Niger's PM says that Ecowas sanctions, including cutting off electricity supply, medicines and food, after a military coup are injustice unlike any other.

Image source, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has said that his country is ready to co-operate with Niger in "economically beneficial areas".

President Raisi made the comment on Wednesday, following a meeting with Bakary Yaou Sangaré, who assumed the role of Niger's foreign affairs minister after a military coup in July.

In a statement on the website of the Iranian president, Mr Raisi praised Niger's "desire for independence” and “resistance against the European hegemonic policies”, which he said signalled Africa’s “real transition from colonialism".

Niger is the latest African country that Iran has wooed as it seeks to end its international isolation.

In September, President Raisi met the foreign minister of Burkina Faso’s junta Olivia Rouamba. During the meeting, he applauded African countries for their “resistance in the face of colonialism and terrorism”.

In July, he visited Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe, marking the first visit by an Iranian president to Africa in more than a decade.

South Africa has not commented on reports its national was seized, along with the unnamed Tanzanians.

Bola Tinubu's victory is upheld by the Supreme Court, which dismisses opposition complaints.

Amina Noor is the first person to be convicted of assisting a non-UK person to perform FGM.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service newsroom

Leaders of countries that are home to the world's major tropical rainforests are meeting in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, for what is known as the Three Basins Summit.

The leaders represent African, South American and South-East Asian nations and they say they are aiming to restore about 3.5m sq km (1.4m sq miles) of rainforest across the Amazon, Congo and Mekong basins.

These regions account for 80% of the world’s tropical rainforests, which play a key role in absorbing carbon emissions.

Lesotho has banned poultry imports from South Africa, leaving the fast food chain short of chicken.

Elders of the Nandi community in Kenya have renewed demands for the UK to return the skull of Koitalel arap Samoei, a chief as well as a spiritual and military leader killed by the British in 1905.

The fresh demand comes days before King Charles III's visit to Kenya on 31 October.

Samoei, who waged a fierce resistance against the colonialists, was killed by British soldier Colonel Richard Meinertzehagen, after tricking Samoei and other Nandi leaders into attending a truce meeting.

According to Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper, the elders are also seeking the return of their stolen cultural artefacts and compensation for the atrocities committed against the community during colonial rule, including murder, detention and forcible displacement of the Nandi.

Samoei’s skull is believed to be in a museum collection somewhere in the UK.

Nandi elders have repeatedly asked Britain to return his remains.

"We are appealing to King Charles, we need to get that skull to be brought back to Nandi for honourable burial," descendant David Samoei told Kenya’s KTN News TV channel earlier this year.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service newsroom

Saudi Arabia has confirmed that negotiations have resumed in the city of Jeddah aimed at ending the conflict in Sudan.

In a statement, the Saudi foreign ministry welcomed the resumption of talks between representatives of Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group.

It also urged them to adopt a ceasefire and protect civilians.

More than 9,000 people have been killed and more than 5.5 million displaced since fighting broke out in April.

Image source, Getty Images

American fast food restaurant chain KFC has temporarily closed all its branches in Lesotho after the country banned poultry products from neighbouring South Africa, which is struggling with outbreaks of bird flu.

"Our supply chain has been severely impacted due to unexpected government regulations," KFC Lesotho said in a statement.

Last week, the authorities in Lesotho suspended imports of all poultry products to curb the spread of the deadly bird flu.

KFC Lesotho says it gets its poultry from South African farms which are "tested independently and daily" to ensure they are free from the bird flu.

It hopes to re-open the branches soon after reaching a resolution with Lesotho's authorities.

South Africa has been grappling with one of its worst bird flu outbreaks, forcing poultry farmers to kill seven million egg-laying hens.

The outbreak has also caused a huge shortage in the supply of eggs and chicken meat in the country.

The disease has now spread to Mozambique, where more than 45,000 hens have been slaughtered, burnt and buried in the southern Inhambane province.

Bird flu is an infectious disease of poultry and wild birds.

Nigeria's Supreme Court has now dismissed the second challenge to a lower court's ruling that upheld the election of President Atiku Abubakar.

This was the challenge by Peter Obi - the third-placed candidate in February's poll.

Springbok legend Joel Stransky says a never-say-die mentality helped South Africa beat England at the Rugby World Cup - but New Zealand are favourites in the final.

Nigeria's Supreme Court has dismissed Atiku Abubakar's challenge to a lower court's decision to uphold the victory of President Bola Tinubu in February's presidential poll.

Mr Abubakar came second in that election.

The judges still have to deliver their ruling on another challenge by third-placed candidate Peter Obi.

Hundreds of workers at a South African mine were trapped for three days in a union dispute.

Emery Makumeno
BBC News, Kinshasa

Image source, Reuters

The authorities in Equateur province of the Democratic Republic of Congo have recovered 10 more bodies from a boat accident that happened on Sunday, raising the death toll to 54.

Luc-Didier Mbula, the health and humanitarian affairs minister for the province, also said that 267 people were rescued.

The authorities believe that about 50 people are still missing, although they could not retrieve the passenger manifest as the boat’s owner also drowned.

The accident happened in the early hours of Sunday when a wooden vessel sank in the Lulanga River in western DR Congo.

This is the second deadly boat accident to happen in the country this month.

On 13 October, a wooden boat sank at the port of Mbandaka in Equateur’s capital, killing 63 people and leaving more than 100 others still missing.

Transport Minister Mark Ekila said that there had been 88 boat accidents this year alone, 80% of which involved old wooden vessels or vessels sailing at night, in breach of regulations.

The government has announced that it is working on tighter measures, including banning dilapidated vessels and separating people from travelling together with cargo and pets.

DR Congo is vast and has poor transport infrastructure, forcing most people to travel using dilapidated boats and in unsafe sailing conditions.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, EPA

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says Ethiopia will not invade any neighbouring nation after his recent comments on a need for his country to own a sea outlet created disquiet in the region.

Addressing the nation at a square in the capital, Addis Ababa, to mark Army Day on Thursday, Mr Abiy said Ethiopia would "never invade" any country.

"Our army has never initiated an attack and now we will not attack anyone," he said.

"Fears have been voiced that there could be an invasion when Ethiopia recently stressed the need to discuss some issues... there is nothing whatsoever Ethiopia intends to achieve through invasion. I would like to strongly assure you that we will not pull a trigger on our brothers to attain our needs by force," the PM added.

It comes a few days after Mr Abiy told legislators that securing a sea outlet was "a matter of existence" for his country.

Ethiopia became landlocked following Eritrea's secession in 1993, and has since depended on Djibouti for over 85% of its imports and exports.

Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a two-year border war between 1998 and 2000.

Tensions were eased between the two countries in 2018 when Mr Abiy and President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea signed a peace agreement.

Nigeria's Supreme Court has started reading out its ruling on whether or not to uphold the disputed election victory of President Bola Tinubu.

His two main challengers, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, are seeking to overturn the February presidential election, alleging that it was marred by irregularities.

The Supreme Court had 60 days to pass its judgement. But it has decided to fast-track the ruling after hearing the arguments of the challengers on Monday.

You can watch the live broadcast here., external

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa hooker Bongi Mbonambi will start against New Zealand in Saturday's Rugby World Cup final after a ruling there was "insufficient evidence" he used a racial slur towards Tom Curry.

But governing body World Rugby added that the England flanker had made the allegation in good faith.

The Rugby Football Union says it is "deeply disappointed" by the decision.

Curry said he was abused during last Saturday's semi-final, in which South Africa beat England 16-15.

Read more on this story.

Image source, Reuters

Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa says his party will not participate in what he described as "criminal" by-elections to fill 15 seats for members who were controversially recalled from parliament.

The seats were left vacant after a man, who declared himself as the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party’s interim secretary-general, said the MPs were no longer members.

Consequently, by-elections have been scheduled for 9 December after the parliamentary speaker declared the seats vacant earlier this month.

Mr Chamisa dismissed the recalling of the lawmakers, saying Sengezo Tshabangu, the self-declared secretary-general of the party, was an "impostor".

In an interview on Wednesday, Mr Chamisa said his party would not "waste time" participating in the "unconstitutional" by-elections.

"We don’t participate in crime," he added.

A case challenging the recall of the MPs will be heard on 2 November.

Paul Njie
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Authorities in the Central African Republic (CAR) say they have reached an agreement with Rochefort International, which owns Total-Centrafrique, to end the fuel crisis that hit the country recently.

Total-Centrafrique’s customs operations were suspended after the government said it owed oil taxes of over $3.3m (£2.7m). The closure of its petrol stations for about two weeks led to a fuel crisis, causing long queues at others that were open.

Energy Minister Bertrand Arthur Piri said “all the points were discussed, making it possible to reach an agreement”.

He added that Rochefort International would now “continue Total’s fuel import work”, while engaging in talks with the Ministry of Finance on how to pay its tax debts.

A representative of the energy firm said they were satisfied with the agreements reached with the government.

Meanwhile, a local taxi driver told the BBC the fuel scarcity had pushed them to go to the black market to buy fuel.

Total-Centrafrique, which was recently bought by Rochefort International, is a key supplier of fuel in the CAR.