Zimbabwe still has many hundreds of thousands of land mines along its northern and eastern borders.

They were laid during the liberation war of the 1970s.

Tom Meredith, of the Halo mine-clearing charity, told the BBC that a new machine, which is able to dig through soil and crush the mines, is an innovative way of dealing with what is a largely forgotten problem:

Image source, Ghideon Musa Aron Visafric//Reuters

The first passenger flight between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 20 years will take place in a week’s time on Tuesday 17 July thanks to Monday’s agreement by the country's leaders to end their state of war, Ethiopian Airlines has said.

The flights will be daily.

In a statement, external, Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said:

Image source, AFP

Almost 40 Nigerian opposition parties have agreed to field a joint candidate to prevent the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari next year.

The alliance includes the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and a splinter group that broke away from Mr Buhari's governing All Progressives Congress (APC) last week.

President Buhari, who came to power in 2015, announced in April that he was seeking his party's approval for running for another term in office.

The BBC's Ishaq Khalid in the capital, Abuja, says this is one the biggest political developments in the run-up to elections in February.

The new coalition says their aim is to defeat the 75-year-old incumbent, whose first term has been beset by poor health, and rescue Nigeria from what they called ''darkness''.

Many serving senators, members of the lower house of parliament and some state governors are believed to be behind the new movement, our reporter says.

Mr Buhari has come in for criticism for his handling of Nigeria's economy, the largest in Africa.

His administration has pointed to the fight against corruption and the military operations against Islamist militant group Boko Haram as some of his achievements.

At least 12 fishermen have died and a dozen more are missing after deadly clashes on Lake Edward, which is shared by Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the AFP news agency quotes a Congolese official as saying.

Muhindo Kyakwa, a senior official in the province of North Kivu, said the bodies were still floating on the lake.

"We can't retrieve them because Ugandan troops are opening fire on anything that moves," he said.

Last week there were clashes on the lake, which DR Congo said was over fishing rights

Image source, AFP

Our proverb of the day:

Image source, AFP

Click here to send in your African proverbs.

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

BBC Africa Live
Farouk Chothia

That's all from the BBC Africa Live page today. 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 Monday's proverb:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with a photo of Switzerland's President Alain Berset visit at the GoDown Arts Center during his official trip to Kenya's capital, Nairobi:

Image source, EPA

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

Image source, Getty Images

Global management consultancy McKinsey has apologised to South Africa for its role in a corruption scandal.

McKinsey admitted that it had overcharged for work it did, along with a company controlled by the controversial Gupta family, for the state-owned power utility, Eskom.

Speaking in the commercial capital, Johannesburg, Kevin Sneader - who took over as McKinsey’s global managing partner a few months ago - offered his “sincere apologies.”

“To be brutally honest - we were too distant to understand the growing anger in South Africa,” he said.

The firm repaid the 1bn rand ($74m; $64m) fee it had “overcharged” Eskom.

“The fee was weighted towards recovering our investment rather than being in line with Eskom’s situation. In that context the fee was too large…This should not have happened,” Mr Sneader said.

In response, the head of Business Leadership South Africa Bonag Mohale accepted the apology but added: ”You aided and abetted state capture... The anger is bone deep.”

State capture refers to allegations that the wealthy Gupta family took control of key state institutions during the rule of former President Jacob Zuma in order to advance its business interests.

The family and Mr Zuma deny the allegation.

Mayeni Jones
BBC News, Lagos

Nigeria's armed forces have released 183 children who were being held on suspicion of having ties to militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

The 175 boys and eight girls - whose ages ranged from eight to 18 years - were freed in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, after being cleared of any association with the group.

The children have been moved to a state-run centre, where they are receiving medical treatment.

The Nigerian office of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) says it will work with the Borno government to support the children.

After receiving medical and psycholocial assistance, the children will be reunited with their families.

Nigeria's government has been criticised for detaining children in the past.

In 2016, rights group Amnesty international alleged that 149 people, including 11 children and babies as young as five months, died in a detention facility in Maiduguri.

Image source, AFP

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini that the government will not confiscate 2.8-million hectares of land under his control.

Mr Ramaphosa gave the assurance at a meeting with the monarch on Friday after he threatened war to hold on to the land he acquired in the dying days of apartheid.

The Ingonyama Trust Act administers the land on King Zwelithini's behalf.

The king is referred to by his subjects as Ingonyama, which means lion.

A cartoonist with South Africa's Sowetan newspaper has given his take of Mr Ramaphosa's assurance:

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

South Sudanese rebels have rejected a peace plan whereby their leader Riek Machar would be reinstated as vice president.

On Saturday, the South Sudanese and Sudanese governments said a power sharing deal had been agreed.

Mr Machar's spokesman said the idea of sharing power had come up as a verbal proposal, and no deal had been signed.

He said the proposal only focussed on politicians and ignored the radical reforms needed to bring about fundamental change.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the five year conflict, and a third of the population displaced.

Ferdinand Omondi
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Students have torched seven boarding schools in Kenya in the last week in protest against the introduction of tough new measures to prevent cheating in examinations due in three months, education minister Amina Mohammed has said, at a press conference.

At one school, students demanded an undertaking from the principal that he would facilitate cheating in the examinations, she added.

Police have intensified efforts to end the unrest, arresting 125 students, a statement by the ministry said.

Three students have already been convicted.

Five others have been freed on bail after being charged with arson in the western city of Kisumu following the burning of Chulaimbo Boys Secondary School.

"All boarding schools have been asked to double the number of teachers on duty over the next two weeks, with greater emphasis on surveillance of boarding facilities when students are attending evening preps," the ministry said.

As many as 40 tonnes of heroin could be passing through Mozambique every year, making it the country's second biggest export, in a trade that is boosted by the use of mobile phone apps, Mozambique analyst Joseph Hanlon says.

He says the southern African nation is now an important stop for heroin traders who are using circuitous routes for their product to reach Europe from Afghanistan, as tighter enforcement has closed off the more direct paths.

The heroin goes from Afghanistan to Pakistan's south-west coast, and from there it is taken by motorized 20m wooden dhows to close to northern Mozambique's coast.

Each dhow carries a tonne of heroin, and one arrives every week except during in the monsoon season, which makes about 40 arrivals a year.

Heroin also comes in by container into the country's Nacala and Beira ports where it is hidden among other goods, such as washing machines.

Overall, this means that at least 40 tonnes of heroin pass through through the country each year, according to experts, Mr Hanlon says.

He estimates that the drug is worth $20m (£15m) per tonne at this point in the trade, making it the country's second most valuable export, after coal.

Read the Joseph Hanlon's story on the BBC website

No country has ever won the World Cup with a foreign coach. But few African nations put their faith in local coaches.

At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Senegal and Tunisia were the only teams from the continent to go local.

Watch:

A dormitory at a school in western Kenya has been burnt down, in the latest suspected arson attack on schools, reports the BBC's Mercy Juma from the scene.

Usenge High School in Siaya has shut indefintely following last night's fire.

The dormitory accommodated between 200 to 300 boys - all of whom have been sent home.

The children were attending night classes when the fire swept through their dormitory.

Police are investigating.

See earlier post for more details

Temidayo Olofinsawo
BBC Yoruba editor

Image source, Khadijat Nikky Oluboyo/Facebook

The decomposing body of the daughter of a former deputy state governor in Nigeria has been found at the home of an alleged member of a cyber-crime gang.

Police warned women not to date members of the gang following the discovery of the body of Khadijat Olubọyọ under the bed of her alleged lover in Akure, the capital of Ondo state in the south.

Ms Olubọyọ - the daughter of Lasisi Oluboyo - was killed in a suspected ritual involving money.

She is alleged to have dated a member of a gang who engaged in cyber-fraud, who are known as Yahoo boys.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police tweeted about her death:

Sammy Awami
BBC Africa, Dar es Salaam

Image source, Getty Images

Air Tanzania has bought its first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, in a move aimed at reviving the state-owned airline's fortunes.

Speaking at a ceremony in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam to mark the jet's arrival from the US, President John Magufuli said the purchase showed Tanzania's determination to play a bigger role in the aviation sector.

"In today's world, there is no country that doesn't need aviation services," he said, adding that it would make it easier for Tanzanians to do business around the world.

The 262-seat plane has been named Kilimanjaro, after Tanzania's famous mountain.

It will begin flights in September serving the Indian city of Mumbai, Guangzhou in China and the Thai capital, Bangkok.

The aircraft is the fourth one bought by the government in its efforts to reverse the declining fortunes of the national airline.

The managing director of Kenya's Patel Dam, Perry Kansagara, has been freed on bail after pleading not guilty on Friday to manslaughter charges related to the deaths of more than 40 people in devastating floods in May.

Mr Kansagara and the farm's general manager, Vinoj Kumar, were among a group of people freed on bail amounting to almost $250,000 (£190,000).

Nakuru County Director of water Johnson Kamau and three other governments officials were also released after spending the weekend in prison.

Image source, Reuters

Kenya's Water Resources Management Authority alleges that the dam - one of a number in a sprawling farm near Solai, 190km (120 miles) from the capital, Nairobi - was built illegally.

The dam burst, killing more than 40 people and destroying homes, schools and power lines.

All the accused have denied any wrongdoing.

Andrew Harding
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, AFP

Duduzane Zuma - one of the sons of South Africa's ex-President Jacob Zuma - arrived in court wearing a broad smile and a pair of leg irons.

A scene that would, until recently, have been almost unthinkable.

For years the 34-year-old Duduzane Zuma has brushed off claims that he abused his position, as the son of Mr Zuma, to enrich himself and to advance the business interests of his employers - the wealthy Gupta family.

But Mr Zuma was kicked out of office in February, and now both he and his son are facing separate trials for alleged corruption.

Today Duduzane Zuma was quickly granted bail. But prosecutors may well bring other charges against him.

In the meantime, he’s due back in court on Thursday to face a culpable homicide charge for crashing his Porsche into a minibus in 2014.

The corruption case against Duduzane Zuma relates to an incident at the Gupta’s mansion in 2015, where, it’s alleged, the deputy finance minister was offered a promotion and a huge bribe in return for his loyalty to the Guptas and their business empire.

The Guptas and Zumas have denied any wrongdoing, but with a new president in power, and elections next year, the governing African National Congress is anxious to show that it's serious about tackling the rampant corruption that flourished during the Zuma era.

See earlier post for more details

Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Meskel has been giving more details of the joint declaration signed by President Isaias Afewerki and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The declaration includes a pledge to resume ties in a wide range of fields, and to implement a "border decision," he said.

This appeared to be a reference to Ethiopia ceding territory to Eritrea, in line with a 2002 ruling of an independent boundary commission.

The information minister has tweeted details of the declaration: