Odeo Sirari
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Kenyan main opposition Coalition for Reforms and and Democracy (Cord) has suspended demonstrations planned for Monday to demand that a new electoral commission be appointed to run next year's general election, says Cord official Johnson Muthama.

He added that protests would resume a week later if dialogue is not initiated to resolve differences.

There have been violent clashes between police and protesters in the last two weeks, resulting in several fatalities. 

The government says the protests are illegal.

Cord had planned to hold them every Monday, accusing the electoral commission of being biased.  

Tarek Talaat
BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

In football, Al Ahly chairman Mahmoud Taher is backing Hossam Ghaly to return to play for Egypt, now that a row the player had with a national team assistant coach has been resolved.

"The problem between Osama Nabeh and Hossam Ghaly has ended," Taher said.

"Ghaly is one of the most important players in Egypt now and I'm sure he will back in the national team soon."

The 34-year-old, who played for Tottenham Hotspur in England and also had spells in Belgium and Netherlands, has played more than 70 times for Egypt.  

Read more on BBC Sport.

The military have turned up in their finest attire to celebrate Africa Day in Zambia's capital: 

Africa Day is the annual commemoration of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity, which became the African Union. 

It is a public holiday in Zambia, Ghana, Mali, Namibia, Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

Zambia's President Edgar Lungu, on the right, is attending the Africa Day celebration at the Freedom Statue in Lusaka:

The BBC's Akwasi Sarpong  is presenting Focus on Africa from Zambia all week so you can tune into the programme at 15:00 GMT.   

Tell us on Facebook, external how you are celebrating Africa Day. 

Or send us pictures of your celebrations on our WhatsApp number +447341070844

Brian Hungwe
BBC Africa, Harare

Thousands of supporters of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party have been bused into the capital, Harare, for a so-called million man march to show solidarity with President Robert Mugabe.

All the country's provinces are sending people of different ages, though it was dubbed a  march for youth. 

A military helicopter has been hovering above the venue monitoring the situation.   

President Mugabe, 92, is expected to address the crowd congregating at a square named after him.    

See 09:04 entry for more details

Image source, AFP

Kenya's military says it has killed 21 fighters of militant Islamist group al-Shabab in Somalia. 

Kenyan troops hunted down the militants after their convoy was shot at in western Somalia, near the border of the two countries, said army spokesman David Obonyo. 

Al-Shabab said its fighters had killed five soldiers, wounded eight and burnt one military vehicle in the fighting, Reuters news agency reports. 

The army did not say whether it suffered any casualties. 

Kenyan forces entered Somalia in 2011 to fight the al-Qaeda-linked militants. 

Read more: Rivalry between al-Shabab and IS 

The BBC's Christian Parkinson is on the campaign trail with a new party in South Africa as it gears up to contest local government elections in August. 

The Khoi San Revolution party's main election promise is to campaign for land rights.

The party's leader, Stanley Pieterse, told the SABC news site, external back in February that the party was set up out of frustration: 

Abdinoor Aden
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Billions of Kenyan shillings allocated to promote free primary school education for children in the East African state has been misappropriated, according to a report released today by the anti-corruption commission.

It says some schools used the money to give loans to parents, while head teachers used money meant for schools to fund foreign trips.

Education Minister Fred Matiangi was present at the meeting where the report was released.   

Some foreign donors withheld their funding towards free primary school education citing massive corruption among head teachers and state officials.

BBC Monitoring

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) says it carried out a rocket attack on a French-run uranium mine in northern Niger, promising more attacks against "crusader companies that rob our riches".

The AQIM statement said that the group's affiliated Al-Nasr Brigade in the Sahara targeted with Grad rockets a mine run by French company Areva in Arlit in northern Niger, despite, it boasted, the tight security measures there.

In 2013, the mine was hit with a suicide attack claimed by jihadists.

In March, AQIM claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on a gas plant in Algeria jointly run by BP, saying it was part of its "war on the interests of the Crusaders".

The Al-Qaeda branch has stepped up its attacks since December after partnerships with Sahara-based jihadist groups, targeting a number of top hotels and other locations in West Africa.

The latest AQIM statement was issued in Arabic via the group's accounts on social media.

Image source, Google

Image source, AFP

Zimbabwe's ruling party youth are due to hold today what state media has billed "The Million-Man march" to honour President Robert Mugabe, Africa's oldest ruler. 

The planned march is a fitting tribute to a leader who led Zimbabwe to independence in 1980, columnist Stephen Mpofu writes in the Herald newspaper, external. 

It is also a challenge to the youth to "model the selfless leadership of the man they are honouring", he added. 

Critics of the 92-year-old Mr Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980, accuse him of brutally suppressing dissent in order to cling to power.  

Image source, Reuters

One of Nigeria's most influential Muslim clerics, the Emir of Kano, has called for an end to child marriages, the local Vanguard newspaper reports, external.

Muhammad Sanusi told religious leaders in the northern city of Kano, his seat of power, that "the time is ripe to take a stand against this age long practice of early marriage", the Vanguard reports. 

He said Nigeria should follow the example of mainly Muslim states such as Morocco, Egypt and Malaysia, where the marriage age was 17, 18 and 19 respectively. 

Many Muslims in Nigeria believe that boys and girls can marry once they reach the age of puberty. 

The emir also frowned on polygamy, saying men do not have the "necessary economic power" to support themselves but still take a more than one wife.

Read more on the BBC News website: A modernising emir?

Here's our African proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Image source, AFP

Welcome to the BBC Africa Live page where we will bring you the latest news from around the continent.