Image source, AFP

Namibia has suspended imports of live poultry and poultry products from neighbouring South Africa because of a severe bird flu outbreak.

The suspension was prompted by the "alarming spread" of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in South Africa, Namibia’s agricultural ministry said.

“New cases have been reported in all types of commercial chicken [production] in the provinces of Kwazulu-Natal, Western Cape, Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West respectively,” it posted on Facebook, external.

More than two million chickens have reportedly died so far in the outbreak.

The Namibian authorities specified that the suspension covered:

• Live poultry
• "Fresh frozen" poultry meat
• Table eggs
• Day old chicks and hatching eggs.

Image source, Reuters

Dozens of schoolchildren have been rescued after heavy floods trapped them in a South African resort for three days.

The group, made up of 72 pupils and 10 teachers from Aliwal North Primary School, became stranded at the Cango Mountain Resort in Oudtshoorn on Sunday, after a river that runs through the hotel overflowed.

Oudtshoorn Mayor Chris Macpherson told the Times Live that the pupils were able to leave the resort on Wednesday morning, external.

“The river had subsided overnight to an extent that vehicles could safely drive over the low water bridge,” Mr Macpherson said.

On Tuesday, an emergency helicopter had provided food and water to the stranded group.

Heavy downpours began over the weekend and lasted until late Tuesday.

Several rivers across the Western Cape province overflowed, resulting in damaged infrastructure and widespread power outages.

In Cape Town eight people were electrocuted amid the ferocious weather, while hundreds of others have been evacuated from their homes.

Image source, Reuters

Uganda's wildlife authority has suspended 11 of its employees over the suspected sale of fake gorilla permits.

The government agency, which sells passes allowing tourists to see gorillas up close, said it had found anomalies in its online transactions.

Safari companies say a permit currently costs about $700 (£575) per person per trek - and a limited number are offered each year.

According to Uganda's private Daily Monitor newspaper, auditors noticed that the number of visitors at Mgahinga and Bwindi national parks did not tally with revenue collected.

Bashir Hang, spokesperson from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), said the possibility that staff and tour operators had worked together to commit fraud was being investigated.

The agency added it had not yet established how much money it had lost to the suspected fraud.

A number of UWA bosses were set to be questioned about the scandal, state-run New Vision newspaper said.

Gorillas generate significant tourism revenue for Uganda, and some of the money goes towards wildlife conservation efforts.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

France's ambassador in Niger has flown out of the country a month after military rulers ordered his expulsion.

The two countries had been close allies until President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted in July.

France has refused to recognise the coup leaders and had ignored the order to withdraw its envoy.

On Sunday, President Emmanuel Macron said ambassador Sylvain Itté would leave within days.

He also said all French troops will withdraw from Niger by the end of the year.

More on this topic:

• 'France takes us for idiots' - Inside coup-hit Niger

Kenya's digital regulator has fined a school $31,000 (£25,000) for posting pictures of students online without the consent of their parents.

This is the first move of its kind by the recently created Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

A nightclub and a credit company have also been fined $12,500 and $20,000 respectively.

According to the regulator, the club posted a customer's picture on their social media accounts without their permission. The credit company threatened clients through phone calls and messages using information obtained from third parties.

These fines have sparked a public debate about the right to privacy, especially in clubs and bars.

Some of these establishments have now published notices that anyone going into their premises consents to be photographed, filmed or recorded without compensation and that those who disagree with their rules should not enter.

In a statement posted on X, external, the regulator said it hoped that the fines will send a message to institutions to comply with the country's data protection laws, including those that require them to seek consent before posting people's pictures online.

Image source, AFP

The US is halting its aid to Gabon following last month's coup.

“We are pausing certain foreign assistance programs that benefit the government of Gabon while we evaluate the unconstitutional intervention by members of the country’s military,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement., external

The temporary measure was in line with actions taken by the regional Central African bloc, the African Union (AU) and other global partners following the coup, the statement said. Gabon's membership of the Economic Community of Central African States (Eccas) and the AU was suspended following the coup.

The decision to suspend aid to Gabon will remain "while we review the facts on the ground”, the state department said.

However, it noted that operational activities in the country were continuing, including diplomatic and consular operations to support US citizens.

On 30 August, Gabonese military leaders overthrew President Ali Bongo just after he was declared the winner of an election.

He had been in power since 2009, succeeding his father, Omar Bongo, who first became president in 1967.

A new prime minister appointed by the junta told the BBC earlier this month that the country would hold fresh elections within the next two years.

Read more on the aftermath of the Gabon coup:

• Gabon coup: Can Gen Ngeuma usher in a new era?

Image source, Jean Claude Mwambutsa/BBC

A Rwandan court has denied bail to a 34-year-old man who confessed to committing 14 murders.

The suspect, Denis Kazungu, faces multiple charges, including murder, rape, forgery and desecration of human corpses.

The judge in the capital, Kigali, said on Tuesday that the court would remand the suspected serial killer in custody for 30 days.

The judge said that although the man had pleaded guilty, he had failed to show remorse or seek forgiveness for his alleged crimes.

The suspect was arrested by the police on 5 September after his landlord reported him for defaulting on his rent for seven months.

Officers from the Rwanda Investigation Bureau discovered at least 12 bodies buried in the kitchen of his house two days later.

Prosecutors say that the man threatened, tortured, raped and then murdered his victims.

Nkechi Ogbonna
BBC News, Lagos

Image source, Reuters

Nigeria’s two largest labour unions have declared an indefinite strike to begin next Tuesday in protest over the way the government is responding to the rising cost of living.

The National Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) accused the government of failing to ease the financial burden for Nigerians which has been worsened by the recent removal of the subsidy on fuel.

"It's going to be a total shutdown until government meets the demand of Nigerian workers, and in fact Nigerian masses," the union leaders said in a joint statement.

They called on all workers to stop activities from Tuesday 3 October and said they would organise street protests.

Food and commodity prices have risen in recent months owing to the increase in the cost of fuel, which has pushed up production and transport costs.

Nigeria's currency, the naira, has also fallen significantly against the US dollar, exchanging at an average of 780 naira to $1, which has led to an increase in the cost of imports.

The government had appealed to the union leaders to suspend the strike and allow room for negotiations citing the impending damage the strike action could cause the economy.

President Bola Tinubu said ending the fuel subsidy was essential as it was too costly to keep the price of petrol artificially low.

Read more on the fuel costs:

• Lagos traffic jams disappear. But this isn't good news for Nigeria

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Kenya says it is confident the deployment of hundreds of its police to Haiti by January will end gang warfare there.

Last year Haiti's government appealed for help because of the spiralling gang violence.

Gangs have largely overpowered the police and now control more than three-quarters of the capital.

Initially Kenyan officials spoke of around 1,000 officers going to Haiti to train local police and help protect key installations there.

But Kenya's Foreign Minister Alfred Mutua says it will be an intervention force to disarm what he called the "thugs and the gangs".

In a BBC interview Alfred Mutua said the Kenyan police would free Haitians who had been kidnapped and free women who were being raped.

He said he did not expect there to be much violence.

Some have expressed scepticism about sending officers 12,000km (7,500 miles) away to Haiti.

Especially as there are lots of law and order challenges in Kenya and rights groups have long accused the police of atrocities including killings and torture.

Our African proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Three Muslim women share their stories of removing their hijabs, despite facing fierce opposition.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team - we'll be back on Wednesday morning.

Until then you can find the latest updates at BBCAfrica.com and listen to the Focus on Africa podcast for stories behind the news.

A reminder of Tuesday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this picture of polo players competing for the ball during the Casino Cup at the Nairobi Polo Club in Kenya:

Image source, AFP

Algeria withdraws on the eve of Wednesday's vote in Cairo, with Morocco and Senegal favourites to be named as hosts.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Ten alleged killers of motorcycle taxi drivers are under arrest in the coal and energy-rich western Mozambican city of Tete.

The suspects, who were presented to the press, by the Mozambican police are accused of robberies and the murder of motorbike taxi operators in neighbourhoods of Tete.

The police spokesperson in Tete, Feliciano da Câmara, said that some of them killed a member of the country’s main opposition party, the ex-rebel Renamo movement, last week and seized his motorbike.

They also took large sums of money from their victims, the police spokesperson alleged.

Some of those detained deny any connection with the crimes.

Image source, Getty Images

Ugandan police say they have arrested a 17-year-old student on charges of trafficking 170 young people.

The police said that they arrested the high school student on 18 September in central Uganda.

Police say that the student kept 170 young people at the home of a 28-year-old woman while they awaited transportation to Kenya's capital, Nairobi, where the student had promised them jobs.

However, the Uganda Police Force said on Tuesday that the trafficking scheme was a scam.

“Upon interrogation he [the student] admitted that he wanted to extort money from the victims using the name of Humble Company in Kenya as a cover up. There was no connection with the company and the job advert for waiters, waitresses, coffee parkers and supermarket attendants in Kenya was fake,” the Uganda Police Force said in a statement, external.

Uganda’s privately owned Daily Monitor newspaper reports that 98 of the victims paid the student 100,000 Ugandan shillings ($26; £21) each while the others each paid 50,000 shillings.

The student has not yet been asked to plead.

The BBC gains access to the West African country which is among the world's most deadly for jihadist attacks.

Paul Njie
BBC News, Yaoundé

Cameroon’s Minister of Communication René Emmanuel Sadi has warned against speculation that the country might witness a coup, amid a series of military takeovers in recent months.

In a statement, he said that anyone who predicted a coup risked being arrested and prosecuted.

“The government therefore urges those concerned to be careful not to draw senseless and preposterous parallels, and to make obscene predictions about the future of Cameroon which could amount to calls for the destabilization of the state,” he warned.

Since Gabon’s military seized power from Ali Bongo on August 30, commentators on social and mainstream media platforms have continued to raise the likelihood of a coup in neighbouring Cameroon.

The 90-year-old President Paul Biya, who survived a coup attempt in 1984, has ruled the Central African country for 41 years.

His supporters are urging him to run for another term in the 2025 election.

The death of popular 27-year-old singer MohBad has sparked protests in Nigeria.

Image source, Johannesburg Roads Agency

The city of Johannesburg in South Africa has named a road after anti-apartheid hero Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

The city on Tuesday renamed William Nicol Drive to Winnie Mandela Drive.

“This milestone reflects the city’s deep commitment to preserving the memory and legacy of the iconic Winnie Madikizela Mandela,” the city administration said in a statement.

William Nicol was an apartheid-era church minister and educator who advocated for the use of Afrikaans in South African schools.

Johannesburg’s mayor Kabelo Gwamanda described the renaming as “a step towards dismantling the symbols and remnants of oppression and subjugation” in South Africa.

The unveiling of the road on 26 September coincides with what would have been Mrs Mandela’s 87thbirthday.

She died in 2018 after a long illness.

South Africa's governing African National Congress, which initiated the motion to rename the road in 2018, said that the move will ensure "that future generations are reminded of the sacrifices and achievements of those who fought against apartheid and other injustices".

Nomsa Maseko
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Getty Images

Eight people have been electrocuted after gale force winds and heavy rainfall lashed South Africa’s Western Cape province.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes, including residents of a retirement village.

Landslides and rockfalls forced the closure of a number of major roads leading into Cape Town.

Heavy downpours, which continued until late last night, caused several rivers to overflow, resulting in the destruction of infrastructure and widespread electricity outages.

Weather conditions have slightly improved and mop up operations are under way.