A pastel drawing by former South African President Nelson Mandela is expected to fetch between $60,000 and $90,000 (£46,000 to £69,000) when it goes on auction today in New York.

The piece, called The Cell Door, is drawn from memory of his years of imprisonment on Robben Island.

"When my father retired as the president he didn't have much to do," his daughter Pumla Makaziwe Mandela, who is selling the piece at Bonhams auction house, external, is quoted as saying.

"I think for him, art was a good way of expressing himself or trying to come to terms with his history and his (I wouldn't want to say) demons but just coming to terms with his whole life."

Image source, Nelson Mandela/Bonhams

Image source, Getty Images

Foreign tourists will for the first time pay more than South Africans to visit Robben Island, where anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years for opposing the racist system of apartheid.

The Robben Island Museum in Cape Town said the new entrance fee would be 550 rand ($38; £29) for non-South African adults and 300 rand for children.

For South African adults it would be 380 rand and 200 rand for children.

"We believe that this decision will have a positive turnaround on our long term financial sustainability as an organisation whilst also contributing to an increase in domestic visitors,” the museum's chief financial officer, Blayne Crocker, said in a statement.

Read: A Robben Island prisoner's memories

In Morocco, the trials are due to begin of 24 people accused of involvement in the murder of two Scandinavian hikers last December.

The bodies of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen from Denmark, and Maren Ueland from Norway, were found near a popular tourist spot in the Atlas mountains.

Both had been beheaded.

Three main defendants - who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group - could face the death penalty, although Morocco has had a moratorium on executions since 1993.

A video showing the beheading of one of the women was shared widely on social media by IS supporters.

The killings shocked the north African country. Hundreds of people attended vigils in December to mark the murders, like these people pictured outside the Danish Embassy in Rabat:

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

One of the world's top conservation awards was presented in London on Tuesday night.

The Whitley Fund for Nature gave six finalists awards, worth $50,000 (£38,000) to $80,000, to aid conservationists around the world.

BBC Newsday's Bola Mosuro spoke to one of the winners, Caleb Ofori-Boateng, who has been working in Ghana to bring the Togo Slippery Frog back from the brink of extinction:

Tanzanian President John Magufuli has been leading tributes for Tanzanian media tycoon Reginald Mengi following his death in Dubai at the age of 75.

In a tweet in the Swahili language, external, Mr Magufuli said he was deeply saddened by the death of "my friend".

"I will remember his contribution to the development of the nation and his vision, especially what he wrote in his book, I can I will I must," Mr Magufuli added.

Government spokesman Hassan Abbas described Mr Mengi as a "visionary" media owner and entrepreneur whose "great ideas" would always be remembered and cherished.

Mr Abbas has tweeted a photo of Mr Mengi:

See our earlier post

Image source, Reuters

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said his government has identified land to relocate people displaced by Cyclone Idai and those in areas prone to natural disasters, state-owned daily newspaper The Herald reports., external

Mr Mnangagwa said the government was pooling resources to build houses for those left homeless by the cyclone.

“I am grateful for the commitment and perseverance that has been exhibited towards restoring disrupted lives of our communities which were affected by Cyclone Idai,” Mr Mnangagwa was quoted as saying.

The head of state said he was meeting with chiefs to make sure tradition is followed in moving people to new areas, the paper says.

"We are moving people from places that they have traditionally belonged, where their ancestors are. We should make sure we follow tradition. We should not trample on people’s traditions," The Herald quoted the president as saying.

Read: How prepared was southern Africa for Idai?

Jonathan Marcus
BBC Diplomatic and defence correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Ever since the upsurge of popular unrest - the so-called "Arab Spring" - erupted in the Middle East just over eight years ago, the region has undergone profound change.

In many cases authoritarian rule was never seriously challenged. In other places it was restored quickly, as in the case of Egypt, or more slowly and only partially, as in the case of Syria.

But the chaos and bloodshed in Syria was to a large extent influenced by the actions of external actors.

And there is now a danger that the second wave of popular protest in the region - notably in Sudan - may also be heavily influenced by external players.

This is not to say that Sudan risks going the way of the factionalism and bitter communal struggles that have plagued Syria.

But many of the same factors that are shaping the contemporary Middle East are at play in Sudan too, notably the growing role of the Saudis who, along with their Gulf allies, are waging a multi-front battle for influence against Qatar and especially Turkey.

Read the full article here

Uganda's media regulator has ordered 13 radio and television stations to suspend some of their journalists and editors, accusing them of "misrepresenting information" and inciting violence by broadcasting "extremist or anarchic messages".

The regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), did not specify cases of alleged breaches in the directive sent to the 13 media houses - including NBS Television, Bukedde TV, NTV, CBS FM and Capital FM.

It ordered the suspension of producers, heads of news and heads of programmes within three days.

"This follows concerns over the nature of content aired on these broadcast stations particularly during live programmes, breaking news, and main news bulletins which do not comply with the Minimum broadcasting standards," the UCC added.

Image source, Getty Images

Uganda's privately owned The Observer newspaper, external quoted sources at some of the stations as saying that the UCC was angry about their coverage of the arrest of pop star and opposition MP Bobi Wine, and protests by his supporters on Monday.

Bobi Wine - who real name is Robert Kyagulanyi - is due to appear in court for a bail hearing after being charged with "disobedience of statutory duty" for organising a protest against a tax on the use of social media, the state-owned New Vision newspaper reported.

Police warned that any planned processions during his court appearance were illegal, and political groups which organised them would not be tolerated, the newspaper added.

Athuman Mtulya
BBC Africa

Tanzanian media mogul Reginald Mengi has died in Dubai.

Mr Mengi, who was born in a poor family from Kilimanjaro region in 1944, breathed his last on Wednesday night.

The cause of his death and the reason for his visit to Dubai are still unclear.

Mr Mengi was regarded as a self-made tycoon, and a champion of philanthropy.

Respected financial magazine Forbes estimated in 2014 that his net worth was $560m.

His IPP Media Group owns a number of newspapers, television and radio stations.

He also had stakes in mining operations - including gold, uranium, copper, chrome and coal - and in the mineral water and soft drinks business.

Reginald Mengi is survived by his wife, former Miss Tanzania Jacqueline Ntuyabaliwe, and four children.

Jonathan Paye-Layleh
BBC Africa, Monrovia

Image source, Getty Images

Liberia's President and former international football star George Weah, has resumed working from his official office, exactly two weeks after he abandoned it because two snakes were found in the building where it is located.

The building had to be thoroughly fumigated before the president was advised to return on Wednesday.

One of the first persons to visit President Weah at the office was former Vice-President Joseph Boakai, who lost to him in the 2017 presidential election.

Mr Weah briefed him on his government's efforts to "protect the tenets of democracy", and to attract foreign investment to boost the economy, a statement posted on the presidential website said, external.

The office of the president has been based in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' six-floor building since a fire in 2006 gutted the nearby presidential mansion.

The snakes which emerged from a hole on the ground floor of the six-floor building went right back into it when people desperately tried to kill them.

Read: Weah's scorecard one year on

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Welcome to BBC Africa Live where we will bring you the latest news and views from around the continent.

BBC Africa Live
By Damian Zane

That's all from BBC Africa Live for now, but you can 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 Wednesday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this picture of a work in progress from Ghanaian artist Solomon Adufah:

Nasidi Adamu Yahya
BBC Hausa, Abuja

Dozens of gunmen attacked two villages in Katsina state, north-western Nigeria and killed 14 villagers, a politician and local police say.

The politician, who represents the area in the state's parliament, Abdul Jalal Haruna Runka, told the BBC the attackers on motorbikes went on the rampage in the villages on Tuesday evening shooting people and burning houses.

Many people were also injured in Gobirawa and Sabawa villages.

This is the second time in a week that gunmen attacked the area killing several people and injuring others.

There's growing concern in northern Nigeria over the level of banditry and kidnapping in the states of Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna.

The states have long faced problems with armed groups stealing cattle, kidnapping for ransom and attacking communities, which has in turn prompted some local people to form vigilante gangs.

The Nigerian government has deployed troops to the region but that has yet to bring the violence to an end.

There have been celebrations and rallies in several parts of the continent to mark May Day or International Workers' Day.

In Nigeria, people came together at the Agege stadium in the main city Lagos:

Image source, AFP

Among those who turned out where people calling for more rights for commercial sex workers:

Image source, AFP

In South Africa workers took part in a rally north of Durban that was organised by the country's largest trade union:

Image source, Getty Images

But there wasn't such an impressive turnout in Namibia's capital according to the Namibian newspaper, which features a picture of a rather small crowd sheltering from the sun:

The African Union (AU) has said that it is "with deep regret" that the military authorities in Sudan have not handed over power to civilians, Reuters news agency reports.

The AU had, shortly after President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown three weeks ago, given the military 15 days to transfer power.

Now it has given the coup leaders another 60 days to step down in favour of civilians. If they fail to do this Sudan will be suspended from the AU, AFP news agency reports.

The AU's Peace and Security Council said it "reiterates its conviction that a military-led transition in the Sudan will be totally unacceptable and contrary to the will and legitimate aspirations, to democratic institutions and processes, as well as respect for human rights and freedoms of the Sudanese people," AFP quotes it as saying.

The military leaders have been holding discussions with protest leaders and opposition figures on how to manage the transition to democratic rule.

Image source, AFP

Kenyan former 800m World Champion Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei has told the BBC that she has "no problem with the decision" by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to reject the appeal by South Africa's Caster Semenya against new regulations which would allow the athletics' governing body to restrict athletes' testosterone levels.

"It is science versus nature and I think it was left for the best people to decide.

"In my interaction with her, Caster is a good lady and I am happy she can still compete [if she reduces her testosterone levels].

"I am sure it is the right thing because other people have been complaining so I have no problem with the decision."

Image source, Getty Images

A Nigerian student whose arrest for drug trafficking in Saudi Arabia sparked protest has been freed and the charges against her dropped.

Zainab Aliyu could have faced the death penalty if convicted.

Her sister, Hajara Habibu Aliyu, told the BBC that the bag containing the drugs was tagged in Zainab's name without her knowledge at the airport in Kano before departing for Saudi Arabia.

Image source, PA

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has described the area around north-eastern Nigeria as an "outpost of Daesh [Islamic State]" and has said the violence could "escalate quickly and... get out of control", the Press Association (PA) news agency reports.

He made the comments when visiting the regional city of Maiduguri as part of his five-nation tour of the continent.

Mr Hunt said the rise of the Islamic State group needed to be "nipped in the bud", PA quotes him as saying.

North-east Nigeria has borne the brunt of the violence perpetrated by Islamist militant group Boko Haram. A breakaway faction of Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to IS.

Mr Hunt said that the British government wanted to work closely with Nigeria to help deal with the problem. The UK has already trained 30,000 Nigerian troops and offered humanitarian and development support.

The foreign secretary also pledged to help tackle climate change, saying that could help prevent the escalation of the conflict.

He is due to travel on to Ethiopia and Kenya.

South Africa's governing ANC says it is "appalled" that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) rejected athlete Caster Semenya's appeal against new rules by athletics' governing body (IAAF) that would restrict testosterone levels in female athletes.

"It is rather disheartening to learn that the court has ruled against Caster Semenya in her fight to be treated equally and without prejudice," it says in a statement.

It goes on to say:

Image source, Getty Images