The parlement in the Democratic Republic of Congo has voted to extend the state of urgence in Ituri and North Kivu – the two eastern provinces that have been rocked by insecurity.

The state of emergency imposed by President Félix Tshisekedi on 6 May has been extended six times now.

Out of 335 MPs, 334 voted in favour while one abstained.

Military administrations have replaced the civilian authorities to curb insecurity in the provinces where several attacks carried out by rebels have left thousands dead.

The violence has been on the increase despite the presence of thousands of UN peacekeepers.

Some of the attacks have been blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – one of the dozens of armed groups operating there.

The eastern provinces have aussi seen violence between ethnic groups.

UN makes plea for urgent aid for northern Mozambique
The UN’s migration agency has called for a “rapid expansion” of humanitarian aid and more funding for operations in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.

António Vitorino, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) director who is on a visit to Mozambique, said the assistance was needed to support the hundreds of thousands who have fled their homes because of insecurity in the area.

“Significant additional funding is needed to cover life-saving humanitarian needs and work towards lasting solutions,
especially before the next rainy and cyclone season in December,” he said.The IOM head visited the

district of Metuge, which hosts about 125,000 people of the more than 800,000 who have been displaced since the end of 2017.The IOM said it had provided assistance to more than 600,000

people in Cabo Delgado between January and July, including through shelter construction or reconstruction support and providing household items.However, the

organisation says its operations are underfunded. It estimates it needs $58m (£42m) to support emergency and post-crisis efforts.Cabo Delgado province has been the scene of

attacks by armed groups since 2017.

The trial of former Burkina Faso president Blaise Compaoré and 13 co-accused over the 1987 assassination of his predecessor Thomas Sankara will start on 11 October.

The trial will be conducted in public, military prosecutors in Burkina Faso’s capital Ougadougou said on Tuesday.Mr Compaoré was forced into exile in 2014 after he attempted to change the law to extend his rule.

He currently lives in Ivory Coast and may be tried in absentia. A warrant for his arrest was issued in 2015.In April, a Burkina Faso military tribunal indicted him for
“attack on state security, complicity in murder and concealment of corpses”.

But he has always denied involvement in Sankara’s assassination.Sankara, often called the African Che Guevara, was a hugely popular leader and has become a cult figure.

At least seven people have died after heavy rains in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.Rivers burst their banks in the capital causing flooding.

The city’s mayor, Adanech Abiebie, tweeted that the “damage to life and property was severe” in several areas in the city.

Dozens of people were injured and were being treated in different hospitals, according to local media.

The mayor expressed her grief for flood victims and said that the “city has learned the need to do more to minimise impact of heavy rain during rainy seasons”.

A Kenyan man is reported to have been allowed to leave Qatar after earlier being detained on charges of receiving money to spread misinformation.

A migrant rights group says that Malcolm Bidali – a security guard who blogged critically about the conditions of foreign workers in Qatar – paid a hefty fine before leaving the country on Monday.

Charges against him have reportedly been dropped. Human rights groups said Mr Bidali was held for three weeks in solitary confinement before being released in June.

The treatment of migrant workers in Qatar has attracted global attention in the run-up to the 2022 football World Cup, which the country is hosting