The organiser of Tanzania's flopped nationwide protests has made her Instagram account private.

Image source, Instagram

Mange Kimambi's Instagram account acted like a whistleblowers’ platform where public servants leaked internal memos to her in exchange for their anonymity.

The Los Angeles-based Tanzanian had called for nationwide protests today to force the president to resign.

She explained her reasons in a petition on Change.org, external:

But the police chief in Tanzania’s administrative capital Dodoma, Gilles Muroto, warned people not to protest:

The streets, so far, appear to be empty.

Some may interpret this as an example of a vocal campaigner retreating from public life.

But unless Ms Kimambi blocks each of her 1.8 million followers they will still see her posts.

When you make your Instagram account private, anybody who is already following you can still see your posts. But any new people have to request permission to see them.

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

There is outrage in South Africa after two white men hung an effigy of a black politician from a trees in scenes reminiscent of southern states of the US.

Gauteng provincial education minister Panyaza Lesufi, a much-respected politician locally, posted pictures on his Twitter account from Wednesday.

Referring to the two men as "morons" Mr Lesufi said that “we defeated your racist grandparents, you are nothing!”

Mr Lesufi had been involved in an effort to get black children into Afrikaans-only schools which are predominantly white, much to the displeasure of some of the white parents. He said:

The governing African National Congress (ANC), external in Gauteng said it is outraged by threats made against Mr Lesufi and his children by a group of white people who have accused him of "raping Afrikaans”.

South Africa is still battling to reverse the legacy of apartheid, which ended in 1994 when Nelson Mandela became the country’s first democratically elected president.

Image source, Getty Images

Some female runners with naturally high testosterone levels will have to race against men or change events unless they take medication, under new rules issued by athletics' governing body.

The rules,, external which start on 1 November 2018, would apply to women who race in track events from 400m up to the mile.

The IAAF believes the new rules will stop women with high testosterone levels gaining a competitive advantage.

Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya is expected to be among those affected.

The South African runner has previously been asked to undertake gender testing by athletics chiefs but no results have ever officially been made public.

Similar restrictions brought in by athletics' world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, were suspended following a legal challenge by the Indian sprinter Dutee Chand in 2015.

• Read the full article on the BBC Sport website

Image source, Getty Images

At least 600 weapons have been stolen from a former United Arab Emirates-run military training centre in Somalia and are for sale in the capital Mogadishu, weapons dealers told Reuters news agency.

The weapons include new Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Buyers told Reuters they had been sold the weapons by Somali soldiers who had been training at the facility.

The implication is that they stole them while the centre was being closed down.

On Monday, gunshots were heard at the former training centre and UAE-trained troops that were still there left with as many weapons as they could, reports Reuters.

The UAE has been paying for the soldiers' training but stopped earlier this month because of a diplomatic fall-out.

The government in Mogadishu had been angered by Emirati plans to train security forces in the breakaway region of Somaliland and told the UAE that they no longer needed its help.

Nigerians are still waiting to hear how their President Muhammadu Buhari will react to being summoned to parliament to explain what he is doing to stop the violence between herders and farmers in central states.

But President Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, is quoted as saying on Channels News simply that he "will respond appropriately when officially summoned by the House of Representatives".

The House Speaker Yakubu Dogara tweeted the unusual step last night:

It comes after Catholics were killed at a church in a village in Benue state this week. It has been blamed on herdsmen. Eleven ethnic Hausa traders were killed in Makurdi in retaliation, reports AFP.

The FBI - Female Bikers Initiative - is a group of Nigerian motorbike enthusiasts taking health awareness across the country.

The bikers told our colleague Ema Edosio from BBC News Pidgin they've managed to fund cancer tests for 500 women:

Our colleague Sammy Awami has these photos showing the empty streets of Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam where planned anti-government protests have not materialised:

It follows a threat to beat protesters made yesterday by one of Tanzania's top policeman.

Dodoma city's police chief Gilles Muroto said yesterday:

Seven people have been arrested in the north-eastern city of Arusha for their alleged role in planning the country-wide protests.

Organisers of the demonstrations accuse President John Magufuli of being a dictator.

They say his government has been silencing critics, and that Mr Magufuli has passed laws undermining freedom of expression.

Image source, PA

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said that his country's decades long quarrel with the UK is over, reports the Herald newsaper, external.

For years, former President Robert Mugabe railed against Britain and its political leaders as they opposed his land reforms, his persecution of white farmers and his management of Zimbabwe's economy.

In 1997, Tony Blair's government pulled out of talks to fund Mr Mugabe's land reforms and Mr Mugabe accused the British of meddling in his country's affairs by funding his political opponents.

Britain began to withdraw development aid and sanctions were imposed on the president and his inner circle.

Mr Mnangagwa, who has been president since November, said at a rally yesterday that this era is finished:

He said that relations with Britain are tangibly better:

He also made clear what motivated him to work on this relationship:

• Read more: How UK-Zimbabwe relations went sour

Image source, AFP

The French billionaire industrialist, Vincent Bolloré, has been placed under formal investigation over the corruption of foreign public officials and complicity in corruption in West Africa.

It's alleged that a subsidiary of the Bolloré Group undercharged two African presidents - in Guinea and Togo - for work on election campaigns, in return for lucrative contracts to manage two shipping container terminals.

Mr Bolloré - who's spent two days being questioned by police - was allowed to leave after attending court. He and his company have denied any wrongdoing.

• Read more on the BBC News website

Image source, AFP

Nigerian media report that 162 babies and children have been rescued from three illegal orphanages - one of which is referred to as a "baby factory".

The precise nature of the so-called baby factory is not clear.

The term is sometimes used to describe children's homes where abandoned or orphaned babies are sold for profit.

But, in a previous case, external, the phrase has also described a place where pregnant women were reportedly held until they gave birth and their babies sold.

Speaking yesterday about the 162 children in this latest case, Lagos state Commisioner for Youths and Social Development Agboola Dabiri said:

Our African proverb of the day:

Image source, AFP

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

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

That's all from BBC Africa Live until 08:00 GMT. In the meantime, keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or check 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 picture of a market in Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan:

Ishaq Khalid
BBC Africa, Abuja

Image source, AFP

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has been summoned to appear before parliament's lower chamber, the House of Representatives, to answer questions about the frequent outbreaks of violence in central Nigeria which have left hundreds dead this year.

The unusual step was taken after news broke of a shocking attack on a Catholic church in Benue state which left 16 people dead, including two priests.

The security forces are overstretched having to deal with regular clashes between cattle herders and farmers.

The unrest coincides with the continued insurgency in northern Nigeria by Boko Haram jihadists.

It is not clear if President Buhari will agree to appear before parliament.

A man with stab wounds has died after protesters prevented medical staff from treating patients at a hospital in South Africa, the local Times Live news site reports, external.

“The patient‚ who was stabbed on the neck‚ ended up dying because we were blocked from attending to [patients]," Dr Ebrahim Variava‚ who works at the hospital‚ was quoted as saying.

"Another one with a gunshot wound survived because the [patients] were later transferred to another hospital when the protesters left‚” he added.

The incident took place at a hospital in Klerksdorp town in South Africa's North West province.

It has been hit by a wave of protests demanding the resignation of provincial premier Supra Mahumapelo, who is accused of leading a corrupt and incompetent administration.

He denies the allegations.

Protesters have also looted and destroyed shops, including liquor stores, as this YouTube video shows.

The violence has caused anger among some Twitter users:

Nigeria's Fulani herdsmen and Berom farmers share a history of animosity which in recent years has flared into violence.

But men from both ethnic groups began working together after the discovery of a tin mine.

As one told BBC Nigeria correspondent Stephanie Hegarty: "Mining brings people together just like football does."

Watch her video here:

Read the article here.

Umaru Fofana
BBC Africa, Freetown

Sierra Leone's new parliament has controversially elected a speaker after MPs were involved in a brawl earlier today.

Abass Bundu - a member of the governing Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) and former secretary-general of the West African regional body, Ecowas - was elected to the post with the backing of the opposition C4C party and 13 paramount chiefs.

He obtained 71 votes, less than half of the 146 MPs who make up the chamber.

The largest party in parliament - the All People's Congress (APC) - did not take part in the vote. Its MPs either walked out or were ejected by police after they attempted to disrupt proceedings.

The SLPP won the presidency, but the APC emerged as the biggest parliamentary party in tightly contested general elections.

Image source, AFP

Without an office to work in, South Sudan's Gok State governor Madhang Majok Meen has been forced carry out official duties under a tree.

"We are all operating under the trees - the governor and the ministers," the state's Information Minister John Madol Panther told Eye Radio, external. "We don't have offices completely but we are now constructing (offices)."

He said state ministers are forced to "walk on foot to work" due to the lack of vehicles.

"Sometimes it is difficult when it rains,” Mr Meen said.

This comes after images were shared on Facebook of the governor sat outdoors behind a plastic table, which had a plaque bearing his name.

Gok is one of several states formed in 2015 when President Salva Kiir dissolved the country's 10 regional states and made 28 new ones.

Many of the state governments were apparently left without equipment and budgets after the division.

Mr Panther says the community has donated money for the governor's new office, which is expected to be completed later this year.

Image source, Getty Images

Anti-corruption police in France have held billionaire Vincent Bolloré for questioning for a second day over allegations that his company helped two African presidents win power in return for lucrative contracts.

Investigators are looking into allegations that his Havas advertising agency provided discounted communications advice to Guinean President Alpha Condé and Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé at election time in return for the Bolloré Africa Logistics company being given licences to operate container ports in Conakry and Lomé.

All parties deny the allegations.

On Wednesday, investigators decided to hold Bolloré and two senior executives - group chief executive Gilles Alix, and the head of the international division of Havas, Jean-Philippe Dorent - for a further 24 hours, after which they could face charges, AFP news agency reports.

The Red Cross in Kenya says floods in the centre of the country have now forced more 200,00 people to flee their homes.

The aid organisation says the situation is dire and with heavy rainfall persisting, the flood waters will continue to pose a risk to thousands more across the country.

Many roads have been submerged and are now impassable and the state owned power company says the Kiambere Dam, north-east of the capital Nairobi, is overflowing.

It has asked people living downstream to evacuate their homes.

The organisation has been sharing pictures of its rescue operations: