BBC News Africa

Human Rights Watch says a major oil project in East Africa will have dire consequences for the environment and local communities.

The French oil company Total and a Chinese state-owned oil firm signed a $10bn (£8bn) deal last year to develop Ugandan oil fields and build a 1,400km (870 mile) pipeline to the Tanzanian port of Tanga.

The New York-based rights group says the project will harm fragile ecosystems.

It says some of the tens of thousands of people being displaced have been poorly treated.

The European parliament has also denounced the project for similar reasons. Total has denied the allegations.

Despite the criticism, President Yoweri Museveni has vowed to go ahead with the project.

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Senior officials from east African countries have suggested a military deployment to Sudan where a three-month war is escalating.

Meeting in Ethiopia, the regional body Igad said sending in an East African stand-by force could help protect civilians and guarantee humanitarian access.

Given how intense the fighting is right now and the general lawlessness, it seems doubtful that any troops would be sent in soon.

An international presence is also likely to be opposed by the two sides fighting the war.

The meeting was meant to see face to face talks between the Sudanese army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

However an Igad statement said it was regrettable that the army delegation chose not to attend.

The Sudanese military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has accused Kenya - the regional body's chair - of failing to be neutral and supporting the RSF.

Read more about the war in Sudan:

• Sudan crisis: Burhan and Hemedti - the two generals at the heart of the conflict
• Sudan: Why has fighting broken out there?

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Tunisian authorities have suspended the salary payments of 17,000 teachers and sacked 350 school principals.

The move affects nearly a third of the country’s primary school teachers, and follows widespread recent protests by education staff across the country.

These protests have included refusing to hand in the school grades of pupils.

The Tunisian government has insisted that the country’s dire economic problems mean that the teachers’ pay demands are unaffordable.

Tunisia is facing high inflation, rising unemployment and severe shortages of some staple foods.

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In a blow to the Kenyan government, a court has dismissed a request by the state to lift the suspension of a new finance law which would lead to significant tax increases.

President William Ruto's government plans to double a fuel tax and other levies in order to increase its revenue to pay debts and fund projects.

Ten days ago the government said it was facing a budgetary crisis after a high court in Nairobi effectively halted the tax hikes.

The opposition called for nationwide protests against the taxes.

On Friday three people died and dozens were arrested when the police broke up demonstrations around the country.

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Joint Somali special forces, backed by foreign troops, are reported to have killed at least 40 members of the al-Qaeda-allied al-Shabab militant group in recent operations involving ground and air strikes in Somalia’s Lower Jubba region.

Somali state media say the operations took place in Welmarow village near Afmadow town.

The state-run Somali National News Agency said the army seized Welmarow village and Hagar town after destroying al-Shabab hideouts and a weapons depot.

However, pro al-Shabab media report the group has regained control of Hagar town.

According to Kenya’s Star newspaper, Kenyan forces that are part of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis) took part in the operations.

Al-Shabab controls swathes of Lower Jubba and the entire Middle Jubba region in southern Somalia.

In August 2022, the Somali federal government announced that it had launched a major offensive to recapture territory from al-Shabab.

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Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba has announced that he will seek a third term in office in presidential elections planned for August.

The Bongo family has already ruled Gabon for 55 years.

Ali Bongo took over in 2009 from his father Omar Bongo, who had himself been in power for more than 40 years.

The last elections held in 2016 were marred by claims of fraud. Mr Bongo defeated opposition candidate Jean Ping by less than 6,000 votes.

Mr Ping declared himself the winner and contested those results.

His passport was later confiscated and he was only allowed to leave the country this year after a five-year travel ban.

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Johannesburg has seen its first snowfall since 2012, as cold weather is sweeping across much of the country. Residents are being advised to take extra precautions to stay warm and farmers to provide shelter for livestock.

South Africa’s weather service said snow has also been reported in Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.

"The public is advised to keep warm during these conditions," said the South African Weather Service (Saws) in a statement.

Weather experts have also advised initiation schools in the Eastern Cape to be extra vigilant over the next week as they keep watch over hundreds of teenage boys undergoing traditional circumcision rites on isolated mountainsides across the province - a practice seen as a rite of passage into manhood amongst the Xhosa ethnic group.

The cold conditions are expected to continue throughout the week.

"No major disruptions have been caused by the snowfall at this stage," Saws spokesperson Hannelee Doubell told the BBC.

A regional summit aimed at mediating an end to the war in Sudan is under way in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Under the leadership of the East African regional body Igad, the meeting is supposed to bring together representatives of the Sudanese army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

However the Sudanese foreign ministry has accused Kenya, the current Igad chair, of not being neutral - something the Nairobi government denies.

Correspondents say this allegation dampens any real hope that the talks can lead to a ceasefire.

The three month-long conflict has displaced around three million people and is threatening the stability of the entire region.

There are widespread reports of atrocities committed against the civilian population - especially by militias allied to the RSF in the Darfur region.

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A South African archbishop who has just been promoted to a cardinal by Pope Francis has expressed bewilderment and confusion about his upcoming ascension to one of the top ranks of the Catholic Church.

"I have been taken by surprise and to be honest - I feel quite confused and bewildered at the moment,” Archbishop Stephen Brislin from Cape Town said.

He added that he hoped he could follow the good example of previous cardinals.

His comments come after the pope appointed 21 new cardinals, three of whom are African.

The others are Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla of Juba, South Sudan and Archbishop Protase Rugambwa of Tabora Archdiocese in Tanzania.

There've been calls for greater African representation in the Catholic church.

It was highlighted in January that none of the continent's cardinals hold major offices within the institution.

The ceremony to install the new cardinals is set to take place at the end of September.

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Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has become the new chair of the West African regional bloc, Ecowas, taking over from Guinea Bissau's President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and is expected to lead the group for the next year.

It was announced at the 63rd Ordinary Session of the Ecowas leadership, at his first engagement within the African continent since he assumed office in May.

President Tinubu pledged to bear the responsibility of the office and run the regional organisation as an inclusive administration

“We will take democracy seriously. Democracy is very tough but it is the best form of government," he said.

He added that the region was threatened by insecurity following activities of Islamist extremists groups as well as political crisis following military coups in some countries.

"The threat has reached an alarming level, and needs urgent actions in addressing the challenges. Indeed, without a peaceful environment, progress and development in the region will continue to remain elusive," he said

"In this regard, we must remain committed to the utilisation of all regional frameworks at our disposal to address the menace of insecurity,” he added.

His Ecowas chairmanship comes while an ongoing legal challenge to the legitimacy of his Nigerian election victory remains in play.

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Officials from across East Africa have started arriving in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa in the latest effort to mediate between the warring sides in Sudan.

The three month-long conflict has displaced around three million people and is threatening the stability of the entire region.

The Sudanese army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are expected to send representatives to the summit.

There are widespread reports of atrocities committed against the civilian population - especially by militias allied to the RSF in the Darfur region.

Several previous attempts at securing a ceasefire had limited success and the UN is now warning of a wider civil war.

Sudan's military leader Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had said that he would not attend the summit after rejecting Kenya's leadership of the peace efforts for allegedly lacking impartiality.

Kenya has previously pledged neutrality on the conflict, local media reports.

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The health authorities in South Africa are urging residents of the province of Gauteng to be vigilant about the liquids they consume as the death toll from a winter outbreak of cholera rises to nearly 50.

Unions and community groups have demanded more government intervention to improve water quality.

Most of the deaths over the last six weeks have occurred in the Hammanskraal area, where residents say they have battled for weeks for access to clean water, but there have been cases across the country.

In many areas, tap water is unsafe and people are forced to rely on government tankers.

Cholera, which is mainly spread by contaminated food and water, causes acute diarrhoea and vomiting and can kill within hours if untreated.