Africa Live this week: 11-17 July 2022

BBCCopyright: BBC

The health ministry in Sudan says 60 people are now known to have died during clashes sparked by a land dispute in the south of the country.

Many others have been hurt.

Hospitals have appealed for blood donations.

The violence between the Berti and Hawsa communities in Blue Nile state erupted last Monday.

Soldiers were deployed to contain the unrest and a night-time curfew has been imposed.

The UN Special representative for Sudan has called on local communities to exercise restraint.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Ethiopian Tamirat Tola has won the gold in the men's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in the US.

He crossed the line in two hours five minutes and 36 seconds - a championship record. Tola's compatriot Mosinet Geremew came second and Bashir Abdi from Belgium came third.

Ethiopia now has two golds after Letesenbet Gidey won the women's 10,000 metres. Kenya's Hellen Obiri and Margaret Kipkemboi took silver and bronze respectively.

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A car bomb explosion has caused massive destruction to a hotel in the Somali town of Jowhar, close to the capital, Mogadishu.

Reports say a car loaded with explosives was driven to the entrance of the Nuur Doob Hotel.

At least four politicians from the regional administration, who were staying at the hotel, were hurt.

The Islamist militant group al-Shabab says it carried out the attack.

The kidnappers of two Catholic priests who were abducted in northern Nigeria on Friday have demanded a huge ransom, according to the chairman of the Kaduna state branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev John Joseph Hayab.

The two men – Rev John Mark Cheitnum and Rev Donatus Cleopas - were seized at gunpoint at a rectory in the village of Yadin Garu in Kaduna after having travelled there for a church event.

Kaduna’s commissioner of police, Ayoku Yekini, told the BBC a rescue operation was under way with security forces ‘‘on the trail’’ of the kidnappers.

It is not yet clear who kidnapped the priests.

Rev Hayab said the local church could not afford the ransom being demanded. It was initially set at 50m naira ($120,000; £100,000), but had been negotiated down to 40m naira.

Since May, around a dozen Christian clerics - most of them Roman Catholics - have been abducted by gunmen across Nigeria.

At least two of them have been killed by their captors.

Hostages are usually released after ransom payments.

Reverend Hayab decried the increasing spate of kidnappings of clerics saying the “kidnappers think Church leaders have a lot of money. That’s a wrong impression.”

He added that the priesthood is a work of “sacrifice” without big pay.

Nigeria is grappling with a wave of killings and kidnappings by armed gangs as well as Islamist militants. They mainly target people travelling on the roads and in unprotected rural communities.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is facing increasing criticism for failing to tackle the widespread insecurity despite the deployment of thousands of troops.

Africa's fastest man Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala has responded philosophically to his recent difficulties getting to the World Athletics Championships in the US and his defeat in the semi-final of the 100m.

The fact that he made it to the competition at all was a minor miracle as he only received a visa to travel at the last minute. He arrived less than three hours before Friday's qualifying heat in which he came third.

But he only managed fifth place in Saturday's semi-final, thus failing to make it to the final.

"Every challenge you face today makes you stronger tomorrow," he wrote on Twitter.

"No matter how much falls on us, we keep moving."

US sprinter Fred Kerley won the 100m gold, running in 9.86 seconds in the final later on Saturday.

In September last year, Omanyala ran 9.77 seconds at the Kip Keino Classic meeting in Nairobi to break the African record.

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South African political activist Jessie Duarte has died at the age of 68.

Ms Duarte who was a long-serving member of the governing African National Congress died after suffering from cancer, the ANC announced in a statement.

She was the party’s deputy secretary general and a veteran politician.

Ms Duarte served as Nelson Mandela’s personal assistant from 1990-1994 after his release from prison.

“The passing of Comrade Jessie is a great loss, not only to the family but to the democratic movement and the country as a whole,” National ANC Spokesperson, Pule Mabe, said in a statement.

Those who knew her personally had previously described her deep love for the ANC and its leaders. This led her to be fiercely loyal, but she was criticised for standing by Jacob Zuma during his presidency, despite some questionable actions when he was in office.

She will be buried later on Sunday according to Muslim rites.

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An overnight curfew was in two towns in Sudan, following several days of ethnic clashes which have killed at least 31 people and injured dozens of others.

Soldiers have been deployed to control the violence, which was sparked by a land dispute between the Berti and Hawsa in the south-eastern Blue Nile state.

Dozens of people have been displaced and several shops have been set on fire during the unrest, which began on Monday.

Despite the curfews, witness reports suggest that fighting continued in one of the towns - Roseires.

The UN Special representative for Sudan has called on local communities to exercise restraint.