Africa highlights: Nigerian's feminist message on Paris catwalk, 100,000 'trapped' in South Sudan

The Nigerian branches of the global oil companies Chevron and Total have failed in their attempt to get a case against them thrown out in Lagos.

The government is accusing them of illegally exporting oil, Bloomberg reports.

The trial is due to start on 26 October.

“The government is seeking revenues that it lost due to under-declarations" of exports, Bloomberg quotes government lawyer Fabian Ajogwuas as saying.

The lawyers from the two oil companies made no comment.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The autopsies for two American sisters found dead in Seychelles have found they died of excess fluid in their lungs, the police told AP news agency.

Emergency rooms commonly see acute pulmonary edema in drug overdoses, Dr Patrick Lank told AP.

But it might also come from a viral infection, he added.  

The toxicology tests are pending, police said. 

The bodies of Annie Marie Korkki, 37, and Robin Marie Korkki, 42, were found last week by hotel staff at the Maia resort on Mahe, Seychelles' main island. 

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of Africa's best-known contemporary fiction writers.  

And now she has also had an impact on the fashion world.

The title of her talk We Should All Be Feminists is emblazoned on a T-shirt at Dior's spring summer show:

Vogue reports that it is "instantly becoming the most Instagrammed moment of the entire show".

Singer Beyonce used part of the talk, saying that women are taught not to be ambitious, in her song Flawless from 2014.

And here's the speech in its entirety:   

Botswana has one of the largest populations of meerkats in the world.

BBC Africa looks at five of the most interesting facts about the southern African state as it marks 50 years as an independent country.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) president will be limited to three terms in office from next year's election in March 2017.

Junior Binyam, Caf's media spokesman, confirmed to BBC Sport that the new ruling was approved at Thursday's Extraordinary General Assembly.

It is a major change for the governing body, whose incumbent president Issa Hayatou has been in power for 28 years.

But it cannot be applied retrospectively, meaning that Mr Hayatou could still be president for another 12 years.

The limit will also apply to the members of Caf's Executive Committee.

In February, football's world governing body Fifa limited its presidency to three terms in office as it aimed to recover from a corruption crisis.

Read more from BBC Sport.

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The yellow fever outbreak which started in Angola has slowed down, the latest figures from the World Health Organization indicate.

The outbreak was first detected in the capital Luanda in December.

In May scientists in the US have warned that the shortage of yellow fever vaccines could spark a global health emergency. 

But the report says a new case of yellow fever hasn't been recorded since June in Angola, and July in Democratic Republic of Congo.

 It added that this shows surveillance is functioning well but warns that it still possible that detection of a case could be delayed in remote areas.

Tommy TrenchardCopyright: Tommy Trenchard

Burkina Faso's former President Blaise Compaore, who was toppled in October 2014 by a popular uprising, will not face prosecution for treason and a breach of the constitution, prosecutors at the country's high court said. 

Mr Compaore fled his country and went into exile in neighbouring Ivory Coast after his botched attempt to extend his 27-year rule by modifying the constitution.

Nearly 40 people were killed in a series of protests that led to his downfall. 

But the former president could still face other legal cases.

Mr Compaore is wanted back home in connection with the assassination in 1987 of his predecessor Thomas Sankara. 

The prosecutors said the former president also have to answer for his role in the deadly crackdown on the protesters who rose up against his regime. 

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As Botswana marks 50 years of independence today some people have been looking at how the country was perceived back in 1966.

The article, which appeared in a Canadian paper, uses the colonial name Bechuanaland for the country.

It said "an impoverished, arid and hungry land without hope of achieving economic stability makes its debut this week among the community of nations".

Today, with its mineral resources and tourism industry, Botswana is seen as an economic success story.

Going by income per head it is now one of the richest countries in Africa.

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Representatives of the PPRD, the ruling party in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and opposition delegates have resumed talks in the capital Kinshasa.

It is in a bid to agree on a plan for a peaceful outcome to the deadlock over the organisation of the upcoming presidential election in the country. 

The talks, which are boycotted by some of the opposition parties, were suspended ten days ago, amid a flare-up of violence as demonstrators took to the streets to demand an electoral timetable. 

Ever since, President Kabila has come under increasing diplomatic pressure to indicate his intention to step down.

This includes US sanctions on two top presidential allies accused of violence and intimidation against  activists. 

Talk delegates are expected to finalise a proposal that the election would follow a transition period led by a unity government headed by a Prime Minister from the opposition. 

This plan is likely to be rejected by the political parties which are boycotting the government-sponsored dialogue. 

They consider the talks as a trap designed by President Kabila for staying in power.   

Later today the World Service's BBC Africa Debate will be asking if street hakwers should be regulated or banned. 

But before that, some of the traders have been telling our reporters how they ended up being street salesmen.

Cameroonian Peter Nkemashi dreamt of becoming a magistrate but his father couldn't send him to school. He now has a kiosk in the capital, Yaounde. 

"I don't really envy very rich people. I have enough for me and my family. That's what I call a good life," he told BBC Africa's Randy Joe Saah.

Randy Joe Saah,Copyright: Randy Joe Saah,

Sandra Birabwa, 24, told the BBC's Patience Atuhaire that people call her "Sandra Leggings" because of the time she spends criss-crossing the streets of Kampala, Uganda, selling clothing. She says she would like to set up her own shop, "but right now the rent is too high." According to her, it is also very hard to get the licensing to work in the formal sector.    

Patience AtuhaireCopyright: Patience Atuhaire

Mamadou Saliou Barry sells CDs and DVDs in Conakry, Guinea. "Things are difficult now because some local musicians accuse us of pirating their CDs, so they harass us a lot. But the fact is I don't sell fakes," he told the BBC's Alhassan Sillah.

Alhassan SillahCopyright: Alhassan Sillah

There are more hawkers' life stories on the BBC News website.

Listen to the debate at 19:00 GMT on the BBC World Service.

Students and academics at South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand - known as Wits University - have voted to resume classes next week.

Lectures had been halted because of the protests by students demanding free education following a government announcement that tuition fees in South Africa could increase by a maximum of 8%.

Wits University, which is in South Africa's main city Johannesburg, has been seen as the epicentre of protests against tuition fee rises.

The authorities there polled the students and academics on Thursday and 77% of those who voted said they wanted to go back to class.

Last year, protests by South African students led to the government back-tracking on its decision to allow tuition fees to go up.

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Amnesty International says more than 100 families in a district of Libya’s second city of Benghazi are being left to die. 

The besieged district of Ganfouda has been largely cut off from the rest of the city in blockades set up by forces loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Hefter.  

A conflict has been raging in Benghazi for over two years between his forces and Islamist fighters now largely holed up in Ganfouda.  

People in Ganfouda described to Amnesty miserable living conditions with limited access to basic needs like food and electricity.  

Many are desperate to leave the area, but have few guarantees of making it out alive because of the intense fighting between military forces and Islamist groups. 

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Fifty Somali sailors, who have been charged with piracy in India, failed to appear in court today in the city of Mumbai. 

The men were captured in India's waters between 2011 and 2012. 

The BBC's Ahmed Aden, who has been following the story , says that the lawyer representing men told the court that his clients plan to plead guilty. 

The court has ordered the men to appear in court on the 14 October. 

Beitbridge is one of the busiest borders in Africa, linking Zimbabwe to South Africa. It is also a transit point for people moving goods into the rest of region.

Each day thousands of people pass through it, carrying all manner of goods to sell back home in Zimbabwe.

However, with Zimbabwe imposing a ban on selected imports, vendors may have lost out on their only source of income and in a bid to survive, some are smuggling in cheaper goods.

The BBC's Nomsa Maseko reports from the Beitbridge border post for Africa Business Report.

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An investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) will be key in establishing responsibilities for the violence that rocked Gabon for two days following last month's election, Jean Remy Batsantsa, a lawyer for Gabon's opposition leader, Jean Ping, told BBC Afrique. 

Mr Batsantsa was reacting to news that the ICC, at the government's request, will launch a preliminary investigation over the violence. 

Speaking to the BBC's Charles Stephane Mavoungou in Libreville, Mr Ping's lawyer said: 

Quote Message: That is what the entire world is asking for. We are not asking for anything else.

That is what the entire world is asking for. We are not asking for anything else.

Quote Message: Innocent civilians must not continue to be massacred just for taking to the streets to demand the truth."

Innocent civilians must not continue to be massacred just for taking to the streets to demand the truth."

According to official figures, three people died in two days of violence which broke out on 31 August after incumbent president Ali Bongo Ondimba was declared winner of last month's presidential election. 

Civil society organisations say at least 100 people were killed.

Three University of Zimbabwe students, who were arrested on Thursday after waving anti-government placards, have been released after paying a fine.

They were picked up after protesting over the poor state of the economy at a graduation ceremony.

One placard said "graduates today, loafers tomorrow", another said "the key to success, but the door is nowhere".

Many students graduating from university face the grim prospect of unemployment after completing their studies. 

The unemployment rate is estimated at more than 90%, and the country is battling to attract foreign investment. 

Some graduates choose to go abroad to find work, while others take up unskilled labour.

APCopyright: AP

The UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) says that 100,000 people are "trapped" in the South Sudanese town of Yei, 150km (93 miles) south-west of the capital, Juba.

The AFP news agency reports that UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told journalists that "government forces are surrounding the town and they are restricting access into the town and also preventing people from leaving".

He speculated that they are being accused of siding with opposition forces.

In a statement, the UNHCR says it "is increasingly concerned for the safety and well-being" of those people in Yei.

It adds that in recent months, the town's residents have been joined by tens of thousands of others who have fled fighting in the region.

A civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013, but Yei remained relatively unaffected, the UNHCR says.

A peace deal led to the formation of a unity government earlier this year.

But Yei was caught up in the fighting after South Sudan was plunged into a renewed bout of instability in July. This followed fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to then-Vice-President Riek Machar.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Journalist Celeste Hicks tweets that the language Tamazight is being officially recognised by Morocco's government:

You can read the article she is referring to in the Middle East Eye.

She says an estimated 27% of Morocco’s population speaks one of three dialects of Tamazight (Ta’rift, Tamazight and Tashilhet) as their mother tongue. 

The language, she adds, has links with other Berber dialects across North Africa and the Sahel. 

University students in South Africa continue to protest against plans to increase tuition fees by up to 8%, saying the governing African National Congress party should honour its 1994 pledge for "free education for all".

President Jacob Zuma has promised to deal with the "mayhem" the protests have caused across the country. 

The BBC's Pumza Fihlani reports from Johannesburg.