That's all from the BBC Africa Live page today. Keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website.

A reminder of today's proverb:

Click here to send us your African proverbs

We leave you with this photo from africashowboy Instagram account:

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

By suspending ex-leader Helen Zille, South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has signalled a break with the past.

The party has thrown its weight behind Mmusi Maimane, the young and charismatic leader who succeeded Ms Zille.

A one-time protégé of Ms Zille, he has worked tirelessly to increase the support of the DA, once seen as primarily concerned about the interests of racial minorities, in black areas in the hope of ending the dominance of the African National Congress in the 2019 general election.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AFP

Fans of newly promoted English Premier League club Newcastle United have started an online petition to get the club to retire the jersey number 24 worn by former player Chiek Tiote, external who died on Monday during a training session.

The Ivory Coast midfielder played for the club for seven years. He left in February to join China League One side Beijing Enterprises.

The petition calls on fans to back the move:

The former leader of South Africa's main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party, Helen Zille, has failed in her bid to prevent her suspension over a series of tweets which said that colonialism was not all bad.

On Saturday, Mmusi Maimane, the DA's first black leader, gave Ms Zille 72 hours to explain why she should not be suspended.

In a statement, the DA said that after considering her reasons it had decided to suspend her with immediate effect, and her disciplinary hearing would begin on Friday.

The statement said that Ms Zille's original tweets and her subsequent justifications had damaged the party's standing.

Ms Zille will however, continue in her government role as Premier of the Western Cape.

A BBC reporter has tweeted about the DA's decision:

Tomi Oladipo
BBC Monitoring's Africa security correspondent

Saudi Arabia should have significant support in Africa in its dispute with Qatar.

It has pumped billions of dollars over the years in economic and religious programmes across the continent.

African countries already make up more than half of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen.

But so far, Mauritania is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa to cut ties with Qatar after Saudi Arabia and other states in the Gulf Co-operation Council accused Qatar of backing militant Islamists and Iran - a charge it strongly denies.

Oil-producing Gabon has also criticised Doha, accusing it of showing “constant support for terrorist groups”.

Qatar vehemently denies the allegation.

Qatar is also a major investor in Africa. It has provided humanitarian aid and has mediated to try and end conflicts on the continent.

So, many African states are trying to avoid taking sides in the dispute. Both Somalia and Sudan have called for reconciliation among the Gulf states, while Kenya says it is keeping its head down for now.

Read: Food, flights and football at risk

Heavy rains are expected to continue in South Africa's Cape Town city and surrounding areas - just two weeks after a drought disaster was declared .

BBC Weather's Phil Avery has the details:

Jose Tembe
BBC Africa, Maputo

A new superstitious belief has emerged in some areas of Mozambique - that bald men have gold in their head.

However, the head has to be taken to a witchdoctor who will use magical powers to extract the gold - and make them rich.

As a result, police say five bald men have been killed in central Mozambique - two in May in Milange district, close to the border with Malawi, and three this month in Morrumbala district.

Two young people have so far been arrested over the killings.

Mozambique police spokesman Inacio Dina said a team had been sent to the remote region to investigate the murders:

See earlier post for more details

A military tribunal in mainly French-speaking Cameroon has refused to give bail to leaders and activists of the Anglophone community detained on terrorism-related charges following an unprecedented wave of protests over language rights, AFP news agency reports.

The tribunal ruled that lawyer Felix Agbor Nkongho, teacher Neba Fontem Aforteka'a and broadcaster Mancho Bibixy should remain in custody until their trial on 29 June, AFP adds.

The judge also rejected an appeal for the release of 24 other members of the Anglophone community charged with "acts of terrorism" and complicity to commit such acts.

All charges are punishable by death.

The group was arrested in January after the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (Cacsc) called a strike to campaign for the the rights of the English-speaking minority.

The mainly-English regions of South-West and North-West were hit by protests last year and early this year over the use of French in courts and schools.

English speakers make up about 20% of Cameroon's population of 22 million.

Read: Why Cameroon blocked the internet

The number of people killed in the worst winter storm to hit South Africa's Cape Town city in some three decades has risen to eight, officials say.

Millions of people in shanty towns have been worst-affected, with floods and heavy rain washing away homes built of planks and zinc sheets.

The heavy rains came about two weeks after the drought in Western Cape province, which includes Cape Town, was declared a disaster.

A spokesman for the Western Cape local government ministry confirmed that eight people had been killed - including a family of four in a fire caused by lightning.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

France has asked the UN Security Council to authorize the deployment of a new five-nation military force to the Sahel region to "combat terrorism, drug trafficking and trafficking in persons".

It circulated a draft resolution, urging the 15-member Security Council to give the force the power to "use all necessary means" to tackle instability in the region.

Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger agreed in March to set up the special counter-terrorism operation of 5,000 troops for the Sahel.

The force will have its headquarters in Mali, but will be under a separate command from UN troops deployed in the country since 2013.

The Security Council is due to vote on the resolution next week, with France's UN Ambassador Francois Delattre saying:

British citizens will be voting tomorrow to elect members of parliament and may possibly get a new Prime Minister if main opposition party Labour gets more seats than the ruling Conservatives.

In the last British parliament there were nine MPs with at least one African parent.

Will the share of MPs with African heritage increase?

Seven Kenyan MPs who represent three counties bordering Somalia have threatened to arm residents in the region to fight Islamist militant group al-Shabab, the Star publication reports. , external

Bare Shill, who spoke on behalf of other lawmakers, said security officials were sitting in their "comfort zones and claim to be fighting terrorists".

He said they would buy the guns from Somalia:

"Why are you not giving us guns? If you don't want to protect us, we will cross over to Somalia and buy guns."

Wajir, Garissa, and Mandera counties have experienced several attacks in recent days.

The latest happened on Tuesday, when four people died after a vehicle belonging to an NGO hit an improvised explosive device on the Daadab-Kulan road in Garissa county.

The MPs said the government was not implementing the same security measures it had adopted in other regions.

Popular Ethiopian artist Teddy Afro is winning fans beyond his home nation.

His latest album titled Ethiopia has topped the Billboard World Albums charts selling more than 500,000 copies.

He says his music is about love and reconciliation which he says Ethiopia needs following months of anti-government protests:

Prominent Sudanese human rights activist Mudawi Ibrahim Adam remains in jail after being detained by the authorities six months ago.

So far no date has been set for a trial. International campaigners have called for him to be released.

His daughter Wafa, who is in the capital, Khartoum, told BBC Newsday's James Copnall that her father was probably being held for reporting human rights violations in the western region of Darfur.

However Mr Mudawi denies the government's accusation that he worked with the rights organisation Amnesty International to compile its report last year which alleged that the Sudanese military used chemical weapons in Darfur.

Listen to the full interview:

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Get

Thirty-one Chinese nationals, held for illegal mining in Zambia, have been deported.

China said Zambia had provided insufficient evidence to justify the arrests.

It said one of those detained in the copper mining town of Chingola was a pregnant woman.

Zambian media said the Chinese were using children to steal copper from the mines.

There has been animosity between the Chinese and local communities in recent years, with Zambians complaining of abusive treatment and low pay.

China has invested more than $1bn (£980m) in Zambia, mainly in copper mines.

BBC Monitoring
News from around the globe

Image source, AFP

Somalia has appealed for a diplomatic solution to the deepening crisis between Qatar and a powerful bloc of Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Qatar Airways has been flying through Somalia's airspace since rival states cut travel and embassy links with Qatar on Monday.

"The Federal Government of Somalia is deeply concerned about the diplomatic row between the brotherly Arab countries," read a government statement.

Somalia is a member of the Arab League and has good relations with all the Arab states involved in the dispute.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister called on Qatar to cut ties with Palestinian group Hamas in the occupied territories, and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, if it wanted to end its isolation in the Gulf region.

Read: The Qatar diplomatic crisis explained

Image source, AFP

Nigeria's government has paid 375.8m naira ($1.2m; £930,000) to 20 people who blew the whistle on corruption, helping to recover 11.63bn naira, the Ministry of Finance has said.

The payments were the first since the government unveiled its whistleblower policy in December 2016, promising to reward people who came forward with information that led to the recovery of stolen sate assets.

Minister for Finance Kemi Adeosun said the policy was "an essential tool in the fight against corruption”, and had been improved to ensure that the identity of whistleblowers was protected.

The payments the 20 received - an average of around $60,000 each - were taxable, and were made only "upon confirmation of the final recovery of assets", she added.

In December 2016, the government said whistleblowers would get up to 5% of the recovered amount.

Read: Sharing Nigeria's cake

Image source, Image copyright

Five people have been killed by a storm in Cape Town that South African media dubbed "the mother of all storms".

Schools and universities have had to shut, roofs were blown off and shelters have been opened for those left destitute.

The storm comes at a time when the region has been been experiencing its worst drought in a century.

Read the full BBC story here

Stanley Kwenda
BBC Africa

Image source, AFP

Former Nigeria and Arsenal striker Nwanko Kanu has told BBC Africa that Arsene Wenger, who signed a new two year contract last week, should stay in the job until the club's board comes up with a proper succession plan.

Kanu says that Wenger's eventual departure has to be handled well to avoid the mistake Manchester United made when Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013, after managing it for 26 years.

"He's a good coach. For Arsenal to let him go, we have to plan very well. We don't want what happened with Manchester United to happen to us," Kanu said.

The club has had four managers since Ferguson's departure and is yet to win the coveted Premier League title.

Under Ferguson's reign Manchester United won 13 Premier League titles and a host of other titles.

Kanu said Arsenal had to back Wenger in the transfer market to strengthen the team.

"Everywhere you go everyone is making jokes about Arsenal so it doesn't sound good.This year we have to go to the market and get more players, maybe next season is going to be our season," he added.

The main political parties in the UK have pledged to keep spending 0.7% of the country's national income on foreign aid if they win Thursday's general election.

But critics question whether countries which do not have a good human rights record should get aid.