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 wise words: 

Click here to send us your African proverbs

And we leave you with this photo of a new work by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare:

The pastor who found one of the world's largest uncut diamonds says he expects to get "not less than $50 million" for the 709-carat precious stone, after it failed to reach its minimum reserve price at auction in Sierra Leone today, AFP news agency reports.

"I want my diamond to be sold abroad so I can get the best price to enable many people to benefit from the proceeds," Pastor Emmanuel Momoh told AFP. 

Today's highest bid, for $7.8m, came from a UK citizen based in Antwerp, the European diamond capital in Belgium, where the next auction is expected to take place in the next few weeks.

Image source, SAIDU BAH/AFP

The reserve price, which is the minimum amount that the diamond can be sold for and was set by the Sierra Leonean government, is a secret.

Last May, diamond-mining firm Lucara sold a 813-carat stone for $63m (£51m) at a closed auction in London.  

Read more:

• How I funded my studies by digging for Sierra Leone diamonds
• Why have so many huge diamonds been found recently?

UN chief Antonio Guterres, has told an international gathering on Somalia that after decades of conflict and stability, the conditions are now in place for it to become a success story. 

Mr Guterres said Somalia now had a government that could be trusted and a plan that made sense. 

At the end of the meeting in London, President Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo said now was the time for action.

Image source, Reuters

Earlier, the conference heard that although there had been improvements in security, Somalia faced the risk of a drought turning into famine. 

Six million people need help and the UN is seeking about $1bn (£780m) in aid.

The African Union has a large force in Somalia to help the government defeat the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group.

Image source, UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX

Two big cats - the African lion and the Sunda clouded leopard - are most at risk from extinction caused by loss of prey, according to a new analysis.

Lack of food was a factor in why seven big cats, including sabre-toothed tigers, went extinct at the end of the last Ice Age, say scientists.

The trend is continuing, threatening a range of modern big cats, they warn.

If the prey of big cats continues to decline it will add to other pressures such as habitat loss, a study found.

Dr Chris Sandom from the University of Sussex said: "I think it adds an extra pressure for these animals. They are already suffering quite heavily from other conflicts with humans."

Image source, UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX

Read the full BBC News story 

Image source, Social media

A leading South African university has suspended three students suspected of being linked to Nazi-inspired posters which appeared on campus notice boards earlier this week, a statement has said.

The posters at Stellenbosch University had caused outrage, with critics saying it was the latest sign of racism at the institution. 

The university has condemned the posters and started an investigation to find out who was behind them. 

In a statement, external, vice-chancellor Wim de Villiers said he had decided to suspend the three students "suspected of misconduct while disciplinary proceedings are ongoing". 

The posters, reminiscent of Nazi propaganda to rally support for Hitler, called for a "Fight for Stellenbosch".

The university has been fraught with racial tension since white minority rule ended in 1994.

Image source, Social media

The posters, reminiscent of Nazi propaganda to rally support for Hitler, called for a "Fight for Stellenbosch".

The university has been fraught with racial tension since white minority rule ended in 1994.

• Why South African students want to be taught in English

Image source, Getty Images

Ghanaian Anin Yeboah, a supreme court justice, has been elected as chairman of Fifa's Disciplinary Committee.

He was voted in for a four-year term at Thursday's congress, external of football's world governing body in Bahrain.

Yeboah was a member of Fifa's Ethics Committee last year.

He was one of several Africans voted onto committees at the congress, including Rwanda's Martin Ngoga as deputy chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee.

Read the full story here

There was disappointment earlier for bidders at an auction in Sierra Leone for the second largest diamond ever found in the country. Even the highest bid, at $7.8m, wasn't enough to meet the minimum price that had been set for the precious stone.

It will now be re-auctioned in the Belgian city of Antwerp, known as the diamond capital of Europe.

BBC Africa's Umaru Fofana, who reported on the extraordinary find by a Christian pastor, has a special connection to this story.

He used to hunt for diamonds in his spare time when growing up in Sierra Leone.

And he's been telling the BBC's David Amanor how finding a diamond changed the course of his life:

Read more: How I funded my studies by digging for Sierra Leone diamonds

Twitter users have been poking fun at Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe's spokesman after he denied that the 93-year-old falls asleep at meetings, saying the veteran leader was in fact closing his eyes to protect them from bright lights:  

British voters go to the polls on 8 June but how will the vote affect Africa?

The election follows last year's Brexit vote when voters decided to leave the European Union, a decision that is expected to bring a lot of changes to the UK's international relationships.

If you want to know where the major parties stand on trade, immigration, education or any other issue, and if you want clarification abut anything related to the election, let us know.

We'll put a selection of your questions to our reporters and in-house experts for their analysis.

Go to the BBC News website to send us your questions

Image source, Nigeria Presidency

Nigerian lawmakers have approved the national budget in both houses of parliament after a five-month delay, in a move that is hoped will kick-start the country's flagging economy. 

The budget of 7.5 trillion naira ($24bn; £19bn) was passed in both the House of Representatives and The Senate. 

It was slightly higher than the expenditure first put forward by President Muhammadu Buhari in December.

The budget can now be signed into law by the president.

President Buhari left Nigeria on Sunday to take medical leave in the UK for an undisclosed illness, leaving Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in charge.

Nigeria is in its second year of recession brought on by low oil prices which have slashed government revenues, weakened the naira currency and caused chronic dollar shortages. 

The senate tweeted confirmation that the government spending plans had been passed:

Image source, Getty Images

A new era for the African Champions League begins this weekend as a group stage featuring 16 teams kicks off.

There are five matches on Friday, two on Saturday and one Sunday with seven previous champions in action.

Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa continue the defence of their title on Sunday as they host Ethiopia's Saint George.

Sundowns' coach Pitso Mosimane says fixture fatigue could threaten their hopes.

Last year they became just the second South African winners of Africa's top club competition, beating Zamalek of Egypt 3-1 on aggregate in the final.

Read the full BBC Sport story 

Femi Kuti, son of the late Afrobeat legend Fela, has told the BBC that he'll try again after narrowly missing out on breaking the world record for the longest continuous note played on a saxophone. But how does he manage to play for so long? 

The 103 schoolgirls released from captivity after being taken by Islamist militants Boko Haram in Chibok, north-east Nigeria, will go back to school in September, a Nigerian minister has said.

Aisha Alhassan said the girls will be ready psychologically.

She said the rehabilitation centre in the capital, Abuja, where some of the girls have been kept, will be closed.

The girls include the 82 released on Saturday, Ms Alhassan said.

She told journalists that the young women were "stable" and "cheerful" compared to how the 21 freed last year were on their release.

Read the full BBC story here

Thirty-five men from Mozambique, Malawi and China have been convicted over an illegal logging operation which destroyed about 2,000 hectares of woodland and smuggled out $37m (£29m) worth of hard wood. 

Journalist Lucy Ashton told the BBC's Newsday programme how a small group of Malawian rangers brought down the racketeers last November:

Umaru Fofana
BBC Africa, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Diamond auction will now move to the Belgian city of Antwerp after none of the bidders matched the state's reserve price at the auction in Sierra Leone. 

See previous post

Someone has bid $7.77m (£6m) for an uncut diamond weighing 709 carats which has gone on sale at an auction in Sierra Leone, the BBC's Umaru Fofana reports from the capital Freetown.

They are now waiting to find out if the bid has reached the reserve price (the lowest price which the diamond can be sold for), which has been set by the government. 

It's the second largest diamond ever discovered in Sierra Leone and one of the 20 largest found anywhere. 

It was discovered in March by a local pastor and his workers in Kono district. 

If it does go for $7.77m, then Umaru would not have been far off with his own valuation of $7.5m! Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised though, given he was once a diamond miner himself. 

How I funded my studies by digging for Sierra Leone diamonds

Image source, NEVINE EL-AREF / EGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF ANTIQUITIES

The 3,700-year-old burial chamber of a pharaoh's daughter is believed to have been found near the remains of a recently-discovered pyramid in Egypt.

The ministry of antiquities said, external the chamber at the Dahshur royal necropolis, south of Cairo, contained a wooden box engraved with hieroglyphs.

Inside the box were four canopic jars filled with the organs of the deceased, likely a daughter of King Emnikamaw.

Read the full BBC News story

Image source, NEVINE EL-AREF / EGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF ANTIQUITIES

BBC World Service

The Libyan coastguard says it has turned back a boat packed with nearly 500 migrants bound for Europe, just as they were about to be rescued at sea. 

The migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, Syria, Bangladesh and Morocco, were returned to the Libyan capital, Tripoli, where they are being held at a detention centre. 

Libya accused a German rescue boat - run by the Sea-Watch organisation - of trying to disrupt its operation. But the captain said the EU-funded Libyan patrol boat had almost crashed into his vessel. 

Image source, Reuters

• The untold story of Europe's drowned migrants

Image source, AFP

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's spokesman has hit back at critics who accuse him of being asleep at public events when his eyes appear to be closed, saying the 93 year old is in fact protecting them from bright lights. 

George Charamba was quoted by the state-owned Herald newspaper, external as saying that Mr Mugabe travels regularly to Singapore to receive specialised treatment for an eye condition.

He added that "the rest of his body gets attended to" in Zimbabwe by a physician who is not only Zimbabwean but "is actually black".

The increasingly frail-looking Mr Mugabe's health has been the source of intense speculation, and his critics say his trips to Singapore show he has no confidence in Zimbabwe's hospitals. 

He is due to return from Singapore at the weekend after travelling to the country for his latest check-up.   

In his response, Mr Charamba said:

Image source, Reuters

Mr Charamba drew parallels with South Africa's late President Nelson Mandela, whose eyes were sensitive to flash photography:

Image source, AFP

Mr Mandela died in a private hospital in the main city, Johannesburg, in 2013 at the age of 95.

French newspaper Le Monde is running a profile, external on Sibeth Ndiaye, the 37-year-old Senegalese-French campaign guru of Emmanuel Macron, who has now been named as the president-elect's press secretary.

Ms Ndiaye is seen as one of the key figures who orchestrated the meteoric rise of Mr Macron's En Marche movement.

Le Monde says that she was ever-present during the Macron campaign and that along with his wife Brigitte Macron, was one of the most prominent women in his camp.

She's being hailed as the star of a new documentary that's just aired on French TV, which takes a behind-the-scenes look at Mr Macron's victory.

In the film, she jokes with Mr Macron, is seen advising and encouraging him, as well as organising his schedule. 

With her "dreadlocks and blue Adidas trainers" Ms Ndiaye does not fulfill the stereotypical image of those working in French politics, the paper adds.

Describing herself in her Twitter bio as an "apprentice geek and committed socialist", Ms Ndiaye grew up in the Senegalese capital Dakar, the youngest of four sisters in a highly political family. 

Both her parents were high-profile figures in Senegal, serving in senior positions under former President Abdoulaye Wade.

• What Emmanuel Macron's win means for Africa , external
• The meteoric rise of Emmanuel Macron