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Millions of chickens have been killed amid one of the worst bird flu outbreaks to hit the country.

In May this year, Nigerian president Bola Tinubu took office – and announced an end to fuel subsidies.

He said the move would free up money for investment in public services and infrastructure projects, but it caused a spike in prices and, in some cases, triggered street protests.

We explore the impact of removing the subsidy on residents and businesses, and the knock on-effect for neighbouring countries like Cameroon.

Presenter/producer: Bisi Adebayo

(Image: Members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) holds a placard during a march in Abuja on August 2, 2023. Credit: Getty Images)

The losses pave the way for by-elections, which could hand a majority to ruling party Zanu-PF.

Lawyers for the United Nations' Refugee Agency issue a warning during a Supreme Court appeal hearing.

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 a Liberian woman posing for a photo in Monrovia after casting her ballot in the presidential and parliamentary elections:

Image source, AFP

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service newsroom

The US has formally declared that the military in Niger had staged a coup, cutting off more than $500m (£407m) in aid.

In July the army ousted President Mohamed Bazoum - an ally of Western nations in the fight against jihadist insurgents.

Under US law, a formal designation of a coup requires that aid is suspended.

The US state department said assistance to Niger would only be resumed if the coup leaders ushered in a democratic government.

It is understood that Washington will keep its troops in Niger for the time being.

A US official said the troops were no longer actively helping Nigerien forces but would continue to monitor threats from jihadists.

Earlier France began withdrawing its troops.

Victoria Phenethi
BBC News, Johannesburg

The results of South Africa’s 2022 census reveal that the population of South Africa stands at 62 million up from 51.7 million in 2011.

It also showed that there are more than 2.4 million migrants in the country, around 3% of the total population.

Most of these came from neighbouring countries: 45.5% from Zimbabwe, 18.7% from Mozambique and 10.2% from Lesotho.

The statistics also show that the white population has declined from 11% in 1996 to 7.3 % in 2022.

Alfred Lasteck
BBC News, Dar es Salaam

Tanzanian officials are still looking for the two Tanzanians missing in southern Israel - the area hit by the Hamas attack over the weekend.

Tanzania’s ambassador to Israel, Alex Kallua, told the BBC the two had been doing internships there.

“Early today there were some information circulating that some Tanzanians had been injured, but we followed up with hospitals where the rescued were taken but did not find any,” he said.

“We have been communicating with the authorities and even the institution that arranged for their internship and none of them had information on where the students were.”

There are around 350 Tanzanians living in Israel including around 260 students pursuing agricultural programmes, according to the embassy.

Moses Kollie Garzeawu
Journalist, Monrovia

Image source, Moses Kollie Garzeawu

Liberians have been eager to vote, with many queuing as early as 03:00 GMT - five hours before polling started - braving the dark to get to a good position in the line.

They used torchlights and mobile phones to find their names at voting precincts.

Image source, Moses Kollie Garzeawu

Image source, Moses Kollie Garzeawu

Voting in the capital, Monrovia, and surrounding areas has been relatively calm with no signs of violence reported so far.

Image source, Moses Kollie Garzeawu

Image source, Moses Kollie Garzeawu

There are 19 presidential candidates in the race against incumbent George Weah, a 57-year-old former football star who came to office in 2018.

He is seeking a second term and faces his biggest challenge from former Vice-President Joseph Boakai, 78.

“I have confidence in the Liberian people, they gave me a mandate. I have asked them for a second term. That's why I came to vote,” Mr Weah told the media after casting his votes at the Kendeja Public School in Monrovia’s Paynesville suburb.

Image source, Moses Kollie Garzeawu

To avoid a run-off, the winner must secure more than 50% of votes cast.

Image source, Moses Kollie Garzeawu

Polls are due to close at 18:00 GMT.

More on this topic:

• Liberia election: George Weah faces demands for war crimes court

Yūsuf Akínpẹ̀lú
BBC News, Lagos

Image source, BBC/Adekola Olawale

A police officer in Nigeria has been sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of Lagos-based lawyer Bolanle Raheem.

A Lagos State High Court judge found Drambi Vandi guilty of shooting Mrs Raheem, who was pregnant with twins, at close range on Christmas Day in 2022.

Mrs Raheem had been in a car with her husband and other family members driving back from church when the stop-and-search altercation happened with police.

Vandi had denied the murder charge, arguing the bullet presented in court was not from his gun.

The Raheem family’s lawyer said they were satisfied with the judgement.

“The incident of 25 December 2022 will forever remain a tragedy to the Raheem’s family because it changed lots of people’s lives, the life of her husband, daughter and plenty of people who love her. We believe the judgement is a step towards reducing the pain on the family members,” Olakitan Agbaje said.

The verdict is considered a landmark ruling, with rights groups often accusing the police and other law enforcement agencies of arbitrary harassment, extortion and murder.

In 2020, tens of thousands of young Nigerians took to the streets to protest against police brutality after a video went viral of a man allegedly being killed by the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars), sparking what became known as the #EndSars demonstrations. The campaign led to the government agreeing to disband Sars.

Vandi's sentencing has also ignited a debate on the death penalty in Nigeria, which is rarely carried out.

Nigeria has about 3,000 people on death row, according to Amnesty International, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

Between 2007 and 2017, there were seven executions in the country with the last one taking place in 2016, the rights group said.

In Nigeria the decision to go ahead with an execution falls to the state governor.

Vandi has a right to appeal - if the judgement is upheld it would be up to Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to decide if the death sentence be carried out.

Yaya Toure hopes he and his brother Kolo can pave the way for black managers.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service newsroom

The United Nations has said it is concerned by the deteriorating human rights situation in Madagascar, ahead of a presidential election next month.

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) urged authorities in the southern African nation to ensure respect for the rule of law throughout the electoral period.

Campaigning officially began on Tuesday but the security services have been accused of using unnecessary force to disperse several protests over the last two weeks.

Candidates hoping to defeat the incumbent president, Andry Rajoelina, have alleged foul play in order to keep him in power.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service newsroom

Image source, AFP

Fifteen opposition politicians in Zimbabwe have filed an appeal in court challenging a decision by the parliamentary speaker to declare their seats vacant.

Speaker Jacob Mudenda had received a letter - full of grammar mistakes - from a man falsely claiming to be the secretary general for the main opposition party, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC). The letter said that 15 of the CCC's MPs were no longer party members.

CCC leader Nelson Chamisa had asked the speaker to disregard the letter, saying the party has no secretary general.

Despite Mr Chamisa's request, Mr Mudenda declared the 15 seats vacant on Monday.

The move has paved the way for by-elections that could hand the ruling Zanu-PF party, which won a disputed election in August, a two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution.

More on this topic:

• Emmerson Mnangagwa: 'The Crocodile' wins second term as Zimbabwe president
• Zimbabwe election: Chicken and chips put a taste for democracy to the test

Paul Njie
BBC News, Yaoundé

Cameroon’s media regulator has lifted its suspension on the TV channel Canal+ Elles, which it sanctioned in September for broadcasting “programmes conveying obscene practices with a homosexual tendency”.

The National Communication Council said the channel - a subsidiary of the French media group Canal + International - was allowed to resume broadcasting, after halting the programmes highlighted.

The media regulator added that it also followed the outlet’s commitment “to implement a series of measures aimed, for the future, at avoiding such abuses on all channels of the Canal+ International bouquet.”

Cameroon is among several African countries where homosexuality is illegal. Its media regulator continues to warn media operators in the country against breaching the country’s laws through their content.

More on this topic:

• The countries where it is illegal to be gay
• The Nigerians lured into a trap and blackmailed for being gay

Image source, Getty Images

An elephant that escaped from Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been eaten by the residents of a nearby village.

“It’s like manna falling from heaven for us,” Conservationist group Conserv Congo quoted “jubilant” people from Katwiguru village as saying.

The non-profit group, which works with the country’s wildlife authority, the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), tweeted that it was not clear whether it was rebels or villagers who had killed the animal.

An electric barrier surrounding the park several weeks ago was damaged by “youths” allowing two elephants to stray on Monday, the AFP news agency reports ICCN as saying.

The fate of the second elephant is unclear.

Virunga is a famed wildlife park in the middle of a conflict zone where many militia groups operate near the border with Rwanda and Uganda

Conservation efforts have driven rebel forces from the park - which stretches across 7,800 sq km (3,000 sq miles) - and created a safe area for elephants.

According to the park’s website, 580 elephants migrated into the park in 2020 to form a herd of about 700.

Read more on this topic here:

• DR Congo's Virunga National Park hit by 'deadliest' attack
• Gorillas, guns and guerrillas - a deadly mix in an African park

Evelin Uachave
BBC Monitoring

More than 130 protesters have been detained by police in Angola for taking part in a separatist march calling for autonomy for the northern region.

Police on Monday said the protests in Saurimo, capital of Lunda Sul province, turned violent leading to the multiple arrests.

Jota Malakito, the leader of separatist Sociological Legal Manifesto of the Lundese People (MJSPL), was reportedly leading the demonstration and planning to hoist the group's flag in the city.

The interior ministry said that there were no casualties during the clashes between the police and protesters. However, the separatist group said several people were injured in the incident.

The separatists, under the Lunda Tchokwe Protectorate Movement, have been calling for secession of the diamond-rich Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul provinces, external.

They argue that the “Lunda-Tchokwe Kingdom” was never a Portuguese colony, and it is not, therefore, bound by the Alvor Treaty, which granted Angola independence from Portugal in 1975.

The Angolan government has dismissed the separatists' claims and has always insisted on the unity of the southern African country.

Image source, AFP

Two African vaccine manufacturers and a Belgian biotechnology company have received $40m (£32m) from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help them produce new mRNA vaccines.

They include the prestigious Senegalese laboratory Institut Pasteur de Dakar and the South African-based biopharmaceutical company Biovac.

They will each receive $5m to buy mRNA vaccine research and manufacturing technology developed by the Belgian company Quantoom Biosciences.

The technology allows mRNA vaccines to be produced more efficiently and at lower costs.

The Belgian company has been awarded $20m to advance its vaccine research and manufacturing technology, which could help it to further lower the cost of producing mRNA vaccines.

The remaining $10m is expected to go to other vaccine manufacturers.

Under the funding deal, the organisations will conduct research and development of vaccines for global diseases and those that are prevalent in Africa.

Head of Institut Pasteur Dr Amadou Sall has said that the funding is "an important and necessary step towards vaccine self-reliance in the region".

Paul Njie
BBC News, Yaoundé

A man whose child is one of at least 30 people killed inlandslides in Cameroon's capital, Yaoundé, had to sleep outside in the cold overnight as he and his family could not find refuge elsewhere after losing their home.

Ymele Guy is a resident of the impoverished neighbourhood of Mbankolo, where many houses that had been precariously built on a hillside were destroyed after heavy rains on Sunday.

He, his wife and surviving three children were given a mattress by visiting officials who informed them the remaining houses in the area were all to be demolished.

Housing Minister Célestine Ketcha Courtès had said during her visit on Monday that temporary accommodation in halls and other public places would be provided for those without a place to stay.

“We have lots of problems, we are sleeping outside because they [the authorities] said they must demolish everything… I didn’t have anyone in whose place I could sleep,” Mr Guy said.

The community is home to many people who move to the capital from rural areas to find work.

A local administrator “clearly told me that if it were up to him, I should return to my village”, Mr Guy said

“He told me if it’s possible to return home, I can go to his office and get transport fare to go to the village."

Ivorian Joseff Gnagbo is the first person of colour to lead a Welsh language campaign group.