Dickens Olewe
BBC Africa

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 to send in your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this shot of a rugby match between Kenya and Uganda. It's one of our favourite pictures of the week.

Image source, AFP

The UN Secuirity Council has imposed an arms embargo on South Sudan and sanctions on two militarity officials.

Nine countries backed the US-drafted resolution. Russia, China and four other countries abstained.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council that support for the arms embargo will send a message to South Sudan's leaders that "we are fed up with delays and stalling".

"These are the weapons that armed groups used to shoot fathers in front of their wives and children, to hold up convoys of food aid, or to assault women and girls," she added.

South Sudan won independence from Sudan in 2011 and has been beset by a civil war which has killed thousands and displaced more than 4.5 million.

Countless efforts to bring peace have failed.

A recently signed ceasefire deal between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar has already been breached.

Image source, AFP

South Africa’s Kevin Anderson is battling USA's John Isner in a Wimbledon semi-final.

The latest score is: Isner 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (11-9) 4-6 6-5 Anderson*. Follow the coverage on the BBC Sport website.

Anderson is the number eight seed while Isner is ninth.

The winner will play either Serbia’s Novak Djokovic or Spain’s Rafael Nadal who play in the second semi-final.

Jose Tembe
BBC Africa, Maputo

Image source, Getty Images

Health authorities in Mozambique have expressed concern at the prevalence of HIV among the country's militarily.

They say 11.5% of the force is HIV-positive.

The head of military health, Agueda Duarte, said the force also had a lower level of adherence to anti-viral treatment compared with the civilian population.

The agency has introduced a rapid testing and treatment programme which will see all HIV-positive soldiers receiving treatment immediately after diagnosis.

Mr Duarte said: "One of the biggest challenges continues to be the increasing number of people with HIV starting treatment and maintaining the regimen. What we want is continuous efforts to reduce the prevalence – reduce as much as possible."

The Mozambican military received a lot of support from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

HIV prevalence among Mozambicans aged between 15 and 49 is 13.2%.

However, only 64% know their HIV status.

Image source, Getty Images

Kenya's Tourism Minister Najib Balala has said "disciplinary action will definitely be taken" if it is found that rangers acted unprofessionally while handling eight endangered black rhinos that died while being moved.

As we reported earlier, the animals were among 14 rhinos being translocated from two national parks to the Tsavo National Park, the country's largest park.

The three-week programme was being undertaken by the Kenya Wildlife Service and WWF.

Mr Balala also ordered the immediate suspension of the relocation programme and said that a full report would be available next week, a ministry statement said.

Prominent Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu said officials must take responsibility and explain what went wrong, and quickly.

"Rhinos have died, we have to say it openly when it happens, not a week later or a month later," she said. "Something must have gone wrong, and we want to know what it is."

Former US president Barack Obama has tweeted a list of books by African authors that he recommends for his annual summer reading list.

They include: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and The Return by Hisham Matar.

Mr Obama said the authors were the "best writers and thinkers – each of whom illuminate our world in powerful and unique ways".

He made the announcement ahead of his trip to the continent, which will see him visit his ancestral home in Kenya and then head to South Africa where he will deliver the annual Mandela Day lecture.

Image source, Reuters

South Africa have launched a limited edition of bank notes and gold coins to mark the 100th anniversary on 18 July of the birth of Nelson Mandela.

The South African Reserve Bank said the notes depict key moments of Mandela's life including his upbringing in rural Eastern Cape as the son of a chief, his 27-year incarceration and the end of apartheid in 1994 when he became president.

The launch forms part of events across the world, which will culminate locally in an annual Mandela Day lecture by former US president Barack Obama next week.

Mandela died in 2013 aged 95.

The gold coin was designed by Zimbabwe-born Sindiso Nyoni.

"Growing up and living most of my life under a dictatorship, we were not able to experience this feeling of democracy that South Africans have," he is quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Image source, AFP

A teacher in Senegal has been given a five-year prison sentence and another has been fined $32,000 (£24,300) for selling exam papers.

French, English, history and geography baccalaureate tests had to be scrapped last year after the question sheets circulated on social media and WhatsApp.

Several other teachers and dozens of pupils have also been punished.

Their sentences range from two-month suspended terms to two years in jail

The headmaster of Lycée de Kahone in Senegal's capital city, Dakar, admitted selling exam papers but said he was not motivated by the money.

Read the full story

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

Image source, @SKA_Africa

South Africa has officially launched MeerKAT, the largest and most powerful radio telescope in the southern hemisphere, with a display of the clearest radio image of a super massive black hole yet taken.

The telescope is made up of 64 antennas spread across an area of 8km (5 miles).

It is an integral part of the wider Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a 3,000 - dish project which will be the largest radio telescope in the world upon completion.

Each of the dishes has a diameter of 13m, weighs 42 tons and is 19m high.

South Africa’s Deputy President David Mabuza unveiled the project in the small town of Carnavon, in the sparsely populated Northern Cape Province.

He said: “Africa has a lot to do for the advancement of science. This is the time for Africa. We invite the world to come and witness what a united effort and collaboration of all partner nations can achieve to advance human civilisation.”

The project has created 7,284 jobs in the resurfacing of the road to the site, the installation of power lines and fibre cables.

The other African countries involved are: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zambia.

Image source, @SKA_Africa

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

The Ethiopian government has urged the public to come out in large numbers to welcome Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, who begins a three-day state visit on 14 July, hosted by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Ethiopia's Communication Minister Ahmed Shide said there would be various events held to mark Mr Isaias' visit.

He urged Ethiopians to show "discipline and love":

Prime Minister Abiy led a high-level delegation in a visit to Eritrea's capital, Asmara, on 8 July, which led to the signing of a peace agreement between the erstwhile bitter rivals.

Pictures of crowds celebrating his arrival - like this one - were shared on Twitter:

Ethiopia's communication minister said the two leaders will address 25,000 invited guests on Sunday at the Millennium Hall in Addis Ababa.

"This is a great event where we will express our respect, love and brotherly feelings to our Eritrean brothers in a civilised and disciplined manner," Mr Ahmed said.

Koster town lies in South Africa's north-west region - same as the country's rich platinum mines - but nothing about this town speaks of the wealth surrounding it.

Kim Medupe's eight-year term as the town's mayor has been characterised by erratic water supply, unreliable electricity, potholed roads. A place where raw sewage flows through some homes.

Residents also accused her of corruption and chased her out of town during violent demonstrations. She denies the allegations and has not been charged.

But the final straw came in Koster when the council seemingly prioritised the tarring of a road to Ms Medupe's four-star guesthouse over one to a clinic.

The BBC's Pumza Fihlani visited the town and spoke to residents.

Read her full story on the BBC website

Like many children in the Yoruba community in Nigeria, Olatunbosun Damilola was given scars on her face by her parents when she was young.

The practice is used in some parts of Nigeria, with the marks signifying the family's tribal or ethnic heritage.

But with the custom becoming less common, Olatunbosun says she faces daily discrimination.

Several attackers were killed on Thursday after a convoy transporting Cameroon's Defence Minister Joseph Beti Assomo was ambushed while heading for a visit to a military post seven kms (four miles) from the town of Kumba in the restive South-West region, state radio reports.

The convoy had 30 vehicles, including an armour-plated vehicle that was carrying the minister and six generals, a reporter with state daily the Cameroon Tribune told news agency AFP.

Gregoire Djarmaila, who was injured in the attack by flying glass, said that they encountered a roadblock and their car was riddled by gunfire.

The military escort returned fire, enabling the convoy to reach the military post, he said.

"But no sooner had we left the post than we were attacked again. This time, they looked more numerous and determined... (they fired) on all the vehicles in the convoy."

"Our good luck was that they were using home-made hunting guns" rather than military weapons, adding that he experienced "40 minutes of hell," Djarmaila said.

Image source, Map

Separatists in Cameroon's two mainly English-speaking areas - the North-West and South-West regions - have been demanding independence saying they are being discriminated against by the French-speaking majority.

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The Rwandan parliament is debating a draft law whereby clerics would have to have a degree in theology before being allowed to preach.

The authorities say it is important to bring order into churches and mosques, where unqualified clerics often mislead congregations.

Earlier this year, about 700 churches were shut down in Rwanda for noise pollution and failing to comply with building regulations.

There has been an explosion in the number of Pentecostal churches in the country. Some are huge and attract enormous crowds.

Others are tiny structures built without planning permission.

Seven of 14 endangered black rhinos that were part of a three week relocation programme in Kenya have died, news agency AFP reports quoting an anonymous source at the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

Local news site Capital FM, also quoting a source at KWS, reports that KWS has launched an investigation:

The rhinos were being transported from Nairobi National Park and Lake Nakuru National Park to Tsavo East National Park, the country's largest park.

The move was conducted jointly by KWS and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Capital FM reports that Kenya has a rhino population of 1,258.

We will keep monitoring the story and update you when we learn more:

Cameroon's President Paul Biya has announced that he will be a candidate in the 7 October presidential election that would, if he wins, extend his 35-year-rule.

Mr Biya tweeted in French and in English: "I am willing to respond positively to your overwhelming calls. I will stand as your candidate in the upcoming presidential election."

The 85-year-old leader has been in power since 1982, making him one of Africa's longest-serving leaders.

Under his rule, Cameroon has survived an economic crisis and moved from being a one-party state to multiparty politics.

But it has also been marked by endemic corruption and reversal of democratic gains, leading to the abolition of term limits in 2008, which allowed the octogenarian to run for re-election in 2011.

The country is currently going through a period of strife sparked by calls for a breakaway state by residents of the English-speaking regions, who say they are discriminated against by the francophone majority.

Mr Biya's government has responded with force, sparking deadly clashes with secessionist militias in the Anglophone North-West and South-West regions.

The BBC’s investigative unit - Africa Eye - found evidence of torture and abuse by both sides in the conflict:

Read more: Paul Biya: Cameroon's 'absentee president'

At least 12 people were injured and taken to hospital after an explosion on Thursday night in a chemicals factory outside Egypt's main airport in Cairo.

A plume of smoke could be seen rising from at the scene of the explosion:

Egyptian army spokesman said the blast was caused by high temperatures in a storage facility belonging to a local petrochemicals company.

Aviation Minister Younis al-Masri said air traffic at the airport was unaffected by the explosion, which could be heard across the area.

Image source, Getty Images

The UN Security Council will vote on Friday on a draft resolution to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan and renew sanctions against it for another year.

The US says the resolution is essential to end the continuing violence in a five-year civil war. But China and Russia say the extension of punitive measures against South Sudan at this time could jeopardise moves towards peace between the warring sides.

However, diplomats say the US resolution is likely to be adopted.

At the end of June, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar signed a ceasefire which both sides accuse the other of violating.

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki will visit neighbouring Ethiopia on Saturday, the country's information minister has tweeted.

Yemane Meskel said the president will lead a delagation to "cement... the joint march for peace and cooperation".

It comes after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made an historic visit to Eritrea last weekend, where the leaders signed a declaration ending the state of war between the two countries.

Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a bitter war over territory between 1998 and 2000.

After taking office in April Mr Abiy agreed to comply with a ruling of a border commission to hand over the disputed territories.

During the Eritrea visit, the two nations also agreed to re-establish trade and diplomatic ties.

An aide to the Ethiopian prime minister tweeted that the Eritrean leader will be in the country for three days, he added: "We thank HE President Isaias for honoring us with a visit & we welcome him warmly!".

Over the next few days bus services between the two countries will resume, and next week Ethiopian Airlines will operate its first commercial flight to Asmara since the war broke out in 1998.

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