Africa highlights: Grace Mugabe's accuser: 'She hit us with so much hate'

Authorities in Libya say they have repatriated 135 Nigerian migrants, including women and children, who had made failed attempts to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, the AFP news agency reports..

Hosni Abu Ayanah from the Libyan government agency tackling illegal migration told AFP that the repatriation was voluntary.

The first group of 75 men and 10 women gathered in downtown Tripoli to board buses with metal grills towards the capital's Mitiga airport. Others were set to depart from other migrant detention centres, AFP reported.

The operation was being coordinated with the International Organization for Migration.

The US Africa command says it has carried out three strikes in Somalia against militant Islamist group al-Shabab.

It adds that it conducted the operation in coordination with Somalia forces:

Renowned South African conservationist Wayne Lotter was shot dead last night in Tanzania's main city, Dar es Salaam.

Lotter was based in Arusha city in northern Tanzania. He was believed to have come to Dar es Salaam for meetings and was on his way to an apartment when he was killed.

Unconfirmed reports say the gunmen fled with his laptop. Police are investigating.

Lotter was the co-founder of PAMS Foundation, and was heavily involved in efforts to curb poaching.

In a statement, the conservation group said: "Wayne devoted his life to Africa’s wildlife, from working as a ranger in his native South Africa as a young man to leading the charge against poaching in Tanzania. Wayne cared deeply about the people and animals that populate this world.

"Wayne’s charm, brilliance and eccentric sense of humour gave him the unique ability to make those around him constantly laugh and smile. He died bravely fighting for the cause he was most passionate about."

AFPCopyright: AFP

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

In a long telephone interview, Gabriella Engels, who has accused Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe of assaulting her, paused and sounded shaken at times.

Giving her version of what happened, Ms Engels, 20, said she and four other people, two of whom were the sons of President Robert Mugabe and the first lady, had been “having pre-drinks” on Sunday night in a hotel room in Sandton, a plush suburb in Johannesburg.

She then went into another room and Mrs Mugabe walked in looking for her sons.

“She [Mrs Mugabe] had a black extension cord in her hand… She cornered me and started beating the hell out of me. I had to roll myself down to get away from her, that’s when she hit me with the plug and the extension cord. And I just remember being curled down on the floor with blood rushing down my face and down my neck,” Ms Engels alleged.

AFPCopyright: AFP

I asked Ms Engels what was going through her mind at that point.

“I was just thinking, I have to get out of this hotel room right now before this woman kills me.”

“The only people that were in the room with us were her bodyguards and they were standing back while she was beating us. We were begging her to stop hitting us, but she didn’t want to, she just… She hit us with so much hate. Like, I don’t understand why she attacked us like that. ‘Til this day my friends and I don’t understand why this woman attacked us the way she did for no reason at all,” Ms Engels said.

She told me she did not know it was Mrs Mugabe until a security guard who helped her to “escape from the room" told her.

“Before I even knew who she was I knew I had to lay an assault charge because I was injured so badly. I didn’t care who the person was. And when I found out who she was, I didn’t want to go lay a charge against her... but my mother pushed me to go lay the charge, because she told me: 'What this woman did was not right. We can’t allow her to get away with it'," Ms Engels said.

The 20-year-old also said: “I would be very happy if she could go to jail, that’s…that’s my main focus right now."

Mrs Mugabe has not commented on the allegations.

Uganda is now hosting more than one million refugees who have fled civil war in neighbouring South Sudan, according to the United Nations.

The conflict in the world’s newest country has created Africa’s biggest refugee crisis in more than 20 years, and women and children represent 85% of those who’ve crossed the border.

Our Uganda reporter Catherine Byaruhanga tells BBC Minute about Uganda’s unique system for welcoming refugees.

Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo says he will be sending aid to Sierra Leone to help in the "recovery process" following Monday's devastating mudslide that has killed nearly 400 people and has displaced thousands more.

He said that he had called his counterpart, President Ernest Bai Koroma, to offer his condolences for the "tragic loss of lives and property".

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The family of the woman allegedly assaulted by Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe had been approached by a third party to accept a cash settlement to drop the case, their lawyer has said.

"The family is not interested in doing that," Gerrie Nel said.

"They said let us talk and make this go away. No amount was mentioned." he added.

Mr Nel is nicknamed "the Pitbull". He successfully prosecuted former Olympic star Oscar Pistorius for murder.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Roughly 82.3 million bribes were paid in Nigeria in the 12 months leading to May 2016, according to a survey by the official National Bureau of Statistics and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

It added that almost a third of Nigerian adults (32.3%) who had contact with a public official between June 2015 and May 2016 had to pay a bribe or were asked for one.

"The magnitude of public sector bribery in Nigeria becomes even more palpable when factoring in the frequency of those payments, as the majority of those who paid a bribe to a public official did so more than once over the course of the year," the report said.

Other key points in the report include:

• Bribe-payers pay an average of about six bribes in one year, or roughly one bribe every two months
• The average sum paid as a cash bribe is about 5,300 naira ( $14; £10)
• This means that every time a Nigerian pays a cash bribe, he or she spends an average of about 28.2% of the monthly salary of about 18,900 naira ( $52)
• About 85.3% of "bribery episodes" are initiated either directly or indirectly by public officials and
• Almost 70% of bribes are paid before a service is rendered.

The report added: "With such a large portion of public officials initiating bribes, which are paid up front, it seems that many public officials show little hesitation in asking for a kickback to carry out their duty and that bribery is an established part of the administrative procedure in Nigeria."

Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nigeria's women's coach Florence Omagbemi are the only Africans in contention for Fifa's annual awards.

Aubameyang is one of 24 players nominated for The Best Fifa Men's Player award.

The 27-year-old was the top scorer in the Bundesliga last season with 31 goals for Borussia Dortmund.

Omagbemi lead Nigeria to an eighth continental title in Cameroon last year and is one of the 10 names on the list for The Best Fifa Women's Coach.

Read full story

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The BBC's Ayo Bello in Sierra Leone has sent us more pictures of the burial of victims of Monday's landslide.

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BBCCopyright: BBC

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EPACopyright: EPA

Spain's coastguard says it has rescued 600 migrants crossing from Morocco in a 24-hour period amid a spike in the number of migrant arrivals.

The rescued migrants were in 15 vessels including toy paddleboats and a jet ski and included 35 children and a baby.

The UN says more than 9,000 people have arrived in Spain so far this year - three times as many as the previous year.

More than 120 people are believed to have drowned attempting the crossing.

Read the full BBC story here

The BBC's Umaru Fofana in Sierra Leone is reporting that the burial of victims of Monday's devastating mudslide is under way in the Waterloo area outside the capital, Freetown:

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Gabriella Engels' lawyer has told a media briefing that if Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe leaves South Africa, a warrant of arrest will be sought and executed if she ever returns to the country.

Gerrie Nel added that an investigating officer had, in fact, contacted Ms Engels and had told her that an arrest warrant for the first lady was being sought.

The lawyer of Gabriella Engels, the woman who was allegedly assaulted by Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe, has told a press briefing that his client has been offered money to settle her complaint.

Ms Engels is being represented by former state persecutor Gerrie Nel. He prosecuted former Olympic star Oscar Pistorius, who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day 2013.

An Al Jazeera journalist has tweeted a picture of Gabriella Engels, the woman who was allegedly assaulted by Zimbabwe's First lady Grace Mugabe in a hotel room in South Africa's main city, Johannesburg.

Ms Engels is due to hold a press conference, and we will bring you all the details as they unfold.

South African police have issued a "red alert" at the country's borders for Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe, Police Minister Fikile Mbalula has said.

South Africa's News24 site has quoted him as saying:

Quote Message: We, in terms of South African police, already put tabs in the borders in relation to her leaving the country, so there is no question about that.

We, in terms of South African police, already put tabs in the borders in relation to her leaving the country, so there is no question about that.

Quote Message: So tabs have been put, a red alert has been put, so she is not somebody who has been running away."

So tabs have been put, a red alert has been put, so she is not somebody who has been running away."

More than 40 people have been killed in a landslide in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Most of the dead were from a fishing village on the banks of Lake Albert.

Heavy rains caused parts of a nearby mountain to collapse and engulf the village.

A few others died as they searched old mines for gold.

There have been a number of deadly landslides in eastern DR Congo in recent years.

AFPCopyright: AFP

The number of refugees fleeing violence in South Sudan to Uganda has passed the one million mark, the UN says.

The organisation is appealing to the international community for "urgent additional support".

It adds that at least another one million refugees have fled to Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic.

South Sudan has been wracked by civil war, which has seen numerous atrocities, since 2013.

Read the full BBC story here

Hundreds of people are dead or missing in Freetown, Sierra Leone, after torrential rain led to devastating mudslides.

But is it unusual to see so much rain in this part of the world?

BBC Weather has been looking into it: