Africa highlights: Baby home after parasitic twin removal, Mandela relative blasts ANC

The eldest granddaughter of Nelson Mandela, Ndileka Mandela, has addressed a large crowd of demonstrators who are calling for President Jacob Zuma to stand down at a rally in the capital Pretoria. 

Some opposition parties and other formations have come together under the banner of the recently established Freedom Movement as part of efforts to pressure President Zuma into resigning, local Eyewitness News reports. 

It seems that Ms Mandela did not explicitly call for Mr Zuma to step down in her address, but said that "our government is failing us" and "needs to hear our cries". 

She also quoted her late grandfather's warning about the governing African National Congress, which has been in power since the end of apartheid in 1994:

Quote Message: I would echo the words he spoke when he was alive: ‘If the ANC does to you what the apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the apartheid government’."

I would echo the words he spoke when he was alive: ‘If the ANC does to you what the apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the apartheid government’."

She said her grandfather would have wanted lawmakers "to do the right thing" at the upcoming no-confidence vote in Mr Zuma. 

Local radio station Jacaranda FM spoke to her at the rally, taking place on Freedom Day, which marks the first free elections after white minority rule. 

AFPCopyright: AFP

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has dismissed the opposition National Super Alliance's (NSA) line-up for the 8 August election as "nothing more than a ploy to create jobs for its leading figures.

The NSA has chosen former Prime Minister Raila Odoniga as its presidential flagbearer and former Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka as his running mate. 

It also said that if it formed the next government, Musalia Mudavadi will serve in the new post of Premier Cabinet Secretary. He will be flanked by two deputies, Moses Wetangula and Isaac Ruto.

They all come from different parties which have come together under the banner of Nasa in  a bid to unseat Mr Kenyatta in the election. 

In his reaction to the announcement, Mr Kenyatta said:

Quote Message: This was never about the country. It was about giving jobs for themselves instead of the millions of Kenyan who need jobs."

This was never about the country. It was about giving jobs for themselves instead of the millions of Kenyan who need jobs."

Mr Odinga, 72, lost to Mr Kenyatta, 55, in the last election. So what are his chances of winning this time? The BBC's Dickens Olewe discusses his prospects with Nic Cheeseman, a well known scholar of Kenya's politics currently based at the University of Birmingham in the UK.

Veteran Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga's nomination as the presidential candidate of the National Super Alliance (Nasa) is not a surprise.

He has performed better than his rivals in opinion polls and has shown that he has wide support beyond his ethnic base in western Kenya.

BBCCopyright: BBC

He also leads the Orange Democratic Movement, the biggest of the opposition parties to come together to form Nasa in the hope of  defeating President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Jubilee Party in the 8 August election.    

Going into his fourth election, Mr Odinga is returning to a coalition strategy used in the 2002 campaign when opposition parties united to defeat Kanu, the party that brought Kenya independence.

The coalition that won that vote did not however survive as former President Mwai Kibaki reneged on a pre-election deal.

To try and avoid this, Nasa has unveiled a power-sharing structure involving the party leaders.

During Thursday's rally Mr Odinga called himself "first among equals".

The BBC News Instagram channel has posted this short video telling the story of Dominique, the 11-month-old baby who has returned to Ivory Coast after successful surgery in the US (see earlier entry)

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) charity says that in the past three days 25,000 South Sudanese have been displaced by intense fighting around the northern town of Kodok.

MSF said aid organisations have suspended operations due to the insecurity. 

The UN says the government launched a new offensive in the area, against Agwelek rebel forces.

Many people in Kodok fled there recently from fighting in other areas. 

MSF said the fighting had forced all hospitals in the area to close. 

It has been impossible to deliver water to displaced people who are living outside under scorching sun. 

Many are making their way by foot to Sudan.

The head of the UN mission in South Sudan, David Shearer, said the conflict had widened in recent weeks. 

South Sudan, Africa's newest country, has had an unhappy six years of independence. 

Its leaders fell to fighting, and seem oblivious to the immense suffering of civilians. 

Earlier this year, the UN formally declared a famine, a disaster it described as man-made.

A drug to stop bleeding after giving birth could cut deaths by a third, new research suggests.

BBC Africa is holding a Facebook Live with one of the experts behind the study, putting your questions to her. Watch the video below:

Read the full BBC News story 

AFPCopyright: AFP

Tunisia's Prime Minister Youssef Chahed has faced a hostile reception on a tour of the southern city of Tataouine, famous for being the inspiration for the Star Wars planet of Tatooine. 

The town has been brought to a standstill by anti-government protesters in recent weeks, if not a fully fledged rebel alliance (sorry). 

Mr Chahed made the visit to discuss new measures to improve the situation in the town, with residents demanding jobs and more development. 

They say they are marginalised by the central government and don't sufficiently benefit from oil revenues in the region.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Tributes have been paid to former Gabon international Moise Brou Apanga who died on Wednesday from a suspected heart attack.

The 35-year-old collapsed during a training session with his Gabonese club FC 105 Libreville.

He played for the Panthers at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2010 and 2012.

"The country has lost a brave son who has always given his best for the Gabonese flag," the country's football association, Fegafoot said.

Sunderland and Gabon midfielder Didier Ndong also paid tribute to Brou Apanga on social media.

"I take this moment to tell you that I'll be thinking about you every minute of this match - rest in peace big brother," the 22-year-old wrote just before he took to the field for Sunderland against Middlesbrough.

He signed his post off with a hashtag in French meaning "Brou Apanga - monument of Gabonese football".

Read the full BBC Sport story 

AFPCopyright: AFP

About a dozen people in a court room in Senegal's capital, Dakar, jumped up and down, crying "We won!" when an appeals judge upheld the life sentence imposed on Chad's ex-President Hissene Habre, Reuters news agency reports. 

The group was made up of victims of atrocities committed during Habre's eight-year rule in Chad. 

One of them, Clement Abaifouta, said:   

Quote Message: Our patience has paid off. Never again will a dictator... be permitted to do horrible things and escape justice."

Our patience has paid off. Never again will a dictator... be permitted to do horrible things and escape justice."

Habre, 74, had appealed against his conviction for crimes against humanity.

A special court set up by the African Union had convicted him last year. 

He was exiled in Senegal when he was arrested following intense pressure from victims, rights groups and some Western governments.

Habre's lawyer Francois Serres said the trial was politically motivated:

Quote Message: Africa cannot be proud of this trial. It was unfair from beginning to end."

Africa cannot be proud of this trial. It was unfair from beginning to end."

• See earlier post for more details  
• Battle to bring 'Africa's Pinochet' to court
• Who is Hissene Habre?

Kenya's opposition National Super Alliance (Nasa) has chosen former Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka as the running mate of its presidential candidate Raila Odinga in the August poll. 

A leading Kenyan television station has tweeted the announcement: 

Kenya's opposition National Super Alliance (Nasa) has announced that ex-Prime Minister Raila Odinga, 72, will be its candidate in the August presidential election, a BBC reporter tweets from its rally in the capital, Nairobi:  

Earlier, the opposition alliance unveiled its official symbol to thousands of supporters who have packed Uhuru Park:

A cheap drug has been shown to stop women bleeding to death, in a discovery that should change practice around the world, say researchers.

Every year, 100,000 women die from massive bleeding in the moments after giving birth.

But an international study, in the Lancet, suggests "tranexamic acid" could cut that by a third.

Postpartum haemorrhage is the biggest cause of death during pregnancy and early motherhood.

Professor Haleema Shakur from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is the co-leader of the report:

A court in Morocco has given seven people prison sentences of between five and eight months over the death of a fish seller crushed in a refuse lorry, AFP news agency reports. 

Mouhcine Fikri, 31, was killed last year as he tried to retrieve swordfish that police had confiscated from him in the northern port city Al-Hoceima. 

His death led to widespread protests, and drew parallels with that of a Tunisian fruit seller in 2010 which helped spark the Arab Spring uprisings. 

The sentences were handed down on Wednesday after a manslaughter trial of 11 people, including officials from the fisheries authority, the interior ministry and employees of a cleaning company, the local prosecutor said, AFP reports. 

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Read more about Morocco

After South Africa's Gift Ngoepe became the first Africa-born player to feature in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game last night, here's a reminder of our story from last year about talents scout on the hunt for future stars on the continent. 

There's some very cool drone footage in this video piece from the BBC's Christian Parkinson in Johannesburg, who went to meet young players hoping to make it onto the MLB's "Elite Africa" training camp:

Read the full BBC News story

NEWSNOWCopyright: NEWSNOW

Video footage showing a traditional leader, the Oba of Lagos, seemingly snubbing the Yoruba "king of kings", the Ooni of Ife, at a public event has shocked many Nigerians. 

Journalist Ugochukwu Ikeakor explains why it is such a big deal:

Deep respect for leaders is a pillar of the culture of the Yoruba people, one of Nigeria's biggest ethnic groups.

But at a recent public event a Yoruba leader, known as the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu ,74, refused to properly greet the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi 42.

As the Ooni leaned over to greet the Oba by shaking his hand, what he got instead was a dismissive wave and what looked like a scowl of disdain.

Quote Message: It's quite unheard of for traditional leaders to rebuff each other in public. And for a lesser leader, like the Oba, to rebuff the Ooni of Ife, the spiritual head of all Yoruba people, is an even graver offence."

It's quite unheard of for traditional leaders to rebuff each other in public. And for a lesser leader, like the Oba, to rebuff the Ooni of Ife, the spiritual head of all Yoruba people, is an even graver offence."

• Read the full story
• What’s the point of Nigeria’s traditional kings?

An appeals court in Senegal has upheld the life sentence given to Chad's former leader HIssene Habre for crimes against humanity, reports the BBC's Enoh N'Dri from Dakar. 

In a landmark ruling last year, Habre was convicted of rape, sexual slavery and ordering killings during his rule from 1982 to 1990.

He was tried a special court set up by the African Union (AU) in Senegal. 

He was exiled in Senegal when he was arrested, following pressure from Western governments and survivors of atrocities committed during his rule. 

It was the first time an AU-backed court had tried a former ruler for human rights abuses.  

AFPCopyright: AFP

Read: How the CIA meddled in Chad - and elsewhere in Africa

GoogleCopyright: Google

In honour of South Africa's Freedom Day today, which celebrates the country's first multiracial elections following the end of apartheid 23 years ago, Google's homepage in the country features a drawing of Enoch Sontonga, the Methodist teacher who composed Nkosi Sikelel i’Afrika, God Bless Africa, in 1897.

It was adopted by the governing African National Congress and became an inspirational anthem in the struggle against apartheid, forever associated with Nelson Mandela and the other prisoners on Robben Island. 

It was sung by the crowd when Mr Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's president in 1994 and is now part of the country's national anthem.  It is also the anthem of Tanzania and Zambia. 

Enoch Sontonga died in 1905, aged 32.  

AFPCopyright: AFP

With elections in Kenya only 102 days way, the main opposition alliance is running out of time to name its candidate. 

The National Super Alliance, or Nasa, has five men competing to be party leader, but many expect the selection committee to look no further than Raila Odinga. 

Mr Odinga, 72, leads the Orange Democratic Movement, the largest opposition party in parliament. 

If confirmed as the candidate at today's Nasa rally in the capital, Nairobi, this will be his fourth attempt at becoming president. 

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

Mr Odinga still maintains he won the controversial 2007 elections in which then-President Mwai Kibaki was named the winner, sparking violent clashes that led to the deaths of more than a thousand people.

Meanwhile, many sitting politicians have lost their bids to defend their seats in primaries. 

Kenyans on Twitter are excited that a campaign, #fagiawote, a Swihili phrase which means "sweep them all out", could be succeeding. 

The campaign calls on voters to oust sitting politicians to express displeasure with how the country has been run at all levels in the last four years. 

President Uhuru Kenyatta of the Jubilee Party is running for a second term.

There have been outbreaks of violence in various parts of the country, as well as allegations of vote buying and rigging. 

A baby girl whose twin failed to develop properly and fused to her growing body in the womb has returned home to Ivory Coast after a successful operation in the US.

A video released by the hospital which gave her the surgery shows an emotion reunion with family at Abidjan International Airport. 

On seeing the 11-month-old baby, her mother said:

Quote Message: I never thought that I'd see my daughter like this today... It really is a miracle."

I never thought that I'd see my daughter like this today... It really is a miracle."

A team of five surgeons at Advocate Children's Hospital in Chicago removed baby Dominique's parasitic twin.

In this extremely rare case, her parasitic twin was attached to her back and shoulder. 

This made her look like she had two extra legs and feet.