Summary

  • Escaped lion kills zookeeper in Nigeria

  • Protests against Israel's 'anti-African' migration policy

  • Children die in Guinea arson attack

  • South Sudan militias frees 300 children

  • Fatwa against FGM in Somaliland

  • Mali mayor's 'throat slit'

  • South Africans wait for 'Zexit'

  • Old Ethiopian plane becomes popular cafe

  • Anger over rising fuel price in Ghana

  • Kenya deports opposition lawyer to Canada

Live Reporting

Natasha Booty and Farouk Chothia

  1. Row over Ghana's rising fuel prices

    A close shot of fuel pumps at a petrol stationGetty Images

    Planned protests over rising fuel prices in Ghana have been criticised by the industry regulator, reports Joy Online, in an ongoing row with consumer bodies.

    The Ghanaian news site quotes the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) as saying that planned action by a lobby group and a union - the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (Copec) and Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) - is unjustified.

    The NPA adds that it has made "price stabilisation interventions over the past three months", calling the decision to protest "anything but noble".

    The price of petrol rose by up to 4% in January, according to Copec. Now a further 2% increase has been predicted for February by The Institute of Energy Security (IES) think tank.

    News site CitiFM says industry watchers want transparency on how prices are being stablised.

    Frustrated Ghanaians have been airing their views on Twitter:

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  2. Abducted Mali mayor 'found with throat slit'

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    The world through its media

    Baba Ould CheikhMalinet/Twitter

    The mayor of Mali's north-eastern town of Tarkint, who had been kidnapped by suspected militants last month has been found dead, the MaliJet news site reports.

    Baba Ould Cheikh was abducted from his residence in Tarkint by armed men between 21 and 23 January.

    MaliJet said that Ould Cheikh had been found "lifeless with his throat slit".

    He had negotiated the release of several European hostages held by jihadist groups in the past.

    The mayor had previously faced accusations of having links with a defunct Islamist group - Movement for Monotheism and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao) - as well as the Imghad and Allies Tuareg Self-Defence Group (Gatia), a powerful pro-government militia.

    Ould Cheikh was mentioned in the probe into the "Air Cocaine" incident in which a plane carrying tonnes of cocaine from Latin America crashed in Mali in 2009.

    He was arrested by Malian security forces in April 2013 for drug trafficking but was freed a few months later for lack of evidence.

  3. Pastor: My prayers delayed Cape Town water shutdown

    South African Pastor Paseka Motsoeneng, better known as Pastor Mboro, claims that the power of his prayers has delayed Day Zero in Cape Town - the day when the drought-stricken city's taps will be turned off to conserve water.

    "To show how effective my prayer is they have now moved the date from 12 April to May", he told the Times Live news site.

    City officials took the decision earlier this week to postpone Day Zero to 11 May.

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    A sterner tone is taken by evangelist preacher Angus Buchan, who is organising a national prayer meeting on 24 March in the city.

    He told News24:

    God is not happy with Cape Town. He's had enough! ...of the abuse of women and children, gangsterism, lawlessness, segregations, the gap between the extreme rich and the extreme poor. He's had enough. It will rain when the people repent."

    Last month, authorities in Cape Town enforced a water consumption limit of 50 litres per person per day in an effort to delay Day Zero.

    Our Cape Town reporter Mohammed Allie says it isn't easy for a person to use just 50 litres a day - his wife has even given up showering.

    South Africa's WaterWise notes a typical shower uses 15 litres per minute, while a standard toilet consumes 15 litres per flush.

    This video further explains why Cape Town is shutting its water supply:

  4. Somaliland 'bans female genital mutilation'

    This photo taken on May 11, 2017 in Nairobi shows surgical instruments used in the process of clitoral restorative surgeryAFP

    A long-running campaign has been waged around the world against FGM

    The government and Muslim clerics in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have issued a fatwa, or religious edict, banning some forms of female genital mutilation and promising to punish violators.

    The fatwa says it is "forbidden to perform any circumcision that is contrary to the religion [of Islam], which involves cutting and sewing up", the Voice of America's news site reports.

    It adds that girls who suffered from such circumcision will be eligible for compensation "depending the extent of the wound and the violation caused".

    "Any one proven to be performing the practice will receive punishment depending on the extent of the violation," the fatwa says.

    Somaliland's parliament is expected to pass legislation approving the ban after the fatwa was issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and religious scholars, reports the BBC's Ahmed Said from the capital, Hargeisa.

    Most people in Somaliland, which broke away from Somalia in 1991, are Muslims.

  5. Kenyan lawyer deported to Canada

    A Kenyan pro-opposition lawyer, Miguna Miguna, has been deported a week after he was arrested on treason-related charges.

    Mr Miguna, who is Kenyan-born but also has Canadian citizenship, was put on a flight on Tuesday evening bound for Canada via Amsterdam.

    The leader of the Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) Raila Odinga (C) raises a bible as he "takes an oath" during the "swearing-in" ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya, 30 January 2018.EPA

    Mr Miguna Miguna (L) attended Raila Odinga's "inauguration"

    His charge relates to his participation in a ceremony one week ago in which the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, swore himself in as the "people's president".

    A High Court judge earlier ordered police to release Mr Miguna after they were unable to produce him in court.

    The opposition coalition said it would file contempt of court charges against the government for violating the judge's order.

  6. Today's wise words

    Our African proverb of the day:

    The hunter who waits too long only pierces the tail."

    Sent by Stephen Isingoma in Hoima, Uganda

    Hunters return to town with a bushbuck during the Aboakyer Festival parade in Winneba on May 6, 2017. The festival is a celebration of the Efufu people and consists of hunting a bushbuck. The festival is believed to have originated about 300 years ago when Efutu people occupied their present home along the coast.AFP

    Hunters in southern Ghana return to town with their catch during an annual ceremony known as the Aboakyer festival

    Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.

  7. Good morning

    Welcome to BBC Africa Live where we will bring you the latest news and views from around the world.