Five children, including four siblings, have died in Zimbabwe following heavy rains and floods that have damaged houses and key infrastructure, local media report.

Four of them died after being struck by lightning on Monday night while sleeping with their mother in a hut in the eastern Manicaland province. The mother was unhurt.

The other child died from head injuries following flooding that damaged more than 17 homes at a village in Gokwe North, in the central Midlands province.

Two other children from the same village are reported to have been taken to hospital.

It comes amid widespread heavy rains accompanied by thunderstorms, strong winds and hail in places between Monday and Tuesday, according to the meteorological agency.

The Africa Cup of Nations gets under way in January, with more than 40 Premier League players potentially missing several weeks of the season as they head to the Ivory Coast.

With nearly all votes counted, President George Weah and his Joseph Boakai are running neck and neck.

Image source, Malawi presidency/X

Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera has expressed concern over the security of hundreds of Malawians in Israel amid escalating war between Israeli forces and Hamas.

"I am deeply concerned about the welfare of civilians there, including the safety of over 300 Malawians living in Israel," Mr Chakwera posted on Facebook.

He expressed support for Israel and condemned the attacks against unarmed civilians and the captivity of civilians by the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

The Malawi leader calls for the cessation of the Gaza violence, which has drawn global attention.

Hundreds of Palestinians are feared dead after a huge blast at a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, blamed by Hamas on an Israeli air strike.

But Israel says the blast was caused by rockets misfired by another group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and both sides deny blame.

The Israel-Gaza war has divided African nations, as different countries take opposing sides.

Mark Pivac
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, AFP

An unpaid electricity bill has plunged Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, into darkness.

The Turkish utility company, Karpowership, pulled the plug saying the West African government owes it $17m (£14m).

The Economy Minister Suleimane Seidi promised to pay most of the bill within a fortnight.

Karpowership - one of the world's largest floating power plant operators - has a five-year contract to supply virtually all of Guinea-Bissau's electricity needs.

Last month, the Turkish firm cut off power to Sierra Leone’s capital over a large unpaid debt.

Bharti Dhir describes how her dual Indian-African heritage was "looked down on" when she was a child.

Analysis of satellite images provides evidence that dozens of Darfur villages have been burned down.

Image source, Ministry of Interior/X

The Kenyan government has released the names and photos of 35 terror suspects believed to be behind recent militant attacks in the coastal Lamu county.

Among them are Tanzanians, Somalis, a German, a British national, a Bangladeshi citizen, with the majority being Kenyans.

The suspects are linked to the planting of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on various roads and the killing of civilians along the Lamu-Witu-Garsen highway.

They are also linked to the attack on the American military base at Manda Bay, in Lamu, in 2020.

The Ministry of Interior said the "armed and dangerous" suspects were part of the "al-Shabab terror network responsible for planning and orchestrating deadly attacks in Lamu county and the larger Boni Enclave".

Authorities say a "substantial reward" will be offered to anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of any of the suspects.

Al-Shabab has stepped up attacks in Kenya’s north-eastern and coastal regions in recent months.

The al-Qaeda-linked militant group is facing a large-scale military offensive in Somalia that seeks to drive out the jihadists.

Image source, Getty Images

Ugandan police are pursuing Allied Defence Force (ADF) militants who are suspected to have shot dead two tourists and a guide at the Queen Elizabeth National Park.

The three – a British citizen, a South African and a Ugandan guide – were killed in an attack on Tuesday evening while travelling in a tour vehicle, the Ugandan Wildlife Authority said.

Their safari vehicle was burnt, the police said, posting a picture of a burning vehicle on X, formerly Twitter.

The national park borders Lake Edward in the west, which separates Uganda from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Islamic State-linked ADF militants are based.

“Our joint forces responded immediately upon receiving the information [of the attack] and are aggressively pursuing the suspected ADF rebels. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” the police said in a statement., external

The ADF has been blamed for a number of deadly attacks in Uganda in the past, including the killing of dozens of students in an attack in June.

The latest attack comes days after President Yoweri Museveni said they had foiled an attack on churches by the group on Sunday.

He had earlier said that Ugandan forces had carried out air strikes against four ADF positions in DR Congo.

More on this topic:

• Allied Democratic Forces: The Ugandan rebels working with IS in DR Congo

Our proverb of the day:

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Israel's military denies claims it struck the Al-Ahli Arab hospital and blames a Palestinian rocket.

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 taken in Maputo - where the opposition Renamo party has vowed to keep protesting until local election results are overturned:

Image source, AFP

Officials say they seized and destroyed the scales in a stand against illegal wildlife trafficking.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service Newsroom

At least 50 people, including women and children, have been abducted by gunmen in north-western Nigeria.

Residents of Bagega, a mining village in Zamfara state, said armed men stormed the village on motorcycles, shooting indiscriminately and setting houses on fire.

Three people were killed and seven others were injured in the attack.

In recent years kidnapping for ransom has become common in north-western Nigeria where armed gangs, known as bandits, have targeted villages, schools and travellers.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, AFP

In the Mozambican capital, Maputo, riot police have fired tear gas at opposition protesters who say last week's local elections were rigged in favour of the ruling Frelimo party.

Dozens of people have suffered minor injuries while fleeing the police.

"They didn’t need to do this, after all, isn’t this democracy? We are marching peacefully and we don’t want problems with anyone," said one protester.

Analysts have questioned whether Mozambique's state-owned electricity company deliberately cut off power to help sabotage the election.

"Maputo City is not known for frequent power cuts. It's funny how exactly on election day, at the time of vote counting, the most populated neighbourhoods went dark for hours. It happened in previous elections as well," said Human Rights Watch researcher Zenaida Machado, external.

The main opposition Renamo party has failed to win any municipalities despite governing seven before the polls.

On Thursday, local media reported that two Mozambican courts annulled the results of elections in Chokwe district in southern Gaza province and Cuamba district of the northern Niassa province after they found irregularities in the process.

Renamo leader Ossufo Momade says the protests won't stop until the "electoral truth" is uncovered.

Image source, Reuters

Two schoolchildren have been swept away by floods in South Africa's Eastern Cape province, the nation's public broadcaster said.

SABC reported that the youngsters were carried away while returning from school in the Ngqeleni area.

A search mission is under way to rescue them, SABC said.

Heavy rains hit parts of the Eastern Cape on Monday, paralysing transport in the region.

Zimkhitha Macingwane, a local administrative official, said a bridge was swept away by floods.

"It makes it impossible for that community to move to other areas,” Ms Macingwane was quoted as saying.

The South African Weather Service had on Monday issued a storm warning for disruptive rains, which led to the flooding.

At least 11 people were killed after heavy rain and winds hit the Western Cape province last month.

BBC Arabic's Sudan Lifeline radio

Image source, Getty Images

There have been dire warnings about the plight of refugees escaping the conflict in Sudan.

Forty-two Sudanese refugees are reported to have died in eastern Chad last week because of severe shortages of food and drinking water, as well as the spread of disease - such as malaria.

Sudan's assistant commissioner for refugees, Mujib al-Rahman Muhammad, said those most badly affected were women, children and the elderly.

He told the BBC that more than one million people had crossed the border into Chad. He added that the international community had not fulfilled its promises towards helping those fleeing the six-month conflict.

A prominent Somali journalists' union says it is "deeply shaken" by Abdifatah Moalim Nur's death.

Image source, AFP

Nigeria has burned $1.4m (£1.2m) worth of pangolin scales, say officials.

The announcement marks the first time the West African nation has publicly destroyed seized wildlife products in order to discourage illegal trafficking.

The pangolin, a shy and critically endangered animal, is one of the world's most trafficked mammals. Their scales are in high demand in traditional Chinese medicine.

Nigeria has become a major transit hub for African pangolin scales and other wildlife products trafficked to Asia.

"These seized items represent the past we leave behind, but the destruction signifies the future we are determined to build for our planet," Environment Minister Iziaq Adekunle said before the burning took place in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

"The destruction of these seized items is a powerful statement of our resolve to protect our environment, conserve our wildlife, and combat the illegal trade that drives species to the brink of extinction."

The destroyed pangolin scales amounted to almost four tonnes, officials said

Read more:

• How an undercover sting outwitted pangolin traffickers
• How do you save pangolins - the 'world’s most trafficked mammal'?

Image source, AFP

A majority state-owned Kenyan company has received criticism for planning to sell some of its land after the homes of people who lived in the area for years were demolished.

Dozens of high-cost homes, churches and a mosque were razed over the weekend after a court ruled that East African Portland Cement (EAPC) was the legal owner of the land.

The court allowed EAPC to evict the people who had settled in part of the 17.40 sq km (4,300 acres) of land, which has been at the centre of a legal dispute for years.

The demolitions sparked outrage from Kenyans, including the occupants who described the action as "cruel" because they spent a lot of money on buying plots and building on the land.

They said they were unsure why the EAPC did not negotiate with them instead of pulling the properties down.

The said the demolition happened before they could appeal against the court's ruling. Some blamed President William Ruto, who on Friday said locals would be evicted to allow for the expansion of an industrial zone.

But in a notice appearing in Tuesday's newspapers, EAPC said it had notified "the public of its offer to sell the... referenced parcels of land via a regularisation model".

It said preference will be given to parties occupying the land. They have been given 14 days to stake their claim, adding that any unclaimed plots will be sold to the general public on "a willing-seller-willing-buyer basis".

The firm is reported to have said that the section of the land being offered for sale is different from the one where buildings have been demolished.

However, people are questioning why the properties had be razed. “If this was the plan all along why allow demolitions?” Kenyan social media personality Adam Maina asked on X., external

"This is what you get when you have crooks who are also incompetent running government," Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna said., external

Demolitions of property illegally built on public land are not uncommon in Kenya. At times they are seen as being politically motivated.