Africa highlights: Kenya lawyer 'strangled to death', Ebola sentencing over stolen funds

A Nigerian militant group says it has blown up an oil well and pipelines in the south east of the country. 

The group, the Niger Delta Avengers, said it carried out the attack on the Chevron installations close to the city of Warri in the Niger Delta.

This is the latest in a spate of attacks claimed by the militant group in recent days. 

Little is known about the Niger Delta Avengers, but it says it  wants a greater share of the country’s oil wealth to go to the impoverished Niger Delta region, which is the source of most of the country’s crude. 

The militants’ attacks have hit Nigeria’s oil industry hard, with production falling to its lowest rate in 30 years. 

Many believe the violence is being fuelled by poverty in the region and a government decision to wind up an amnesty programme for former militants.

Deng Adut was raised in Sudan during the civil war.

By the time he was 11 years old, he had been shot, blown up, and was near to dying from starvation.

Today, after being given the opportunity to rebuild his life, he has become a lawyer in Australia.

Adut still has vivid memories of his traumatic childhood.

See his story here:

Zimbabwe's public service and labour minister has told the BBC that the government understands the difficulty facing those who have not been paid.

Civil servants, teachers and medical staff have all stopped work over unpaid salaries.  See earlier post

Minister Supa Mandiwanzira said that all the workers deserved their salaries and should get those salaries on time. The problem, he added, had been a lack of resources available to make the payments.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

A leading member of South Africa's governing ANC has waded into the debate about whether the national broadcaster, the SABC, should show images of violent protests, the Reuters news agency is reporting.

In May, the SABC said it would no longer show them, a move criticised by opposition parties and journalists. 

It's been described as censorship.

Reuters quotes chief whip Jackson Mthembu saying: "When property is burnt, people of South Africa need to be shown those images, that is the ANC view. Because when you don't show those images, that amounts to censorship."

The ANC had backed the move in May.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Read: Is South Africa’s public broadcaster using apartheid tactics?

The Nigerian militant group the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have opened a new Twitter account a day after its original one was suspended.

On Monday, Twitter confirmed that suspension but did not specify exactly why it made the move.

A spokesperson told Reuters that company policy on the suspension of accounts does include a "specific rule pertaining to violent threats... you may not make threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism".

The NDA had used Twitter to announce attacks that it had made.

Its new account has one tweet so far saying: "Block this, another will spring up."

AFPCopyright: AFP

The UN's human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has warned that the security and human rights situation in the Central African Republic may be starting to deteriorate again.

This comes after a series a major incidents in the capital, Bangui, and in rural areas. 

He said there was an urgent need to disarm the armed groups who retain the potential to reignite the conflict. 

Tensions have been on the rise over the last few weeks, and a UN peacekeeper was killed in circumstances that remain unclear. 

AFPCopyright: AFP

Residents in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, have been sharing biblical jokes after being stuck in massive traffic jams caused by road closures that allowed easier movement of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

The South African writer and film-maker Lidudumalingani has won the 2016 Caine Prize for African writing, one of the most prestigious prizes for the continent's authors. 

His short story Memories We Lost, is about how two sisters living in a rural area cope with schizophrenia. 

He told BBC's Newsday programme "It was important to set [the story] around people who have some reluctance around the idea of going to see a doctor."

The judges praised the way the book looked at traditional beliefs. 

Listen to an extract from the story and a brief interview with Lidudumalingani:

Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, resembles a quiet Sunday afternoon with civil servants on strike, the BBC's Brian Hungwe reports.

Teachers, doctors and nurses have all stopped work over unpaid salaries.

They have not been paid for a month, but the government has said they will get their wages by the middle of the month, the Reuters news agency reports.

The strike comes a day after Harare was hit by violence as police clashed with minibus taxi drivers who had been protesting against police harassment.

APCopyright: AP

Markets in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, have been busy with people making last minute preparations for the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Although the markets were crowded with shoppers, some shop and stall owners closed early as people began travelling back to their home towns and villages ahead of the celebrations.

The BBC's Isa Sunusi took these photos of the scene at the National Mosque market.

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

Jose Mourinho set out his vision for Manchester United on Tuesday as he was formally unveiled as the club's new manager.

He said he was ready for the task of rebuilding Manchester United and "frustrated" that United are not in the Champions League next season.

Mourinho said he had targeted four signings and had secured three of them including Ivory Coast defender Eric Bailly who is already at the club.

Read the full story here:

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Discussion about the memoir of a gap year student, who went to Zambia, is continuing to prompt comment on social media.

Louise Linton's apology does not seem to have dampened criticism.

In an extract from her book published in the UK's Telegraph newspaper she talks about, among other things, how she bonded with an HIV-positive orphan called Zimba.

Quote Message: I try to remember a smiling gap-toothed child with HIV whose greatest joy was to sit on my lap and drink from a bottle of Coca-Cola. Zimba taught me many beautiful words but the one I like the most is Nsansa. Happiness.

I try to remember a smiling gap-toothed child with HIV whose greatest joy was to sit on my lap and drink from a bottle of Coca-Cola. Zimba taught me many beautiful words but the one I like the most is Nsansa. Happiness.

And now Zimba has her own parody Twitter account mocking the author and other "gap year saviours":

Quote Message: I will never forget the generous gift of Coke Lite that has sustained my family till I was ready for marriage." from @LittleZimba

I will never forget the generous gift of Coke Lite that has sustained my family till I was ready for marriage."

Quote Message: Guys, I live in the most dense jungle of the most remote country (Africa). What's there to do besides tweet all day?" from @LittleZimba

Guys, I live in the most dense jungle of the most remote country (Africa). What's there to do besides tweet all day?"

The Nigerian Bar Association has given its support to the Law Society of Kenya following the death of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client and their taxi driver.

In a statement released today they said they were shocked by the news of his death and said people in the profession should not be harassed:

Quote Message: All lawyers must be allowed to represent their clients without fear, molestation and harassment from state agents or any other persons."

All lawyers must be allowed to represent their clients without fear, molestation and harassment from state agents or any other persons."

They also called on the government of Kenya to fully investigate the incident and praised lawyers taking part in the court boycott.  

Quote Message: We must all continue to work to ensure the enthronement of the rule of law in all African countries."

We must all continue to work to ensure the enthronement of the rule of law in all African countries."

Post-mortem results on the three bodies revealed that they had been beaten and strangled to death (see earlier entry).

EPACopyright: EPA

Two Guinean officials have been sentenced for embezzling more than $56,000 (£42,000) of the country's Ebola fund.

Ernest Paquille Guema, a senior member of the health ministry, was given a two-year sentence and Abdoulaye Sadio Fofana of the communications team on the Anti-Ebola commission received a one-year suspended sentence.

The money was originally set aside for educating traditional healers on the dangers of the Ebola virus. 

Many healers believed that they could cure people affected by the disease and lost their lives whilst treating them. 

Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia were all hit by the Ebola outbreak. 

AFPCopyright: AFP

Kenya's president has been meeting Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on the second leg of this African tour.

Despite the traffic jams (see earlier post), some people on Twitter have welcomed the visit.

In a speech to parliament in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has blamed Eritrea for the recent border skirmish.

He said Eritrea carried out the "provocation" in a bid to divert attention away from the report of the UN-appointed commission of inquiry on the human rights situation in the country, which accused the Eritrean government of committing "crimes against humanity".

Eritrea has dismissed the report as "baseless".

"What we did was to retaliate and silence [Eritrea]," he said.

He threatened: "We will respond to every action it takes to destabilise Ethiopia. We will intensify this policy of ours.

"If that shaky government wants to talk to us, our doors are open."

The border between Ethiopia and Eritrea has not been demarcated despite a 2000 peace deal that ended the countries' border war.

AFPCopyright: AFP

A scientist in Botswana has developed an unusual way to protect cattle from lions, by painting eyes on their rumps.

Neil Jordan, from Australia's University of New South Wales, is using the technique to make predators trying to sneak up on the animals think they are being watched.

Quote Message: Lions are ambush predators, when detected they give up the hunt, so we tricked them into thinking they have been spotted."

Lions are ambush predators, when detected they give up the hunt, so we tricked them into thinking they have been spotted."

Neil JordanCopyright: Neil Jordan

Ben YexleyCopyright: Ben Yexley

The Mandela family have slammed the use of Nelson Mandela’s voice in an election advert by the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), demanding that electoral officials sanction the party. 

In the advert, a young woman steps into a voting booth as Mandela’s voice is heard calling for justice, peace, work and bread. 

The woman then votes for the DA. 

His grandson Chief Mandla Mandela has accused the party of abusing the statesman’s name in a bid to “preserve white privilege”. 

The DA, which has defended the advert, has been in the news in South Africa in recent weeks over racist remarks made by its members. 

South Africans will vote in hotly-contested municipal elections next month.

You can watch the advert here:

A fourth policeman in Kenya is in custody in connection with the murder of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani and two others, the BBC's Ferdinand Omondi reports.

Three others appeared in court on Monday.

The charges against the fourth man have not been made public but the prosecution filed an application to detain him for 14 days as they continue investigations.

The post-mortem on the three bodies showed that they were beaten and strangled to death.

EPACopyright: EPA