BBC Africa Live
Farouk Chothia

That's all from the BBC Africa Live page. 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 the wise words for the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of Aretha Franklin with the Soweto Gospel Choir in New York City in July 2009:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Ghanaian saxophonist Teddy Osei, 80, has also paid tribute to Aretha Franklin, saying he had listened to her music since his he was young and she had been his "top singer for a very long time".

Osei told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme:

Tributes are pouring in for Aretha Franklin, the "queen of soul" known for hits like Respect and Think, following her death in the US city of Detroit at the age of 76.

South African music star Yvonne Chaka Chaka said Franklin was an inspiration for "every black child - I am sure even Beyoncé and Angelique Kidjo".

She told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme:

Chris Ewokor
BBC Africa, Abuja

Nigerian opposition MP Boma Goodhead became famous last week for fearlessly taking on the operatives from the country’s spy agency who inexplicably surrounded parliament.

Her tirade against the armed, masked men went viral as bystanders filmed her on their mobile phones.

Take a look at her giving them a piece of her mind, saying they had no right to block lawmakers from their offices:

Ms Goodhead, who represents a constituency from southern Rivers state in the House of Representatives, even dared them to shoot her.

The 47-year-old has told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme that once she is in her stride nothing will stop her making a point.

She said that for her, the whole episode was an affront to democracy and a bad omen for next year’s elections.

Read more: Heroes and villains of Nigeria's parliamentary siege

Image source, Alamy

Vanilla has become one of the world's most expensive food ingredients, and for the farmers of Madagascar who are the world's largest producers, it's become a dangerous business.

Read more

A fire has swept through a residential building in South Africa's main city, Johannesburg, a journalist has tweeted:

Another journalist has tweeted that the blaze has been extinguished:

In an update, he tweets that everyone in the building, including children, have been safely evacuated:

Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC Africa, Gulu

Image source, Getty Images

Ugandan Afrobeats star and MP Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine, has appeared before a military court in the northern town of Gulu on charges of illegally possessing firearms and ammunition, his lawyers say.

Contrary to earlier reports on state media, he has not been charged with treason.

However, 32 of his colleagues and supporters have been charged with treason at a civilian court in Gulu.

Wine has been brutally assaulted and is unable to walk or speak, his lawyers, Asuman Basalirwa and Medard Ssegona, said.

Journalists were not allowed into the military barracks in Gulu.

Wine has been charged with two counts of unlawful possession of firearms and one count of unlawful possession of ammunition.

He was part of a group of lawmakers and activists arrested following an alleged attack on Monday on a vehicle in President Yoweri Museveni's convoy in north-western Uganda.

MP Francis Zaake has not appeared in court yet. On Wednesday, pictures of him looking beaten up and wounded circulated on social media.

Image source, Getty Images

A South Sudanese refugee in Australia, who killed three of her children by deliberately driving them into a lake, has had her jail sentence reduced on appeal.

Akon Guode was convicted last year of killing Bol, one, and twins Hanger and Madit, both four, in Melbourne in 2015.

Her original maximum 26-year jail term was reduced to 18 years on Thursday.

A judge said the "manifestly excessive" first sentence had not given enough weight to Guode's mental state, and the trauma she had endured in South Sudan.

Last year Guode pleaded guilty to murder, infanticide, and attempted murder. She did not reveal a motive for the killings, a court heard.

A fourth child, six-year-old Alual, had also been in the car but survived after witnesses rushed into the water.

On Thursday, the Victorian Court of Appeal said Guode had "fatefully and irredeemably breached" her children's trust, but found that "her capacity to make calm and rational decisions was severely compromised by a mental condition".

Chief Justice Anne Ferguson said that "that the balance of [Guode's] mind was disturbed" after she had life-saving surgery due to complications with the birth of her youngest child, Bol.

She also noted that Guode, who came to Australia as a refugee in 2008, had witnessed her husband's murder in South Sudan and endured other trauma.

Read the full story here

Ugandan police have fired tear gas to disperse supporters of Afrobeats star and MP Robert Kyagulanyi after they protested against his detention.

One journalist tweeted these photos from the scene:

The protest took place in Kamwokya, known as the "Ghetto Republic", in the capital, Kampala.

Kamwokya is a stronghold of Mr Kyagulanyi, whose music career was built under the name Bobi Wine.

He also calls himself the "ghetto president" to show he is committed to championing the interests of the poor.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court has confirmed that it will hear the opposition's legal challenge to the election victory of President Emmerson Mnangagwa on 22 August.

The MDC Alliance candidate, Nelson Chamisa, says last month's presidential poll, which Mr Mnangagwa won with 50.8% of the vote, was rigged.

Mr Mnangagwa had urged the court to throw out the case. He dismissed Mr Chamisa's behaviour as childish.

BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Senegal legend Henri Camara has confirmed his retirement from football at the age of 41.

Since 2010 he has played for several teams in Greece and spent last season at third-tier side Fostiras.

He is Senegal's most-capped player with 99 appearances and leading goals scorer with 29 goals having played for them at the 2002 World Cup and at five Africa Cup of Nations finals.

Read the full BBC Sport story here

South Africa's commercial capital, Johannesburg, has one of the world's largest gold deposits.

After decades of mining, large swathes of the population are thought to be exposed to toxic and radioactive mine waste.

The BBC's Sophie Ribstein went to meet people living close to the dumps to find out what effect it is having on their health.

Filmed and edited by Christian Parkinson.

Image source, Reuters

A detained Nigerian journalist was taken to court barefooted and charged with trespass and stealing police documents, his newspaper has reported.

Samuel Ogundipe pleaded not guilty when he was secretly arrainged in court, with no-one present, except the magistrate, police officers and prosecutors, Premium Times reported.

“At the court, I requested to speak with my lawyer and employer but they said I should wait until after the proceedings," it quoted Mr Ogundipe as saying.

The journalist briefed a colleague and the newspaper's lawyer when they were allowed to see him in a detention facility after his court appearance, the paper said.

M Ogundipe was arrested on Tuesday for publishing a briefing police chief Ibrahim Idris had sent to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo about the blockade at the parliamentary complex on 7 August, the Premium Times said.

Masked and heavily armed officers from the spy agency prevented lawmakers from entering parliament.

No official reason was given for the blockade, but the opposition described it as an attempt to intimidate its lawmakers.

More than 50 lawmakers had earlier defected from the ruling party to the opposition.

Mr Osinbajo condemned the blockade and sacked spy chief Lawa Daura.

The newspaper said it "remained a mystery" why Mr Osinbajo had failed to intervene in Mr Ogundipe's arrest.

“Premium Times has a constitutional duty to inform the Nigerian people and hold public officials to account. It will neither be intimidated nor cowed by the filthy antics of the police or the administration," it added.

Read: The heroes and villains Nigeria's parliament siege

Image source, AFP

The director of Uganda's government-appointed Human Rights Commission, Ida Nakiganda, says she has received reports that detained musician-turned politician Robert Kyagulanyi will appear before a military court on Friday, according to a leading privately owned television station, NTV Uganda.

His lawyers and relatives had expected Mr Kyagulanyi, known to his supporters as Bobi Wine, to be court-martialled on Thursday in the northern town of Gulu.

He was arrested following an attack on President Yoweri Museveni's convoy on Monday, and has been charged with treason, the state-owned New Vision newspaper reported.

He was admitted to a military hospital on Wednesday for unspecified treatment, the country's deputy prime minister told parliament.

It is unclear why the authorities plan to try Bobi Wine in a military, rather than civilian, court.

He has been a thorn in the flesh of President Museveni since he was elected to parliament last year as an independent, and has been drawing huge crowds at rallies, raising speculation that he could become a presidential contender in the 2021 election.

Celebrated pop star, actress, director and writer Madonna is celebrating her 60th birthday in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.

She has shared photos of herself wearing Berber headdress on Instagram:

Madonna's relationship with the African continent is well documented.

The US singer has six children, four of whom she adopted from Malawi. She called her 12-year-old son, David Banda, "the future president of Malawi" in a tweet on his birthday earlier this year.

Madonna has had a fractious relationship with authorities from the southern African state.

In 2013, Malawi accused Madonna of "bullying state officials", exaggerating her contribution to the country and demanding VIP treatment.

Madonna's manager accused Malawi's government of having a "grudge" against the singer's charity, Raising Malawi, which she founded in 2006, the same year she adopted David.

• Madonna at 60: A colourful career in pictures

Uganda's main opposition leader Kizza Besigye has demanded the immediate release of Afrobeats star and MP Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine.

The treason charges against Bobi Wine were "trumped up", and were similar to those he faced for opposing the rule of long-serving President Yoweri Museveni and his National Resistance Movement (NRM), Mr Besigye said.

Uganda's privately owned Daily Monitor newspaper has been tweeting from his press conference:

Image source, Getty Images

Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has won Sunday's heavily disputed run-off election with 67.17% of the vote, official results show.

Opposition candidate Soumaila Cisse, who won 32.83% of the vote, said on Monday that he would reject the result as he believed the vote was marred by fraud.

"I call on all Malians to rise up... We will not accept the dictatorship of fraud," he said.

The internet could not be accessed via mobile phone networks in the capital, Bamako, ahead of the announcement of official results, AFP news agency reports.

Image source, AFP

Relatives and lawyers of Uganda's Afrobeats star and opposition MP Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine, have been to the military backs in the northern town of Gulu to look for him, but rumour is that he has been flown to the capital, Kampala, reports the BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga from the scene.

Wine was arrested following an attack on Monday on a vehicle in President Yoweri Museveni's convoy.

He was detained along with opposition politician Kassiano Wadri, who went on to beat the ruling party's candidate in a hard-fought by-election on Wednesday.

The state-owned New Vision newspaper reports that the two have been charged with treason, and police have seized two sub-machine guns, a pistol and 75 rounds of ammunition.

There is no independent confirmation of the allegation.

The opposition has long accused the government of hounding critics of long-serving President Yoweri Museveni.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Uganda's retired Supreme Court Judge George Kanyeihamba says a military court does not have the jurisdiction to try popular musician-turned opposition MP Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine.

He is expected to be court-martialled on treason charges, the state-owned New Vision reports.

The retired judge said:

See earlier post for more details

Image source, Getty Images

Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi's body will be exhumed before the end of the year so that he can be buried "with dignity", his Unita party has said, AFP news agency reports.

Savimbi was killed by government forces on 22 February 2002, and was buried the next day in eastern Moxico province.

Six weeks later, Unita signed a peace deal with the government, ending a 27-year civil war.

Current Unita leader Isaias Samakuva announced that Savimbi's body would be exhumed after meeting President Joao Lourenco in the capital, Luanda, on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, he accused the government of denying Savimbi a "dignified burial" and said it was "explicit evidence" of its "policy of exclusion", AFP reports.