Paul Njie
BBC News, Yaoundé

Image source, AFP

Some in Gabon have welcomed the junta’s announcement of a provisional two-year transitional period which should result in elections in 2025.

Louis Gaston Mayila, leader of Gabon’s opposition UPNR party, told the BBC that “the transition has truly been given its dimension”, adding that “I and many others are reassured by its progress”.

It followed worries and speculation about how long the military might seek to stay in power after overthrowing former President Ali Bongo in a coup.

Although members of the interim government cannot stand in the upcoming elections, the transitional charter does not bar Gen Oligui Nguema from doing so.

This remains an issue of concern. But some say he stands a chance of wooing the Gabonese people, if he addresses the key issues affecting their daily lives before the election period.

“If we have water in our homes, if roads are accessible at all seasons in Gabon, I don’t see the inconvenience in saying ‘since the military has shown what it’s capable of doing, let’s give them a chance at democracy’,” said Alima Minsa, a civil society activist.

An ex-gynaecologist from Rwanda goes on trial accused of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Yusuf Akinpelu
BBC News, Lagos

Image source, AFP

Workers have shut all of Lagos state's ports on the first day of nationwide strikes in Nigeria.

The call from the country's two biggest unions - the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) - is not yet being observed everywhere but disruptions are expected at hospitals, railway stations and schools.

Union members are demanding that salary arrears be paid, ghost workers be removed from the government payroll and for an inquiry into the recent assault of NLC President Joe Ajaero.

As of Monday afternoon, union members' actions have caused:

• Blackouts in parts of Nigeria as electricity union workers shut the grid - although the state power company denies this

• Train passengers to be stranded in oil-rich Delta state and the economic hub Lagos

• Pupils and teachers to be sent home from state primary and secondary schools - but some secondary schools in Ogun state have stayed open.

Some other unions are expected to join from Tuesday.

The government has described the strike action as illegal and “not in national interest”.

There is expected to be a meeting between the union and government representatives.

Moses Kollie Garzeawu
Journalist, Monrovia

Voting is proving fast paced in Liberia's presidential run-off, meaning the queues at polling stations are not long here in the capital, Monrovia.

Voters are choosing between George Weah, who is trying to secure a second term in office, and former Vice-President Joseph Boakai.

Earlier in the morning there were long lines, but now people can walk in easily to cast their ballots.

A electoral official told the BBC that more than 50% of expected voters at his polling station had voted within the first three hours of the polls opening.

Isaac Doe, a senior party official of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), told the BBC: "These elections have elevated our democratic credentials with Liberians smoothly exercising their democratic franchise.”

Jonathan Wehyee, a single-legged amputee who blamed overcrowding and disorder for not being unable to vote in the first round, said he was delighted to cast his ballot.

“Today was so good and peaceful. Today I was able to vote but the last time I was unable to because there was no space for most of the disabled people," he told the BBC.

Around 2.4 million Liberians are voting in what is expected to be a tight contest.

The two candidates were separated by barely 7,000 votes in the first round last month.

Bandy Kiki received threats after she came out as a young lesbian woman from Cameroon.

South Africa legend Allan Donald reveals his years of hurt and torment after his role in the "epic movie" which was the 1999 World Cup semi-final.

The Malian armed forces have entered the northern town of Kidal, which has been in the control of rebel forces.

This happened after inflicting heavy losses and carrying out a raid, according to Mali's army.

Tuareg-dominated rebel groups have long controlled much of the north from Kidal, which is reported to pose a major sovereignty issue for the junta-led government.

The West African country's junta leader and interim President, Assimi Goïta said on X, external, formerly known as Twitter: "Today, our armed and security forces have taken over Kidal. Our mission is not complete."

The army and the state have been absent from Kidal for years until now.

Last month, the ethnic Tuareg rebels seized a base vacated by the departing UN peacekeeping mission.

Then Mali's army headed north to take it back.

The move marks a notable symbolic success for Mali's junta, which seized power in a coup in 2020.

Gem O'Reilly
BBC News

Image source, Reuters

Flooding in Somalia has left residents without homes and food shortages.

Around 1.6 million people in Somalia are thought to be affected by the heavy seasonal downpours.

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs says the flooding has been worsened by the El Niño effect, which is causing changes in weather patterns around the world.

Somalia's President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, said: "The people have been displaced, homes and properties destroyed, the people are hungry, and that is our problem right now, that is what we are focusing on."

The president also expressed concern about the added risk of outbreaks of diseases such as malaria and cholera.

The UN has described the floods in East Africa as "a once-in-a-century event".

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

A former gynaecologist from Rwanda has gone on trial in France on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

In 1995 - a year after the Rwandan genocide - a complaint was filed against Sosthene Munyemana in the city of Bordeaux.

It took French prosecutors 28 years to bring the case to trial.

Mr Munyemana, who has lived in France since 1994, is accused of organising torture and killings.

He was a 29-year-old gynaecologist living in the south of Rwanda at the time of the genocide.

The key to an office in a place called Tumba will strongly feature during his trial in the French capital, Paris.

Mr Munyemana, who admits he had the key, says people from the Tutsi population sought refuge in the office.

The defence lawyer argues he worked to prevent the genocide.

But prosecutors say he locked them inside in inhumane conditions before they were taken away to be killed.

One thing that both sides agree on is that it is unacceptable that it has taken so many years for this case to come to court.

Mr Munyemana, who denies the charges, faces life in prison if convicted.

Image source, Reuters

The Google navigation apps Waze and Google Maps will stop directing road users through Cape Town's Nyanga township and surrounding areas amid rising insecurity, the company's South Africa head Alistair Mokoena said on Monday.

Last week, a US tourist was robbed and shot in the face in Nyanga after a navigation app directed him to drive through the township as it offered the most direct route to the city from the Cape Town International Airport.

In September, 40-year-old British surgeon Kar Hao Teoh was shot dead in the same township during a protest by taxi operators.

Local media say a few other people, mostly tourists, have been attacked or killed while driving through the township, some following the recommendations of navigation apps.

After Mr Teoh's killing, the UK government warned citizens visiting South Africa to "be careful when following GPS navigation" and "avoid taking alternative routes away from main roads as this can often take you into less secure areas".

It added that "most violent crimes occur in townships on the outskirts of major cities or in isolated areas".

Just 7,100 votes separated incumbent George Weah and challenger Joseph Boakai in the first round.

Yusuf Akinpelu
BBC News

Image source, EPA

Madagascar’s Collectif de Dix opposition coalition of 10 parties has called on voters to boycott Thursday's presidential election amid worsening political tension.

Ten of the 13 presidential candidates registered for the election have been demanding an overhaul of the country’s highest court and the electoral commission before the polls take place.

They allege that incumbent President Andry Rajoelina, who is seeking re-election, is ineligible because of the French citizenship he acquired in 2014, an accusation he has dismissed.

The leader of the lower house of parliament, who is a member of the president's own party, has also called for the vote to be suspended as the conditions were not right.

Over the past six weeks, hundreds of opposition supporters have continued to hold banned marches in the capital, Antananarivo, which police have routinely dispersed using teargas.

They have also arrested some opposition supporters.

Image source, Reuters

Mr Rajoelina has urged the public to ignore boycott calls and to turn out in large numbers on Thursday.

He asked them to allow him to finish “the development work he begun during his first term”.

“The Malagasy people do not want any more destabilisation... we really don't want another crisis," he told thousands of supporters of his political party Young Malagasy People Ready, the Reuters news agency reported.

The EU and the US have expressed “deep concern” about the political tension ahead of the poll.

Constitutional Court head Florent Rakotoarisoa has appealed for calm and urged people to resolve their differences through the ballot box.

A candidate needs to take more than half the votes cast to be declared winner, otherwise there will be a second round on 20 December.

South African Police Service says it arrested three men accused of sexually abusing three children and a dog in an operation conducted with the aid of the US Department of Homeland Security last week.

“As a result of these operations, three South African children who were used during the commission of the above offences were identified and a dog was saved,” the police said in a statement, external on Tuesday.

The suspects include a 63-year-old British citizen who was in the country illegally.

Police say he will be charged with bestiality, child grooming and several counts related to child pornography, including manufacturing and distributing child pornography.

The second and third suspects, both 43-year-old South Africans, will also be charged on several counts of child pornography, police say.

The police added that the suspects appeared in court on Monday but their cases "were postponed for further investigation and bail applications".

Police say the operation to "unravel a network of child sexual predators" is still under way.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Kenya presidency/X

Sudanese military ruler Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has met Kenya's President William Ruto in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, after initially rejecting his mediation efforts to end the war in Sudan.

The Kenya presidency website, external said on Monday that "the two leaders held bilateral talks on the recent security situation in Sudan and the region. They also reviewed the state of ongoing peace initiatives, including the Jeddah and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) peace processes".

Talks between Sudan's army and rivals from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group resumed in the Saudi port city on 26 October but mediators - including the US, Saudi Arabia, Igad and African Union - failed to compel both sides to uphold a ceasefire.

Mr Ruto and Gen Burhan called for an acceleration of the “slow” Jeddah talks and a dialogue framework through Igad.

Gen Burhan previously rejected Kenyan-led mediation efforts after accusing Mr Ruto of backing the RSF, which has been at war with the Sudanese army since mid-April.

Meanwhile, the RSF has denied responsibility for the killings of hundreds of ethnic Masalit in West Darfur State after the group seized the army headquarters there earlier this month. The RSF blamed the Sudan army instead.

The RSF’s denial came on Monday after a local human rights organisation accused the group of killing at least 1,300 Masalit people and holding 500 others in the town of Ardamata near the state capital, El Geneina.

Image source, Mwango Capital/X

Kenya’s transport minister and airports authority have come under fire online following complaints about leaking roofs at the main airport in the capital, Nairobi.

Financial research firm Mwango Capital tweeted a video of rain dripping from the roof above a check-in area at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

“One of our team members experienced these unusual conditions at JKIA. Perhaps the management at Kenya Airports Authority views this as normal and acceptable," it posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.

“We thought it best to bring it to the public’s attention for action."

The post prompted more complaints about the poor state of the airport, which has been worsened by ongoing heavy rains.

It also faced criticism last weekend after its management announced that it took 20 minutes to restore power at the airport following a nationwide blackout that hit Kenya for a few hours on Saturday night.

Neither the airports authority nor the transport minister have commented on the complaints.

Last week, Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen promised to improve services at the airport, after separate complaints about passenger harassment by tax officers.

Yusuf Akinpelu
BBC News, Lagos

Image source, Getty Images

Nigeria's two biggest labour unions have asked their members to go on strike and stay at home from Tuesday as they embark on indefinite nationwide action.

This is despite a court order barring them from doing so.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) are protesting against the rising cost of living and a hike in fuel prices.

They have been pushing President Bola Tinubu to reverse the scrapping of the popular decades-old petrol subsidy that had kept fuel prices low, but which the government said was draining its finances. It said that the money saved would be used for social projects.

The unions want the government to increase the minimum monthly wage to at least $120 (£97) from about $36 some of its "anti-people" economic policies.

The strike would continue until “governments at all levels wake up to their responsibilities”, TUC President Festus Osifo said in a statement.

It comes days after an industrial court in the capital, Abuja, placed a restraining order theoretically preventing the unions from going on strike.

It is unclear how long the strike will last this time, but it is expected to affect major services at hospitals, railway stations and schools in Africa’s biggest economy.

The unions have threatened to go on strike at least three times since President Tinubu came to office in May.

They suspended a strike last month pending discussions with the government - following a meeting with the president on the first day of the strike.

But they say the government failed to meet their demands within a given one-month deadline.

Image source, AFP

Nigeria will withdraw police officers from VIP security duties in line with a presidential directive, a minister has said.

State Minister of Police Affairs Hajia Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim said the police force was currently struggling following decades of neglect that had hampered its ability to fulfil its constitutional mandate.

She said in order to realise the president’s vision of a renewed, highly effective force, the police would have to evolve its operations.

She told the police to champion a review of its training institutions “to ensure they are reflective of the evolving landscape of law enforcement, incorporating contemporary practices and international standards”.

She spoke, external during a two-day retreat with the police cadres in the capital, Abuja.

She said the ministry had key mandates of “developing and implementing a harmonised police reform report and amending the police act, as well as executing the president’s directive on the withdrawal of police personnel from VIP security duties and developing a community policing strategy”.

She said the mandates were “transformative initiatives” aimed at enhancing internal security in Nigeria.

Africa's road to the 2026 Fifa World Cup begins on 15 November, with nine countries now guaranteed places at the finals.

Image source, Road Angels Traffic Information/X

A sudden and intense hailstorm struck several parts of South Africa's city of Johannesburg on Monday evening, blocking highways and damaging gardens, vehicles, car parks, buildings, roads and other property.

South African online newspaper TimesLIVE reported that the hailstones were “as big as golf balls”.

Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi told eNCA TV channel that flash floods from the storm had hit some parts of the city, but no injuries or fatalities had been recorded.

The authorities had provided emergency services to affected families and would remain on high alert to respond to any reported incidents, he added.

Forecaster Jacqueline Modika from the South African Weather Service told News 24 that the storm was likely to spill over into Tuesday, but with reduced intensity.

Nicolas Négoce
BBC News

Image source, AFP

The authorities in Mauritania say the bodies of 16 people thought to be migrants have been found on the country's northern coast.

The discovery on the beaches of Lagouera comes a week after 13 corpses were found in boats in the same area, near the city of Nouadhibou.

This latest incident appears to have happened after their boat hit some rocks.

Recently there has been a sharp increase in the number of people setting off from neighbouring Senegal in a bid to reach Spain's Canary Islands.

Since January more than 23,000 people have arrived there by boat.