Live Reporting

  1. Destruction as floods wreak havoc in Tanzania

    Alfred Lasteck
    BBC News, Dar es Salaam

    A swollen river after two days of heavy rains and floods in Dar es Salaam and other parts of Tanzania between 20 and 21 January 2024Tanzania Meteorological Agency/X

    President Samia Suluhu Hassan has asked citizens to take precautions

    Floods have damaged houses and roads and killed an unspecified number of people after heavy rains pounded Tanzania's commercial capital of Dar es Salaam for two days.

    Some houses near rivers collapsed and some roads and bridges were destroyed, making it difficult to navigate through the city.

    The main Bagamoyo road that joins the city to the northern regions was inaccessible on Sunday after a downpour flooded the area.

    Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Sunday asked citizens to take precautions by avoiding affected areas. She also called on the rescue authorities to make sure that the rains do not cause deaths.

    The Tanzania Meteorological Agency has warned of heavy rains for the rest of this month.

  2. Cameroon rolls out world's first malaria vaccine

    Paul Njie
    BBC News, Yaoundé

    A nurse fills a syringe with malaria vaccine before administering it to an infant at the Lumumba Sub-County hospital in Kisumu, Kenya, July 1, 2022.Reuters

    More than two million children have been jabbed in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi in a pilot phase

    Cameroon is rolling out the world's first routine vaccine programme against malaria, in a global fight projected to save thousands of children's lives across Africa.

    The World Health Organization (WHO)-approved RTS,S vaccine, developed by British drugmaker GSK, is targeting infants in Cameroon's 42 worst-affected districts.

    The central African country will be the first country to administer doses through a routine immunisation programme, following successful pilot campaigns in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi.

    The rollout, due to start on Monday, was described by health officials as a milestone in the decades-long effort to curb malaria in the continent.

    Twenty other countries aim to roll out the programme this year, according to global vaccine alliance Gavi.

    The four-dose vaccine is only about 30% effective and protection begins to fade after several months.

    GSK said it can only produce about 15 million doses a year.

  3. Navy Seals missing off Somalia's coast are dead - US navy

    In this handout from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps approach the Magellan Star during a boarding and seizure operation to retake the motor vehicle after it was attacked and boarded by pirates September 9, 2010 in the Gulf of Aden.Getty Images

    The US navy is now trying to recover the officers' bodies (file photo)

    The US navy has ended a 10-day search and rescue operation for two members of the elite Seals navy force who vanished off Somalia's coast on the night of 11 January.

    The Seals disappeared as they attempted to intercept a dhow that was carrying weapons.

    One of the Seals fell into the rough night-time waters while boarding the dhow, prompting the second Seal to jump in for a rescue attempt.

    Neither of them resurfaced.

    "We regret to announce that after a 10-day exhaustive search, our two missing US Navy Seals have not been located and their status has been changed to deceased," the US Central Command said on Sunday, adding that it was "now conducting recovery operations".

    Japanese and Spanish forces had aided in the search, using ships and aircraft to comb more than 21,000 square miles (54,380 square km) in the Gulf of Aden.

    The Seals were part of a naval unit that has been intercepting weapons and other illegal shipments in the region, unrelated to the ongoing operation to protect vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen's Houthis rebel group.

  4. Nigeria's Lagos state bans single-use plastics

    Makuochi Okafor
    BBC Africa health reporter

    View of Idi-Araba abattoir canal, in Lagos, Nigeria, on 21 August 2019 filled with dumps of used foams, empty food containers, float and block drainages following heavy rainy seasons.Getty Images

    Plastic waste is a major source of pollution in Lagos, especially in the state's low-income settlements

    Nigeria's Lagos state says it'll immediately start implementing a ban on Styrofoam and other single-use plastics.

    Lagos's environment commissioner Tokunbo Wahab said non-biodegradable plastics were a major pollution problem, and were clogging drains.

    State officials say they'll use a dormant 2009 law to fine or jail culprits.

    Lagos is one of Africa's most populous cities.

    International experts estimate Nigeria generates 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually.

  5. Kenya not at war with neighbours - minister

    BBC World Service

    Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary of Kenya, gives a speech at a State Banquet hosted by President Ruto at State House, along with distinguished guests from Kenya and the United Kingdom on October 31, 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya.Reuters

    Foreign Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi says Kenya is championing peace in the region

    Kenya's Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi has denied reports of deteriorating relations between his country and its neighbours, despite a number of recent disputes which he insisted were being resolved diplomatically.

    Kenya has a pending oil distribution case with Uganda and only last week settled an air travel dispute with Tanzania.

    Earlier this month, Sudan recalled its envoy after Nairobi hosted the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces Mohamed Dagalo, who is engaged in a civil war with the Sudanese army.

    In December, the Democratic Republic of Congo also recalled its ambassador in Nairobi after a new coalition of Congolese rebels was formed in the Kenyan capital.

    In a speech on Sunday though, Mr Mudavadi insisted that Kenya was on the frontline in championing peace in the region.

    "My brothers in the media, Kenya is not at war with any of its neighbours," he added.