Historian Olivette Otele has been awarded a professorship in history by Britain's Bath Spa university.

This makes the Cameroon-born academic the first black woman to become a history professor in the UK, History Today magazine has said.

Prof Otele, who specialises in colonial and post-colonial history, tweeted the news herself saying that she hope her appointment would "open the door to many hard working women, especially women of colour... and specifically black women in academia".

In a profile printed in History Today, external, she lists Congolese historian Elikia M’Bokolo as her greatest influence, and included in the languages she speaks are the Cameroonian languages Ewondo, Eton and Bulu.

BBC World Service

The BBC has learnt that the second-in-command of the Islamic State group in Somalia has been killed in the capital, Mogadishu.

Mahad Moallim, who is on a US sanctions list, was shot dead by gunmen who are also believed to be members of IS.

Correspondents say it is possible that the killing was related to a power struggle amongst the jihadists as the leader of the group is reported to be in poor health.

IS is thought to have between 400 and 500 fighters and is most active in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

The militant group, also known as Daish, is an arch rival of the jihadist group al-Shabab.

Chris Ewokor
BBC Africa, Abuja

Authorities in Nigeria's north-western Kaduna state say the curfew imposed in the main city has been relaxed in some places for four hours to enable residents restock supplies.

But the round-the-clock curfew, for the nearly one million residents, remains in force in areas believed to be volatile.

The measure was put in place following protests on Sunday which degenerated into sectarian violence between Christian and Muslim groups who attacked each other with guns and machetes.

The violence had threatened to spread across the state.

At least 55 people died last week following the crisis which started in Kasuwan Magani.

Seven Ethiopian migrants have drowned after a boat carrying 13 people capsized off the coast of Tanzania, Reuters news agency reports quoting the police boss in north-eastern Tanga region.

“Of the people onboard, 12 were Ethiopians and another person, who was the boat captain, [his] nationality has not been identified because he is still missing,” police commander Edward Bukombe said.

Mr Bukombe said five have been rescued and the search was ongoing for the missing person.

He said Tanzania's immigration service was in touch with the Ethiopian embassy to arrange for burial arrangements for the dead.

The survivors told police that they were en route to South Africa.

Mr Bukombe said investigators had yet to identify those who had organised and financed the trip, saying the missing captain could have helped much more with the investigation.

He added that it was not unusual for Tanzanian police to intercept and detain Ethiopian economic migrants on their way to South Africa.

The United Nations says it is gravely concerned about a spate of attacks by the jihadist group Boko Haram in north-east Nigeria that are reported to have killed close to 40 people in recent days.

The UN's humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, called on the government and the security forces to do more to protect communities.

Boko Haram was founded in 2002 and launched military operations in 2009.

Its insurgency has killed thousands and displaced millions mostly in the north-east of the country.

The militant group has also extended its activities into neighbouring countries.

Mr Kallon also urged the Nigerian authorities in Kaduna state to investigate last week's clashes in the Kasuwan Magani area which left more than 50 people dead.

The governor of Kaduna state, Nasir Ahmad El Rufai, says the prosecution of 25 people arrested over the violence will be fast-tracked.

Many African and Asian countries have banned the recruitment of domestic workers for countries in the Middle East who subscribe to the “kafala” system.

Under the system, foreign maids are legally bound to their employer and have limited rights.

Employers can take advantage of their position and many women are overworked, underpaid and physically abused.

Testimonies from women who escaped and private recordings show a world of powerlessness and abuse, hidden behind closed doors.

This week’s Africa Eye, “Maid in Hell” is part of the “Why Slavery?” series from THE WHY, external.

The son-in-law of Zimbabwe's former President Robert Mugabe, has been released on bail after a magistrate explained to him that he was to face kidnapping charges.

Local media tweeted photos of Simba Chikore (in the pink shirt) arriving at the court in the capital, Harare, with his wife Bona – Mr Mugabe’s only daughter:

Mr Chikore is a pilot and has been involved in plans to launch a new national airline called Zimbabwe Airways.

He resigned as chief operating officer of the state-run Air Zimbabwe last November when Mr Mugabe was forced to leave office after 37 years in power.

Zimbabwean journalist Larry Moyo reported that Mr Chikore was arrested at the airport on Monday night, external.

According to the state-run Herald newspaper, he is accused of detaining a former senior employee of Zimbabwe Airways against her will following a dispute, external.

Magistrate Elisha Singano, who granted Mr Chikore $30 (£23) bail, ordered him not to interfere with witnesses.

The Herald says the case it set to resume on 7 November, when he may be formally charged.

But Mr Chikore’s lawyer, Jonathan Samukange, told the BBC he did not expect this to happen as he was challenging the process.

BBC World Service

Two Kenyan MPs have appeared in court in connection with an outbreak of violence earlier this month that left 14 people dead.

The MPs, Ali Rasso and Chachu Ganya, from Marsabit County in northern Kenya were arrested on Monday.

Last week Interior Minister Fred Matiang’i said intelligence reports had shown that politicians were fanning the violence in Marsabit that had led to 16 schools closing down.

The prosecution asked for the two MPs to be detained for three weeks to enable the police to complete investigations into cases of alleged incitement to violence and promoting war-like activities.

They have not yet entered a plea.

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

A pilot has been killed after his helicopter crashed while on fire-fighting operations in South Africa’s Western Cape Province.

He was flying near Vermaaklikheid, which is on the Garden Route, a well-known tourist area.

The fire-fighting organisation Working On Fire (Wof) confirmed the incident.

"The helicopter went down near the fire at approximately 09:45 (07:45 GMT) on Tuesday, October 23, 2018, while conducting firefighting operations," Wof spokesman Linton Rensburg said in a statement.

The Western Cape provincial government has already paid tribute to the pilot and sent its condolences to his family.

"The family, friends and the community of firefighters are in our thoughts at this time," Western Cape Environment minister Anton Bredell said.

More resources have been deployed in the Overberg region to fight the blaze, caused by a heatwave, the provincial government added.

Wof has been tweeting about its operations:

Image source, AFP

If you're an Arsenal supporter like Rwanda's President Paul Kagame you're probably still revelling in last night's English Premier League win against Leicester.

Arsenal won the match 3-1 but it was the all-round performance, especially the exchange of passes leading up to the third goal scored by Gabon's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, that the fans enjoyed most.

Mr Kagame, a critic of former coach Arsene Wenger, who was at the club for 22 years, seems to be enjoying the new reign of Unai Emery.

Rwanda's national tourist board, Visit Rwanda, is one of Arsenal's sponsors in a deal which cost $39m (£30m).

Favour Nunoo
BBC Pidgin, Accra

Image source, Attah Poku

Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Knust) has been shut down and students ordered to leave the institution following violent protests on Monday.

The trouble started at Knust, which is in the country's second largest city of Kumasi, last Friday night after 11 students were arrested by police after taking part in their usual end-of-week party, known as a jamboree, which the university authorities recently banned.

The students mounted roadblocks, vandalised property and boycotted lectures on Monday, accusing the university's security and management of brutality.

A joint task force of police and military personnel has now taken over the university campus to maintain calm.

Students have been given up to 12.00 GMT on Tuesday to vacate the campus.

Only foreign students have been exempted from the decision - the authorities say they will be given security protection in their hostels.

Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei Mensah, who announced the decision, maintains the shutdown is necessary in view of the extent of the damages.

Doctors in Belarus are reported to have cured more than 80% of sufferers from a deadly drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis using a new drug, bedaquiline, alongside other antibiotics.

Belarus has the highest rates of multidrug-resistant TB.

Tuberculosis is the ninth leading cause of death worldwide. It killed at least 1.7 million people last year, making it by far the world's deadliest infectious disease.

It is spread from person to person through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes or spits.

In 2016, 2.5 million people fell ill with TB in Africa, accounting for a quarter of new TB cases worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Seven countries account for 64% of the new TB cases in 2016, with India leading the count, followed by Indonesia, China, Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, and South Africa, WHO says.

The AFP news agency reports that the Belarus trial cure rate of 80% was largely replicated in bedaquiline trials in other countries in eastern Europe, Africa and south-east Asia, according to documents it had seen.

Dr Paula Fujiwara - from the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease - spoke to the BBC's Newsday programme about the new drug that is being hailed as a "game changer"

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Amnesty International says a catalogue of failures in Madagascar's criminal justice system has led to people in pre-trial detention dying due to the appalling conditions in which they are being held.

After visiting prisons across Madagascar the rights group found that more than 11,000 people including children had been arbitrarily placed in pre-trial detention which often lasts for years - many were there for what it called petty non-violent crimes.

Amnesty reports that last year more than 50 people died in prison before they had gone on trial.

It said detainees complained about cells infested with rats and tuberculosis was a common cause of death.

BBC World Service

There has been heavy fighting in a disputed Somali region which has left more than 40 people dead.

Fighting in the area first erupted in 2004 but the latest clashes come just after a peace deal in the Sool Region which is claimed by both the self-declared republic of Somaliland and Puntland - an autonomous region of Somalia.

The governor of the Sool region, Abdirashid Hussein, says the fighting started shortly after dawn on Monday and lasted all day as two rival sub clans shot at each other using heavy weapons mounted on the backs of vehicles.

He said more than 80 people were also injured, leaving health facilities overwhelmed.

Lengthy peace talks between rival factions of the Dul Bahante clan ended with a ceasefire deal just 10 days ago.

The mediator of those talks has appealed for both sides to agree to a new ceasefire to end the fighting which has scattered hundreds of nomadic herders and their livestock.

Image source, AFP

Former South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha will be buried today in Pretoria, public broadcaster SABC reports. , external

He died at the age of 86 almost a fortnight ago.

Around the world he was seen as the public face of apartheid, having served as foreign minister for 17 years, and a staunch defender of white-minority rule, but he was also seen as a liberal who aided the transition to democracy.

His family has said they have no knowledge of an offer of a state funeral by the government, SABC reports.

Botha stepped down as foreign minister in 1994 at the end of apartheid, but also served as a minister in Nelson Mandela's first post-apartheid government, praising Mandela as a healing figure.

Botha's legacy is contested, some remembering him as an unrepentant defender of apartheid and others seeing him as a reformer.

This caricature by EWN news captures the ongoing debate:

Read more about Pik Botha

Tuesday's African proverb:

Image source, Getty Images

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Welcome to the BBC Africa Live page where we'll be bringing you news and developments from the continent.

That's all from BBC Africa Live for now. You can 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 African proverb:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo from Jane Hahn of boy scouts in Chad on a 20km (12 miles) bike ride from the Everyday Africa Instagram account, external:

Alhassan Sillah
BBC Africa, Conakry

Guinean school students have taken to the streets in the their hundreds in the capital, Conakry, to demand that their teachers, who are currently on strike, return to work.

Schools re-opened for the academic year on 3 October but the strike has meant that no classes have taken place.

Police fought running battles with the protesting students and fired tear gas to disperse them.

The teachers are on strike following the failure of the government to meet their demand for a pay increase.

Monday's student protest came after a government communique was broadcast on state media indicating that a solution had been found to the end the strike.

Students went to class only to find that the situation had not changed, with teachers nowhere to be found.

Image source, AFP/Getty

The life of Nigerian separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu is under threat, his lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor has told BBC Focus on Africa.

It appears that he has fled Nigeria, where he has campaigned for a separate state of Biafra in the south-east after pictures and video of Mr Kanu in Israel emerged on Friday.

He is currently on bail on charges that could amount to treason but has ignored the bail conditions by going abroad.

On Sunday, Mr Kanu told his outlawed pirate radio station - Radio Biafra - that he is "coming home and I will bring hell with me".

Mr Ejiofor said his words should not be taken out of context and that his client is a "man of peace".

Responding to a question about when exactly Mr Kanu will return to Nigeria, his lawyer said he will not come back until his safety is guaranteed.

Me Ejiofor said he would call on the help of the UN, US, UK and EU to make sure Mr Kanu is safe.