Fergal Keane
BBC Africa editor, Khartoum

Image source, AFP

Protest and military leaders in Sudan have agreed to resume talks soon, an Ethiopian mediator says.

Separately, an opposition alliance agreed to suspend its campaign of civil disobedience and widespread strikes.

But as ever in this story scepticism is necessary.

The Ethiopian mediator’s assertion that talks will resume “soon” depends on what is meant by soon.

The opposition Forces for Freedom and Change insists it will not about to return to face-to-face talks.

For now any contact between both sides will take place via international mediators. It is negotiation of a sort.

This does appear to be a stepping back from confrontation on both sides.

The general strike would have been difficult to sustain indefinitely for the opposition in a country that is among the poorest in the world.

But the feared Rapid Support Forces militia still dominates the streets. Many victims of the recent state violence are still in hiding.

And negotiation - even if it happens soon - will circle back to the same issue: will the military cede power to a civilian government?

Nothing about the generals' actions has indicated that this is an imminent possibility.

Read more on the Sudan crisis:

• Sudan's violent political crisis explained
• The PR farce that exposed Sudan's schisms

A court in South Sudan has jailed a prominent economist and government critic for two years for speaking to foreign media.

The prosecutors argued Peter Biar Ajak's interviews with US broadcaster Voice of America amounted to spying on South Sudan.

His lawyers have dismissed the charges as politically motivated and say they will appeal against the sentence.

Mr Biar was arrested last July and charged with treason, although that charge was later dropped.

He had fled to the United States as a child and been educated there and in the UK, working later at the World Bank.

His international lawyer Jared Genser told the BBC's Newsday programme that the conviction was "really outrageous".

Listen to the interview:

The chairman of Ghana's main opposition party was released on bail on Tuesday evening after being briefly detained in the capital, Accra.

Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, who is from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), was held by police for about five hours, local news site GhanaWeb reports, external.

A police statement said there was "credible and actionable intelligence" making Mr Ofosu-Ampofo a suspect in recent acts of kidnapping.

Speaking after Mr Ofosu-Ampofo's release, a party official said the government was trying to intimidate the NDC.

The NDC chairman has not commented on the allegations.

JoyOnline has posted a video in which an unnamed party official says that the police had seized Mr Ofosu-Ampofo's electronic gadgets. But, he added, the NDC was happy to hand over the passwords as "we don't have anything to hide".

The NDC will continue to "fight the oppressor's rule" the official concluded.

Image source, Reuters

A five-year-old boy in Uganda has been diagnosed with Ebola, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed.

This is the first case confirmed in the country amid a deadly outbreak in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

More than 2,000 cases have been recorded there in the last 10 months - most of which have been fatal.

The boy is said to have travelled across the border with his family from DR Congo on Sunday.

He was then taken to a Ugandan hospital after exhibiting symptoms including vomiting blood, officials said.

The diagnosis of Ebola was then confirmed by the Uganda Virus Institute on Tuesday before being announced by officials.

Eight other people who may have been in close contact with them are also being monitored.

The head of the WHO has praised Uganda's swift response and said that the country has experience in containing the virus:

Read more on BBC News.

Our proverb of the day:

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Welcome to BBC Africa Live where we'll be keeping you up to date with news and developments on the continent.

BBC Africa Live
Esther Namuhisa, Damian Zane and Natasha Booty

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 BBCAfrica.com.

A reminder of our wise words:

Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this self-portrait by Nigerian photographer Yagazie Emezi:

Fed up with stale narratives, Zimbabwean entrepreneurs Paida Fundira and Sindi Kayembe say they wanted to create a one-stop guide to where to eat, drink and visit in the country.

The pair told BBC Focus on Africa that they hope their travel company, When In Zim, delivers on its promise of giving tourists a new and refreshing way to see the best of Zimbabwe:

Ashley Lime
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

A group of 76 LGBT refugees living in a poor neighbourhood of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, has been threatened with eviction, according to an agency for gay migrants.

An activist who visited their home said they were living in four "tiny" rooms and were "all horribly malnourished, living in inhuman conditions in an insecure compound".

Kenya recently rejected an attempt by campaigners to overturn laws criminalising gay sex, which is punishable with 14 years in prison.

A statement from the Refugee Coalition of East Africa (RefCEA), an agency for gay migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, said the people known as the Great Lakes LGBTQI group had said a landlord wanted to evict them from the four small rooms after they pleaded to be given more time.

The group was accused of being "cursed" and "spreading disease", the statement said.

"LGBTQI refugees were heckled, spat upon, and one man was stoned and beaten by the crowd until he was pulled to safety," the statement continued.

Among the group were lesbians, transgender women, intersex people and gay and bisexual men, as well as children.

The agency says it will work with local and international partners to provide housing, security, food and transportation for the refugees.

The Kenyan authorities have not at the time of writing responded to the BBC's request for comment.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC Africa, Abuja

Image source, .

The Nigerian senate has elected Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) as its new president.

His main challenger, Muhammad Ali Ndume, embraced him in a cheerful and congratulatory mood immediately after the result was announced.

Mr Lawan from Yobe state has been in the National Assembly since 1999, as a member of the lower chamber - the House of Representatives - and later as a senator.

He is believed to have the support of President Muhammadu Buhari, who wants a parliamentary leadership that will ease friction between the executive and the legislature.

But some fear that Mr Lawan's relationship with the head of state could weaken the ability of lawmakers to hold the executive to account.

Meanwhile, Senator Ovei Omo-Agege, also of the APC,has been elected deputy senate president defeating the incumbent Ike Ekweremadu of the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Members of the lower chamber of the parliament are expected to elect a speaker shortly.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC Amharic Service, Addis Ababa

Image source, Getty Images

Access to the internet in Ethiopia has been disrupted, coinciding with exam season which in the past has been marred by cheating.

An official from the state-run telecommunications firm, Ethio Telecom, declined to tell the BBC the reasons behind the block.

In large parts of the country the internet has been completely cut off since Tuesday morning. In other places the service, while working, is unusually slow.

The messaging app Telegram, which is popular among the Ethiopian youth, remains inaccessible.

This is the first major internet blackout since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power last year.

In 2016 and 2017, Ethiopia shut down the internet completely to curb the leaking of exams amid popular anti-government protests. But during his first year in office, Mr Abiy opened previously banned websites.

As part of the prime minister's economic reforms, Ethio Telecom is expected to be opened up for private investment.

A British-born man has been made Gabon's forestry minister after the last one was sacked following a timber smuggling scandal.

Lee White, who holds dual British-Gabonese citizenship, has been a prominent conservationist in the oil-rich African state, and the head of Gabon's National Parks Agency.

He tweeted the news of his appointment:

Some 300 containers of kevazingo wood - which is illegal to export - were discovered at a port near the capital, Libreville, earlier this year.

The authorities vowed to pursue those responsible in an investigation known as "kevazingogate".

The dismissal of Vice-President Pierre Claver Maganga Moussavou and Forestry Minister Guy Bertrand Mapangou is believed to be linked to the scandal, although no official reason has been given for their sackings.

Mohamed Fajah Barrie
BBC Sport, Sierra Leone

Image source, Getty Images

Ex-Senegal international Mbaye Leye will begin a career in coaching at his former Belgian club Standard Liege next season.

His appointment comes after the 36-year-old retired from playing at the end of the last season.

"Mbaye Leye has been chosen by Standard Liege to join our pro team staff and join Eric Deflandre as a duo of assistants to Michel Preud'Homme next season," Standard Liege said in a statement on their website.

"Our club wishes Mbaye Leye a good return to the Meuse and a beautiful development in this direction of his new career."

Leye said on social media that his appointment is a "new challenge".

He is returning to the former Belgian champions where he played from 2010 to 2012 scoring 11 goals in 56 games and helped them to win the 2011 Belgian cup.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Amnesty International says it has evidence that Sudanese government forces have continued to commit war crimes in the Darfur region.

The rights group says at least 45 villages have been completely or partially destroyed over the last year.

It blames the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for some of the violence - the same group is accused of killing dozens of civilians in the capital, Khartoum, last week. They are widely referred to as the Janjaweed by pro-democracy activists.

The UN and the African Union are due to decide later this month whether to withdraw thousands of international peacekeepers from Jebel Marra in Darfur.

Amnesty warns that would leave tens of thousands of civilians vulnerable to further attacks by the RSF.

The head of the rights group - Kumi Naidoo - says Sudan's military council must immediately withdraw the RSF from any policing and law enforcement operations - especially in Khartoum and Darfur.

Louise Dewast
BBC Africa

Image source, AFP

More than 100 people who fled an attack on a village in Mali on Monday have been found alive and safe, a local official has told the BBC.

Mayor Ali Dolo says that the group of 108 people are now being sheltered in a school.

They are from a village called Sobame Da, which is an ethnically Dogon community, where the federal government says 95 were killed in the attack by unknown gunmen and 19 others are missing.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is returning to the capital, after cutting short a visit to Switzerland.

Many houses were burnt down by the assailants and so identifying the victims has been a challenge for authorities.

There have been numerous attacks in Mali in recent months, some ethnically driven, some carried out by jihadist groups. For now the federal government says the perpetrators are suspected "terrorists".

Clashes between Dogon hunters and semi-nomadic Fulani herders are frequent.

The prime minister is on his way to Sobame Da and the justice minister announced they are opening an investigation.

The UN peacekeeping mission - which sent aerial support to the area - has also sent human rights investigators to assist authorities.

In March, nearly 160 people, mainly Fulanis, were killed in an attack by a suspected Dogon militia in the same region as Monday's attack.

Image source, AFP

A senior South African politician, who had been plagued by corruption allegations, has resigned from the government a day after the president chose not to include her in the cabinet.

Bathabile Dlamini was president of the ANC's Women’s League.

In her 10-page resignation letter, Mrs Dlamini reportedly said she held "no grudge for being reshuffled and not being appointed", and said there was "a lot of noise" being made in an attempt to discredit her.

"Not once was I proven to be corrupt," she said in the letter which has been seen by South African news site TimesLive, external, and added that she had been made a "scapegoat" for wider wrongdoings in the party.

Ms Dlamini is the third minister to resign this week.

Image source, AFP

Cheering broke out in a High Court courtroom in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, after a ruling was read out decriminalising gay sex, which had been outlawed under the colonial-era penal code and was punishable with up to seven years in prison.

The judges, whose decision was unanimous, said any discrimination against a member of society was discrimination against all

One stated that a democratic nation was one that embraced tolerance, diversity and open mindedness.

The case was brought to court by a student who argued society had changed and homosexuality was more widely accepted.

The ruling in Botswana was closely followed across Africa - where most countries still have laws which make gay sex illegal.

Last month, Kenyan judges upheld the law which criminalises homosexuality.

Angola, Mozambique and the Seychelles have all scrapped anti-homosexuality laws in recent years.

You may also be interested in:

• Why are some places gay-friendly and not others?
• LGBTQ rights in Kenya: 'Why our fight isn't over'

• Ethiopia anger over US gay tour plan
• More LGBTQ stories from the BBC

Moses Rono
BBC Monitoring

Members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), widely referred to as Janjaweed by pro-democracy activists, have burned down a village in the western Darfur region because residents took part in an ongoing campaign of civil disobedience, a pro-opposition website has reported.

Al-Rakoba said RSF personnel set fire to shops and shot dead an unknown number of people in Dilig in Central Darfur State.

The group organising the protests, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), has condemned the attack, which it called a massacre.

Tuesday is the third day of a campaign of civil disobedience to demand civilian rule.

Protest organisers have called on workers to stay at home. The SPA has said people should close roads but stay away from the streets.

The Transitional Military Council (TMC) has arrested an unknown number of security personnel following an ongoing investigation into the attack on a pro-democracy protest sit-in in the capital, Khartoum, last week.

The TMC said the military rulers had no intention of breaking up the protest and has established a committee to investigate the attack.

A report by the state-run Suna news agency said the detained personnel will be presented before judicial authorities. The RSF was blamed for the attack.

More on Sudan:

• US Africa envoy to visit to urge talks
• Government propaganda trip exposes schisms
• Return of the feared Janjaweed

The High Court in Botswana has ruled that colonial-era laws which criminalise gay sex are unconstitutional.

AP news agency reports that it was a unanimous decision.

It comes a month after Kenya upheld similar laws against a challenge by activists.

Such laws "infringe on basic human dignity," the Botswana-based campaign group Legabibo is quoted by AP as saying.

Image source, AFP

BBC Amharic has been getting reports that people in Ethiopia are unable to use social media.

The internet monitoring group Netblocks has confirmed that there has been a complete shutdown of the internet as of 10:30 local time (07:30 GMT).

Image source, Netblocks

The outage coincides with the second day of nationwide secondary school final exams. But there has been no official explanation.

Two years ago, the internet was shutdown to prevent national exam papers leaking online.