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Zimbabwe has been ordered to suspend power generation from its main source of electricity, the Kariba hydroelectric dam.

The news is a blow to Zimbabweans who are already facing up to 12 hours a day with no electricity.

The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) said water storage levels were too low for power generation.

It added that Zimbabwe had already used up its annual allocation of water for electricity, and It was eating into neighbouring Zambia’s share.

Kariba supplies more than 60% of Zimbabwe's electricity.

Currently its reservoir has 4% useable water or a quarter of last year’s levels.

Zimbabwe will only be able to resume generating power from Kariba in January.

Zimbabwe has faced rolling power cuts due to drought, and breakdowns at its aging power plants.

Officials say the militant Islamist siege of a hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu is nearly over but at this stage we've no idea how many lives were lost.

Somalia's state minister for the environment, Adam Aw Hirsi, was in a meeting in the Villa Rays hotel at the time of the attack by al-Shabab militants.

He told the BBC that after the first deafening explosion, some managed to escape via a back door just before al-Shabab gunmen stormed the building.

But he spoke of others being in their rooms in different wings of the hotel.

Of great concern to the government is the fact that this area of Mogadishu, close to the presidency, is meant to be extremely well protected.

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A court in Comoros has handed down a life sentence for high treason to former President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi.

He was convicted of selling passports to stateless people living in the Gulf and had been accused of embezzling millions of dollars.

Citing an unfair trial, Sambi, 64, refused to attend the hearings at the State Security Court whose rulings cannot be appealed.

Sambi - who is an arch rival of the Comoros President Azali Assoumani - had already spent four years behind bars before he faced trial.

He pushed through a law in 2008 allowing the sale of passports for the east African island nation for high fees. His lawyer said there was no evidence of missing money.

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Leaders from the East Africa region are holding talks in Kenya aimed at ending conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

In his opening address Kenya's former President Uhuru Kenyatta - who is a mediator - appealed to all sides to give peace a chance.

Last week regional leaders agreed on a ceasefire following intense fighting between DR Congo's army and the M23 rebel group in North Kivu province.

The situation was reportedly calm over the weekend.

A spokesman for the rebels said they were not invited to attend the latest talks in Kenya.

DR Congo's government has accused Rwanda of backing the group - which Kigali denies