Police tell Edgar Lungu to stop his runs alongside supporters as they amount to "political activism".

Image source, AFP

The mayor of Derna, a Libyan city devastated by intense flooding, has been arrested in connection with the disaster, officials say.

Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi was among numerous officials charged in connection with the disaster that killed thousands in eastern Libya earlier this month.

Last week, angry Derna residents burned the mayor’s house in protest.

The office of the attorney general, based in the capital Tripoli, said on Monday that the officials were "responsible for managing the country's dam facilities" and therefore it had launched a criminal case against them.

Some of the officials, including Mr Ghaithi, have already been detained prior to the trial.

In a statement on Monday, the attorney general’s office accused the officials of numerous failings, such as mismanaging funds meant to maintain the dams that burst and caused the floods in Derna.

His office also said that the officials had showed neglect by failing to take precautions, leading to flood-related deaths and economic losses for Libya.

Mr Ghaithi has further been accused of abusing his authority.

Libya is divided into two, rival administrations - one in the east and one in the west. As the attorney general is based in Tripoli, in the west, it is not clear to what extent he can order arrests in the east.

On Sunday, the eastern government said that the number of confirmed deaths from the floods had reached 3,868.

The attorney general's office said that investigations into other officials were ongoing and there could be more arrests.

Read more: Libya floods: The bodies left unrecognisable by disaster

Kenneth Mungai
BBC News

Image source, United States Secretary of Defense/X

The Somali government says its forces killed scores of al-Shabab militants just a day after a truck bomb killed at least 10 people in the central town of Beledweyne.

Deputy Information Minister Abdirahman Al-Adalah says the Somali army and local militia attacked the militant camp in Caad village in Galmudug state.

The number of al-Shabab fighters could not immediately be verified and the group has not issued any statement about the government’s claims.

The government also says its forces have retaken villages from the jihadists in the western Hiiraan region.

It comes as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin in Djibouti to discuss the fight against the al-Qaeda-linked group, which has waged an insurgency in Somalia for more than 15 years.

In recent months, the Somali government has intensified its military campaign against al-Shabab but has recently faced setbacks in the fight in central Somalia.

Somalia receives military, humanitarian and training support from the US, whose forces also help Somali troops by conducting air strikes against al-Shabab.

Mr Austin is on a three-nation tour of the continent. He has already visited Djibouti, where he met President Ismail Omar Guelleh and discussed regional security.

He is due in Kenya's capital on Monday to sign a defence agreement and then wind down his tour in Angola.

Aliyu Tanko
BBC Hausa editor, Abuja

Image source, Nigeria's Supreme Court

A fire that broke out at Nigeria's Supreme Court on Monday reached a justice's office, it has emerged.

Part of the court, located in Abuja, went up in flames during the morning, the capital city's Emergency Management Agency confirmed to BBC Hausa.

The agency said there were no casualties at Nigeria's highest court, while preliminary reports suggest the fire was caused by an electric fault.

The Supreme Court is located close to the presidential villa and the National Assembly.

Image source, Reuters

A senator who belongs to the ruling coalition in Kenya has proposed an extension of presidential term limits from the current five to seven years, sparking sharp reactions in the country.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei says President William Ruto, who has been in office for just about a year, might not have enough time to deliver his campaign manifesto.

However, the proposal has sparked outrage among a section of Kenyans with the opposition accusing the government of plotting to abolish presidential term limits.

"On the contrary, it should be reduced to four years one term each for the next six elections. This is the only sure way to bring national cohesion and to prevent vested interests from entrenching themselves, thus allowing constitutionalism to be fully established," an X user posted.

“If any leader cannot deliver in a period of 10 years, what is the need for adding four more?” another user wondered.

Last November, President Ruto dismissed a proposal by another UDA legislator to remove presidential term limits in the country.

Kenya’s constitution sets a two-term presidential limit and any change would require a referendum.

A fire, which broke out earlier on Monday at Nigeria's Supreme Court, has been extinguished, according to local media reports.

Part of the building in the capital, Abuja, housing the country's highest court, went up in flames, according to several news sites.

Pictures and videos show dark smoke billowing from the building.

BBC News has not yet been able to verify these images.

Reports state there were no casualties but it is not yet clear what caused the blaze.

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, Burundi presidency/X

Burundi President Évariste Ndayishimiye has condemned rumours of a coup against him while he was away for two weeks for meetings in Cuba and at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Barely a week after the president left the country on 10 September, stories of a plot against him started circulating on social media.

The source of the rumours is not clear yet.

In his address after arriving back to the country on Sunday night, Mr Ndayishimiye blamed them on “people who have always wanted to paint a bad image” of Burundi.

Burundi has experienced more than 10 successful and failed coups.

“Back in the day we went through it, but now our hearts are calm, sleep knowing well that you will wake up and go to your work,” Mr Ndayishimiye said.

On Sunday before his arrival, the country's ministry of interior announced on X (formerly Twitter) that “no house is burning”, urging people not to care about “those rumours that distract”.

France's president says the ambassador will leave and all military co-operation will end in the coming months.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Reuters

Somaliland has said it has “no plans for dialogue to discuss unity” after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's offer to mediate between the self-proclaimed republic and Somalia’s federal government

President Museveni on Saturday said he had “agreed to take on the role of peace facilitator between the two” after meeting a Somaliland government envoy in the Ugandan city of Entebbe.

He said Uganda did not support the breakaway republic’s secession “because strategically, it is wrong”.

But in a statement, Somaliland's foreign ministry said that any talks with the government in Mogadishu, external “will not discuss unification, but rather how the two previously united countries can move forward separately”.

“Therefore, the Republic of Somaliland once again confirms to the African Union and the rest of the international community that it has no plans for dialogue to discuss unity with Somalia”, it added.

Somaliland unilaterally declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 and has since been unsuccessfully seeking international recognition.

Talks between the two sides have been on and off for years, with discussions ranging from airspace management and cross-border movements to Somaliland’s demand for recognition as an independent state.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Fighting has continued to be reported in Ethiopia’s restive Amhara region between government troops and local militias with the historic city of Gondar seeing heavy urban combat on Sunday.

Local militias known as the Fano entered the city, one of the largest in the region, prompting intense clashes with the army.

A statement published on the official Facebook page of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) confirmed the clashes adding that government security forces thwarted militia attacks killing more than 50.

Fighting is also reported in multiple other places throughout the region with activists and media outlets linked to the militias claiming to have gained control of some areas and capturing dozens of soldiers.

The BBC has not been able to independently confirm the claims.

The outskirts of Lalibela, another city in the region which is home to the famous rock-hewn churches, saw violence last week which included heavy artilleries.

Multiple drone attacks have been reported in recent weeks in several areas.

An annual high-level peace conference scheduled to be held in October in the region’s capital, Bahir Dar, has announced postponing its gathering until April next year stating “unforeseen circumstances”.

The delaying of the conference, which counts the African Union and the UN among its partners, could be related to insecurity in the region.

Meanwhile an independent rights watchdog, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, has accused the authorities of continuing arbitrary arrests in the capital, Addis Ababa, which began after a state of emergency was declared in August in response to the violence in Amhara.

Read more on the background:

• Why Ethiopia's Amhara militiamen are battling the army

Image source, AFP

The Beninese government has ordered an assessment of all fuel storage facilities in the wake of the deadly explosion that killed dozens of people over the weekend.

At least 34 people were killed on Saturday after an explosion at a fuel depot in southern Benin.

A statement from the decentralisation and governance ministry said the order for an "exhaustive assessment" of all fuel depots was to prevent a similar incident from occurring in other areas.

"Despite raising awareness and measures taken by the government to limit smuggling activities, particularly those linked to the storage and sale of gasoline across the country, certain people continue to store gasoline in inappropriate places," it warned.

Saturday's incident happened at a depot in a densely populated market in the southern town of Seme Podji near the border with Nigeria.

Benin’s Interior Minister Alassane Seidou told reporters that two babies were among those killed in the incident.

At least 20 more people were injured and were being treated in hospital.

Image source, Google

Google on Monday unveiled a doodle to pay tribute to South African jazz pianist, composer and journalist Todd Matshikiza.

Matshikiza, who died in 1968 aged 47, is regarded as one of the most important pioneers of South Africa's arts and culture.

The doodle, which appears on the Google home page, was illustrated by South African-based artist Keith Vlahakis.

“On this day in 1956, his commissioned cantata Uxolo (peace) was played by the orchestra at the 70th Johannesburg Festival,” Google said about the decision to honour Matshikiza on 25 September.

Matshikiza’s is best known for the song Quickly in Love, which features in the 2013 film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, and for his composition of the music featured in stage musicals King Kong and Mkhumbane.

Google uses its doodles, which are variations of its logos, to mark anniversaries or celebrate individual lives.

Image source, Getty Images

Zambia's former President, Edgar Lungu, has been warned against his public jogging events, with police describing his workouts as "political activism".

The police in a statement, external said Mr Lungu's exercise sessions while escorted by members of his Patriotic Front (PF) party and without his security officers amounted to "unlawful assembly".

The former head of state was ordered to notify police in advance when planning to jog in future "to ensure public safety and traffic management”.

"Mr Lungu should strictly adhere to security protocols and should refrain from any form of political activism," police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga said.

This comes a few days after Mr Lungu took the government to court after he was allegedly blocked from travelling to South Korea for a conference. He later withdrew the case.

After being in power for six years Mr Lungu lost the 2021 presidential election to Hakainde Hichilema. He is widely believed to be planning a comeback in the 2026 elections.

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Ancient timber preserved in a riverbed suggests humans were building wooden structures 500,000 years ago.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, wanted on war crimes charges at an international court, registers as a candidate.