In Kenya, a parliamentary committee is holding a public hearing into an alleged corruption scandal in which at least 40 people are suspected to have been paid 9bn Kenyan shillings ($88m, £66m) for ghost supplies.

It is the second big scandal in two years to hit the National Youth Service (NYS), an initiative by the government to train young people in business and life skills.

We reported on Thursday that one woman is alleged to have been paid $587,000 for goods she did not supply.

Kenyans are using the hashtag #NYSScandal, external on Twitter to discuss the latest corruption scandal while others are using #TakeBackOurCountry, external to plan protests against the government.

A local TV station has shared a clip of the ongoing hearing where an MP berates a government official for dodging questions about the scandal:

Image source, AFP

Acclaimed Malian musician Kassé Mady Diabaté has died aged 69.

He was the descendant of a distinguished griot family, who are considered musical royalty in Mali.

According to the online magazine Rhythm Passport, his nickname Kassé derived from the Bambara word “kassi”, meaning to weep, as his beautiful voice was said to make people cry with joy.

He told Rhythm Passport in 2015, external about the importance of being a griot – West Africa’s hereditary praise-singers, story tellers and musicians.

Journalist Jon Lusk wrote for the BBC in 2002 that Kassé Mady's career took off in the early 1970s when he began singing with Super Mande,­ one of many West African bands that benefited from government patronage.

Later he was head hunted by Las Maravillas de Mali, a group which had just returned from eight years in Cuba.

In the 1980s he tried his luck in Paris, but things did not work out and he returned to Mali in 1998, where there was a resurgence of interest in traditional acoustic music.

He was well known for his collaborations, including with American blues musician Taj Mahal and another Malian great Toumani Diabaté on the album Kulanjan, which according to his own website, external, was cited by Barack Obama as one of former US president's favourite albums of all time.

Watch some clips of him in performance a few years ago:

A Kenyan woman has threatened to sue two police officers who she says harassed her by forcing her to undress so that they could confirm her gender after they spotted she had a beard, The Star newspaper reports. , external

Teresiah Mumbi, who works as a matatu (minibus) tout, told local KTN TV on Thursday that the officers who humiliated her were women.

She says the incident, which The Star reports happened on 15 May, has left her afraid and has started shaving her beard, which grows back over two days, to stop further harassment.

It is not clear why the police officers would have needed to know her gender.

Ms Mumbi told KTN TV that she does not like shaving as it is painful. Watch her story (in Swahili) below:

About 50 people have died in a river boat accident in the north-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a local official says.

Richard Mboyo Iluka, the deputy governor of Tshuapa Province, said the fishing boat was loaded with passengers when it sank as it was travelling between Monkoto and Mbandaka.

He said the cause of the accident was not yet clear and people had been searching for missing passengers.

A group of young female boxers from a poor part of Lagos are hoping to win gold for Nigeria at the 2020 Olympics.

The teenagers train in a makeshift boxing ring in the dirt and share the space with chickens.

Many of the girls have already made it to state champion level and believe they have what it takes to be the best in the world.

Boxer Cynthia Ogunsemilore told BBC Minute:

Watch Cynthia in action:

Image source, Reuters

A car bomb exploded in the centre of the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi killing at least seven people and injuring dozens on Thursday night.

Security officials said the dead were civilians.

The device exploded close to Benghazi's biggest hotel, the Tibesti, where many people attend evening gatherings during the month of Ramadan.

Eight cars parked on the street lined with shops were destroyed, news agency Reuters reports.

Libya's second city is controlled by the Libyan National Army, led by self-styled general Khalifa Haftar.

His forces opposes the UN-backed government in Tripoli.

• Read more: Libya's military strongman Khalifa Haftar

Mayeni Jones
BBC Africa, Lagos

Image source, AFP

A British High Court judge ruled on Thursday that a Nigerian fishing community would maintain the right to take legal action should the oil company Shell fail to clean up areas devastated by oil spills in the Niger Delta.

The Bodo fishing community went to court following two major oil spills in 2008 and Shell settled the claims for $70m (£52m) in 2015.

The clean-up has now begun.

Shell's lawyers argue that the prospect of further legal action is a hindrance.

They say that it gives people the impression that there could be a bigger payout if the job is not done properly - and people might be tempted to disrupt the clean-up.

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, AFP

South Africa is launching its first automated optical telescope on Friday in the province of Northern Cape, the headquarters of the country's space exploration project.

The Meerlicht optical telescope could soon help unravel the mysteries of the universe, beginning with a closer look at the vast African skies.

Optical telescopes work by detecting visible light in space – and this one will be used alongside a radio telescope.

Together they will a give a real-time image the solar system at night.

This latest development is part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project - which once completed will be the largest telescope in the world – the size of about 200 football fields.

The SKA will have antennas here in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia and is expected to change space exploration as we know it.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Addis Ababa

The World Health Organization (WHO) has passed a resolution recognising snake-bites as a global health priority.

WHO says complications from snake-bites remain one of the most neglected tropical diseases.

The resolution aims to ensure countries follow a common strategy in dealing with snake attacks.

This will include providing cheaper antidotes and training.

More than 100,000 people die of snake-bites annually around the world - a fifth of them in Africa.

Nearly half a million people face blindness, amputations and other disabilities following snake bites.

In Nigeria, it is estimated that more than 10,000 people are bitten by snakes each year, but the exact death toll is unknown.

Watch how Nigeria is dealing with deadly snake-bites:

Our African proverb of the day:

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

Welcome back to BBC Africa Live, where we'll be bringing you the latest news and views from around the continent.

BBC Africa Live
Flora Drury & Tara John

That's all from BBC Africa Live today. 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 and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of a man in Cairo, Egypt:

Mohamud Ali
BBC Planning Editor, East Africa

Image source, Getty Images

A Ugandan man is suing one of the country's largest churches over its marriage pre-conditions.

Michael Aboneka filed the case against the Watoto Church at constitutional court, saying the demands he had to meet before walking down the aisle with his bride violated his rights.

He said the church asked him to present a letter of consent from her parents, a pastor’s endorsement of fitness for marriage, evidence of his HIV status - tested at one of the specified hospitals - and a counselling report, issued by the hospital.

It has all proved too much for Mr Aboneka.

‘’I can’t get married under those conditions," he said. "My conscience won’t allow me to do that.

"I have a duty to bring to the attention of the court any irregularities and any unconstitutional practices, and that is why I am before the constitutional court."

In his affidavit, Mr Aboneka cites a number of sections of the constitution which he says are violated by the pre-conditions set by the church before a couple can tie the knot - including the right to privacy and the right for the woman to decide who to marry.

He now wants the court to issue an injunction which would stop the church from continuing with the practice until the matter is decided.

The case has elicited a huge reaction in Uganda. The church has now less than two weeks to respond to the case filed at the constitutional court. Thereafter, the court is expected to set a date for hearing.

Jose Tembe
BBC Africa, Maputo

Armed attacks by gangs, thought to be Islamist extremists, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado have now spread to other parts of the country.

According to a report in the newsheet Mediafax, a group of young men armed with guns and knives attacked Ilala, a coastal locality in Macomia, a district in the country's north.

They demanded that a local fisherman ferry them to a nearby island. They slit his throat when he refused.

This comes as the first study of the extremist insurgency in Cabo Delgado's Mocimboa da Praia district was published.

The study, drawn by Muslim cleric Sheik Saide Habibe, and researchers Joao Pereira and Salvador Forquilha, says that the group, known locally as “Al-Shabaab” or as “Al-Sunna”, first began its operations in Cabo Delgado as a religious organisation.

It then decided to set up military cells from late 2015, with its first attack carried out against police units in the district of Mocimboa da Praia, in Cabo Delgado, two years later.

Authorities quickly reasserted control of the area, but sporadic ambushes on the district’s roads and against outlying villages have continued.

The study also claims the fundamentalists can make at least $3m (£2.2m) a week from trafficking in timber, and more than $30m (£22.4m) a year from the sales of illegally mined rubies.

Sheik Habibe, who presented the study in Maputo on 23 May, did not give a source for these figures, which sounded far too high.

While rubies are small enough to be smuggled out in luggage, timber is bulky and clandestinely moving three million dollars worth a week through local ports would be difficult, requiring a large number of trucks and containers.

A family of Kenyan goat herders are part of an eclectic group of people from across the world who are taking the European Union (EU) to court for failing to protect them from climate change threats to their homes and livelihoods.

The Guyo family, one of dozens of plaintiffs, live in northern Kenya, near the Ethiopian border.

They told AFP news agency that heatwaves have become more frequent and extreme, affecting the health and education of their five children.

"We face more and more extreme heat in our region. This threatens our lives on several levels," said Roba Guyo, the father of the family, told AFP.

"Water is missing for herding and drinking -- most importantly my children's health is in danger."

Temperatures in the area frequently soars above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), they say, making it hard for the oldest children to walk to school.

The group of plaintiffs consists of 10 families, including lavender farmers from France, and a group of young reindeer herders from the nomadic Sami community.

Their complaint is the EU's existing climate target of reducing domestic greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030 does not protect their fundamental rights.

Thomas Naadi
BBC Africa, Accra

Image source, AFP

Ghana Football Association president Kwesi Nyantakyi has been cautioned and granted bail after being questioned by police over allegations of attempting to defraud by false pretence.

Police have told the BBC Mr Nyantakyi, who is also the second vice president of Confederation of African Football, will be officially charged after investigations are concluded.

Mr Nyantakyi was allegedly caught on video negotiating a deal involving huge amounts of money on behalf of Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo and his deputy.

He voluntarily handed himself over to the police in Accra on Wednesday following these allegations.

The interrogation lasted for close to five hours while his home was searched.

The BBC understands his phone and laptop were also seized, but nothing incriminating has yet been found on them.

Mr Nyantakyi had to cut short his trip to Morocco after allegations emerged, and returned to Ghana to face the investigation.

Algeria's government said rights groups were leading a "malicious campaign" against it after non-governmental organisations (NGOs) accused the country of arresting and forcibly deporting sub-Saharan migrants.

"Algeria strongly rejects these serious accusations that aim... to undermine its image and its relations with its neighbours in the south," the foreign ministry said in a statement seen by AFP news agency.

It said that it deports illegal migrants with consultation of their home countries and with "full respect for human dignity and rights".

The foreign ministry also added that the government is being wrongly accused "of failing to meet its international obligations".

Algerian activists launched a "We are all migrants!" campaign in mid-May, which accused the state of a "campaign of arbitrary arrests, followed by mass and collective expulsions".

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on 18 May that it has dealt with almost 10,000 migrants abandoned in the desert near the Niger border since September.

The UN agency says some had been left traffickers and others were deported by Algerian authorities.

An estimated 100,000 migrants entered Algeria in the past few years.

Tesfalem Araia
BBC Tigrinya

Image source, Screengrab

Following rumours he had been ill and taken to the United Arab Emirates for treatment, Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki showed up at a formal event celebrating the country’s 27th independence anniversary in the capital Asmara.

The rumours of his ill health leading up to his appearance led the country's Information Minister Yemane Ghebremeskel to issue a public rebuttal - dismissing the stories as "another hoax" and "absolutely false".

Mr Afewerki, a reclusive leader, has ruled Eritrea ever since its independence 27 years ago.

His speech was as defiant as usual - complete with accusations of western economic and political “conspiracies” against his country.

He also acknowledged “regional tensions”, possibly a nod to new issues between Eritrea and neighbouring Sudan.

Eritrea has also fallen out with two of its other neighbours, having gone to war with Ethiopia 20 years ago, and later with Djibouti.

Mr Isaias's government is accused of human rights violations but it denies those accusations as "conspiracies".

In 2012, he was reported to have died before he showed up on national television to prove he was alive.

Image source, Handout

A South African-born army sergeant has been found guilty of trying to murder his wife by tampering with her parachute.

Victoria Cilliers, 41, survived the 4,000ft (1,220m) fall at Netheravon airfield in Wiltshire, England, in April 2015.

Emile Cilliers, 38, of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps, was also found guilty of trying to kill his wife by causing a gas leak at the family home in Amesbury at the end of March 2015.

He had denied two counts of attempted murder at Winchester Crown Court.

The jury also convicted him of a third count of damaging a gas fitting recklessly endangering life.

The court had earlier blocked an attempt by Cilliers to spend a month in Cape Town, where his elderly parents live.

• Read the full story on the BBC website

Sudanese teenager Noura Hussein, who was sentenced to death for killing her husband after he allegedly raped her, has filed an appeal.

"Today, we filed an appeal in the appeals court against the lower court's ruling," her lawyer Al-Fateh Hussein told news agency AFP on Thursday.

A court in Sudan found Ms Hussein guilty of "intentional murder" earlier in May after her husband's family refused to accept financial compensation.

The plight of Ms Hussein, who is now 19, caused international outcry and sparked the campaign #JusticeforNoura.

Ms Hussein's father forced her to marry at the age of 16 and she had tried to run away.

After being handed back to her husband by her own family, Ms Hussein alleges her husband recruited some of his cousins to hold her down as he raped her.

She stabbed him to death when he attempted to do it again the next day.

The Sharia (Islamic religious law) court sentenced her to death by hanging.

• Read about her case here