Africa highlights: Burundi 'genocide' warning, Toure quits international football

Cenco, the body representing the powerful and historically political Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo has suspended its participation in talks aimed at solving the country's political crisis.

In a statement it said it had taken the move "in order to grieve" and "out of respect for the victims" in the deadly violence of the past two days. 

Exact election dates should be fixed in any future agreement and President Joseph Kabila could not be a candidate in those polls, it added. 

The authorities have already suspended the African Union-backed talks, known as the "National Dialogue", until Friday at the earliest. 

Most of the Congolese opposition had boycotted the talks from the start, saying that they would lend legitimacy to the president's attempts to deliberately delay elections. 

RFI's correspondent in Kinshasa has shared the full statement (in French) on her Twitter account: 

South Africa's Paralympic team was welcomed home this morning to much fanfare (see earlier entry).

But one of the country's bronze medal winners, shot-putter Tyrone Pillay, had some harsh words for the national airline, South African Airways (SAA).

It's not clear if he's talking about the flight from Brazil or a connecting flight he may have taken from Johannesburg:

SAA has not made a comment, but has tried to contact the athlete to get more information:

AFPCopyright: AFP

Congolese specialist Jason Stearns has been assessing the violence of the past two days in a blogpost for the non-profit Congo Research Group (CRG):

"Something happened yesterday in Kinshasa, a violent screeching of gears in the political crisis as the government decided to resort to brute force to quash popular protest.

"If before 19 September all eyes were focused on the political process - who was participating in the political dialogue, whether it was still possible to hold elections within the constitutional deadlines - today the centre of attention is on the streets of Kinshasa.

"Whether the African Union, the United Nations, and other diplomats will be able to wrest the momentum away from those streets, after the deaths of dozens of people, the torching of political party offices, and the lynching of policemen is up in the air."

Read the full blogpost here 

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The government in the Democratic Republic of Congo has officially suspended talks with opposition parties, amid ongoing protests about the organisation of elections due by the end of the year.

The talks, which began at the beginning of the month, were already being boycotted by the main opposition parties, including Etienne Tshisekedi's UDPS.

The government had proposed a dialogue after opposition activists had demanded a precise timetable for the presidential election.

President Joseph Kabila, who has already served two terms, must step down at the end of his current term in December, according to the constitution.

But the electoral commission has said it will be difficult to hold polls by the end of the year.

It had been due to announce the date of the election yesterday, but it failed to do so.

Protesters demanding a date then clashed with security forces in the capital, Kinshasa.

Anti-apartheid activist and Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu may be back in hospital but he is still determined to spread his message of joy.

South Africa's Depty President Cyril Ramaphosa visited him today in a Cape Town clinic where he is being treated for a recurring infection, his family says.

Mr Ramaphosa said the archbishop was jovial as usual, the AFP news agency reports.

But it's a video that was posted today on his Facebook account that's got a lot of people talking.

He talks about joy saying:

Quote Message: Joy is laughing with my friend the Dalai Lama. The world is often a difficult place. Full of fear and anger and suffering, but it is important to see that love and joy also fill our world."

Joy is laughing with my friend the Dalai Lama. The world is often a difficult place. Full of fear and anger and suffering, but it is important to see that love and joy also fill our world."

Quote Message: I'm asking you to help us show that our world is not beyond hope. Anger, fear and despair. No! These will not have the last word."

I'm asking you to help us show that our world is not beyond hope. Anger, fear and despair. No! These will not have the last word."

The archbishop wants people to #ShareTheJoy.

Tutu FoundationCopyright: Tutu Foundation

Watch the video here.

AFPCopyright: AFP

A Congolese government spokesman has dismissed figures put forward by human rights groups and opposition activists on how many people have been killed in unrest that broke out on Monday. 

Lambert Mende told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme that "the opposition are fond of exaggerating...  [they] think this will discredit the government". 

Opposition groups say that more than 50 people died on Monday alone during protests calling for President Joseph Kabila's resignation.

Mr Mende put the total figure of deaths over the past two days at 19, including two police officers. 

Asked whether the use of force had been excessive he said:

Quote Message: A lot of people died while looting. Many others may have been killed by police and the prosecutor is busy now inquiring."

A lot of people died while looting. Many others may have been killed by police and the prosecutor is busy now inquiring."

Mr Mende condemned the suggestion that the international community may discuss possible sanctions against government figures over the violence: 

Quote Message: I am not worried about the UN, the European Union or the British... We are worried about our people dying, even from the opposition. They are our people, we are not a colony of the UN or anybody."

I am not worried about the UN, the European Union or the British... We are worried about our people dying, even from the opposition. They are our people, we are not a colony of the UN or anybody."

Tanzania beat Kenya 2-1 on Tuesday to win the inaugural Cecafa Women's Championship in Uganda (for teams belonging to East and Central Africa Football Associations). 

Omari Mwanahamisi put Tanzania ahead after only 26 minutes and she doubled the lead just before half-time.

Kenya pulled a goal back through Christine Nafula but the 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers were unable to find an equaliser.

In the play-off for third place, which was also played on Tuesday, Ethiopia thrashed Uganda 4-1.

CecafaCopyright: Cecafa

Like many men, Tanzanian Meshuko Mapi Laibon dreams of building a family.

The difference for him though is that he's already got eight wives and more than 400 descendants - including children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Mr Laibon, who says he is 103 years old, lives with them all in a village near Arusha, northern Tanzania.

As well as homesteads for all the family, the village also has a school that he built:

Quote Message: I thought about building a school because my children were going to school very far from home, and sometimes they were not able to go to school because of elephants, people have been killed by elephants and I built them a school because I want my children to learn."

I thought about building a school because my children were going to school very far from home, and sometimes they were not able to go to school because of elephants, people have been killed by elephants and I built them a school because I want my children to learn."

BBCCopyright: BBC

The school, named after Mr Laibon, has five classrooms and the teachers are provided by the government. 

Students from other families are also allowed to go.

BBCCopyright: BBC

AFPCopyright: AFP

A senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, who is based outside the Democratic Republic of Congo, has blamed security forces for the majority of deaths in the capital, Kinshasa, while acknowledging that protesters have also been responsible for killings:

Further violence has followed the initial clashes that broke out on Monday, she adds: 

The focus of the 2016 United Nations General Assembly is the issue of refugees and migrants around the world.

One of the many people speaking at the summit is Oxfam's executive director Winnie Byanyima. 

She told BBC Focus on Africa's Bola Mosuro that richer countries need to do more to address the problem.  

She said: “Rich countries are behaving like they don’t want to sacrifice any of their comforts in order to respond to the call of humanity.”

Students at Wits University in South Africa's main city, Johannesburg, are continuing to protest against the proposed rise in tuition fees.

Earlier, there were clashes between the students and police.

A South African news channel is now reporting that the protesters are trying to stop classes:

Eyewitness news has also tweeted a cartoon which sums up what the government's decision, announced yesterday, on tuition fees means.

Education Minister Blade Nzimande said that universities could increase the fees by a maximum of 8%, in effect leaving the universities to take the flak from the angry students: 

A panel of experts has found that gross human rights violations are being committed in Burundi, mainly by agents of the state. 

A new report for the United Nations Human Rights Council said that, given the country's history, the danger of genocide loomed large. 

The experts listed several forms of torture including forcing people to sit on acid and burning them with blowtorches. 

They said ethnically charged language was being used. 

Violence erupted in Burundi in April last year following President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term in office.

AFPCopyright: AFP

In our second instalment of news about Ivory Coast's Yaya Toure (see the entry on his Manchester City woes here)...

The midfield star has announced that he has retired from international football.

He wrote on his his website that it was neither the "mutlitude of games" nor the "intensity of training" that led him to make the decision.

He explained:

"I no longer feel able to set myself new goals as a player with the Elephants of Ivory Coast.

"This decision I have made has come gradually, it has slowly matured in my head."

He said that making the announcement "was probably the most difficult match" of his life.

He last played for the Elephants when he captained the team to victory in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

He lifted the trophy after Ivory Coast beat Ghana on penalties in the final in Bata, Equatorial Guinea.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Many migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya eventually arrive on the Italian island of Sicily. 

While some European countries are trying to shut people out, one organisation in a rural Sicilian community believes that migrants are not a problem, but a solution. 

For the last few months a group of them have been trained to work in agriculture in the heartland of the Italian mafia, Corleone, on land confiscated from the gangsters. 

Naveena Kottoor has been looking into the story for BBC Focus on Africa.  

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he will not pick Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure again until he apologises to the club and his team-mates for comments made by his agent.

Toure, 33, has made one appearance for City this season and was left out of their Champions League squad by Guardiola earlier this month.

Afterwards, Toure's agent, Dimitri Seluk, said the midfielder had been "humiliated" by Guardiola's decision and that if City did not win the Champions League, the former Barcelona manager should "have the balls" to apologise to the midfielder.

"He must apologise to his team-mates. He must apologise to the club," said Guardiola. "If he doesn't, he won't play."

Toure was a mainstay of the City team until the arrival of Guardiola at the beginning of this season.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The UN survey that suggests that five million Somalis face hunger (see earlier story) says that it is the more than one million people living in camps for those who have fled their homes that are the worst affected as they are the most vulnerable to disease.

More than 300,000 children under the age of five are severely malnourished and require immediate help. 

The crisis follows poor rainfall in the south and central parts of Somalia where crop production has fallen by more than half in just six months. 

Farmers have also lost many of their livestock in the recent drought. 

Aid agencies have warned that the numbers could go higher if the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya is closed down and thousands are forced to return to Somalia where they have no homes or livelihoods. 

In January, aid agencies launched an appeal for more than $880m (£680m) to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Somalia but, so far, less than half of that sum has been donated.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Tech-savvy Congolese activists have created a special online event as part of their efforts to get President Joseph Kabila to step aside. 

They've invited 70 million people (the country's entire population) to attend "The end of Joseph Kabila's mandate", complete with a countdown clock that tracks the time, to the second, until their event is due to take place. 

The screengrab below is out of date already, but you can go here if you want to keep precise track of the progress being made towards 19 December, the day before President Kabila's second term is due to expire. 

Yebela16Copyright: Yebela16

AFPCopyright: AFP

An investigation by the Niger's anti-corruption body, Halcia, has found that the government is paying 1,917 teachers who do not exist. 

The fictitious employees were costing the government about $5m (£3.9m) every month, it said.

The investigation covered five out of the country's eight educational regions - and did not include the capital, Niamey, which has the most schools.

It showed that salaries were paid to people whose positions could not be accounted for. 

Deputy chair of Halcia, Salissou Oubandoma, told the BBC Afrique:

Quote Message: The first step toward stopping this fraudulent scheme is to freeze any further recruitment. We have recruited more than are needed.

The first step toward stopping this fraudulent scheme is to freeze any further recruitment. We have recruited more than are needed.

Quote Message: In fact, in certain big cities such as Niamey, there are so many teachers that for one class, we sometimes have five of them.

In fact, in certain big cities such as Niamey, there are so many teachers that for one class, we sometimes have five of them.

Quote Message: In the long run, the government will have to set up a digital database where every civil servant will be identifiable by a unique staff number."

In the long run, the government will have to set up a digital database where every civil servant will be identifiable by a unique staff number."

Niger is one of the many African countries where the state is the biggest employer and payroll fraud is a recurrent issue for the government.

Members of the presidential guard were behind one of the attacks on the headquarters of an opposition party, two injured witnesses have told BBC Afrique. 

The headquarters of three Congolese opposition parties were torched in overnight attacks in the capital Kinshasa. 

There were at least two burned bodies in the destroyed offices of the DRC's main opposition Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS). 

A spokesman for the Congolese army told the BBC he had no comment to make on the accusations.   

The opposition says more than 50 people were killed on Monday during protests against President Joseph Kabila.

The government put the figure at 17.

The security forces were accused of using live bullets against peaceful protesters, who were demanding that a date be set for presidential elections.

BBCCopyright: BBC