Africa highlights: Nigeria pastor in sexism row, police battle Zimbabwe protesters

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Pastor Adeboye keeps trending on social media and reactions range from sarcastic to cautious. 

But so far only a few prominent women activists have challenged Enoch Adeboye on his views about the role of women in a marriage. 

Many of the vocal women activists seem so far to have looked the other way. 

And prominent female blogger Toke Makinwa said the pastor was right in asking women not to marry jobless men, adding: 

Quote Message: Pastor Adeboye did not say anything bad, if anything I would hope the women take the advice on men seriously."

Pastor Adeboye did not say anything bad, if anything I would hope the women take the advice on men seriously."

Reactions to Pastor Adeboye's marriage tips, or the lack of them, show how powerful he is in Nigeria. 

Widely called "Daddy", he runs the Redeemed Christian Church of God, seen as the biggest church in Nigeria. 

His church owns a huge prayer ground on the outskirts of the capital, Abuja, and the main city, Lagos. 

It is run in a business style. The church also owns a university. 

In May 2011, Forbes magazine reported that in March 2009 Pastor Adeboye spent $30m (£22.5m) on a Gulfstream jet.

Pastor Adeboye is also politically powerful.

In presidential election campaigns, some candidates have made it their duty to visit his prayer sessions and to be seen praying and shaking hands with him. The majority of his followers are middle-class urbanised Nigerians. 

See earlier post for more details

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Fourteen Chinese railway workers who were attacked in Kenya's south-western Narok county have refused to return to work. 

The workers were assaulted yesterday by local youth who were protesting against the lack of job opportunities for them in the construction of a $3.8bn (£2.8bn) railway project. 

The BBC's Abdinoor Aden reports that government officials today held a meeting with local leaders and the Chinese workers’ representatives to assure them of their safety but they are yet to be persuaded to resume work.

The government has promised to arrest those involved in the attack.

The workers were treated at a local hospital following the attack.

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Nigeria's football players have been told they will fly out of Atlanta today for Manaus, the venue of Thursday's opening game against Japan in Rio 2010.

The squad was stuck in the US with the charter airline refusing to leave in a dispute over payment.  

The Nigerian sports ministry insists a new payment has been made to the airline.

With packed bags, players and officials are waiting in their hotel rooms. 

Some players are worried that lack of rest could have a negative impact against Japan. 

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The score is still nil-nil in the match between South Africa and Sweden at the women's Olympic football tournament in Brazil.

You can follow the result is here 

BBC Africa's Mark Sedgwick has put together a video of some of the most significant African successes at the Olympic Games. 

Heavy winds have blown away nine tents serving as polling stations in South Africa's Eastern Cape province, the local News24 site reports. 

The governing African National Congress (ANC) has asked the election commission to extend voting in the affected areas to 19:00 GMT, it quotes a party official as saying.

Otherwise, polls have officially closed in the local government elections seen as a referendum on the leadership of President Jacob Zuma. 

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His support is mainly in rural areas, and the ANC is under pressure from the opposition in South Africa's cities, including Johannesburg. 

Political analyst Steven Friedman told the Associated Press news agency that the election ws "about whether the ANC is going to remain a party that is strong in both the cities and the countryside, or whether it is going to be a party that's mainly based in the country areas and might have to concede the cities to the opposition parties". 

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The UN says it estimates there are more than 350 million illegal light weapons in Nigeria.

The UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa said this accounted for 70% of illicit small arms in West Africa. 

Some of the weapons are said to have originated in Mali and Libya, where there are ongoing conflicts. 

The UN said the presence of so many illegal arms in Nigeria threatened its existence.

 Nigeria is affected by three separate conflicts - an Islamist insurgency in the north-east, militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta, and clashes between nomads and farmers.

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The wording on some banners at the protest in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, read: “Mugabe Must Go”. 

The rare directness is an indication of how the voices of protest against 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe are growing. 

A petition was presented to the ministry of finance, opposing the impending introduction of bond notes,  a local equivalent of US dollars, which are in short supply as the economy contracts. 

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Opponents fear it could devalue what few dollars are left in circulation and worry of a return to hyperinflation.   

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A group calling themselves “unemployed graduates” joined the march which was dispersed by police with batons and jets of tear gas-laden liquid fired from water canon. Journalists were also targeted.   

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Social media has been driving the protests. Many demonstrators were wrapped in the national flag, a symbol of the calls for change.     

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See earlier post for more details

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On 3 August 1996, Nigeria made history as the first African nation to become Olympic football champions at the Atlanta Games.

For Taribo West, the former Auxerre, AC Milan and Inter Milan defender, that 3-2 triumph over Argentina in the final is still fresh in his memory.

"The Olympics in 1996 is one of the most fantastic periods in my career," West reminisces to BBC Sport.

"We had a team that could match any in the world."

Read the full story

Some 26 million people were registered to vote in South Africa's fiercely contested local government election, but in one poor neighbourhood wracked by protests residents preferred to play football than vote. 

A local newspaper has been tweeting:  

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The opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics may well be on Friday but the action in Brazil gets under way today with the women’s football tournament kicking off at 16:00 GMT. 

The first two teams in action are South Africa and Sweden in Group E at the Olympic stadium in Rio and then at 1900GMT Zimbabwe face a daunting task against Germany in Group F in Sao Paolo.

Also playing today in Group E are hosts Brazil against China while in Group F Canada Face Australia The two Group G games are USA against New Zealand and  France taking on Colombia. 

The women’s tournament features the full international teams while the men’s event that begins tomorrow is under-23 sides with a maximum of three overage players permitted. Africa’s teams in the men’s event are Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa.

BOKO HARAM VIDEOCopyright: BOKO HARAM VIDEO

Abu Musab al-Barnawi, who has been named as Boko Haram's new leader, is something of a mystery but here is what we do know:

• He appeared in a Boko Haram video in January 2015 as the group's spokesman   
• He wore a turban and his face was blurred out and it was filmed as a sit-down studio interview
• Unlike former leader Abubakar Shekau, his delivery in the Hausa language was considered and softly spoken
• Mr Shekau was often filmed in the open, surrounded by fighters, loudly proclaiming his threats, victories and giving rambling ideological lectures
• However, Mr Barnawi pulled no punches, warning that towns which resisted Boko Haram in its mission to create an Islamic state would be flattened
• He also spoke of being against democracy and foreign education
• In his most recent magazine interview, he again objected to the name Boko Haram, by which local people call the group, as it means "Western education is forbidden" in Hausa
• He maintained IS was still strong in the region and promised to continue fighting West African governments.

In Orlando West high school voting station, voting is more than just about municipal issues.

People here are voting for history too. They tell me that there was too much sacrifice under apartheid and although they are angry with their ANC, they are unwilling to openly support the Democratic Alliance, which they still see as a white party.

Others say they are voting to punish the ANC.

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It reminds me of some of those who voted for Brexit as a protest vote about immigration but who did not actually want to leave the EU.

Some people are voting for the opposition to send a warning to the ANC about poor governance and corruption but they don't really want it out of power.

But whatever the reason, the ANC is facing its toughest contest since democracy came in 1994.

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Pastor Adeboye is trending on Twitter in Nigeria after the popular Nigerian cleric warned bachelors: “Don’t marry a girl who cannot cook.” 

In a television message earlier this week, Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God added:

Quote Message: “Don’t marry a girl simply because she can sing. Marry a prayer warrior. If a girl cannot pray for one hour, don’t marry her.

“Don’t marry a girl simply because she can sing. Marry a prayer warrior. If a girl cannot pray for one hour, don’t marry her.

Quote Message: Don’t marry a girl who is lazy. Don’t marry a girl who cannot cook. She needs to know how to do chores and cook because you cannot afford to be eating out all the time."

Don’t marry a girl who is lazy. Don’t marry a girl who cannot cook. She needs to know how to do chores and cook because you cannot afford to be eating out all the time."

There's strong reaction on Twitter to his comments, not all of it negative.

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Kenya's electoral commissioners have agreed to resign if they are given a pay deal and a dignified exit, the country's privately-owned the Star newspaper reports. 

Chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan is quoted as saying: 

Quote Message: "Commissioners are few and the country is bigger than us. The commission will not stay in the way of a political settlement,"

"Commissioners are few and the country is bigger than us. The commission will not stay in the way of a political settlement,"

A parliamentary committee has been discussing the fate of the commissioners following opposition protests earlier this year demanding their resignation ahead of next year's general election. 

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Opposition parties accused the officials of being politically biased and bungling the 2013 elections. They denied the allegation.  

The chairperson of the parliamentary committee told the officials that a pay deal would be reached.

Flight problems mean Nigeria are expected to arrive in Brazil less than 36 hours before their opening match of the men's Olympic football tournament.

The delay has been blamed on a "logistical mix-up" with operators of a charter aircraft.

Samson Siasia's squad are due to play Japan at 0100GMT on Friday in Manaus.

But the squad are still in Atlanta with the charter airline refusing to leave until full payment has been made.

Read the full BBC story here

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South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has issued a decree sacking ministers loyal to his former Vice-President and rival Riek Machar. 

Forces loyal to the two leaders were involved in renewed fighting in June which left hundreds dead and thousands displaced. 

After agreeing on a ceasefire Mr Machar went into hiding and was replaced as vice-president by Taban Deng, who was the mining minister, a move that Machar called illegal. 

The ministers who have been dismissed are: 

1. Alfred Ladu Gore, Minister of Interior

2. Duk Duop Bichok, minister of Petroleum.

3. Dr Peter Adwok Nyaba, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

4. Peter Marcello Nasir Jelenge, Minister of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development

5. Mary Alfonse Lodira, Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development

6. Mabior Garang de Mabior, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation.

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Zimbabwean riot police have had running battles with about 1,000 protesters in central Harare. 

The police were blocking them from marching to parliament in the capital. Tear gas was fired and water canons moved in to chase them away.

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The demonstrators fought back by throwing stones and the crosses they carried. The chaos disrupted traffic and car windows were broken. 

The police hit BBC producer Tendayi Musiya and damaged his camera. He was filming the demonstration, which was held to protest against plans to introduce bond notes and high unemployment levels.

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Read: Zimbabwe to print own version of US dollar

Riot police in Zimbabwe have used water cannon and batons to break up a protest by several hundred demonstrators in the capital, Harare.

The protest was against the government's plan to introduce bond notes to deal with a severe cash shortage. 

Protesters also demanded the end of President Robert Mugabe's 36-year rule. 

Al-Jazeera correspondent Harugumi Mutasa tweeted that protesters threw toilet paper at the finance ministry building to show what they thought of the proposed bond notes. 

She has also been tweeting about the police action: