That's all from BBC Africa Live for now. 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:

And we leave you with this ant's-eye view from Biakpa in Ghana:

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The government in Madagascar has suspended the entire police force in a town in the north east after a riot broke out following the death of young man in police custody.

The 19-year-old died on Saturday after spending a night in a police cell, prompting angry crowds to take to the streets of Maroantsetra.

More than 20 houses were burnt - most of them belonging to the police.

Madagascar's security minister has ordered officers stationed in the town to be replaced by others and says there will an internal inquiry into the violence.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

The Sudanese government has said 11 people were killed on Tuesday in the capital Khartoum, including six members of the state security forces.

They died when the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) tried to disperse thousands of demonstrators who were calling on President Omar al-Bashir to step down.

Some soldiers helped protect the protesters and even shot back in the direction of the security personnel.

The anti-government demonstrations began in December but intensified on Saturday.

Since then thousands of protesters have been holding a sit-in outside the military headquarters.

Correspondents say the situation remains tense.

Mark Gleeson
Sports journalist, South Africa

Image source, EPA

South Africa's football association (Safa) has told political parties to stay away from football matches after an attempt at campaigning at two high profile games in the last week - including Saturday's African Champions League tie in Pretoria.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) was distributing t-shirts outside the Orlando stadium in Soweto. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) supporters were seen in their full red jumpsuits, displaying election banners.

Safa issued a strong statement to them to desist on Wednesday:

“Football is apolitical in its nature and we should all strive to promote a friendly, family atmosphere at the stadiums. It is for this reason that political regalia is among the list of prohibited items that are banned by Caf, Fifa and affiliated FAs,” said Safa’s acting chief executive officer Russell Paul.

“While we respect individuals’ right to associate himself/herself with the political party of his/her choice or to be affiliated to any religious sector of one’s choice, this should not be done openly within football environments as it is in violation of football governing bodies’ statutes.

“This has also the potential to raise tensions between supporters of different political parties and might lead to physical confrontations,” he added in a statement.

Mr Paul said those that contravene this rule will either be ejected from the stadiums or have their regalia taken away from them.

On Monday the Premier Soccer League’s spokesman Luxolo September also asked political parties to refrain from using their platforms for electioneering.

There has been no reaction yet from both the ANC and EFF to the Safa statement.

Image source, Reuters

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The Vatican has confirmed that the president of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, and his long time rival, Riek Machar, have arrived for a two day spiritual retreat.

There had been some doubt as to whether the former rebel leader Mr Machar would attend.

The retreat, which will feature prayer and meditation, is being led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby and Pope Francis.

It comes just weeks before the rival South Sudanese politicians are meant to be forming a unity government - with Mr Machar taking up a vice presidential position.

Last year a peace deal was signed ending five years of civil war that has left millions displaced.

Correspondents say the implementation of the agreement has been slow and there are still fears that the deal may not hold.

A farmer in Zambia has told the BBC that he wants to join those villagers who on Wednesday won the right to sue mining giant Vedanta in a UK court over alleged pollution.

The case relates to allegations by villagers living near the huge Nchanga Copper mine, owned by Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a subsidiary of UK-based Vedanta.

Watson Sinkala, who has tried to pursue a case against the company in the Zambian courts, said he was offered about 40,000 kwatcha ($3,300; £2,500) compensation by Vedanta when 10 hectares (nearly 25 acres) of his farmland became waterlogged after the Nchanga copper mine poured slurry into a nearby stream.

He explained what had happened to the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme.

Mr Sinkala says he grew tomatoes, cabbage and maize on that land, supplying the supermarket chain Shoprite.

He turned down the compensation offer from the mining firm as he estimates his damages were higher - and 10 years on he is still fighting his case.

Now that Zambian community has won the right to seek justice and compensation in British courts, he hopes he can join the group in its legal action.

Vedanta and KCM say they will defend themselves against any claims.

The chief whip of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) called for the rioters at a book launch on Tuesday to be disciplined by the party.

Jackson Mthembu also and called for their arrest in a series of tweets:

As we reported earlier, supporters of powerful South African politician Ace Magshule disrupted the launch of a book, Gangster State, which accuses him of widespread corruption.

The singing and dancing protesters stormed the launch and ripped out book pages.

Mr Magashule is the secretary-general of the ANC and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the party.

The ANC has dismissed the book as a "culmination of lies" against Mr Magashule, while he has threatened to sue its author, investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburg, and Penguin Books.

Myburg told BBC Focus on Africa that Mr Mtembo was "making the right noises" but the ANC "has made a habit" of threatening action with their wayward members and then nothing happened.

He added:

BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

The head of the Algerian army says he expects the judiciary to start prosecuting the country's ruling elite.

Lieutenant-General Ahmed Gaid Salah, has described the men around President Abdelaziz Bouteflika - who was forced to resign last week - as "the gang".

He said that the judiciary would launch proceedings into the political elite's corruption, abuse of power and plundering of the country's resources.

On Wednesday, the Algerian interior ministry issued licences for ten new political parties.

Algeria's interim leader, Abdelkader Bensalah, promised on Tuesday to organise free and fair elections within 90 days.

Read more: How Algeria's army sacrificed a president to keep power

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that Zambian communities can seek justice and compensation in British courts after accusing mining group Vedanta of being responsible for polluting their water supply.

Rights groups are hailing the ruling as a significant breakthrough that could lead to other communities in developing countries seeking compensation in British courts.

London-based Vedanta had argued that the case should be heard in Zambia where its subsidiary KCM has been accused of polluting communities near its copper mine.

The human rights law firm Leigh Day brought the case on behalf of 1,800 Zambians and argued that they would not be able to get justice in a Zambian court.

Vedanta and KCM say they will defend themselves against any claims.

Read more:'Rivers of acid' in Zambian villages

Shingai Nyoka
BBC Africa, Harare

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has pledged to facilitate the exhumation and burial of victims killed in a state crackdown in the 1980s.

Between 5,000 and 20,000 people in southern Zimbabwe are believed to have been killed by security forces under the rule of then-leader Robert Mugabe in what has become known as the Gukurahundi massacres.

Their bodies were stuffed down mine shafts and buried in mass graves.

Many believe the government has done too little to bring closure to families.

There have been no prosecutions and no public apology.

The government has promised to provide medical services to victims, to hold public meetings and to end the harassment of those who speak about their experiences.

It might bring the country nearer to closing the worst chapter in its post independence history.

• Read more: The bones that haunt the country

Image source, Reuters

Loyalists of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir have called for a support rally in Khartoum on Thursday, AFP news agency reports.

The acting chief of Mr Bashir's ruling party, Ahmed Harun, is quoted as saying that the rally aims to show that "there are social and political powers that are committed towards peace, security and stability in Sudan".

In March, Mr Bashir handed his powers as party leader to Mr Harun in the face of the protests demanding he stand down. But he remained as president.

These protests started in December.

Over the last five days protests have grown as protesters have been gathering outside the army headquarters and asking the army to side with the protesters.

The BBC's Wietske Burema has tweeted this video from the streets of Algeria's capital Algiers showing protesters have hit the streets for another day of protests:

The protests started in February when ailing president Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced he would stand for a fifth term as president.

He eventually withdrew this promise and then resigned.

But protesters carried on protesting because they want to get rid of the whole ruling elite.

They don't want anyone from the group of people they see as previously having power to organise the next elections.

They aren't happy with the appointment of the interim president Abdelkader Bensalah for this reason.

Algerian police used water cannon on Tuesday to disperse crowds demonstrating against Mr Bensalah.

He has now promised only to stay in the job for three months.

Rana Jawad
BBC North Africa correspondent

Image source, Reuters

A UN-sponsored Libya National Conference, which was due to be held in four days' time, has been postponed.

The aim of the three-day meeting was to bring Libyans from across the country around a negotiating table to chart the country’s political future.

But a statement by Ghassan Salamé, the special representative to the UN’s Mission to Libya, said he could not ask Libyans to attend a conference “to the backdrop of artillery shelling and air raids”.

The postponement comes amidst renewed conflict on the fringes of the capital, Tripoli, between some of the country’s biggest and most powerful armed rivals.

The latest fighting began after an attack by forces loyal to eastern Libya’s General Khalifa Haftar, who are opposed to the UN-backed government in Tripoli and the other armed groups who nominally support it.

It is a setback to the momentum that the UN spent months building towards a national dialogue.

A new date has not been set.

Read more:

• Who is military strongman Khalifa Haftar?
• Why is Libya so lawless?

Athuman Mtulya
BBC Africa, Dar es Salaam

Image source, National Audit of Tanzania

The government has tabled in parliament reports from auditor general Mussa Assad - just a week after MPs resolved not to work with him.

Mr Assad is usually present when the reports - which look at how government money is spent - are tabled. However, he was absent today.

A seven-day constitutional ultimatum for the reports to be tabled was to expire today.

Last Thursday, Speaker Job Ndugai said parliament would continue to work with the auditor general's office "and not Professor Assad as a person”.

A few days earlier, MPs found Mr Assad guilty of disrespecting and belittling the legislature, and resolved not to work with him.

Mr Assad warned at the time that “if they are not going to work with me then that would be a gross contempt of the constitution”.

Tensions between the two erupted after Mr Assad gave a radio interview in December, describing parliament as weak.

“The National Audit Office of Tanzania prepares reports which are supposed to be worked on by parliament, but no action is taken, which to me is a weakness of parliament…I believe it is a challenge that should be worked on…Parliament is failing to exercise its responsibilities effectively,” Mr Assad said in the interview.

He refused to withdraw the remark when he appeared before parliamentary Privileges, Ethics and Powers committee in January on the orders of the speaker.

The auditor general enjoys constitutional immunity, but the president does have the power to form a commission of inquiry - chaired by an appeal court judge from any Commonwealth state - to probe his conduct.

The president can fire him only if the commission suggests so.

Martin Bashir
BBC religious affairs correspondent

Image source, EPA

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and his rival, the former rebel leader Riek Machar, are meeting at the Vatican on Wednesday for a two-day retreat aimed at reconciliation and prayer.

It's a a diplomatic initiative led by Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

The global heads of Protestant and the Catholic Churches invited South Sudan’s political leaders to Rome in an effort to consolidate the fragile peace agreement, signed last September, to end a civil war that has devastated the world’s youngest country. Also attending will be the Rev John Chalmers, former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland.

The two are expected to attend the spiritual retreat, which will take place in Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where Pope Francis lives.

In 2013 the two leaders clashed, leading to a civil war that left 400,000 people dead.

Silent dinner

The Vatican described the meeting as “a propitious occasion for reflection and prayer... to those who in this moment have the mission and responsibility to work for a future of peace and prosperity for the South Sudanese people”.

The schedule for the politicians is built around informal conversation and prayer. All parties will eat together on Wednesday evening during a communal dinner that will take place in what one official described as “reflective silence”.

The Archbishop of Canterbury will preach on Thursday afternoon before Pope Francis delivers an exhortation for peace.

The participants will then be given a Bible, signed by the religious leaders, with the message: “Seek that which unites. Overcome that which divides.”

• Read: The boy who spent days hiding in a swamp

Ameyu Etana
BBC Afaan Oromo

Image source, Ethiopian prime minister's office

Ethiopian runner Feyisa Lelisa has finally accepted the $17,000 (£13,000) prize money offered to him by the government for winning a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Feyisa refused to return to Ethiopia to accept the money from then-Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn's government, saying he feared for his life. He went from Brazil to the US, where he was given asylum.

He became famous for crossing the line in Rio with his arms raised - a symbol to protest the brutal police crackdown on Ethiopia's Oromo people.

Image source, Getty Images

Feyisa accepted the cash prize at a function in the capital, Addis Ababa, on Tuesday, shaking hands, smiling broadly and posing for photographs with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopia's first female president.

In an interview with BBC Afaan Oromoo, Feyisa said: ‘‘We went on the stage together to celebrate the achievement.

"I’m very happy not because of the prize money. I’m happy because I’m witnessing my struggle’s being fruitful in the country.’’

Mr Abiy introduced sweeping reforms since he took office in April 2018.

Feyisa returned to Ethiopia about six months later. He has not participated in international competitions since then, saying he was ill and was finding it difficult to acclimatise.

Peter Mwai
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, Philip Kinyungu

A man in central Kenya has been earning praise after volunteering to dig a road to save villagers from having to take a long walk to get to the nearby shopping centre.

Nicholas Muchami, 45, who is a casual labourer, decided to build the road after the previous road was blocked by the land owner who accused villagers of trespassing on his land. Meanwhile, bushes cover the public road, making it impassable.

Image source, Philip Kinyungu

The residents of Kaganda village in Muranga County were then forced to use an indirect route about 4km (two-and-a-half miles) to get to the shopping centre.

Mr Muchami spent six days digging the road manually.

He has cleared and levelled 1.5km of the road and plans to complete the remaining section later after earning more money to sustain himself.

His story was highlighted, external online by Kinyungu Micheke on Facebook.

“I had made desperate appeals to the local leaders to have the road built but all in vain. It was then that I decided to build it using my farm tools for the sake of women and children and to save time,” he told the Daily Nation.

Even though the road is incomplete, it is already being used by pupils attending the nearby primary and secondary schools.

Kenyans online have been praising him for his dedication.

Godfrey Mugambi wrote on Twitter: "The other villagers should join hands with Mr. Muchemi and complete the road."

It's nearly four weeks since Cyclone Idai struck southern Africa.

The port city of Beira in Mozambique was particularly badly hit.

The deputy representative for Unicef in Mozambique Michel le Pechoux told BBC Newsday there are still more than 3,500 confirmed cases.

Listen to the interview:

Teklemariam Bekit
BBC Tigrinya

Image source, Free Nazrawit /Facebook

Police in Ethiopia say they have arrested a woman on suspicion of giving drugs, hidden in shampoo bottles, to a childhood friend detained in China.

The woman's detention followed the arrest of civil engineer Nazrawit Abera, 27, at the airport in Beijing in December.

Cocaine hidden in bottles of shampoo were allegedly found in Ms Nazrawit's possession. Her friends believe she was duped into carrying the cocaine.

They have launched an online petition to demand her release, saying they fear she could be wrongly convicted and executed.

"We are fearful, angry and do not know where to go and cry," an unnamed friend was quoted as saying.

"We have not heard from her and we have little information of her status and her parents cry and spend sleepless nights hopping their daughter will come back."

The Ethiopian attorney-general's office said its preliminary investigation revealed that the drugs were brought from Brazil to Ethiopia, and were then sent to China.

The investigation was also focusing on the source of money found in a home in the capital, Addis Ababa, the attorney-general's office said.

The occupant of the house had also been arrested, police said.

Those arrested have not yet been charged.

BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool took command of their Champions League quarter-final with Porto thanks to two first-half goals in the first leg at Anfield.

Naby Keita put Liverpool in front in just the fifth minute when his shot from the edge of the penalty area deflected in off Oliver Torres.

Roberto Firmino then tapped home the second from Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross after Jordan Henderson's fine ball from midfield.

Porto did create chances but striker Moussa Marega failed to convert meaning his side leave Merseyside without what could have been a crucial away goal.

Read the full story here