News Digest: Nigerian city Port Harcourt, from garden city to garbage city; Cameroon separatists 'risk death sentence'

1. Nigerian city Port Harcourt, from garden city to garbage city

Plastic pollution is blighting the lives of locals in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt.

It has long suffered from pollution from oil spills, but now plastic clogs the city’s waterways, killing marine life and endangering the livelihood of the local fishing population.

According to researchers, 10 rivers are responsible for depositing 90% of the plastic that ends up in the sea. Eight of them are in Asia and two in Africa: the river Nile and the river Niger.

The BBC’s Mayeni Jones went to what was once known as the Garden City of Nigeria, to find out what’s causing the problem and to meet some of the people fighting back.

2. Cameroon separatists 'risk death sentence'

Ten Cameroonian separatist leaders who were extradited from Nigeria earlier this year will face trial next month on terrorism charges that could lead to the death penalty, Reuters news agency quotes one of their lawyers as saying after a court hearing on Tuesday.

Among them is Sisuku Julius Ayuk Tabe, the leader of an Anglophone separatist movement in western Cameroon fighting to break away from the Francophone-dominated central government.

Mr Tabe and his co-defendants have been charges with 10 offences, including terrorism, advocating terrorism, secession, civil war and revolution.

The secessionist movement took up arms last year to demand independence for the North-West and South-West regions - the two English-speaking regions in a country where French is the most widely spoken official language.

Since then, hundreds of people including civilians, separatist fighters and government forces have been killed in the violence.

3. Corruption is a reality, says ANC chair

The chair of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) has told an inquiry into state capture that corruption has been "a reality for a long time".

State capture refers to business people exerting undue influence on government officials to secure lucrative contracts.

ANC chairman Gwede Mantshe, who previously served as the party's secretary-general, also told the inquiry that the controversial Gupta family wanted the ANC to intervene in their dispute with South Africa's commercial banks.

The Guptas and former President Zuma have always maintained their innocence.

When asked what the ANC did when it realised that corruption was a reality, Mr Mantashe said the party made a "unanimous decision" to establish an independent body to investigate state capture at its elective conference last December.

Mr Mantashe was the most senior ANC official to give evidence at the inquiry.

He also said that the ANC wanted to help the inquiry find out "whether there were any irregularities, undue enrichment, corruption and undue influence in the awarding of contracts, mining licenses, government advertising in The New Age newspaper, any other governmental services in the business dealings of the Gupta family with government departments and state-owned enterprises".

President Cyril Ramaphosa is also expected to give evidence in the New Year.

4. Niger 'shuts down Marie Stopes'

Reports from Niger say the authorities have ordered the closure of two centres run by the British charity, Marie Stopes International, saying they were illegally performing abortions.

The French news agency AFP quotes the health ministry as saying the decision follows an inquiry.

Niger passed a law in 2006 specifying that abortions are allowed only if the mother's life is in danger.

There's been no word from the charity.

Women in Niger have an average of more than seven children each - the highest birth rate in the world.

Earlier this month, Kenya - which also has strict abortion laws - said it was closing down abortion services provided by Marie Stopes International.

5. Déby visits Israel to restore ties

Chad is to restore its relations with Israel after President Idriss Déby made a surprise visit to Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the two-day visit would renew ties.

Diplomatic relations between Israel and Chad were severed in 1972, but Israeli newspaper Haaretz says coordination between the two countries in the defence arena "never truly ceased".

Mr Netanyahu said he would also visit the majority-Muslim nation "soon".

The two leaders discussed shared threats and the struggle against terrorism, as well as cooperation in agriculture, solar energy, water security and health, the statement from the Israeli premier's office said.