Scientists in Burkina Faso are attempting to wipe out three species of malaria-carrying mosquitos by genetically modifying them, French-language broadcaster RFI reports, external.

The team of Burkinabé researchers plan to sterilise male mosquitoes then release them back into the open, thereby slowing the rate of reproduction until they eventually die out.

They say that if a sterile male mates with a wild female, the eggs produced won't fully develop and will therefore not be viable.

Target Malaria, external researchers first plan to release test groups of sterilised males into parts of western Burkina Faso to observe their behaviour. But they can't do this until they have permission from the national biosecurity agency.

Image source, SPL

Image source, AFP

A Protestant pastor who was baptising followers near a lake in southern Ethiopia has been killed by a crocodile, police and residents have told BBC Amharic.

About 80 people were being baptised when Pastor Docho Eshete lost his life on Sunday morning, at the lake in Arba Minch town's Merkeb Tabya district.

"He baptized the first person and he passed on to another one. All of a sudden, a crocodile jumped out of the lake and grabbed the pastor, pushing aside the person he was baptising," local resident Ketema Kairo told the BBC.

Pastor Docho was bitten on his legs, back and hands.

Residents and fishermen made a huge effort to save the pastor's life but were unsuccessful, policeman Eiwnetu Kanko said.

However, they manged to prevent the crocodile from taking the pastor's body into the lake by blocking its path with fishing nets.

"They only managed to get his dead body... They were unable to save him," Eiwnetu added.

• Visit the BBC Amharic website

Image source, EPA

Tunisia has issued a strongly-worded rebuke to the new interior minister of Italy, Matteo Salvini, after he accused it of knowingly sending migrants with convictions across the Mediterranean.

Tunisia summoned the Italian ambassador to register its profound astonishment about the comments - made when Mr Salvini visited migrant centres in Sicily on Sunday.

The Tunisian foreign ministry said Mr Salvini's words did not reflect the co-operation between the two countries and showed a lack of knowledge about existing measures to manage migration.

Meanwhile, the death toll has risen to at least 112 people after a boat packed with migrants sank off the coast of Tunisia on Saturday, the International Organization for Migration says.

One survivor told Reuters news agency that the captain had abandoned the boat after it started sinking to escape arrest by the coastguard.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The International Crisis Group (ICG) is warning that bitter rivalry between Gulf states is threatening to further undermine the stability of Somalia.

It calls on Somali politicians to stop taking sides in the Gulf dispute as this risks escalating tensions within Somalia and between the capital Mogadishu and the self-declared republic of Somaliland.

When Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) severed diplomatic ties with Qatar last year this caused problems for Somalia which had relations with both sides.

The ICG has called for talks between the Somali and UAE governments saying more instability in Somalia could benefit the jihadist group al-Shabab.

Aboubakar Famau
BBC Africa, Dar es Salaam

Image source, AFP

Nine lions at the world famous Serengeti National Park have been poisoned, Tanzania National Parks spokesman Pascal Shelutete has told the BBC.

Wildlife officials discovered the carcasses of the lions over the weekend, media reports say.

The motive for the poisoning is unclear.

Seven lions were killed in a similar manner in the park in 2015.

In neighbouring Uganda, 11 lions were found dead from suspected poisoning at the Queen Elizabeth National Park in April.

Read update: Four arrested

Our African proverb of the day:

Image source, AFP

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

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

BBC Africa Live
Dickens Olewe & Lucy Fleming

That's all from the BBC Africa Live page on Monday. 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 the wise words:

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

And we leave you with this photo from Instagram of a woman holding some sugarcane in Kibondo district in Tanzania.

More than 180 prisoners remain at large in central Nigeria after they escaped from prison late on Sunday, the AFP news agency is quoting officials as saying.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire at the jail in the Tunga area of the Niger state capital, Minna. Guards were overpowered, allowing the inmates to escape.

AFP quotes Nigeria's Interior Minister Abdulrahman Dambazau as saying:

"Out of the 210 inmates that escaped from prison custody, 28 have been re-arrested while 182 are still at large.

"We have identified some lapses... part of it is that the prison personnel on duty yesterday were inadequate."

Image source, AFP

Ivorian footballer Yaya Toure has taken a dig at his club coach Pep Guardiola a couple of weeks before he leaves Manchester City.

Toure told France Football magazine that the Spaniard had a problem with black players but had been "too intelligent to be caught out".

He added:

The 35-year-old Ivorian has been with City for seven years.

He joined after three seasons at Spanish club Barcelona where he had fallen out of favour when Guardiola was manager there.

He said that he wondered if his lack of game time in the just-ended season "was not because of my colour".

But Guardiola, who took over at City in 2016, praised him in one of his press conferences, saying:“Yaya is part of the club, not just because of the trophies he has won but because he transmitted to everyone the club can be bigger and greater."

A Kenya cartoonist takes a tongue-and-cheek look at the news that President Uhuru Kenyatta wants officials to take lie-detector tests in order to clamp down on corruption following several recent scandals:

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

KPMG is to cut 400 jobs in South Africa following a corruption scandal which saw the accountancy firm lose several of its major clients.

One of the customers to cut ties was South Africa’s Auditor-General’s office, which terminated all government work with KPMG in April.

In a statement the company said it would keep four hubs in the country but was cutting regional offices.

KPMG CEO Nhlamulo Dlomu is quoted saying:

The auditor’s reputation plummeted after an internal investigation found it had missed “red flags” in its auditing of companies owned by the controversial Indian-born Gupta family.

The Gupta brothers have strong ties with Jacob Zuma, who resigned as president earlier this year.

They have been accused of vetting ministerial appointments and of using their influence to siphon money from state contracts - allegations they deny.

KPMG has also appointed some of its international partners to its South African board in an effort to restore its dented reputation.

• Read more about the 'untouchable' Guptas

Thomas Naadi
BBC Africa, Accra

Image source, AFP

Efforts to educate people about the importance of life jackets have intensified in Ghana after 11 people died in a boat accident on Friday on Lake Volta in the country's central Okpalema region.

The dead include nine women and two children.

The navy rescued 34 passengers, who are receiving treatment in hospital.

The accident occurred when the canoe they were travelling in hit a tree stump and capsized.

The authorities say the boat was designed for 25 people, but at the time of the accident it was carrying more than 40 passengers.

They are warning people to check the condition of boats as they believe most plying the lake are old and rickety.

And they want people to wear life jackets, which Ghana’s National Disaster Management Organisation has been distributing at all water crossing points for some time.

Last year, four people died when a boat capsized after the passengers attempted to use cutlasses to paddle on Lake Volta.

Charles Mgbolu
BBC Igbo, Lagos

Controversial Nigerian Governor Rochas Okorocha lit up social media on Sunday after pictures of him anointing people in church went viral.

The question everyone was asking was: Had the the Imo state governor – who is known for his outlandish behaviour – become a pastor?

But the governor has rebuffed the suggestion.

In a text message to the BBC Igbo service, one of his advisers, Ebere Nzewuji, said the governor had been part of an anointing service in Owerri where the congregation had been asked to bless each other.

Mr Nzewuji said it was laughable that anyone would assume the governor would suddenly become a cleric.

But Mr Okorocha, who is serving a second and final term in office, is known for attention-seeking moves.

In October 2017, he stunned everyone when he unveiled a giant bronze statue of former South African President Jacob Zuma.

Mr Okorocha was accused of wasting scarce resources - and came in for criticism as Mr Zuma faces corruption charges in South Africa, which he denies.

The governor now has 10 statues of former African leaders - much to the indignation of many in the state.

He has also set up a new Imo state department called the Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfillment, headed by sister, in December last year.

Mr Okorocha is currently battling factions within his own political party– the governing All Progressives Congress - following accusations he wants his son-in law to succeed him as governor.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

The tackle which forced Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah to leave the pitch 30 minutes into the Champions League final last week has featured as a question in a law exam, it has been reported.

Syrian pages on Facebook circulated images from the General Penal Code exam, external sat by first-year students at the University of Damascus.

"Sergio Ramos injured Mohamed Salah in the 2018 European Champions League final. Naturally, Ramos cannot be held to account for this action from a criminal law perspective due to four conditions that make the use of violence justified in sports. State these conditions."

The question seems to have been met with good humour and sporting rivalry from most students, with the opposition Enab Baladi website saying that some described the teacher who set the exam as a "defeated Barcelona fan".

Barcelona's fierce rivals Real Madrid won the final in Kiev after their 3-1 victory over Liverpool.

• Read the full story on the BBC website.

Kenya's government has suspended the heads of procurement and accounting in state agencies in a move aimed at dealing with corruption in the country.

The move comes days after President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that holders of the positions would undergo lie detector tests to determine their "integrity".

"As an initial step, all heads of procurement and accounts in government ministries, departments [and] agencies... will undergo fresh vetting, including polygraph testing to determine their integrity and suitability," Mr Kenyatta said last Friday.

His administration has been dealing with a litany of corruption cases, the latest being the theft of 8bn Kenyan shillings ($78m, £59m) allegedly paid to ghost suppliers.

Some 40 civil servants have pleaded not guilty to charges over the alleged theft.

The corruption scandal, which was brought to light by suppliers who had not been paid, saw funds allegedly stolen via the National Youth Service (NYS) through fake invoices and multiple payments.

NYS, which operates under the youth ministry, was set up to address youth unemployment.

Image source, AFP

The president of Madagascar has named a new prime minister.

Christian Ntsay - who has been working for the United Nations - was chosen just hours after the former prime minister resigned as part of an effort to end a political crisis.

The 57-year-old is not a member of any political party, the AFP news agency reports.

The agency quotes President Hery Rajaonarimampianina as saying:

The constitutional court had given the president until Tuesday to name a prime minister who would be acceptable to all political parties.

According to the court ruling, Mr Ntsay should now form a government and organise elections within months.

There have been fears of a political crisis in Madagascar after changes to electoral laws led to opposition demonstrations.

Image source, TELEVISION TUNISIENNE 1

Tunisia's World Cup football team has apparently found an ingenious way to fight fatigue as they fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

In friendly matches against Portugal then Turkey, goalkeeper Mouez Hassen appeared to feign injury at sundown, when the fast comes to an end.

As he lay on the pitch receiving medical treatment, his teammates rushed to the sidelines to drink water and snack on dates.

And it produced immediate results.

Down 2-1 to European champions Portugal, Tunisia rebounded six minutes after Hassen's injury break by scoring an equaliser and ended the match 2-2.

Days later against Turkey, Hassen stopped play by laying on his back.

Footage of that incident has been shared by a Tunisian football fan account.

Read the BBC story for more.

Louise Dewast
Kinshasa, DR Congo

Image source, Getty Images

Africa’s oldest national park – known for its volcanoes and endangered mountain gorillas – will not be reopening again this year for tourists visiting eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Virunga National Park was closed last month after gunmen killed a ranger in an ambush and abducted two British tourists, who were later released.

Armed groups have been operating in and around Virunga for several years, but there has been a spike in violence in recent months.

In a letter to tourist agents, the park’s director Emmanuel de Merode said:

For the park and its wildlife conservation programmes, this will mean a loss of revenue.

Image source, Getty Images

De Merode is hoping for help from donors to continue enhancing security measures to enable the park to reopen.

He told the BBC about some of the new measures being put in place:

• Read more: Why tourists go to Virunga National Park

Comedian Eric Omondi has released a spoof video of Kenyan pop band Sauti Sol's newest music video, which is getting a lot of positive reviews.

The song, Short and Sweet, featuring rapper Nyashinski, , externalhas so far had more than two million views on YouTube.

The star of the music video is dancer Agnes Kiunga, the choreographer behind the odi dance - a recent craze on Kenyan dance floors.

Watch Omondi, dressed in a stripped figure-hugging onesie used in the original video, attempting to mimic Kiunga's moves:

Kiunga has also earned herself a cult status. One of her fans created an avatar mimicking her performance: