Summary

  • Protesters killed in Burundi in new anti-third term demonstrations

  • AU chief says Burundi environment 'not conducive for elections'

  • 'Pirate treasure' handed over in Madagascar

  • Bill Gates launches plan to prevent epidemics such as Ebola

  • African players react to Adebayor's Facebook outburst

  • Send us comments and story suggestions using hashtag #BBCAfrica

  1. Scroll down for today's newspublished at 18:04 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    That's it from us today. Listen to the Africa Today podcast and keep up-to-date with stories from across the continent on the BBC News website.

    We leave you with this photo of students in Soweto joking around on their way home from school. They are on a street in the South African township littered with stones after a protest over unaffordable electricity prices and new pre-paid metres.

    Boys joke as they walk from school on a street filled with stones left behind by protesters who were dispersed by police in Soweto, South Africa - 7 May 2015Image source, Reuters
  2. Skin lightening ban welcomedpublished at 17:52 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    The Ivorian ban on skin-lightening products has been widely welcomed on the BBC Africa's Facebook page, external:

    Botlhe Kamerun Segokgo says black people who bleach their skins are "mentally enslaved".

    Ibrahim Abolaji agrees: "This decision is long overdue. I wonder why African governments have waited so long to stop this behaviour. I hope other African countries would move to save African women."

    A skin-lightening product advert in Abidjan, Ivory CoastImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    Billboards advertising skin-lightening products can be seen in Abidjan

    Ngwenya Hlazo adds: "Free at last! Our women are beautiful in our natural skin, those that bleach their skin turn us off."

    Ifeanyi Orji Perfect says: "Apart from health concerns we should be the way our creator made us.

    Caleb Danny Peterson tells African women to be proud: "Who deceived you that being light skinned is beautiful? I love dark girls honestly."

  3. Gbagbo trial datepublished at 17:50 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    Ivory Coast's former President Laurent Gbagbo will go on trial for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 11 November 2015.

    At his initial hearing in The Hague in December 2011, he became the first former head of state to appear at the ICC.

    The case follows an ICC investigation into the four months of conflict that began in Ivory Coast when Mr Gbagbo refused to hand power to his long-time rival Mr Ouattara, who was declared winner of the 2010 presidential election.

    Ivory Coast"s Laurent Gbagbo (L) and his wife Simone sit in a room at Hotel Golf in Abidjan, after they were arrested, in this April 11Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Laurent Ggagbo was arrested in Abidjan with his wife in April 2011

  4. Burundi's court 'wrong'published at 17:31 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    African Union chief Nkosozana Dlamini Zuma has reiterated her comments on CCTV, external about Burundi in a series of tweets, external.

    She says that the environment there "is not conducive for elections".

    She also questions the decision by Burundi's constitutional court that the president's third-term bid is legal: "Other than the #Burundi Court, all interpretations of the constitution & #Arusha Agreements are clear that there shouldn't be a third term."

    People on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania
    Image caption,

    Hundreds of people arrived in Tanzania from Burundi today fleeing political tensions

    People leaving the MV Liemba in Tanzania
    Image caption,

    The MV Liemba, which crosses Lake Tanganyika between the two nations, takes 600 passengers

  5. Overwhelmed in Darpublished at 17:13 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    Heavy rains are not unusual in Tanzania's main city of Dar es Salaam, but the recent heavy downpours have overwhelmed the infrastructure, reports the BBC's Hassan Mhelela.

    Car driving through flood in Dar es SalaamImage source, Michuzi

    The damage is still being assessed but police say two people have been killed and many hundreds have been made homeless.

    Some of the major roads into the city have been closed because water levels were rising rapidly and bridges have been submerged.

    Policeman at a main roadImage source, Michuzi
  6. 'Chinese textile smugglers' arrestedpublished at 17:13 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    Yusuf Ibrahim Yakasai
    BBC Hausa, Kano

    Nigerian customs officials have arrested four Chinese nationals accused of smuggling textiles into the country.

    Bales of material worth millions of dollars have also been confiscated after 26 warehouses were raided in Kano, the commercial centre of northern Nigeria.

    Officials looking at confiscated material in Kano, Nigeria

    In the last decade, more than 20 textile factories have closed in the city, unable to compete with cheaper foreign imports. There is only one factory still in operation.

    Bales of material in a warehouse in Kano, Nigeria
  7. Jailed over motorway scandalpublished at 16:54 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    A court in Algeria has jailed 14 people and fined seven foreign companies over a massive fraud case.

    There were allegations of money laundering and embezzlement of public funds over the construction of a motorway, the AFP news agency reports

    Started in 2006, it was due to be completed four years later at a total cost of $6bn (£3.9bn); but it is has yet to be finished and costs have risen to more than double that figure, it says.

  8. 'Pirate treasure' mappublished at 16:30 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    A map showing the spot where a silver ingot - believed to be treasure of Scottish pirate William Kidd - was found in Madagascar.

    MapImage source, Google/BBC
  9. Fleeing Burundipublished at 16:20 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    Three thousand refugees from Burundi have arrived in Tanzania over the past few weeks, according to the UN refugee agency.

    The BBC's Tulanana Bohela has been to Kagunga, where new arrivals are crammed onto the shore of Lake Tanganyika.

    Burundians on the shore of Lake Tanganyika

    They are fleeing the political tension in Burundi created by President Pierre Nkurunziza's third-term bid.

    Image showing belongings
  10. Economic impactpublished at 16:18 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    Fears are growing that the crisis in Burundi could undermine the development of neighbouring East African nations, the BBC's Russell Padmore reports.

    "We are expecting if the situation in Burundi gets worse there could some economic effect on Uganda," Nebert Rugadya, a business commentator in Kampala, told the BBC.

    Demonstrators duck and run from soldiers firing into the air to disperse a crowd of demonstrators who had cornered a suspected member of the ruling party's Imbonerakure youth wing in a sewer in the Cibitoke district of Bujumbura, Burundi, Thursday 7 May 2015Image source, AP
    Image caption,

    Protesters duck as soldiers try to disperse a crowd during clashes in Bujumbura today

  11. Propaganda warspublished at 16:15 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    The footage showing Boko Haram fighters on trucks and motorcycles fleeing the air force indicates that Nigeria's military is willing to get involved in the propaganda war, the BBC's Africa security correspondent Tomi Oladipo says in his latest piece.

    Screen grab of militants fleeing in NigeriaImage source, Nigerian military
    Image caption,

    Footage showing alleged Nigerian militants fleeing military bombardments

  12. Bat manurepublished at 15:44 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    The BBC Africa Business Report team is pictured today filming in a cave two hours from Toliara in the south of Madagascar where a local company extracts bat droppings - known as guano - used to make fertiliser:

    Filming in a cave in Madagascar
  13. Who was Captain Kidd?published at 15:36 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    Treasure thought to have belonged to notorious Scottish pirate William Kidd has been discovered off Madagascar.

    Capt Kidd was executed in 1701 for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean.

    He was actually appointed by the Crown to tackle piracy and capture enemy French ships. To find out more about him, click here.

    Drawing of Scottish-born American privateer and pirate William 'Captain' Kidd standing on the deck of a ship, brandishing a sword, circa 1690Image source, AFP
    Image caption,

    There have been numerous searches for William Kidd's loot

  14. Deal makerpublished at 15:35 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    Does the name Jean-Yves Ollivier ring any bells? He's the man behind some of the continent's oil deals and is now coming out of the shadows.

    The Frenchman says his career has been built on trading favours. At first he helps someone but does not ask anything in return.

    But "the gain comes afterwards and for a mutually beneficial project", he tells Bloomberg, external in a profile piece.

    Jean-Yves OllivierImage source, Monica Schipper
  15. Bushmeat is backpublished at 15:15 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    Chris Ewokor
    BBC Africa, Abuja

    Bushmeat is a popular delicacy here in Nigeria, but with the advent of Ebola people have been less keen to eat it. The handling of wild animal meat is believed to spread the virus to humans.

    Now that the Ebola scare is dying down, animals killed by hunters are again being seen for sale along major highways.

    Here are some rabbits and a snake on display along the Abuja-Kubwa expressway.

    A snake and dead rabbits for sale in Nigeria
    A snake and dead rabbits for sale in Nigeria
  16. Burundi police criticisedpublished at 14:51 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    The US embassy in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, has criticised the police action that broke up a demonstration outside the embassy on Tuesday.

    In a Facebook post, external it says that those protesting against the president's third-term bid were not violent nor was police protection requested, but the demonstration was dispersed with tear gas and warning shots in the air.

    The embassy says that "protesters should be able to communicate their message without being met with violence and reprisal".

    Police march past burning barricades down the main road in the Cibitoke neighbourhood of Bujumbura, on May 7Image source, AFP
    Image caption,

    Protests against the third-term bid are now in their 12th day

  17. Burundians in Mali complainpublished at 14:22 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    Alex Duval Smith
    Bamako, Mali

    Despite his attempts to steer clear of it, the African Union's representative in the Sahel, former Burundian President Pierre Buyoya, could be drawn into his country's electoral row.

    Burundian residents in Mali - who say they number about 50 - were hoping today to hold a protest over President Pierre Nkurunziza's third-term bid and then hand a letter to Mr Buyoya's office.

    The protest was not allowed to go ahead, but the Burundians here say they will hand the letter over tomorrow.

  18. No visas for central African nationspublished at 14:22 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    Herve Yonkeu
    BBC Africa

    From today, residents of Central African Economic and Monetary Community (Cemac), do not need visas to travel within the six-nation union.

    Visas were supposed to have been abolished last year, but Gabon and Equatorial Guinea had not complied.

    But following Wednesday's Cemac heads of state meeting in Gabon, they agreed to waive visas for all who carry biometric passports or biometric ID.

  19. French inquiry into CAR abusepublished at 14:05 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    A full French investigation has been launched into the child sex abuse allegations made against French peacekeepers in Central African Republic. Details of a United Nations inquiry into allegations that 14 soldiers were involved in the abuse was leaked last week.

    French President Francois Hollande said that "if some soldiers have behaved badly, I will show no mercy".

  20. Four killed in Burundi clashespublished at 14:03 British Summer Time 7 May 2015

    The BBC's Maud Jullien in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, has been talking to the family of a 28-year-old who was killed this morning by a grenade that exploded in front of his house.

    Seen here mourning his body, the family believe a supporter of the ruling party threw it:

    Family by the covered body of a man who died in a grenade attack in Burundi

    Another person was killed in Cibitoke district, where protests against the president's third-term bid continue, by police who reportedly fired in the air.

    In what looks like a revenge attack, a member of the ruling party's youth wing, Imbonerakure, was burnt and killed by protesters in Nyakabiga district.

    A man pleads with soldiers in BurundiImage source, AP
    Image caption,

    A suspected member of Imbonerakure pleads with soldiers to protect him from a mob of demonstrators

    The BBC's Great Lakes service says that outside Bujumbura, in the rural area of Gisozi, a protester was also killed after police fired at a demonstration against President Nkurunziza.