Azeezat Olaoluwa
BBC News

Image source, Reuters

Residents of Guinea’s capital Conakry are facing rising fuel prices after a fatal explosion in the West African nation's main oil depot.

The blast rocked the downtown Kaloum district on Monday, killing at least 18 people, injuring more than 200 and displacing dozens. Several buildings were also damaged.

In the wake of the explosion, authorities closed petrol stations, disrupting fuel supplies across the country.

Officials say 13 fuel storage tanks in the capital are out of service, while five tanks remain unaffected. This has resulted in the black market price of petrol jumping to at least $3.50 (£2.80) per litre from the usual price of $1.40 (£1.10).

For Guineans, this means filling up cars and paying for public transport has becoming an expensive endeavour.

Authorities warn Guineans to brace for power cuts while they investigate the cause of the devastating blast.

Rescue teams have been sent by foreign insitutions, as well as West African countries like Senegal and Mali, to support the injured and displaced.

One Conakry resident tells BBC News the country is struggling to make sense of the disaster.

"I saw a one-year-old girl who suffered severe burns and she later died. Her burns were so bad that I had to look away," the resident says.

"I had tears in my eyes when I saw her. I also saw a mother who had brought her injured children."

Guinea relies on imported petroleum products, most of which were distributed from the oil depot before it was destroyed.

As we have been reporting, polls in DR Congo have opened and voters are currently choosing which of the 19 presidential candidates will lead the troubled country for the next five years.

Here's a look at the men who've helmed DR Congo's complex journey from independence to modern day:

Russell Cook, from West Sussex, runs 110.12km (68.4 miles) through Ivory Coast in a single day.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will "immediately" withdraw all its international employees from Ethiopia following an assault on its workers by government security forces, the institution says.

Last month, AfDB filed a formal complaint with Ethiopia's authorities. AfDB detailed the physical assault and hours-long detention of two of its employees in a "very serious diplomatic incident".

The incident happened on 31 October, according to the complaint.

Ethiopian state finance minister Eyob Tekalign says his government regrets the incident.

Headquartered in the Ivory Coast, AfDB is one of the largest development institutions in Africa. It provides financing to governments and private companies which invest in the continent.

The AfDB's portfolio in Ethiopia comprises 22 projects worth $1.2bn (£980m), the bank says.

Ethiopian government officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

Morocco, the continent's top-ranked side, are aiming to win the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 1976.

Image source, Reuters

Martin Fayulu, one of the leading opposition candidates in the Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential election, has cast his vote in the capital, Kinshasa.

He says the voting is only going well in Kinshasa but "it's chaos" in DR Congo's vast rural areas.

"I have my people going around the country and nothing is ready," Mr Fayulu says shortly after voting in Gombe region.

The leader of the Commitment for Citizenship and Development party (ECiDé) threatens to reject the election if civilians are unable to cast their vote.

Mr Fayulu, who was runner-up in the last election, says he remains confident that he will win the presidential race.

Read more on Mr Fayulu here:

• Martin Fayulu: The DR Congo election candidate who refuses to give up

Image source, Reuters

Nearly 300 firefighters and three helicopters are battling a wildfire that broke out on Tuesday on a mountain overlooking Simon’s Town, about 40km (24 miles) south of Cape Town, South Africa.

The town hosts the country's main and largest naval base.

The fire started on Tuesday morning and was spread by winds overnight, local media say.

"Only a single derelict building was damaged last night at around 8pm on the grounds of the SA Navy," Cape Town's emergency services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse was quoted as saying by IOL news website.

Several homes in the town's Harbour Heights neighbourhood were evacuated minutes after midnight on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, Mr Carelse told the Eyewitness news site.

Five firefighters have been injured in the operation and two taken to hospital.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Yet another round of talks over a controversial mega dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile River has ended unsuccesfully.

The meeting, held in Ethiopian capital city Addis Ababa for two days, brought together representatives from Ethiopia and two downstream countries - Egypt and Sudan.

Egypt and Sudan have long expressed concerns that the dam could threaten their essential water supplies.

Speaking on the failure of the latest talks, Egypt accused Ethiopia of a “persistent refusal” to accept compromises on technical and legal issues.

Cairo also insisted that it reserves the rights “to defend its water and national security” in accordance with international laws.

A statement by Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said Egypt “maintained a colonial-era mentality and erected roadblocks against efforts towards convergence.”

The $4.6bn (£3.6bn) Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) could be one Africa’s largest hydroelectric plants if completed, with a capacity to generate 5000 megawatts of electricity. Addis Ababa hopes the dam will assist in its drive to provide power for millions of households.

Construction of the GERD began in 2011 and multiple negotiations since have failed to produce a binding agreement.

In July Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pledged to finalise a deal.

Subsequently four rounds of talks were held in Cairo and in Addis Ababa - none of them brought an agreement.

The dam is nearing completion and Ethiopia started generating electricity last year but it’s not fully operational.

Image source, AFP

More than 2,000 South African workers remain underground for a third day of sit-in protest at a mine in Rustenburg, about 100km (60 miles) north-west of Johannesburg.

A local union official has, however, told the BBC's Newsday programme that some of the workers underground are being held hostage by their colleagues.

"For some time we thought this is just a sit-in but as developments came out, those that are able to leave underground tell us that workers underground are held against their will, so it is actually a hostage situation," Geoffrey Moatshe, the regional secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers told Newsday on Wednesday.

The protest began on Monday morning and has been labelled illegal as it was not sanctioned by the National Union of Mineworkers

It is reportedly fuelled by disputes over a profit-sharing scheme and the release of workers' pension funds .

Implats, the company that recently acquired the Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine, where the protest is under way, says that 167 workers had safely re-emerged while 2,038 others remained underground by Tuesday.

Gunmen have kidnapped a Nigerian high court judge and killed her guard in southern Akwa Ibom state, police say.

Justice Joy Uwanna is said to have been abducted on her way back from a court sitting on Monday night, along Uyo-Okoboin in Oron town.

The gunmen reportedly opened fire and shot a policeman protecting the judge before whisking Justice Uwanna and her driver away.

A police spokesperson in Akwa Ibom state Odiko Macdon said the incident was "unfortunate", adding that security forces were now investigating the matter.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but abductions for ransom by criminal gangs are frequent in some parts of Nigeria.

Image source, Reuters

Liberia has reversed its vote against a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza following a directive by President George Weah.

"The Liberian Foreign Ministry has therefore ensured the reversal of the negative vote through the appropriate channels at the UNGA [United Nations General Assembly] and registered a new vote in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza," the information ministry said on Tuesday.

The diplomats who voted against the ceasefire lacked President Weah's approval, the ministry added.

The ministry said that President Weah "has always stood on the side of peace" and that he had made "a passionate appeal" "for the exercise of restraint and consideration for civilians who are the real victims of the ongoing crisis" in a letter he sent to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month.

Liberia was the only African nation among the 10 countries that voted against a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza during the vote held on 12 December.

Mr Weah is due to step down as president after losing a re-election bid last month.

Image source, AFP

The UN Security Council has voted for the gradual withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping force from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The council has extended the mandate of Monusco for a year, while agreeing to the force's withdrawal in three phases.

The force had been deployed in 2010 to restore security in eastern DR Congo, where several armed groups are engaged in conflict and have killed and displaced about seven million civilians.

"The drawdown will start by the end of 2023 amid the election cycle. The force will be withdrawn from South Kivu by the end of April 2024 and the mandate’s implementation will be limited to provinces from May 2024," the UN Security Council said in a statement on Tuesday.

It added that it plans to significantly scale down the size of its force from 1 July next year.

DR Congo had earlier asked the council to withdraw the force by the end of the year, citing its ineffectiveness at quelling violence and protecting civilians even after two decades in the country.

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have pledged that internet access will not be cut off at any point during Wednesday's elections.

The announcement comes as social media users express fear of both blackouts and vote rigging.

"No, we will not be cutting off the internet because we are not in a situation of war or popular uprising," Minister of Interior Peter Kazadi said during a press conference on Tuesday.

He further warned that any people planning to disrupt the electoral process would be arrested.

Meanwhile, aviation authorities announced the closure of land and sea borders for 24 hours in preparation for Wednesday's general election.

According to the General Directorate of Migration, the borders will be closed from Wednesday morning until 11:59 pm local time the same day.

The airspace will also be closed to unauthorised local flights, but international flights will continue as normal, the directorate said in a statement.

More than 40 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots on Wednesday to elect a president from among 19 candidates, including incumbent Felix Tshisekedi.

Voters are also electing lawmakers and representatives in the municipal elections.

Polls have opened in the highly-anticipated Democratic Republic of Congo's general elections.

Dozens of enthusiastic voters lined up at polling stations long before voting was opened.

Voting started at 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT) in the eastern part of the country and at 05:00 GMT in western region, which is one hour behind.

The start of voting has, however, experienced delays in some polling stations amid challenges setting up voting machines.

The electoral body CENI had earlier assured the public that all registered voters will have a chance to vote, but concerns linger as insecurity and logistical challenges have hindered the delivery of voting materials to parts of the country.

The 44 million registered voters have until 17:00 local time to cast their votes.

More than 13,000 Congolese nationals in South Africa, France, United States, Canada and Belgium - DR Congo's former colonial power - are also expected to vote, in a first for the country.

Read longer articles on DR Congo's elections here:

• Polls open in DR Congo as insecurity fears persist
• What you need to know about the DR Congo election
• Why TikTokers are quitting vapes over DR Congo

Image source, AFP

A former Rwandan doctor has been jailed for 24 years by a French court for his involvement in the 1994 genocide.

Sosthene Munyemana was on Wednesday found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and participation in a conspiracy to prepare these crimes.

The 68-year-old former gynaecologist was accused of helping draft a letter for the interim government that supervised the killings of Tutsis.

He was also accused of participating in meetings that organised round-ups of Tutsi civilians in the southern Rwandan prefecture of Butare, where he lived at the time.

Mr Munyemana, who moved to France months after the genocide ended, denied any wrongdoing and his lawyers said they planned to appeal the verdict.

The public prosecutor had sought a jail sentence of 30 years during the six-week-long trial at the Assize Court in Paris.

Elsewhere, a court in Brussels on Tuesday found two other Rwandans guilty of genocide and war crimes committed in their native country.

Séraphin Twahirwa and Pierre Basabosé were found to have committed multiple murders and attempted murders of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Kigali between April and July 1994.

Their sentencing is set for Thursday.

Image source, BBC News

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Tax hikes have led to many Kenyans saying their president is a greedy tax collector like Zacchaeus.

Will Shaun relax his hips and rumba his way to Kinshasa? Comedian and Strictly star Eddie Kadi pulls out all the stops to tempt Shaun to his hometown, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Shaun loves the sound of Congolese music and elegantly-dressed sapeurs, but he’s also feeling trepidatious. Resident geographer, historian and comedian Iszi Lawrence helps him mull it over.

Your Place Or Mine is the travel series that isn’t going anywhere. Join Shaun as his guests try to convince him that it’s worth getting up off the sofa and seeing the world, giving us a personal guide to their favourite place on the planet.

Producers: Beth O’Dea and Sarah Goodman.

Your Place or Mine is a BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

Manchester United's Andre Onana has a career decision to make over joining Cameroon at the Africa Cup of Nations, says Eric Djemba-Djemba.

The army acknowledges that it has lost control of Wad Madani, which had become a hub for aid groups.