BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

Libya's UN-recognised prime minister begins a short visit to Europe as he seeks allies in his struggle against a rogue military commander.

Fayez al-Sarraj travels first to Italy, the former colonial power, before travelling on to Germany for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

On Wednesday he'll meet the French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he has criticised for supporting his rival, Gen Khalifa Haftar.

On the eve of his visit, AFP news agency said the UN was investigating the use of Chinese drones by Gen Haftar, in an apparent violation of an arms embargo on the warring parties.

Read more: Haftar - Libya's military strongman

Jose Tembe
BBC Africa, Maputo

Image source, Getty Images

Police in Mozambique say they have arrested two people over the abduction and murder of a 12-year old boy with albinism.

The suspects confessed to the murder, with one of them saying that they had killed the boy "to extract his bones". A third suspect is being sought, police said.

The 12-year-old's body has been recovered. He was abducted from his home in the Muchelelene locality in northern Nampula province last week.

There has been a spate of killings of people with albinism in parts of southern and East Africa, with their body parts used to make charms and potions by witchdoctors.

In Mozambique, people convicted of kidnapping and killing albinos have been sentenced to up to 40 years in prison.

Read more: Albino attack survivor 'too scared to sleep'

Image source, Getty Images

Six people have been arrested in South Africa after the car of an election official was set ablaze in Ganyesa town in North West province on Monday, a local radio station has tweeted:

The cause of the incident is unclear.

South Africa is holding its general election on Wednesday, with the governing African National Congress (ANC) expected to win with a reduced majority.

Read more: Can Ramaphosa call time on corruption?

The people of rural Kenya have spoken of the night runners for generations.

They’re said to be villagers possessed by a demonic spirit which compels them to scare and terrorise their neighbours at night.

But no-one really knows who the night runners are or what motivates them.

For BBC Africa Eye, reporter Tom Odula investigates the enigma of the night runners, shining fresh light on the reality behind the myths, and revealing exclusive footage of night runners in action.

Image source, Getty Images

George Weah, Liberia's president and former football star, has suspended his deputy information minister, Eugene Fahngon, for fuelling ethnic divisions by referring to descendants of freed slaves as "Congo Liberians".

Mr Weah's government was committed to a “one country, one people” policy, with zero tolerance for "divisive politicking or tribalism", his office said in a statement, external, announcing Mr Fahngon's suspension with immediate effect.

Mr Fahngon said on social media that an anti-government protest planned for 7 June had been orchestrated by so-called "Congo Liberians", a reference to descendants of freed slaves who returned from the US to found Africa's first independent republic, AFP news agency reported.

"I will not go for the June 7 demonstration. It is the Congo people who are behind the June 7 demonstration," Mr Fahngon was quoted as saying.

In a statement, the US embassy in Liberia condemned his comments as "irresponsible".

It urged all Liberians to "reflect on their role in constructively contributing to development and sustaining peace" as the country prepares to celebrate National Unification Day next week.

Around 250,000 people were killed in Liberia's civil war, which lasted from 1989 to 2003.

Although founded by freed American and Caribbean slaves, Liberia is mostly inhabited by indigenous Africans, with the slaves' descendants comprising 5% of the population.

Read more about Liberia

Our African proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Welcome to BBC Africa Live for the latest news and views from around the continent.

BBC Africa Live
Dickens Olewe

That's all from BBC Africa Live for this week, 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.

Our African proverb of the day:

And with two days to go to the South African elections, we leave you with this video explaining the issues, parties and the candidates all in 60 seconds:

Killian Chimtom Ngala
BBC News, Yaoundé

Human Rights Watch has again slammed Cameroonian authorities for violations in dealing with the separatist uprising in the west of the country.

The government has not commented on the latest report, external, which alleges that severe beatings and "near-drownings" have been used "to extract confessions from detainees suspected of ties to armed separatist groups".

It alleges that these detainees are being held incommunicado at the State Defence Secretariat in the capital, Yaoundé.

"Over the past year the security forces in Cameroon have used torture without fear of repercussion," says Lewis Mudge, external, Central Africa director at HRW.

The rights group also appealed to the UN Security Council to act amid the ongoing conflict in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.

The body is due to meet to discuss the crisis on 13 May for the first time since the violence began in 2016.

Some English-speakers in Cameroon want to break away from the rest of the country, complaining that their educational and legal systems are being systematically destroyed by the Francophone-dominated administration.

Thomas Naadi
BBC Africa, Accra

Ghana’s General Legal Council (GLC) has set up a committee to investigate the circumstances that led to the mass failure of students at the Ghana School of Law.

More than 90% of the 727 students failed the recent bar exams, according to results released by the GLC's exam committee.

Students who failed three or more papers will have to resit all 10 subjects.

Some lecturers at the law school had threatened to resign over the mass failures and demanded that the results be reviewed.

The GLC said in a statement that it is committed to ensuring the integrity of the bar examination process.

The committee it has set up is expected to provide recommendations that will resolve the problem.

The students petitioned parliament earlier this year to review legal education in Ghana.

The Ghana School of Law is the only institution accredited in the country to train professional law students. These developments are a great source of concern because the country only has about 3,000 lawyers for a population of nearly 30 million.

This has serious implications for access to justice in Ghana.

Stanley Kwenda
BBC Africa

Ajax Amsterdam and Cameroon's Andre Onana says black goalkeepers have to work harder than white stoppers to make it to the top of European football.

The 23-year-old believes there is a misconception that black keepers make too many mistakes.

"I don't see the difference between white and black goalkeepers," he said.

"They're the same - they make mistakes. I make mistakes, everyone makes mistakes. Black keepers need to prepare well because it's not easy for us."

Onana's Ajax could reach the Champions League final on Wednesday, as they protect a 1-0 lead at home against Tottenham Hotspur, whereupon he could become the first black goalkeeper to contest the final since Brazil's Dida, who played for Milan in 2007.

The Cameroon international has played every minute of Ajax's Champions League campaign, which began in the second qualifying round in July 2018.

"We don't have a lot of black goalkeepers at the top and people already have in their mind that black goalkeepers are not confident or they make too many mistakes," Onana told BBC Sport.

Read the full story on the BBC Sport page

Image source, Getty Images

The number of people killed after a fuel tanker exploded in the early hours of Monday in Niger's capital, Niamey, has risen to 58 after three more people succumbed to their injuries, the presidency has said.

Fifty-five people died on the spot, another 37, with serious injuries, are being treated at several hospitals.

The victims were siphoning fuel from the tanker when the explosion happened. It is unclear what sparked the fire.

President Issoufou Mahamadou visited the injured in a hospital in the capital.

Image source, President Issoufou Mahamadou office

News agency AFP has shared these pictures of the aftermath of the explosion:

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

A court in Gabon has rejected a case filed by a group of activists seeking to compel President Ali Bongo to undergo a medical evaluation to determine his fitness for office.

In the ruling dated 2 May the court said that there was no basis to bring the matter to court.

It, however, ruled that only the two houses of parliament can apply to the constitutional court to declare the office of the president vacant.

Questions about Mr Bongo's health have been raised since after he suffered a stroke in October last year while visiting Saudi Arabia and subsequently convalescing in Morocco.

"This decision by the court only increases our doubts about [President] Bongo's ability to continue to perform his duties," said Marc Ona Essangui, a civil society representative and a member of the Call to Action group, which is close to the opposition.

Read more: Who is Ali Bongo, president of Gabon?

Muslims in many parts of the world are marking the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

It is regarded as the most sacred month in the Islamic calendar, when Muslims say extra prayers at night and fast from dawn to sunset if they are in good health.

Countries near the equator have the shortest fasting time, while Muslims in the northern hemisphere have to wait longer to break their fast because of the long summer days.

Wycliffe Muia
BBC Monitoring

Image source, AFP

Warthogs might soon join the list of threatened species in Kenya after a new report showed that the population of the hardy animals has dropped to an 18-year low, privately owned Business Daily website reports, external.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), there were 13,500 warthogs in the country last year - the lowest population since 2000.

“And what may indicate the gravity of the situation, there were 18,600 warthogs in the country in 2008, meaning that the number fell by 27% in the decade to last year,” the website reported.

Conservation group African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) pointed out that adverse climatic conditions are some of the biggest threats facing warthogs.

The demand for clean water for human consumption is affecting wildlife and ecosystems, setting the stage for a conflict between man and beast as they struggle to quench their thirst, AWF added.

Kenya has in recent years experienced erratic rains, leading to water shortages in national parks and reserves.

Anti-corruption activist Boniface Mwangi has been released after being briefly held by police in the capital, Nairobi.

Mr Mwangi said police officers had questioned him about a plot to lead what they said was a "revolution".

He told reporters he had no knowledge of any plan to organise a mass revolt.

Mr Mwangi has led several campaigns against state corruption, which have seen him arrested several times.

Egypt and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah will miss Tuesday's Champions League semi-final second leg with Barcelona through injury.

Salah left the pitch on a stretcher after an aerial collision with Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka during Saturday's English Premier League match.

Manager Jurgen Klopp says concussion will keep Salah out, as Liverpool look to overhaul a 3-0 deficit at Anfield.

His team mate Roberto Firmino will also miss out.

"Two of the world's best strikers are not available tomorrow night and we have to score four goals," said Klopp.

"It doesn't make life easier but as long as we will try for 90 minutes to celebrate the Champions League campaign to give it a proper finish.

"That's the plan. If we can do it, wonderful. If we can't do it, let's fail in the most beautiful way."

Read the full story on the BBC Sport website.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has said that Jordan will not be referred to the UN Security Council for failing to arrest the former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on war crimes charges.

The split decision by the five judge panel reverses a previous decision by the ICC.

But the court did uphold a reprimand of Jordan for not arresting Mr Bashir in 2017 when he attended an Arab League Summit in Amman, despite there being two international warrants for his arrest.

Omar al-Bashir, who was toppled last month by mass protests after nearly 30 years in power, has travelled to a number of countries over the past decade without being arrested.

A video of Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari commenting on the rising spate of insecurity in the country has riled some people on Twitter.

Mr Buhari, who returned on Sunday from a 10-day private visit to the UK, said that the police inspector general was showing a noticeable physical strain because of his efforts to deal with security challenges the country was facing.

"I have just seen the IG, I think he is losing weight; I think he is working very hard," Mr Buhari said.

See the video and some of the comments below:

Louise Dewast
BBC Africa

At least 50 people have been killed in Niger's capital, Niamey, after a fuel tanker exploded early on Monday morning.

The tanker overturned near the main airport and the victims were siphoning fuel when the explosion occurred, the director general of Niger's civil protection, Col Maj Boubacar Bako, told the BBC.

At least 30 people have been taken to hospital, he added.

The prime minister and several other ministers visited the scene this morning and went to see some of the injured in hospital.