Image source, AFP

The former Secretary-General of South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, Godrich Gardee, has made an appeal on social media, external, calling on people to message him with information that might lead to clues about the events leading up to his daughter's killing.

The body of Hillary Gardee, 28, was found last Tuesday 45km (28 miles) outside of the city of Mbombela.

She disappeared on 29 April while going shopping, according to reports.

Writing on Facebook her father said he could ensure the confidentiality of those who want to inform.

"Help me bring closure to myself and family... someone saw it all.

"If your information is helpful to the police, our family will reward you handsomely... We need this information."

Three men have since been arrested in connection with the crime.

Kidnapping is a widespread problem in South Africa, with one of the highest rates in the world.

In the decade from 2010, kidnapping more than doubled in South Africa and there are now 10 kidnappings per 100,000 people, according to the South African think-tank the Institute for Security Studies.

• Read more:South Africa kidnapping: 'I survived but part of me died that day'

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

The Islamic State group has published a video which it says shows the execution of 20 Christian civilians in north-eastern Nigeria's Borno state.

Speaking in the Hausa language, one of the masked militants who was brandishing a knife said it was to avenge the killing of the group's leaders in the Middle East earlier this year.

The BBC has not been able to verify the contents of the video or where the footage was shot.

It was published on an IS-linked news outlet and shows three groups of captives in civilian clothes.

The authorities have not yet commented on the video.

The IS militants, which operate in the Lake Chad region under the name Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap), along with another Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, have recently suffered huge losses as a result of attacks by a multi-national military force.

Such military campaigns in the past have usually been followed by propaganda videos from the extremist groups.

BBC World Service

Image source, EPA

A suicide bomb has been detonated in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The blast targeted a checkpoint on a road which leads to the city's airport.

The Islamist militant group, al-Shabab, said it carried out the attack which caused several casualties.

On Sunday, members of parliament are due to elect the country's next president.

The vote, which has been postponed several times, is to take place inside a hangar at the airport.

Al-Shabab regularly carry out attacks in Mogadishu. Last month a mortar attack targeted parliament just days after MPs had been sworn in.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News

A huge explosion has gone off in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

A suicide bomber is reported to have targeted vehicles at a checkpoint along the highway to the Aden Adde International Airport.

The attack in an area called the Kilometre-Four Junction is said to have left several injured, including soldiers and civilians, according to local sources.

The area is less than 5km (three miles) from the airport, where candidates vying for the presidency are meant to be delivering their campaign speeches to parliament.

The African Union mission in the country has imposed a curfew at the air force hangar and it surrounds - the venue for Sunday’s presidential election.

The president will chosen by MPs from 39 candidates who have put themselves forward.

The complicated voting process, involving the election of members for two houses of parliament via an indirect system, has already been delayed for more than a year, partly because of insecurity in the country.

Last month, a mortar attack interrupted a parliamentary session where newly sworn-in MPs were sitting. Several people were injured.

• Read: Somalia's elections - where the people don't vote

South African Kevin Anderson says he decided to call time on his tennis career aged 35 as his passion and determination had dipped.

On 100th anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, we explore the forgotten Egyptians that were there.

Image source, Reuters

The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis) has imposed a curfew on the Afisyoni air force hangar in the capital, Mogadishu, and the surrounding areas ahead of the presidential election due to take place on Sunday.

The curfew runs from Tuesday to Monday next week.

More than 300 MPs will converge at the airport to vote for the president, who will govern for the next four years.

Key candidates in the elections include President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and his two predecessors, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who are widely regarded as front-runners.

The vote is 15 months behind schedule because of wrangling among top politicians over how to organise the complex election process.

• Read: Somalia's elections - where the people don't vote

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Image source, Reuters

Ethiopia’s state-owned telecom operator, Ethio Telecom, has introduced 5G mobile phone networks in the country’s capital, Addis Ababa.

Ethio Telecom hopes the move will give it an edge over upcoming competition - a consortium of international telecom providers entering the country’s lucrative market for the first time.

The move gives residents in selected places in Addis Ababa the chance to get 5G mobile networks on their mobile phones with data speed 20 times faster than their current 4G networks.

Ethio Telecom plans to introduce some 150 5G sites in and outside the capital in the coming year.

However, the expansion of the network is dependent on “the readiness of the players in the ecosystem”, including the availability of 5G enabled devices and smartphones, the company said in a statement.

Chinese telecom giant Huwawei is supplying the necessary equipment for the services.

Ethiopia had closed its doors for international telecom providers until it introduced measures to liberalise the sector selling a service licence last year to a consortium led by Kenya’s Safaricom.

A government proposal to partially privatise Ethio Telecom by selling 40% equity share capital of the company was postponed indefinitely last March because of what it called global and domestic "fast moving macro-economic changes".

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Libya's eastern-based parliament has said it wants the government it appointed under Fathi Bashagha to be based, for now, in the coastal city of Sirte.

The announcement is the clearest acknowledgement yet that Mr Bashagha cannot yet take over in the capital, Tripoli.

Libya has been split between two opposing cabinets after parliament in the east elected Mr Bashagha as the new prime minister in February.

The country’s incumbent Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who is based in the capital, has refused to hand over power without an election.

Both men are supported by armed factions and it is feared hostilities between the two could ignite a new round of conflict.

Libya has experienced repeated violence ever since long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was removed from power in 2011.

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Image source, Getty Images

Ghana and Togo have started an historic initiative to replace fast-disappearing border markers in the face of rising insecurity and cross-border crimes in West Africa.

Experts from the two countries are expected to construct 50 new international boundary pillars along a 40km (25-mile) stretch.

Officials in Ghana say the old ones have either eroded or been removed by vandals.

The century-old markers were last repaired in the 1970s.

The authorities say the latest move is to stop border encroachment and could also help address Ghana’s longstanding maritime dispute with Togo in the Gulf of Guinea.

But some locals fear the exercise could put them on the wrong side of the border.

In some parts communities from both countries mix together for social and economic activities.

But there have been communal tensions too in some areas.

Image source, Getty Images

Rihanna has announced that her Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin products will become available in eight African countries from the end of this month.

In a social media post, the pop star said she had "been waiting for this moment" and that this was "just the beginning".

The beauty products will be available in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, launched Fenty Beauty in 2017 in a partnership with luxury goods company LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton).

She is worth $1.7bn (£1.2bn), with an estimated $1.4bn coming from the value of Fenty Beauty.

The company reportedly made $100m (£72m) in its first 40 days.

It makes more money than other celebrity-founded beauty brands such as Kylie Jenner's Kylie Cosmetics, Kim Kardashian's KKW Beauty and Jessica Alba's Honest Company, according to Forbes.

Read more:

• Fenty Beauty: How make-up helped Rihanna become a billionaire

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Aid agencies say several asylum seekers in the UK have gone into hiding because of fears they will be sent to Rwanda.

Under a deal signed last month, people judged to have entered the country illegally face being flown to Rwanda for resettlement.

The Red Cross and the Refugee Council say the threat of removal has prompted some of those seeking asylum to self-harm; one has attempted suicide.

The charities have criticised the British government's plans as a breach of the duty of care.

The Home Office in London says it takes every step to prevent self-harm or suicide.

It says it hopes its policy will undermine the business model of people traffickers.

More on this topic:

• Is Rwanda a land of safety or fear?

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team.

There will be an automated news feed until we're back on Wednesday morning.

You can also keep up to date on the BBC News website, or by listening to the Africa Today podcast.

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 street vendor in Maputo, Mozambique by photographer Grégory Escande:

The Confederation of African Football says it had no choice but to host the final of the African Champions League in Morocco.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

A parliamentary committee has concluded the nominations process for presidential candidates in Somalia.

It is a highly contested poll, with 39 candidates vying for the presidency in the restive horn of Africa nation.

Key candidates include the current president, Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmaajo", and two former presidents.

The state president of the autonomous region of Puntland, as well as a former MP, are also contesting.

The race is likely to be between the current leader and his predecessors.

Only one woman, Fawzia Yusuf Adam, is in the running.

Candidates will deliver their campaign speeches to parliament on Wednesday and Thursday, ahead of elections on Sunday in the capital Mogadishu.

More than 300 MPs will vote for the president, who will govern for the next four years.

The elections suffered several delays, complicated by insecurity and infighting between different key political figures.

More on this topic:

• Somalia's elections - where the people don't vote
• A quick guide to Somalia

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Getty Images

Authorities in Nigeria have launched a project to build nearly 2,000 public toilets in the capital Abuja to address the problem of open defecation.

At the launch on Tuesday, officials said the project - which also includes the provision of clean water - will help in tackling the spread of diseases.

It will be carried out over the next three years with support from the private sector, authorities say.

There are also plans to expand the project to cover the country's 36 states, Nigeria's water resources minister said.

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and its capital is one of the fastest growing cities on the continent - with increasing pressure on limited water and sanitation facilities.

In the city 39% of residents defecate in the open, according to official figures.

The West African country is also expected to host a world toilet summit later this year.

One of the targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is to eliminate open defecation by 2030. But experts say progress has been slow.

Peter Jegwa
Lilongwe, Malawi

Image source, Getty Images

Malawi's parliament has started public enquiries in the capital, Lilongwe, on a proposal to abolish the death penalty following last month’s adoption of a report recommending the move.

It comes after parliament mandated its Legal Affairs Committee to solicit views from the general public on the subject, before potentially changing any laws.

Malawi courts appeared to have abolished the death sentence in April last year after Supreme Court judge heard the petition of a convicted murderer, and ruled that the death penalty negates the right to life which is otherwise provided for under the Malawi's constitution.

The judge then ordered the re-sentencing of all cases where the death penalty was handed down.

However four months later, the Supreme Court issued a statement saying the judge had expressed his personal opinion and the death penalty remained applicable.

There have been growing calls both locally and internationally for Malawi to abolish the death penalty, especially because the country is a signatory to the declaration of Universal Human Rights in which the punishment is not allowed.

Tuesday's public hearing is the first of three such sessions with similar events planned for the northern city of Mzuzu and the southern city of Blantyre later this month.

Malawi currently has 25 people sentenced to death and awaiting execution, but none have been carried out since 1994.

Rescue efforts continue 24 hours a day to find eight miners caught by flash floods in Burkina Faso.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The military in Burkina Faso says it has killed at least 50 jihadist fighters in two operations.

A statement, which is not possible to verify independently, said a rapid reaction force responded to an ambush on Monday in the north-west Boucle du Mouhoun region near the border with Mali.

It said 40 enemy fighters were killed and several soldiers were slightly wounded.

The military also said a commando unit assisted by volunteers launched an attack near Djigoue in the south-west - near the border with Ivory Coast.

More than 2,000 people have been killed and almost two million have fled their homes since jihadist attacks started in Burkina Faso in 2015.