Mayeni Jones
BBC News, Lagos

At least 40 people have been killed in floods in Katsina state in north-west Nigeria.

Heavy rains late on Sunday caused a river in the town of Jibia to burst its banks.

Local emergency services told the BBC that at one point water levels reached the roofs of houses.

Thousands of properties were destroyed, while some of the victims were washed downstream and across the border into Niger.

Their bodies are now being repatriated. Emergency accommodation is being offered at local schools.

Former US President Barack Obama is set to deliver the annual Nelson Mandela lecture in South Africa's main city, Johannesburg, in about five hours.

The lecture coincides with events to mark 100 years since the birth of South Africa's first black president, who died in 2013 aged 95.

The speech by Mr Obama, the US' first black president, would focus on "creating conditions for bridging divides, working across ideological lines, and resisting oppression and inequality", the foundation said.

It will be live-streaming the eagerly-awaited speech, as it points out on its Facebook account:

US pop star Madonna has returned to Malawi to celebrate the first anniversary of a medical facility named after one of the four children she adopted from the southern African country.

She posted an Instagram photo of herself and her children on Monday in front of a mural at the Mercy James Centre for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care in the commercial capital, Blantyre.

She funded the building of the facility, where the first successful separation of conjoined twins in Malawi took place:

The pop star is now considering building a football academy in Malawi, and her adopted son David Banda says he dreams of Malawi making it to the World Cup, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Image source, Getty Images

Egypt's parliament has approved a tough new law to regulate social media, raising fears that it could curb dissent against President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's regime.

The law states that social media users who have more than 5,000 followers could be placed under the supervision of Egypt's Supreme Council for Media Regulations.

The council would be authorised to suspend or block any personal account which "publishes or broadcasts fake news or anything inciting violating the law, violence or hatred", AFP news agency quotes the law as saying.

This would cover websites, blogs and personal accounts, it adds.

Some rights groups see the law - which still has to be approved by Mr Sisi - as an aggressive attempt to restrict social media, which remains one of the few remaining outlets for free expression in Egypt, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The law - along with other media-related laws - would legalize "mass censorship and step up the assault on the right to freedom of expression in Egypt”, the US-based newspaper quotes Amnesty International's Najia Bounaim as saying.

Our African proverb of the day:

Click here 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.

Dickens Olewe
BBC Africa

That's all from BBC Africa Live this week. Keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or check the BBC News website.

Today's wise words:

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

And we leave you with an image from Instagram of a man getting a hair cut in Ethiopia:

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Fishing communities in Ghana say they strongly oppose the government's decision to impose a one-month ban on all fishing activities.

Ghana's Minister of Fisheries, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, said the ban would start on 7 August and would cover all activity inland as well as in the Atlantic Ocean, with the exception of tuna fishing.

She said this would allow fish stocks to increase.

The head of a fishing association in the capital, Accra, complained that there had been no consultation and said the ban would have an economic impact on all fishing communities.

Rana Jawad
BBC North Africa correspondent, Tunis

Eight migrants, locked in an abandoned lorry container in Libya’s western city of Zuwara, have suffocated to death, according to officials there.

Six children, one woman, and a young man spent their last moments trapped in the overcrowded container, breathing in fumes from gallons of petrol stored in jerry cans in the container.

The vehicle, which was discovered by a security squad in the east of the city, was holding nearly 100 people in it from various nationalities.

The other 90 migrants were rescued from the lorry, and officials in Zuwara said those who were in a critical condition were transferred to hospital for treatment.

A statement about the incident was published on the official Facebook page of Zuwara’s Security Directorate this morning.

The dead and the survivors include sub-Saharan Africans, Arabs, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis.

Officials also published pictures showing abandoned dusty slippers and a pile of clothes and life jackets, as well as several jerry cans of petrol, cooking gas canisters, and wood panels found in the container.

The coastal city of Zuwara is one of western Libya’s main transit points for migration to Europe by sea.

Smugglers frequently use lorry containers to transport migrants between southern and coastal cities – but it’s not clear why this one was abandoned near an oil and gas complex in the city.

Officials say a search is now under way to arrest those responsible for locking up the migrants in the lorry, but they did not provide any details about their identities.

Fourteen senior officials of Kenya's state-run electricity provider have denied more than six criminal charges - including economic crimes and conspiracy to defeat justice.

The Kenya Power employees, including the current and former managing directors, were arrested on Sunday in connection with the purchase of $45m (£33m) worth of transformers - some of which were faulty and cost almost $5m to repair.

They are also accused of issuing irregular contracts and overcharging customers. The electricity provider said business operations would not be affected by the arrests.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The Egyptian parliament has passed a law under which senior military commanders could be shielded from any investigation into violence during the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi.

The legislation grants the current President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the right to name officers who would be given immunity.

This would cover events that began in the summer of 2013.

They included the breaking up by the security forces of a sit-in staged by Mr Morsi's supporters in Rabaa Square, in Cairo.

Hundreds of demonstrators were killed.

Tomi Oladipo
BBC Africa security correspondent

The news agency AFP stands by its report that a second jihadist attack on Nigerian troops in as many days was even more deadly and included an army base being overrun.

It adds that hundreds of troops are unaccounted for after the attack.

The Nigerian military’s dismissive response to this report is typical of its default stance of downplaying or denying losses.

It wants to be the sole source of news from the front line, and pits the media as purveyors of unfounded and unverified claims.

There have been genuine, laudable military successes in this campaign - but the force has also hurt its own credibility with some inaccurate or even untrue accounts.

It claims that residents of north-east Nigeria have nothing to fear, yet it restricts media access to certain parts of the region.

It wants journalists to trumpet its gains against what it considers a rag-tag militia - but also go silent on the continuing attacks on civilians and soldiers.

The Nigeria military describes its "gallant" troops as being in high spirits, yet for years we have had multiple accounts from those on the frontline complaining of being ill-equipped and even poorly fed.

Despite the much-repeated assertion of having defeated Islamist militant group Boko Haram, the insurgency is into its ninth year.

Vigilantes are burning rapists to death in the South African township of Diepsloot, near Johannesburg.

But even that will not stop them.

For BBC Africa Eye, crime reporter Golden Mtika exposes on camera the faces of the township's terrifying sexual predators.

Nick Cavell
BBC Africa Sport

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa’s Kevin Anderson has become the highest ranked African men’s singles player since the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) began their system in 1973 - by reaching number five in the latest world rankings.

His latest position comes after he finished as Wimbledon runner-up on Sunday, losing in straight sets to Novak Djokovic in the final.

He moves ahead of his compatriot Wayne Ferreira, who was ranked at number six in 1995.

Kevin Curren also reached number five in the world shortly after he also finished as a Wimbledon runner-up in 1985, however he was competing as a US citizen after switching from South Africa earlier that year.

Amanda Coetzer is still the highest-ever ranked African, having reached number three in November 1997 (the Women’s Tennis Association – WTA – began their rankings in 1975).

There have been African number ones in doubles tennis including South Africa’s Frew McMillan, Zimbabwe’s Byron Black as well as his sister Cara Black.

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

A sixth miner has died after Sunday's accident at a copper mine in South Africa's northern Limpopo province.

Reports says a conveyor belt caught fire.

Miners were then instructed to evacuate to the closest refuge chamber as temperatures "rose to [between] 64 and 67 degrees Celsius, [which] made the rescue efforts impossible," news site IOL quotes a statement from the Associated Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).

There were 200 workers underground at the mine, owned by the Phalaborwa Mining Company, when the fire broke out, most of whom were safely brought to the surface.

Some of them have been receiving treatment in nearby hospitals. The mine is in the northern Limpopo province, one of the poorest areas in South Africa.

The National Union of Mineworkers (Num) called mine companies to put lives ahead of profits.

In a statement it said: "As the Num, we vehemently condemn this kind of incident as there is a high number of fatalities in the mining industry in South Africa this year."

"We call upon employers to put lives of mineworkers first so that we can be able to achieve zero harm and zero death in the mining industry.”

Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe sent condolence messages to the families of miners who died., external

Eritrea's information minister has tweeted that President Isaias Afwerki has returned home after a three-day visit to Ethiopia.

The 72-year-old leader was showered with gifts by Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as they celebrated the normalisation of relations after two decades of hostility.

Mr Isaias also re-opened Eritrea's embassy, 20 years after it closed because of a border conflict.

Read: Eritrea President Isaias Afwerki 'both charismatic and brutal'

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Lusaka

Image source, AFP

Popular rhumba musician Koffi Olomide has been barred from entering Zambia because of the many criminal allegations against him in the southern African country, and France.

They include allegations of assaulting a photojournalist in Zambia during a previous tour.

He has also been accused of sexually assaulting his dancers, kidnapping them and employing them without valid permits in France.

Ahead of his now-cancelled visit, Olomide - who lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo - had described Zambia as his “second home” and said he would like to perform in the country before “I die.”

An apology from the 62-year-old singer has also been broadcast on Zambian radio. He does not specifically address the allegations against him, but says that he loves Zambian women.

Olomide, whose real name is Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, was supposed to hold two shows in Zambia this month but the government had warned he will be arrested the moment he steps foot in the country.

On Saturday, the French embassy in Zambia also called for the arrest of Olomide.

France's ambassador to Zambia, Sylvain Berger, threatened to involve Interpol to arrest Olomide, whom he said has not yet been cleared of the allegations against him in France.

The story has captivated Zambian media:

Image source, Kennedy Gondwe

The rhumba star - known for his flashy dressing and extravagant lifestyle - is not new to controversy.

In 2016, he was caught on camera kicking his female dancer on arrival in Kenya. He was swiftly deported.

In 2012, he was convicted in DR Congo of assaulting his producer.

The court gave the singer a three-month suspended prison sentence.

The altercation with his producer, Diego Lubaki, was over a debt of about $3,700 (£2,800), the court heard.

In 2008, he was accused of kicking a cameraman from DR Congo's private RTGA television station and breaking his camera at a concert in the capital, Kinshasa, following disagreement over recording rights.

In the end, the speaker of the national assembly stepped in to resolve the dispute, brokering a reconciliation between the star and owner of the TV station.

Auma Obama - the sister of former US President Barack Obama - says young people should not look down on farming.

She runs the Sauti Kuu Foundation, which is being inaugurated today by her brother.

Listen to her interview with the BBC's Anne Soy:

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The Nigerian military has denied reports that soldiers are missing after Boko Haram Islamist militants attacked a military base over the weekend.

An army spokesman said in a series of tweets that the reports had been blown out of proportion.

On Saturday evening a base in Yobe State, close to the border with Niger, was attacked by jihadists.

Local media in Nigeria is reporting that a convoy of vehicles painted in military colours drove into the base and after a firefight, hundreds of soldiers fled.

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has vowed to rename the country to "Great Zimbabwe" saying the current name is "cursed", the New Zimbabwe news site reports., external

"Zimbabwe cannot remain Zimbabwe, because it has been turned into Zimbabwe ruins," Mr Chamisa told thousands of supporters at a rally in the eastern city of Mutare on Sunday.

"The name Zimbabwe is cursed as you can see our national soccer team always lose matches - cricket team is always defeated, volleyball is always defeated," he added.

A Twitter account which monitors Zimbabwe media shared a video of Mr Chamisa's comment at a rally on Saturday where he made the same comments:

The 40-year-old politician aims to be president in the 30 July election - the first after longtime leader Robert Mugabe left office.

He told supporters on Sunday: "We will be renaming it to Great Zimbabwe in line with the greatness which is coming."

Mr Chamisa and President Emmerson Mnangagwa are considered the frontrunners in the presidential race.