in the capital, Dakar, confirmed to the BBC that he had been moved into the intensive care unit.

Pastef says the authorities were "responsible" for Mr Sonko's condition, after they charged and detained him for insurrection and conspiracy against the state, among other crimes. There has been no statement from the authorities on Mr Sonko's condition.

He plans to run for president in February next year, but has been engaged in a bitter power struggle with the authorities since 2021 when he was placed under investigation in a moral corruption case.

"From the state of Senegal, we do not ask many things, except for the rights and freedom of Ousmane Sonko," said Habib Sy, president of the opposition coalition Yewwi Askan Wi.

In June, Mr Sonko was sentenced in absentia to two months in prison - which he said was politically motivated.

That triggered angry clashes by supporters that left 24 people dead, according to Amnesty International.

The next month he was arrested, and earlier this week he was charged with fomenting insurrection.

More about Ousmane Sonko:

• Senegalese youth hero or rabble-rouser?

Kenya’s opposition politicians have said that they are hurt by the United States ambassador’s "insensitive" comment about Kenya being the most stable democracy in Africa.

Ambassador Meg Whitman made the remark on Wednesday, during an address to Kenyan leaders, including President William Ruto.

"I arrived in Kenya days before the 2022 general elections. What I witnessed was nothing short of remarkable. Kenya held what many analysts and commentators say was the freest, fairest and most credible election in Kenyan history," Ms Whitman said.

The elections were deemed inaccurate and unverifiable by the Kenyan opposition, which contested the results in the Supreme Court.

Oburu Odinga, an opposition senator and brother to opposition leader Raila Odinga, said that he was hurt by Ms Whitman’s comments and said it was insensitive of her to praise Kenya’s democracy at a time when the government had criminalised Kenyans' right to demonstrate, picket and assemble.

He was making reference to the recent arrests of dozens of anti-government protesters., external

The opposition leaders added that Ms Whitman’s comments could damage ongoing negotiations between the Azimio la Umoja opposition coalition and Kenya Kwanza, the ruling coalition. The opposition figures urged the ambassador to "be sensitive, mature and avoid making divisive comments likely to erode trust among Kenyans".

Nicolas Négoce
BBC News

People in the small fishing community of Fass Boye in Senegal are in shock - and there is a lot of anger too after a boat carrying migrants was found off Cape Verde. More than 60 people are feared dead.

University student Moussa Diop, who lives here, told me he had three male cousins and a teenage nephew on the boat that left in secret last month. His sister had no idea her son was on the boat - and had been in a desperate state since his disappearance last month.

The first the family heard about their doomed voyage was when one of the cousins sent Mr Diop a WhatsApp video from Sal on Wednesday to tell them that three of them had made it and were in hospital - but one of the young cousins had died.

Image source, Diop family

Image source, Moussa Diop

Mr Diop says sorrow for lost relatives and relief about those who have survived has boiled over into frustration.

After news of the tragedy spread on Wednesday, people in the town began damaging cars and boats and they also set fire to the house of the mayor.

Young people blame a lack of opportunities and want the authorities to do more to help them.

Nomsa Maseko
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Getty Images

South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who has spent six years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, has asked the Constitutional Court to declare him eligible for parole.

This comes after his bid for parole was denied in March when it was revealed that he had not served the minimum required sentence to qualify for early release.

Pistorius was found guilty of murder and was given a 13-year jail sentence in 2017 after a long and dramatic trial and several appeals.

He shot and killed Steenkamp through the bathroom door of his high-security home on Valentine’s Day in 2013, claiming that he had mistaken her for an intruder. He believes he qualifies to be released on parole and that "staying longer in prison constitutes an infringement on his fundamental rights".

However, the country’s top appeals court explained earlier this year that the six-time Paralympic gold medallist still needs to spend another year-an-a-half in jail before he could be considered for parole.

The confusion was brought by the fact that Pistorius' time in prison had been broken up by appeals and by time he spent under house arrest.

You may be interested in:

• The making and unmaking of Oscar Pistorius

Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticised China’s government for failing to "acknowledge and condemn" the rampant anti-black racism on the Chinese internet.

“The Chinese government likes to tout China-Africa anti-colonial solidarity and unity, but at the same time ignores pervasive hate speech against Black people on the Chinese internet,” said Yaqiu Wang, HRW's senior China researcher.

Racist online content has become popular in China in recent years as more content creators seek to profit from it.

According to HRW, such content often perpetuates offensive racial stereotypes by typecasting Africans as impoverished and inferior to the Chinese "saviours".

The rights group also said that some content disparages interracial relationships with black people, particularly black men, who are condemned for tainting China.

It also found that some accounts impersonate black people to spread false and hostile information, while others attack black people and even call for their killing. These attacks often extend to the partners and supporters of black people.

The rights organisation also criticised the Chinese government and social media companies for failing to meaningfully address reports of online racism, such as the 2022 BBC Africa Eye investigation Racism for Sale, external.

The documentary exposed the sale of videos showing African children coached by Chinese people to repeat demeaning comments about themselves in Mandarin. A Chinese man was subsequently jailed for 12 months in Malawi on charges including trafficking and procuring children to take part in entertainment.

HRW warned that if unchecked, the prevalent anti-black racism on China's internet risks inciting racial discrimination or violence towards black people.

You may want to watch:

Gloria Aradi
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Kenyan senate

A Kenyan high court has released on bail a senator and two former county officials linked to a scholarship scandal.

The three were arrested on Wednesday on allegations that they conspired to steal about 1.1bn Kenyan shillings ($7.6m; £5.9m) meant to fund further education for Kenyan students in Finland and Canada.

The senator and his co-accused are expected to face 11 charges. The senator has previously denied misappropriating the money.

On Thursday a magistrate ruled the trial could not begin until all the four suspects were presented in court.

Kenyan police had on Wednesday tweeted that one of the suspects, Joseph Maritim, had fled , externalthe country.

However, Mr Maritim’s lawyer, Zephania Yego, told the court that his client was unaware of the charges when he travelled to Canada on 13 August, but would return to take a plea.

The prosecution plans to appeal against the release of the senator and his co-accused, local media report.

Mark Pivac
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, Getty Images

More than 60 mostly Senegalese people are feared dead after their boat was found drifting about 300km (186 miles) from the Atlantic island nation of Cape Verde.

Seven out of 38 survivors are receiving treatment in hospital.

Their wooden fishing boat was found a month after it set off from Senegal with more than 100 migrants on board.It's not known what happened to those missing.

Officials in Senegal said they were making arrangements to bring survivors home. Cape Verde officials have called for global action on migration to help prevent further loss of life.

It's thought the vessel was aiming for the Spanish Canary Islands, a frequent migrant gateway to the European Union.

It was first spotted on Monday by a Spanish fishing boat.

The survivors include four children aged between 12 and 16, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

• Read more on this story here

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, AFP

The majority of participants of a three-day meeting in the Democratic Republic of Congo's parliament have voted to lift military rule in two eastern provinces deeply affected by long-raging insecurity.

The state of siege, where military authority replaced civil rule, was put in place by the central government in May 2021 with an aim of fighting armed groups operating in Ituri and North Kivu provinces.

But a recent report to the UN Security Council by Secretary General Antonio Guterres last week said the situation has become worse in the two provinces, where about four million people have been displaced.

"The state of siege brought nothing to us…citizens are tired of it. Let the authority be handed back to civilians," Béatrice Nyiramugeyo, an MP who participated in the meeting, told the BBC Great Lakes.

UN-backed Radio Okapi quoted MP Fabrice Adenonga as saying that 195 of 196 participants of the consultative meeting that ended on Wednesday voted in favour of lifting the state of siege.

It is now up to President Félix Tshisekedi to "eventually react” on the matter, government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya told a press conference in the capital, Kinshasa.

Image source, AFP

The United States has expressed concern over the threat of worsening violence in Mali, citing attacks on UN peacekeepers.

State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said the attacks were "unacceptable" and condemned "such violence and the larger threat posed by armed actors operating" there.

On Monday, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, Minusma, said it had been forced to withdraw earlier than usual from the northern town of Ber amid deteriorating security.

It said that its withdrawing forces had been attacked twice, with some of the soldiers injured.

The US State Department says the attacks highlight the threat of worsening violence "and the importance of all Malian parties settling their differences peacefully".

"It is critical that Minusma be permitted to conduct its withdrawal in a safe and orderly manner, and we call on the transition government to cooperate fully until the final Minusma element departs," it adds.

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Image source, AFP

Military chiefs from the West African regional bloc, Ecowas, are meeting to discuss the deployment of a standby force for possible military intervention to restore democracy in Niger.

The gathering is taking place on Thursday and Friday in the Ghanaian capital, Accra.

At least 11 of the bloc's 15-member states back a military deployment to reinstate the democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, after diplomatic efforts failed to yield any positive result.

But three Ecowas members currently under military rule themselves - Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea - support the junta.

Niger's coup leaders have warned they will defend themselves against any intervention.

The discussions in Accra will focus on the resources, the number of troops needed, and a standard operating procedure for combat troops.

Ghana and Nigeria have led previous interventions under the umbrella of the Ecowas Ceasefire Monitory Group, Ecomog, in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s. The bloc has also intervened in other member countries and more recently in The Gambia.

The meeting comes amid a worsening security situation in Niger. On Tuesday, 17 soldiers were killed and 20 injured in an ambush by Islamist militants.

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More than 60 people are feared dead after a migrant boat, at sea for over a month, was found off Cape Verde in West Africa.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now, we will be back on Thursday morning. There will be an automated news feed until then.

You can also get the latest on the BBC News website and listen to the Focus on Africa podcast.

A reminder of Wednesday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of a Spanish Grandmaster of Kenpo Karate, Adolfo Luelmo, training Kenyans in Nairobi.

Image source, EPA

Gloria Aradi
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Kenyan Senate

A Kenyan senator has been arrested over a scholarship scandal.

Jackson Mandago and three others face 11 charges, including theft and abuse of office.

He is accused of involvement in a racket that allegedly conspired to steal a reported 1.1bn Kenyan shillings ($7.6m; £5.9m) that was meant to fund further education for Kenyan students in Finland and Canada.

Dozens of students who had paid to study abroad allegedly remained stranded in Kenya as a consequence, according to local media reports.

Those who had already joined universities risked homelessness, expulsion and deportation after the county government stopped their payments for accommodation and tuition.

The alleged crimes unfolded when Mr Mandago was serving as the governor.

Mr Mandago has previously denied misappropriating the money, Kenya's Star paper reports, external.

According to another report, external, he and the current Uasin Gishu county governor had agreed to ensure the victims receive refunds.

President William Ruto has also commented on the matter, ordering whoever is responsible for the scandal to repay the money for the Finland and Canada Overseas Education Programme quickly or face "trouble".

He said that once investigations were finalised he would offer local scholarships to those affected.

Belyse Ininahazwe is set to make history as the first woman to coach a top-flight men's club in Burundi.

Gaius Kowene
BBC News, Kinshasa

At least seven people have died after a boat carrying nearly 300 people sank in the Mai-Ndombe province, in the western part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).

Authorities are still searching for survivors, amid fears of the toll rising.

According to eyewitnesses, the boat's wooden structure split in two, causing the vessel to sink.

Many of the passengers were public servants traveling to a neighbouring town for a routine check-up.

DR Congo lacks appropriate infrastructure and control mechanisms to guarantee the safety of people travelling via its waterways.

Experts often attribute such incidents to boats overloading and poor maintenance.

In 2019, at least 30 bodies were recovered after a boat carrying 400 people capsized in the same province.