BBC Newsday
World Service radio

Image source, Getty Images

Namibia is the last country in the southern hemisphere where seal harvesting is still practised, and its annual cull is set to begin on Saturday.

Seal fur is sold for export and the government says culling its seal population helps to protect fish stocks. Some East Asian nations also import seal penises, which some men eat in the hope it will boost their virility.

But conservationist Naude Dreyer tells the BBC that killing these seals isn't justified:

Mr Dreyer argues that some of the methods are cruel, and says the income from seal tourism would be far greater than the income from seal body parts:

Image source, Getty Images

Rwanda says it has an "excellent record of taking care of refugees", and has criticised a legal ruling in the UK that said it was unlawful to deport their asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Rwandan government spokeswoman Yvonne Makolo told the BBC's Newsday programme that judges were wrong to say there weren't enough guarantees that Rwanda wouldn't send back refugees to their home countries - calling it "a very narrow aspect of this issue".

She said Rwanda was a signatory to the UN refugee convention and "we do not in policy or practice send back to dangerous situations".

Ms Makolo said country has 140,000 refugees and has been working with the UN refugee agency to evacuate endangered migrants in Libya since 2019.

"We know what it is to flee and seek safety. Many of us have lived outside the country, we’ve been forced to leave... and come back. So we empathise with those in this situation," she told the BBC.

She said the information being given about Rwanda was "not sufficient or has been misunderstood", adding that the country had been ranked one of the safest in the world.

"If there are issues that come up in this [asylum] programme and on the distorted views of what Rwanda is and how we govern this country, we are happy to explain – a lot of it is unjustified."

Imogen Foulkes
Geneva correspondent

The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner has urged the British government to rethink its proposed policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

It follows a ruling on Thursday by the Court of Appeal in London that the policy is unlawful.

Volker Türk said the British plans raised very serious concerns in terms of international human rights and refugee laws.

The UN Refugee Agency also welcomed the court’s decision, saying the UK should pursue other measures, including cooperation with its European neighbours.

The British government is planning a further appeal, saying it's determined to stop the arrival of migrants on small boats.

Image source, Reuters

At least seven people are reported to have died from floods in South Africa's Kwazulu-Natal province, with the death toll expected to rise.

Many areas in the south-eastern parts of the province are recovering from heavy rains and storms that hit earlier in the week.

A body of a woman in her 20s and a teenage girl were the latest to be retrieved from a canal in the city of Durban.

At least 70 homes have been destroyed and more than 150 people left homeless, according to the provincial authorities.

Disaster management teams are still assessing the impact of the floods.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, AFP

The media regulator in Burkina Faso has banned a French television news channel for three months, accusing it of spreading false information about jihadist violence.

The high council for communication (CSC) accused the channel, LCI, of saying that jihadists were advancing rapidly and government troops were using local defence force volunteers as cannon fodder to protect themselves from the onslaught.

In April the government in Ouagadougou expelled journalists working for the French newspapers Le Monde and Liberation.

Two other broadcasters, France 24 and Radio France International, have also been suspended indefinitely.

Image source, AFP

Tanzania has lifted a ban on night-time upcountry bus travel that was imposed decades ago.

The government says the changes came after considering the views of stakeholders in the transport sector, as well as improvement in infrastructure and security.

While announcing the move in parliament, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said the ban was imposed in the 1990s following a rise in road accidents and hijacking of buses.

He has now directed the relevant authorities to work to “establish a procedure to be followed by the owners and drivers of passenger buses who intend to transport passengers at night”.

The lifting of the ban, which is expected to stimulate growth in the transport sector, has been welcomed by the association of Tanzanian bus owners.

Our proverb of the day:

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A funeral is being held for John Ward, who spent decades trying to work out who killed his daughter.

A selection of the best photos from across Africa and beyond this week.

The home secretary calls critics of the scheme "phoney humanitarians" after judges ruled it was unlawful.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now. There will be an automated news feed here until Friday morning.

You can also follow the latest at BBCAfrica.com and listen to the new BBC Focus on Africa podcast for more on the big topics in the news.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of men preparing mutton for an Eid al-Adha feast in Wad Hamid, Sudan:

Image source, AFP

Image source, Paul Hilton/Global Conservation/ Uganda Conservation Foundation

Rangers in Uganda's Murchison Falls national park have amassed 12 tonnes of traps over the course of a year, which they've piled up high and nicknamed "snare mountain".

They're hoping to highlight the devastation to local wildlife by poachers who use these snares to trap lions, elephants and hippos among others.

"Over the past 10 years, we’ve removed about 47 tonnes of snares and bear traps," says Michael Keigwin, the founder of the Uganda Conservation Foundation charity, as reported by the Guardian newspaper, external.

There is talk of a poaching crisis fuelled by Uganda's worsening economy after strict Covid-19 lockdowns, and the charity estimates that more than 60% of the national park’s hippos have been killed in the past few years for their meat and the ivory in their teeth.

BBC Newsday
World Service radio

At least 13 civilians have been killed by jihadists in south-eastern Mali.

Several other people were also injured in the attack in Gao province which coincided with Eid celebrations, but it's not clear if that timing was intentional.

The attack happened on Wednesday, just days ahead of a vote scheduled for Friday at the UN Security Council which is expected to approve Mali's request for UN peacekeepers to withdraw from the country.

A draft resolution drawn up by France suggests that all personnel are withdrawn within six months.

The withdrawal of the mission, known as Minusma, would come after years of tensions between the UN and Mali's military junta.

Analysts fear that the security situation could deteriorate, leaving the Russian mercenary group Wagner to combat Islamist militants who control large parts of the country.

Yet journalist Mohamed Golfa in the capital, Bamako, tells the BBC that many in Mali agree with the transitional government that the UN peacekeepers aren't doing a good enough job.

The ruling puts the government under pressure to solve the issue of where to house asylum seekers.

Ameyu Etana
BBC News Afaan Oromoo

Image source, Getty Images

Ethiopia has formally requested to join the Brics alliance and says it's "hoping for a positive response", according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Meles Alem.

Brics - which is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - is seen by some as an alternative to the G7 group of developed nations.

Ethiopia is one of the biggest economies in Africa and has enjoyed an increase in trade with China and India among others, but its economy has recently been ravaged by war and drought.

Earlier this month, the Brics group said they had received requests from dozens of countries, including a few African states, that wished to join the club of emerging economies.

Brics countries have a combined population of more than 3.2 billion people, making up about 40% of the world's roughly eight billion people.

A crowd briefly enters the embassy in Iraq, a day after a Quran was burnt at a protest in Stockholm.

Fires detected as fighting rages in Sudan's Darfur regionpublished at 15:26 BST 29 June 2023

15:26 BST 29 June 2023

Image source, Planet

Evidence has emerged of significant damage in another part of the West Darfur region in Sudan, as fighting continues between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Nasa data from 27 June shows what appear to be a number of fires concentrated in the area of Murnei, about 80km (50 miles) south of the regional capital of El Geneina, which itself suffered extensive damage in mid-May.

We found satellite images showing the damage in Murnei occurred between 26 June and 28 June, with an image from yesterday showing smoke still visible at one location.

Image source, NASA

The heat signatures earlier in the week were picked up by Nasa’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS). It's not clear exactly which buildings might be burning, as there's little information coming out of that area.

It is the latest to suffer destruction from the conflict in the wider Darfur area, which has seen particularly intense fighting in recent weeks.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled across the border into Chad, since the fighting began.

Court of Appeal judges rule the government's plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda are unlawful.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Ethiopia says it is concerned by the expansion of the violence in Sudan to areas outside the capital city, Khartoum, as refugees continue to cross their border en masse.

There was now "worrying" fighting involving a rebel group in South Kordofan state, Ethiopia's foreign ministry spokesperson Meles Alem.

According to the UN, more than 50,000 people have crossed borders into Ethiopia since the conflict began in April between the Sudan's army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Last week, the army accused SPLM-North, a powerful rebel group with ties in neighbouring South Sudan and that controls areas in the South Kordofan state, of launching attacks.

With tensions escalating around the state’s capital Kadugli, many have fled the state. Violence has also been reported in Blue Nile state bordering Ethiopia.

The UN had said the the recent violence in Kurmuk locality of the Blue Nile was gravely concerning.

Mr Meles also mentioned the clashes in West Darfur, where the conflict has inflamed already fraught ethnic tensions between Arab and African communities similar to the violence that erupted two decades ago.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

The Gorongosa National Park, in central Mozambique, has invested more than $1m (£800,000) in the construction of six schools to absorb students who study in the surroundings of the local mountain range.

The administrator of the conservation area, Pedro Muagura, says that this is an initiative that brings together several partners, aiming to improve access to basic services for the local community.

The project includes the construction of laboratories, sports fields and houses for teachers.

The park, one of Mozambique’s famous conservation areas, was, for many years, badly affected by a rebel conflict.

Most of its wildlife, decimated during the civil war, has been restored thanks to an investment from the US-based Greg Carr Foundation.