Keeping clean during your periods can be difficult if you can't afford to buy disposable sanitary towels every month.

An invention from the 1930s - a reusable silicone cup you fold and insert up your vagina - is now solving that problem for schoolgirls in Malawi.

Watch:

Peter Wakaba
BBC Nairobi

Some Kenyans have reacted with shock to the news that the country is seeking to borrow $750m (£590m; Sh75bn) from the World Bank to support government spending over the current financial year.

The country is negotiating with the institution for the loan for the first time in over a decade.

The Daily Nation newspaper carried the headline, ‘Broke Kenya seeks Sh75bn from World Bank, external.’

But economists have defended Kenya's treasury's decision.

On Twitter, Razia Khan, Standard Chartered Bank's chief economist for Africa, pushed back saying the Daily Nation’s headline was misleading:

James Shikwati from the Inter Regional Economic Network, a private firm based in Kenya's capital Nairobi, also criticised the headline:

Experts say that for every $1 raised in revenue, the country is spending the equivalent of $1.23, the cost of repaying.

The Financial Times reported, external earlier this month that a reason the public debt has risen is because Kenya borrowed heavily from China to fund a $4.8bn railway scheme.

Kenyan Finance Minister Henry Rotich told Reuters earlier this month that he was aiming to bring down debt servicing costs in the next few years to between 12 and 16%.

Flamboyant Kenyan businessman Jared Otieno, who has been linked to fake gold deals worth $3m (£2.3m), has been freed on bail, privately owned newspaper Daily Nation reports., external

Mr Otieno was arrested nearly two weeks ago during a raid on his upmarket home in a suburb of the capital, Nairobi, where luxurious cars were towed away, and computers and documents seized.

The paper says 16 people, including Mr Otieno, were charged on Monday of acquiring $3m from a businessman from Laos after they posed as gold sellers.

He denied a charge of conspiracy to defraud.

Kenya's criminal investigation agency has warned foreign nationals to be wary of the rise in fake gold deals.

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa's Deputy President-elect David Mabuza will be sworn in later today after he postponed it last week to appear in front of his party's integrity commission.

The findings of the commission are not yet known.

DD Mabuza, as he is known, had himself requested more time to address concerns raised by the African National Congress’s (ANC) Integrity Commission.

The body looks into anyone who might bring the party's reputation into disrepute for various reasons, including corruption allegations.

Mr Mabuza appeared before the commission on Friday.

But it is not clear whether they will clear his name when they publish their report later.

The allegation against Mr Mabuza has never been made public. We do not know what he was accused of.

The ANC also didn't reveal much in their statement issued earlier today. It just confirmed that he will be sworn-in this afternoon in the capital, Pretoria.

It said: "The ANC commends the Deputy President on the exemplary position he has taken and for putting the interests and integrity of the ANC first."

President Cyril Ramaphosa has reportedly delayed announcing his new cabinet following the historic election partly because of Mr Mabuza’s delay.

Rhoda Odhiambo
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

More than 800,000 people will be vaccinated against cholera in North Kivu in an effort to stop the current epidemic in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

More than 10,000 cholera cases have been reported in the country since January this year and more than 240 deaths recorded, the World Health Organization says, external.

The first people in the drive were vaccinated on Monday.

The Health Ministry will administer the first two doses of the oral cholera vaccine to people living in Binza, Goma, Kayina, Karisimbi, Kibirizi, Kirotshe and Rutshuru where a lot cases have been reported.

The roll-out of the vaccination campaign will help in containing the unprecedented levels of epidemics that have been witnessed in DR Congo in the past few months, says the head of the Vaccine Alliance, Gavi.

Dr Congo's health ministry says measles and cholera epidemics are claiming the lives of thousands of people throughout the country.

A second dose will be given at a later stage to provide full protection against the disease.

Cholera is a disease that can cause severe diarrhoea.

It takes between 12 hours and 5 days for a person to show symptoms after consuming contaminated food or water, and can kill within hours if untreated, external.

The disease is common in places with poor sanitation, conflict zones and famine.

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Adam Catzavelos

South African Businessman Adam Catzavelos has been charged in court with the willful injury to someone’s dignity after a video of a racist rant leaked.

He made his first appearance in the Randburg Magistrates Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

The last person sentenced on a similar charges, Vicky Momberg who called black people monkeys, was sentenced to three years in jail last year.

Mr Catzavelos made headlines last year, after a video of him on holiday in Greece went viral on local social media.

He had filmed himself on a beach, saying it was "heaven on earth" as there were no black people there.

In the video, he said a derogatory term used historically by white people to denigrate black South Africans.

Racism remains a major issue in South Africa, where white-minority rule ended in 1994.

Mr Catzavelos had sent the video to a WhatsApp group of friends and it was then leaked. He was sacked from his family business and his family said at the time that they were shocked.

He then released a statement apologising, saying he had "shown a complete lack of understanding" of what the people in South Africa had endured and would spend the rest of his life repenting for his "total lack of respect and judgement".

He has not pleaded and the case will resume on 13 June.

Read: South Africa's 'toxic' race relations

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika is to be sworn in on Tuesday for a second term in office after winning a narrow and controversial election.

The ceremony will be in the commercial capital of Blantyre just hours after he was declared the winner of an election that was marred by allegations of vote tampering.

Mr Mutharika, who has been president since 2014, took 38.5% of the vote.

Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera was a close second with 35%, while former Vice-President Saulos Chilima garnered 20%.

Mr Chakwera and Mr Chilima had earlier gone to court to attempt to block the announcement of the results, saying there were irregularities in some districts.

The announcement of the winner sparked small protests in opposition strongholds but the situation remains calm in Malawi.

Read: The election which saw the president's fake death

Image source, Other

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused both Egyptian security forces and jihadists of committing "war crimes" in their confrontation in the North Sinai region.

The rights group compiled the report, external over two years, interviewing more than 50 residents of the Sinai Peninsula in north-eastern Egypt.

It concluded that while Egyptian military and police forces were responsible for the majority of abuses documented in the report, extremist militants had also committed "horrific" crimes.

In November 2017 militants attacked a mosque in North Sinai province, killing 235 people.

It was the deadliest attack of its kind since an Islamist insurgency in the peninsula was stepped up in 2013.

An affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) group is the most prominent and violent of the jihadists operating in the Sinai, but no group admitted responsibility for the mosque attack.

Security forces have likewise targeted Sinai residents arresting thousands and forcibly "disappearing" dozens, according to the HRW report.

It included descriptions of detainees being given electric shocks by soldiers in uniform.

The government has not yet responded to the report.

A government official in Kenya has been arrested in connection with a vehicle which has a picture of deputy president William Ruto dressed in military uniform plastered on the side, the Standard newspaper reports, external.

The newspaper adds that the county assembly member for Weitethie in central Kenya's Kiambu county Julius Macharia was arrested along with his driver George Kiarie, accused of displaying the coat of arms and Kenya's flag on a van - something that is illegal in Kenya.

Neither have commented so far.

Some tweeters say the arrest was unfair:

Another tweeter poked fun at the situation:

Tesfalem Araia
BBC Tigrinya

Image source, Getty Images

More than 30 Pentecostal Christians have been detained by the security authorities in Eritrea, a religious rights group based in London has told BBC Tigrinya.

According to Berhane Asmelash of Release Eritrea, they were rounded up while they were praying in three different locations in the capital, Asmara.

The government banned all Pentecostal churches in 2002 and it is estimated that hundreds have been detained for their faith.

The authorities only recognise four religions - Orthodox Christianity, Sunni Islam, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Evangelical-Lutheran church of Eritrea.

Other religious groups are considered illegal as the government says they are instruments of foreign governments.

Human right groups accuse the government of widespread and systematic violations of rights, including persecution and detention of leaders and members of the banned churches.

Eritrea is a repressive one-party state and a highly militarised society, where President Isaias Afwerki keeps a fierce grip on power.

The BBC has tried to reach the government for comment on the latest arrests with no success.

The nationwide 48-hour general strike getting under way in Sudan is affecting travellers as flights are being cancelled in the capital, Khartoum.

Tweeters say flights are not taking off or landing because airport staff reportedly stopped work at midnight:

Some posted photos of the staff protesting and the empty scenes inside the terminal buildings:

The protesters want a return to civilian rule after the military coup that overthrew Omar al-Bashir as president after nearly 30 years in power.

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Protest groups in Sudan have called a nationwide strike over the next 48 hours, to increase pressure on the military to hand power to a civilian administration.

Talks between two sides remain deadlocked about the composition of a new governing authority following the overthrow last month of President Omar al-Bashir.

One protest leader, Wajdi Saleh, said the opposition were ready to re-open negotiations.

But he said they would not tolerate what he called the "language of deception" being employed by the generals who took charge six weeks ago.

Our African proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

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

BBC Africa Live
Clare Spencer & Ashley Lime

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 and checking BBCAfrica.com.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of a heavy metal fan in Maun, northern Botswana:

Thomas Naadi
BBC Africa, Accra

Image source, Getty Images

The authorities in Ghana have banned the export of some vegetables, including chilli peppers and aubergines, over fears they are contaminated with pests.

According to Ghana's Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the ban will take effect next week and will last indefinitely.

The ban comes in the wake of an European Union (EU) directive to all countries to provide a report on the management of harmful bacteria.

The Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association of Ghana has asked the government to postpone the ban, arguing it will affect the businesses of about 4,000 farmers.

But the authorities want to avoid restrictions being imposed by the EU, which only lifted its last ban on contaminated vegetables from Ghana last year.

Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC Africa, Kampala

Uganda has handed over the body of a 25-year-old man to the authorities in neighbouring Rwanda at a ceremony at the border between the two countries.

Diplomats from regional states and UN Security Council member countries attended the function where the body of John Batista Kyerengye was formally handed over to the mayor of his hometown in Rwanda.

Representatives from foreign countries were flown to the border town of Katuna to witness the moment.

Uganda says the man was killed by Rwandan soldiers in Ugandan territory, after he escaped into Uganda. Rwanda denies the allegations.

Relations between the two countries have been strained over the last few years with each accusing the other of interfering one another's affairs.

There is still no comment from Uganda about Rwanda's allegation that Ugandan soldiers abducted two visiting Rwandans on Sunday.

Earlier this year Rwanda closed the busy Gatuna border, jeopardising trade relations between the two nations.

Image source, Getty Images

Malawi's election commission has published the results of the 21 May presidential election, showing that the incumbent president Peter Mutharika won by a slim margin.

While Mr Mutharika from the Democratic Progressive Party gained 38.57%, he was closely followed by Lazarus Chakwera from the Malawi Congress Party who won 35.41% of the vote.

A breakdown of the numbers shows that Mr Mutharika won by 158,969 votes.

While he won 1,940,709 votes in total, Mr Chakwera garnered 1,781,740 votes.

Image source, Getty Images

Malawi's election commission has just announced that the incumbent Peter Mutharika has won the presidential election.

He represents the Democratic Progressive Party.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Nairobi

A high court in Malawi has lifted an injunction against the announcement of final results in the presidential elections.

"Our lawyers have just informed us that the injunction has been removed so we are going to announce election results in about 20 minutes," Justice Jane Ansah told Reuters news agency just now at the election centre in Blantyre.

Malawians went to the ballot on 21 May to elect the next president, a new parliament and local councillors.

The last results issued by Malawi’s electoral commission on Wednesday showed that incumbent president Peter Mutharika was leading by a slim margin in the polls.

But two of his opponents went to court claiming that the vote had been tampered with.

The high court consequently barred the release of the final presidential results but has now lifted this ban.

It’s been an anxious wait for Malawians and this decision means they can now know the man who will lead them over the next five years.

Nearly seven million people were registered to take part in the elections that have been the most competitive in the country’s history.

The next president will have to deal with a struggling economy, high unemployment levels and corruption in government.