Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, Reuters

The UN has described floods that have uprooted hundreds of thousands of people in Somalia and neighbouring countries in East Africa as a once-in-a-century event.

UN officials said more than 1.5 million people in Somalia could be affected by the heavy seasonal downpours, external, which have been made worse by the combined impact of two climate phenomena - the El Niño effect and the Indian Ocean Dipole.

Heavy rains beginning in early October followed months of severe drought in the region.

More than 300,000 people have been forced from their homes in Somalia and towns and villages have been inundated across northern Kenya.

BBC Africa Daily podcast

Judging by the crowds cramming on to the trains at rush-hour, Lagos's new light rail service - linking the island to the mainland - is a big hit.

Christiana, a businesswoman who works on the island but lives on the mainland in Nigeria's commercial hub, told the BBC's Africa Daily podcast that it was "stress-free" compared to taking the bus or driving.

Other commuters told presenter Alan Kasujja that they used to spend up to eight hours travelling to and from work on the city's notoriously clogged-up roads. But since the Blue Line opened at the beginning of September, travel time has been reduced to a total of 90 minutes at the most.

One shopkeeper said that this allowed her to stay at work longer and take advantage of the evening business.

At peak times, each train - made up of four carriages - can take about 1,000 passengers. Alan saw how crowded it can get with people appearing to push others out of the way to get a seat.

One woman decided to wait on the platform for the next train.

"I don't want to inhale someone else's body odour," she told Alan.

The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, which runs the Chinese-built line, says it hopes to increase the frequency of trains as well as expand the network beyond just the one line.

One end-to end trip on the train costs around $0.90 (£0.76), which the authority says is affordable, but at that price the service is losing money and it will have to look for other revenue sources, an official told Africa Daily.

Listen to the Africa Daily episode here.

Image source, Reuters

Kenya’s President William Ruto has faced some criticism following his first State of the Nation address on Thursday, in which he called for austerity measures.

“The time has come to retire the false comforts and illusory benefits of wasteful expenditure, and counterproductive subsidies on consumption by which we dug ourselves deeper into the hole of avoidable debt,” Mr Ruto said.

Critics say the president failed to adequately address how he was going to address the mounting concerns about the worsening cost of living.

Some also called him out for promising to cut "wasteful expenditure" yet spending millions on foreign travel, with his latest trip to Saudi Arabia on Friday.

Kenyans have faced growing taxes and levies since President Ruto came to power last year, which have contributed to an increase in the prices of basic commodities like food and fuel.

Mr Ruto said that “the new direction may not be easy, but it is ethical, responsible, prudent and, most importantly, necessary”.

He said that his measures have made it possible for Kenya to move ahead with paying $300m (£245m) of its Eurobond debt next month, months before the total $2bn debt is due.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News

The UN’s migration agency says around 700 people were killed in Sudan’s West Darfur region following clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The incident happened late last week in El Geneina where 300 more are reported missing.

A local human rights organisation estimates that as many as 1,300 were killed in West Darfur since last Friday and blames the RSF for the atrocities.

This comes as the RSF appears to be gaining momentum in the region.

Witnesses accuse the paramilitary group and its allies of targeting non-Arabs in the areas it has captured.

The Roots Organization for Human Rights and Violations Monitoring, a group advocating for rights in West Darfur, accuses the RSF of raiding displacement camps and launching attacks.

The RSF had previously denied similar accusations.

According to relief agencies thousands have fled to neighbouring Chad in recent days.

More than five and a half million are estimated to have been pushed out of their homes since violence between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces broke out in April.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service Newsroom

The head of Madagascar's lower house of parliament has called for the suspension of next week's presidential elections, following weeks of opposition protests.

Christine Razanamahasoa, who leads a mediation group to try to resolve the political crisis, said the current climate in the country did not allow for a free and credible vote to be held as scheduled on 16 November.

She said the poll should be delayed to ensure what she called peace and harmony in the country.

Madagascar has been paralysed by a power struggle between the incumbent Andry Rajoelina and the former President, Marc Ravalomanana.

Image source, University of Pretoria

University of Pretoria law professor Dire Tladi has made history by becoming the first South African elected as a judge at the UN International Court of Justice.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday hailed Prof Tladi’s election as “an outstanding personal achievement in which the nation shares with great pride”.

He is one of five judges who were elected on Thursday by the UN's General Assembly and the Security Council for nine-year terms, beginning February next year.

ICJ is the UN's main judicial body, providing legal advice to UN agencies and settling legal disputes between countries.

To be elected, candidates must secure an absolute majority in both the General Assembly and Security Council.

Three other African candidates from Zambia, Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo were not selected for the position.

Image source, Reuters

Intense fighting reportedly continues in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, and in the western region of Darfur, where hundreds are said to have been killed in the ongoing clashes.

Witnesses told the AFP news agency that bodies littered the streets of Omdurman city on Thursday in the latest escalation of violence between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

“The bodies of people in military uniforms are lying in the streets of the city centre after the fighting yesterday,” a witness was quoted as saying.

In the west of the country, about 700 people have reportedly been killed in West Darfur clashes, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement quoted by the Reuters news agency.

Over 300 others are reported missing following the fighting in El Geneina, the West Darfur capital, the statement added.

Witnesses have accused the RSF of targeting and killing non-Arabs in the clashes.

The US embassy in Khartoum said it was “deeply disturbed by eyewitness reports of serious human rights abuses by the RSF and affiliated militias”.

But the RSF says it is not involved in what it describes as a "tribal conflict".

Thousands of people have crossed into Chad in the past few days fleeing the flare up.

Nearly six million people have been forced from their homes since the war began in mid-April.

Image source, AFP

Prosecutors in Burundi are seeking life imprisonment for former Prime Minister Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni, who is on trial for seven charges, including using witchcraft to threaten the president’s life.

Mr Bunyoni’s trial started in September, a year after he was fired by President Evariste Ndayishimiye over suspicions that Mr Bunyoni was plotting a "coup" against him.

Mr Bunyoni is also accused of undermining national security, subverting government institutions, destabilising the economy and enriching himself through illegal means.

Mr Bunyoni pleaded not guilty to all charges and asked to be acquitted, citing a lack of tangible evidence against him.

Prosecutor Jean-Bosco Bucumi also called for Mr Bunyoni to pay "damages equivalent to twice the value of the 153 houses and plots of land and the 43 vehicles belonging to him", in addition to a fine of 7.1m Burundian francs ($2,400; £2,000), AFP news agency reported.

The prosecution also requested 30-year sentences for the six co-accused, who include a police colonel and a senior intelligence agent.

Image source, Villa Somalia

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has undergone successful shoulder surgery in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the presidency says.

Mr Mohamud is recovering well from the "minor" medical operation, his office said on Thursday. It did not give further details about what happened to his shoulder.

The president stayed in Abu Dhabi for a few days, where he also met top Emirati officials, state-owned Somali National News Agency (Sonna) reports.

He later travelled to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to attend the Saudi-Africa summit.

Since his re-election last year, Mr Mohamud has travelled to several countries, including Gulf nations, to seek support for his government’s offensive against al-Shabab.

Image source, AFP

A diphtheria outbreak has been declared at South Africa's Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison following the death of a 19-year-old inmate.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the male inmate, who contracted the disease last month, died on Sunday.

Eight more inmates, aged 18 to 23, are in isolation after testing positive for the disease.

Two staff members who displayed symptoms are awaiting their results, Dr Phaahla added.

He said that a vaccination drive in the affected section of the prison is under way.

Diphtheria is a vaccine-preventable but highly contagious bacterial disease that affects the nose and throat and also causes skin ulcers.

It is spread by coughs and sneezes or through close contact with an infected person, and in serious cases can be fatal.

South Africa has recorded sporadic diphtheria cases since it started immunising against the disease in the 1950s, according to the country's National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

Nigeria is currently battling one of its worst diphtheria outbreaks, which has killed more than 600 people and infected over 14,000.

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The world through its media

Image source, Reuters

A major bridge in the south-western Somali town of Bardhere has collapsed following flooding caused by heavy rain that has been pounding the country for days.

The bridge was vital to the movement of people travelling between towns and villages in the Gedo region, state-owned Somali National News Agency (Sonna) reports.

Locals have expressed concerns about being isolated from their neighbourhoods. Authorities have dispatched two boats to rescue those affected.

Gedo is one of the regions in Somalia worst affected by devastating floods.

More than a dozen people have been killed by the floods across the country, while thousands have either been displaced or isolated.

Somalia is experiencing heavier than normal rains after emerging from one of its worst droughts in four decades.

Heavy downpours have affected parts of East Africa over the last few weeks.

Image source, EPA

South African opposition leader Julius Malema has criticised Kenya's President William Ruto for failing to fulfil the promises he made to Kenyans when he ran for office last year.

Speaking on Thursday at the launch of the Pan African Institute in Kenya, Mr Malema accused President Ruto of backtracking on his commitment to lead in getting rid of the US dollar as a means of trade in Africa, highlighting a contradiction between the president’s words and actions.

“I don’t know if President William Ruto means it because he said so many things and I cannot locate him these days because the things he said during elections and the things he is doing now are two different things,” he said.

Mr Ruto’s administration has faced mounting criticism over the worsening cost of living despite the fact that the president won elections last year with a promise to ease the financial difficulties of families. He also sold himself as being on the side of the "hustler", who scrapes by to make a living.

The president has, however, defended his unpopular economic policies, saying he was cutting public debt.

Mr Malema, who is the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party leader - the third largest party in South Africa's parliament - also condemned President Ruto for warmly welcoming King Charles III and Queen Camilla during their recent visit to Kenya.

He said the King "showed no remorse" for the atrocities committed during the British colonial era in Kenya.

During the visit, King Charles expressed regret for the colonial abuses in Kenya but did not deliver a formal apology.

Mr Malema accused President Ruto of failing to follow the “true cause of the African freedom fighters who were killed and tortured by the colonialists”.

He also hit out at the Kenyan leader for supporting Israel in the Gaza conflict.

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Haya Sabra said her cardiologist dad from Swansea had been consigned to a "death trap" by failings.

The 44% fall in the kwacha's value will make imports dearer but some argue it was long overdue.

The famous tree dates back to 17th Century Ghana and was reportedly planted by a renowned priest.

African football's governing body recommits to its partnership with beIN Sports just two months after cancelling a broadcast deal.

The overnight introduction of a charge for national ID cards amid a cost-of living crisis led to an outcry.

Mayor Ian Makone faces the sack in a wrangle that has already seen the ousting of 15 MPs.