The United Nations says 1.3 million people are in need of assistance as the humanitarian situation in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon continue to deteriorate.

The UN said around 1,300 people were reportedly displaced last week and that attacks resulted in dozens of civilian deaths, hundreds of houses set ablaze and widespread looting of civilian goods.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said that in these two regions, "the situation continues to be characterised by human rights and protection abuses and violations".

He said despite increased humanitarian needs, Cameroon remains one the most critically under-funded humanitarian responses globally.

The conflict in Cameroon's Anglophone regions has displaced more than half a million people since it broke out in 2016. Separatists are fighting for a breakaway state, they call Ambazonia, in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon.

During a visit there in May, the UN human rights chief Michele Bachellet warned that the situation looks like it is spiralling out of control.

Image source, Getty Images

Malaria parasites resistant to key drugs have spread rapidly in South East Asia, researchers from the UK and Thailand say.

The parasites have moved from Cambodia to Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, where half of patients are not being cured by first-choice drugs.

Researchers say the findings raise the "terrifying prospect" drug-resistance could spread to Africa.

However, experts said the implications may not be as severe as first thought.

In some regions, 80% of malaria parasites were drug resistant.

"This strain has spread and has become worse," Dr Roberto Amato, from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, told BBC News.

Huge progress has been made towards eliminating malaria. However, the development of drug resistance threatens that progress.

"This highly successful resistant parasite strain is capable of invading new territories and acquiring new genetic properties, raising the terrifying prospect that it could spread to Africa, where most malaria cases occur, as resistance to chloroquine did in the 1980s, contributing to millions of deaths," Prof Olivo Miotto, from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of Oxford, said.

But there are alternative drugs that can be used instead.

"With the spread and intensification of resistance, our findings highlight the urgent need to adopt alternative first-line treatments", Prof Tran Tinh Hien, from the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, in Vietnam, said.

Read more from BBC News.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC Africa, Abuja

Image source, Reuters

In Nigeria, a 23-year-old trainee journalist, Precious Owolabi, is now confirmed to have died after being hit by a stray bullet during clashes between members of a pro-Iranian Shia group and security forces in the capital, Abuja.

A deputy police commissioner, Usman Umar, was also killed.

The pro-Iranian Islamic Movement for Nigeria (IMN) says that at least 11 of their members were killed in the violence while dozens of others were injured. The authorities have not given a death toll, except for saying that one of their officers was killed.

Hundreds of followers from the Shia group were out on the streets to demand the release of their leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, who has been detained since 2015.

Mr Owolabi was reporting on the clashes for national TV station, Channels, where he was working as part of his national service - a compulsory one-year programme for graduates in Nigeria.

Things are now calmer in Abuja, but the hostility between the authorities and IMN members remains unresolved as the group vows to keep protesting on the streets until its leader is released.

He was arrested four years ago following a military crackdown in which more than 300 IMN members were killed according to human rights groups.

The Nigerian authorities have faced criticism for ignoring court orders for his release.

Tuesday's African proverb:

Image source, George Wafula/BBC

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

BBC Africa Live
Damian Zane, Nduka Orjinmo 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:

We leave you with this portrait by Congolese photographer Robert Nzaou:

Eye Radio reports that South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, external has banned people from signing the national anthem at public events if he is not in attendance.

"The anthem is not meant for everybody," information minister Michael Makuei is quoted as saying. He was reportedly referring to instances where the hymn had been sung at events attended by junior officials - such as "under-secretaries and governors" - to honour their presence.

"For the information of everybody, the national anthem is only meant for the president, and functions attended by him," the privately owned news site quotes Mr Makuei as saying.

South Sudan is the world's newest nation, formed in 2011, and its anthem was written the year before by a collective of 49 poets. Here's how it sounds:

More on this topic:

• Writing South Sudan's new national anthem
• More about South Sudan

Ishaq Khalid
BBC Africa, Abuja

There have been violent clashes in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, between the police and members of a pro-Iran Shia Muslim sect, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN).

The violence reportedly broke out when police tried to break-up today's demonstration - one of several over the past months - against the detention of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky. He has been detained since 2015.

The exact casualty numbers are still not known. But one protester told the BBC that he saw six dead bodies and that the police have removed some of the injured. A Reuters photographer has also reported seeing what appeared to be a dead body.

Several vehicles have reportedly been burnt in the violence.

Image source, AFP

One of Zimbabwe's vice-presidents has been flown from a hospital in South Africa to China to receive medical treatment, a presidential spokesperson has said.

Gen Constantino Chiwenga, 62, has been suffering an undisclosed illness for the past two months.

The former army chief lead the 2017 military takeover that forced Robert Mugabe from power and installed President Emmerson Mnangagwa. He subsequently appointed one of President Mnangagwa's two deputies.

Gen Chiwenga is a powerful figure in Zimbabwe's politics, having been a favourite to succeed Mr Mugabe and current President Mnangagwa.

He is under sanctions from the European Union and the US for his role in a brutal crackdown on the opposition, and over the seizure of white-owned farms.

China's relations with Zimbabwe are deep, starting during the Rhodesian Bush War. Robert Mugabe failed in 1979 to get Soviet backing, so turned to China, which provided his guerrilla fighters with weapons and training.

Today, China is Zimbabwe's fourth largest trading partner and its largest source of investment - with stakes worth many billions of pounds in everything from agriculture to construction.

More on this topic:

• Profile: The army chief who took power from Mugabe
• What is the extent of China's influence in Zimbabwe?
• More about Zimbabwe

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The health minister in the Democratic Republic of Congo has resigned from his post in protest at the presidency's decision last week to take control of the response to the Ebola outbreak in the east of the country.

Oly Ilunga's resignation letter decried what he described as interference in the management of the response to the outbreak - the second-deadliest in history.

He also criticised outside pressure to roll out a second experimental Ebola vaccine against his wishes.

Since last August, more than 1,700 people have died.

Last week the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak an international health emergency.

More on this topic:

• Ebola outbreak in five graphics
• Why Ebola keeps coming back
• Ebola basics: What you need to know

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The British government says it plans to send 250 troops to Mali next year to join the UN mission which is fighting against a jihadist insurgency.

The British contingent will carry out reconnaissance patrols - gathering intelligence on possible threats in parts of northern Mali that are hard to reach.

Until recently the Dutch military had been responsible for this reconnaissance work.

Since 2013, more than 100 UN personnel have been killed in attacks in northern Mali, making it the world's most dangerous peacekeeping mission.

This is the largest British peacekeeping deployment in nearly three decades and comes at a time when jihadist and ethnic violence has escalated in West Africa's Sahel region.

You may also be interested in:

• What is behind Mali's massacres?
• The war in the desert
• The world's most dangerous peacekeeping mission

Peter MacJob
BBC Africa

A ceremony is being held in Tanzania to mark 60 years since the discovery of the skull of what is believed to be the world's oldest man.

Zinjanthropus, as he has been named, is thought to have lived 1.75 million years ago.

His remains were found by married archaeologists Mary and Louis Leakey in 1959 in Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge, now dubbed "the cradle of mankind".

Experts say the finding changed the understanding of early human evolution.

The teeth and skull fragments helped scientists to date the beginnings of humankind to about two million years ago, and to verify that human evolution began in Africa and not Asia, as was previously thought.

Image source, Wolfgang Kaehler/Getty Images

BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

Latest reports from Somalia indicate that at least 17 people have been killed and were 30 injured during a bomb blast and gun attack in the capital, Mogadishu.

The Islamist militant group al-Shabab says it carried out the attack.

A car bomb was followed by gunfire at a security checkpoint close to the city's airport.

The jihadist group was driven out of Mogadishu by government forces and international peacekeepers in 2011.

But it still carries out frequent deadly attacks in the capital and earlier this month killed 26 people during a siege at a hotel in the southern port city of Kismayo.

Oluwashina Okeleji
BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal's Alex Iwobi has already turned his attention to club matters after helping Nigeria to a third-place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Iwobi played in every match during his country's campaign in Egypt, scoring in the 3-2 win over Cameroon.

The 23-year-old tells BBC Sport cannot wait for the new Premier League season to start:

"I've had a tournament to remember but you only get a few days off to refresh then switch focus to club football again.

"The target and challenge is always the same, it will be a new season but our determination will be to win every game and competition."

He added: "Of course, we want to be better than last season (a fifth-placed finish), where we had some positives by going unbeaten for 22 games in all competitions and the plan will be to stay consistent throughout the season."

Iwobi joined Arsenal as a nine year old and has come through the club's Hale End Academy, before breaking into the first team in 2015., external

The Islamist militant group al-Shabab says it carried out this morning's attack in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

At least seven people were killed and 15 injured when a car bomb was detonated near the city's airport.

A loud blast was followed by gunfire.

Reuters news agency has these photos showing a patient being rushed to nearby Medina hospital and smoke filling the sky from the scene of the explosion:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC Amharic Service, Addis Ababa

There are conflicting accounts of how many people died in Thursday's clashes in southern Ethiopia between security forces and ethnic Sidamas who want to create their own state.

Hospitals tell the BBC that at least 25 people were killed - some of them shot dead by security forces who medics say used live ammunition. However, a regional government official says they are still investigating and have so far only confirmed four deaths and 26 wounded.

Activists and opposition groups, meanwhile, say the number of dead could be as high as 60.

Members of other ethnic groups were also attacked by angry mobs resulting in deaths. Local media reported that a lodge was attacked by protesters during which 12 foreign tourists had to be escorted out by troops.

Ethiopia is made up of nine different self-governing ethnic regions.

With a population of more than three million, the Sidama are Ethiopia's fifth-largest ethnic group. But unlike the four larger groups, they do not have their own ethnic region and have been campaigning for one.

At present, they mainly live in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s regional state.

Andrew Harding
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Gallo Images

South Africa's highest court has ruled that the public protector - the state official in charge of investigating corruption - lied under oath and acted in bad faith.

In a devastating judgment the constitutional court said the public protector, Busisiwe Mkwebane, should pay a fine for her dishonesty.

For a young and fractious democracy, this is a significant moment.

Mrs Mkhwebane must pay some £50,000 ($62,000) in legal fees from her own pocket. A fine, in other words.

This particular case involves a complicated dispute between the public protector and South Africa’s Reserve Bank.

But many of Mrs Mkhwebane's recent anti-graft reports have become swamped by scandal – and led to claims that she’s siding with a corrupt and marginalised faction within the governing ANC.

The courts have repeatedly overruled her, and President Cyril Ramaphosa is now challenging another of her reports, which found he had lied to parliament.

The public protector is supposed to be politically neutral. But the Constitutional Court’s devastating judgement will add weight to claims that Busisiwe Mkhwebane is involved in a dirty-tricks campaign to undermine the president and halt his campaign against high-level corruption.

Mrs Mkhwebane has previously denied any wrongdoing.

Reacting to the judgement today, she noted that the court had not been unanimous.

Kenya's Finance Minister Henry Rotich surrendered himself to investigators on Monday, moments after the Director of Public Prosecution ordered his arrest.

According to Nairobi News,, external Mr Rotich was driven to the headquarters of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and is expected to be questioned about payments related to the building of two dams in the country.

He is accused of flouting procurement procedures in awarding a contract worth over $450m (£405m) for the dam projects to the Italian company CMC de Ravenna.

In March Mr Rotich denied any wrongdoing in a large newspaper advert. The company has also denied the accusations.

The director of public prosecutions, Noordin Haji, also ordered the arrest of more than 20 other people accused of being involved in the contract, including other top officials and the directors of the Italian firm.

Referees don't always get the warmest of welcomes on the pitch, but the Cameroonian officials who oversaw the final of the Africa Cup of Nations have been received home with open arms in the capital, Yaoundé.

Central referee Alioum Sidi and assistants Evariste Mekouandé and Elvis Noupoe were in charge of Friday's final between Algeria and Senegal in Cairo.

All three were received at the airport on Sunday by the president of the Cameroon Football Federation Seidou Mbombo Njoya as well as government authorities and representatives of the referees' association.

A tweeter posted a picture of the trio driving in an open-roof vehicle and brandishing their medals, to the applause of onlookers as they drove home.

Cameroon's Indomitable Lions were knocked out of the competition by old rivals Nigeria in the second round. The country is billed to host the next Afcon tournament in 2021.

Kenya's Finance Minister Henry Rotich and more than two dozen other officials are expected to be arrested after the director of public prosecutions alleged they were involved in corruption.

Noordin Haji said they would be charged with "conspiracy to defraud [and] failure to comply with guidelines relating to procurement" among other things.

In March, Mr Rotich denied any wrongdoing in a large newspaper advert

The charges relate to plans to build two dams in the country at a large expense.

Mr Haji said "this kind of crime... enslaves us with unnecessary debt and mortgages our future generations".

He added: "The persons we are charging today… deliberately breached [the public’s] trust… they ensured the funds did not come into the consolidated fund – guaranteeing no-one had oversight over its use.

"Colossal amounts were unjustifiably and illegally paid out through a well-choreographed scheme by government officers in collusion with private individuals and institutions."

Image source, KTN