Africa highlights: Deadly Biafra clashes, Kenya and Egypt in 'slave slur' row

BBCCopyright: BBC

At least 15 northern Nigerian businessmen were reportedly killed in the south-eastern city of Onitsha yesterday, as protests by a secessionist movement turned violent, leading business representative Alhaji AbdulHamid Mohammed has said. 

However, members of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) denied it killed the businessmen. 

It accused the police of shooting dead 30 of its members and wounding 40 others (see previous entries). 

Police confirmed the deaths of 10 protesters and two police officers in the clashes in Anambra state yesterday. 

The protesters were marking the anniversary of the 1967 declaration of the breakaway republic of Biafra.  

Uganda promised to halt military cooperation with old ally North Korea on Monday after a visit to the capital, Kampala, by the South Korean president this weekend. 

Uganda had been one of North Korea’s closest allies in Africa – largely as a way for President Yoweri Museveni to show his independence from the West.

Mr Musveni’s foreign minister says that while Uganda is cutting military ties with North Korea - following the visit by the South Korean president - diplomatic relations will remain in place.

Economic opportunities with South Korea are considered more lucrative but many African nations also see benefits in terms of agriculture, technology and construction in maintaining strong ties with both Koreas.

North Korean company Mansudae Overseas Projects has worked on several projects, including monuments like the African Renaissance Monument in Dakar, Senegal and Namibia’s presidential palace.

Earlier this year, a panel of UN experts criticised some African nations for not fully implemented UN sanctions against Pyongyang and said Mansudae was linked to North Korea's main arms dealer.

Niger is a country with one of the highest number of child brides in the world. 

Three out of every four girls there are married before the age of 18.

More than a third are already married by the age of 15 and face serious health problems as a result of giving birth at too young an age.

Newsday's Julian Keane visited a clinic in central Niamey in the Nigerien capital to find out more.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Egypt will send a "sharply worded" memo to the Council of African Ambassadors in Kenya to protest against accusations that one of its diplomats called sub-Saharan Africans "slaves and dogs", its foreign ministry has said in a statement, the Associated Press news agency reports. 

Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri had ordered an investigation into the allegation made by Kenyan diplomat Yvonne Khamati, but information already available showed that such language was not used, the statement added.

Ms Kimathi said the diplomat, whom she did not name, made the comment at the end of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, last week.

AFP quotes the Egyptian foreign ministry statement as adding:

Quote Message: It is unacceptable to fall into the trap of generalization and direct flimsy accusations against the state of Egypt, its people and its African identity as well as its ability to assume its responsibilities in championing African interests.''

It is unacceptable to fall into the trap of generalization and direct flimsy accusations against the state of Egypt, its people and its African identity as well as its ability to assume its responsibilities in championing African interests.''

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Former South Africa bowler Makhaya Ntini has been named as a shock choice to lead the Zimbabwe national team. 

In a statement, Zimbawe Cricket said:

Quote Message: Head coach Davenell Whatmore has had his contract terminated with immediate effect. Bowling coach Makhaya Ntini has taken over in an acting capacity until the appointment of a substantive head coach."

Head coach Davenell Whatmore has had his contract terminated with immediate effect. Bowling coach Makhaya Ntini has taken over in an acting capacity until the appointment of a substantive head coach."

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African students in Delhi have called off a protest against a spate of allegedly racist attacks on them in India.

The decision came after student leaders met police and foreign ministry officials, who assured them that steps would be taken to guarantee their safety.

In a statement, the students said that African diplomats had also urged them to "take the path of diplomacy and hold the Indian government to their words". 

In two high-profile attacks this month, a student from the Democratic Republic of Congo was beaten to death by a group of Indian men after an argument in Delhi and a Nigerian was allegedly assaulted with an iron rod in southern Hyderabad city. 

AFPCopyright: AFP

The head of the independence movement in Western Sahara, Mohamed Abdelaziz, has died after a long battle with cancer, the Polisario Front has said in a statement. 

He died in hospital in Algeria. 

The movement has declared a 40-day mourning period, following which a new leader will be chosen, the statement added. 

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Ivory Coast's former first lady Simone Gbagbo was part of a small group of officials from the ruling Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party that organised violence against political opponents, according to the indictment against her, AFP news agency reports.

The aim of the alleged violence was to stop Presdient Alassane Ouattara, then the opposition leader, from taking power after his election win in December 2010.

The indictment, read out by prosecutors at the start of the ex-first lady's crimes against humanity trial in the main city, Abdidjan, added:  

Quote Message: The FPI put in place a crisis cell in January 2011 that met at the presidential residence and constituted the organ charged with planning and organising the repression."

The FPI put in place a crisis cell in January 2011 that met at the presidential residence and constituted the organ charged with planning and organising the repression."

Simone Gbagbo did not immediately enter a plea. However, the indictment said she rejected the charges. 

The names of witnesses were read out in court, at which point she turned in her seat and scanned the public gallery, AFP adds. 

Angolan artist Daniela Ribeiro mixes art and technology in her latest collection at the Gallery of African Art in London to explore her fears about artificial intelligence.

Many of her pieces make use of recycled technological waste like mobile phones and computer parts, epoxy resins, vinyl and PVC.

Ribeiro, who has lived in both Angola and Paris, says she uses her artwork to explores the relationships between the past and present.

Her current exhibition is "an African message for the world, we can't live without humanism, without love", she says.

Kenya's Interior Minister Joseph Nkaisserry says the Daadab refugee camp will be closed by November. 

The Dadaab camp is home to more than 300,000 Somalis.  

He says the decision is final and they are working closely with the UN and the Somali government. 

Kenya has set aside $10M (£6.9m) for the repatriation and countries willing to support it can focus on preparing Somalia to host returnees. 

Mr Nkaisserry said the exercise will be carried out in a humane manner. 

He spoke to journalists after receiving a report from a task force he formed to advise him on the repatriation process.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Read more: Somalia president warns against Dadaab closure

A Kenyan diplomat has accused an Egyptian diplomat of calling sub-Saharan Africans "slaves and dogs" in Arabic, at the end of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Kenya last week.

Yvonne Khamati has demanded an apology from Egypt for the “undiplomatic, irresponsible, uncivilised and insulting behaviour” of the diplomat, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Egypt's ambassador to Kenya, Mahmoud Ali Talaat Mahmoud, defended the diplomat, telling Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper:

Quote Message: If there was any insulting, it is something we are investigating, but we should not take any decisions or anticipate anything without knowing it because I don’t think he said these things.

If there was any insulting, it is something we are investigating, but we should not take any decisions or anticipate anything without knowing it because I don’t think he said these things.

Ms Kimathi, in a memo sent to Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed and other officials, did not name the diplomat, but said he was the head of the Egyptian delegation and president of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment. 

She accused him of making the remark during discussions on Gaza, when he "dismissed our concerns" and said Egypt "would speak in their sovereign capacity and to that extent, referred to sub-Saharan Africa as dogs and slaves", Kenyan media has quoted the memo as saying.  

AFPCopyright: AFP

At least 10 pro-Biafra supporters were killed during protests on Monday as they marked the anniversary of the 1967 declaration of their breakaway republic, according to Nigerian police, AFP news agency reports.

A police spokesman in Anambra state told AFP that five bodies had been recovered in Onitsha town, adding to the five already confirmed dead from the violence in Asaba (see earlier entry), which lies just across the other side of the River Niger.

Two police officers were also killed in Asaba.

Police say that protesters from the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement opened fire on them first, forcing them to retaliate. 

IPOB denies this and says that least 35 members of the group were killed in Onitsha alone on Monday.

Read more: Should new Biafra protests worry Nigeria?

The Kenyan health ministry has contacted the BBC to clarify earlier reports that it had found traces of cocaine and other drugs in samples taken from shisha pipe products. 

It says the information from the tweet (see below) should not be directly attributed to the ministry, but to the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada), which is a government body. 

Earlier Nacada chairman John Mututho said 240 out of 300 shisha samples they collected were found to contain heroin, cocaine and nicotine.  

The high court in Kenya has given the opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) the go ahead to hold a Freedom Rally in the capital, Nairobi, tomorrow, overruling a ban imposed by the government, the local K24 television station has reported. 

It says police chief Joseph Boinnet has been ordered by the court to ensure there is enough security before and after the rally so that no violence takes place. 

Ivory Coast ex-first lady Simone Gbagbo is in court for her crimes against humanity trial - the first such case in the West African state. 

Several dozen of her supporters cheered when she arrived, while she waved and smiled at them, Reuters news agency reports.

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Prosecutors accuse her of being part of her husband Laurent Ggagbo's inner circle as they planned violence to cling to power following disputed elections in 2010. 

See our earlier posts for more details.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta is holding talks with opposition leader Raila Odinga in a bid to diffuse tensions ahead of elections next year. 

Mr Odinga cut short his attendance at a funeral in the south-western town of Natol to attend the meeting with Mr Kenyatta in the capital, Nairobi. 

"I just got a call from State House for a meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta. I request your permission as the people of Narok to go and talk to him," he was quoted by the Daily Nation newspaper as telling mourners.

"I will announce to Kenyans if we agree, and we if don’t, I will also let you know,” Mr Odinga added.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Mr Odinga's Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) has vowed to press ahead with a rally in Nairobi tomorrow, despite the fact that the government announced yesterday that it was banned. 

Several people have been killed in violent clashes this month between police and opposition supporters demanding electoral reforms.

Two men have been arrested in Japan for allegedly stealing money from ATM machines, AFP news agency reports, as investigations to crack a gang that used fake South African card details to defraud South Africa's Standard Bank of about $19m (£13m) continue.

The suspects, who were Japanese labourers, conspired to withdraw and steal $11,000 "by using [fake] credit cards" 12 times, a police spokesman told AFP. 

The men have not yet commented on the allegation. 

Last week, Standard Bank said it had been the victim of "a sophisticated, co-ordinated fraud incident" in Japan.

Cash was withdrawn in less than three hours from 14,000 convenience store cash machines across Japan, the Kyodo news agency reported.

The withdrawals targeted 7-Eleven cash machines which, unlike most in Japan, accept foreign cards.

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The plan to construct the world's largest hydroelectric power plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo has long been controversial.

The Inga Three dam, the first of three parts of the Grand Inga project, will span the Congo river.

Critics say it will displace thousands of people, cost an enormous amount of money and have serious consequences for the environment. 

Its backers say it will generate around a third of the future electricity of Africa and the continent desperately needs power.

So is it worth it? 

BBC Newsday's Nkem Ifejika has been speaking to Rudo Sanyango, Africa Programme Director with International Rivers, an NGO based in South Africa, which is against the project.

Kenya's health ministry has been raising the alarm over the popular past-time of smoking shisha, on World No Tobacco Day, which was set up by the World Health Organization to warn people about the harmful effects of tobacco smoking. 

In a tweet, the ministry says that it has found traces of cocaine and other drugs in four out of five samples it took from tobacco products people smoke using the water pipes:

Some people are not convinced by the findings: