Many South Africans are outraged about the test in Afrikaans, because of its links to apartheid.

South African national Dinesh Joseph says he was forced to take a test in Afrikaans to board a Ryanair flight.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

The Eswatini army has said that those who participated in pro-democracy protests last July will not be enrolled in the military in the ongoing recruitment, the Times of Swaziland website has reported.

The report quoted a senior army officer saying that "it would be wrong to recruit people who would then turn guns against army officers".

"The army cannot recruit people who are not loyal and respectful to the status quo," the unnamed army officer said.

Sergeant Thamsanqa Mdlovu, a police commander, said the army would review CCTV footage to check if any of those applied to be recruited participated in the protests.

"Let me just advise and warn you that the vetting process will not only focus on taking fingerprints, but also your behaviour at community level. It will be unfortunate if some of you have participated in the unrest [...] because you will not be considered," Sergeant Mdlovu said.

Civil society and opposition groups have been protesting to demand political reforms in the tiny southern African kingdom that is the continent's last absolute monarchy.

Rhoda Odhiambo
BBC West Africa correspondent, Lagos

Image source, AFP

At least 40 people died in Sunday's attack in Owo in Nigeria's Ondo state, area governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu now says.

Previously the authorities had said 22 people died.

In a statement, the governor said that 61 people were currently admitted in nearby hospitals for treatment and 26 had been discharged.

There were 127 people in the church when the attack happened, he said.

He added that the government would set up a memorial park to remember the attack victims.

Read more:

• Blood on the altar after Nigeria church attack

Image source, AFP

Kenya's electoral agency says an ongoing audit of its voters' roll has found the names of nearly 250,000 deceased voters on the register.

Nearly half a million more voters were found to have duplicate records and more than 226,000 people were registered using documents that do not belong to them.

Others had registered with invalid documents, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said in a statement , externalon the anomalies that affect more than a million people.

IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said that because of the “implementation of the preliminary audit findings” the commission would delay certifying the final register for publication.

The commission said earlier that it would publish the register of voters on or before 9 June but has pushed that to 20 June as it seeks to address the findings by KPMG, the firm contracted to do the audit.

Electoral irregularities in past elections in Kenya have led to deadly violence. This year's elections will be held on 9 August.

Four presidential candidates have been cleared to run in the election - David Mwaure, George Wajackoyah, Raila Odinga and William Ruto.

Read more about the two frontrunners:

• Who is Raila Odinga?
• Who is William Ruto?

Image source, Getty Images

Irish airline Ryanair says it is standing by its decision to make South Africans travelling to the UK take a test in the Afrikaans language.

It defended its position saying airlines operating to the UK “face fines of £2,000 [$2,500] per passenger for anyone who travel illegally” in to the country.

It also cited increased cases of fraudulent South African passports being used to enter the UK.

“This is why Ryanair must ensure that all passengers (especially South African citizens) travel on a valid SA passport/visa as required by UK Immigration,” it said in a statement to the BBC.

Ryanair says that South Africans who are unable to complete its general knowledge quiz about their country in Afrikaans will be refused travel and their fares will be refunded.

The airline has faced condemnation for requiring South Africans to take the test.

Many black South Africans associate Afrikaans with white-minority rule, when they were forced to learn the language.

Afrikaans is one of South Africa’s 11 official languages and is spoken by an estimated 13% of the population as their mother tongue.

Read more:

• Ryanair Afrikaans test: South African fury over language quiz

Issa Abdull
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Security has been beefed up in the Somali capital and around the Aden Adde Airport, ahead of Thursday's inauguration of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

Main roads in Mogadishu were closed on Wednesday with police deployed in large numbers and armoured vehicles on the streets leading to the presidential palace.

Overnight the city was put under a curfew.

The leaders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti are set to attend the inauguration ceremony.

Djibouti’s leader Ismail Omar Guelleh and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta - whose government's relations with Somalia reached a record low point during the reign of outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo - are now hoping to reset ties with the new Somali administration.

After the inauguration, the new president is expected to name a prime minister who will form a new government.

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, AFP

Three Tanzanian soldiers fighting with the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been injured in clashes against the M23 rebels.

The UN force said the three were evacuated to Goma city for treatment after being injured in an attack on one of their positions in Rutshuru in North Kivu province.

One of the soldiers was seriously injured, the Congolese army said.

Tanzania has more than 800 soldiers among the UN forces in DR Congo.

The M23 has accused the army and the UN forces of “choosing war instead of peace talks” by jointly attacking its positions in Rutshuru.

But in a new allegation, DR Congo's army spokesperson in North Kivu, Gen Sylvain Ekenge, accused Rwanda of deploying 500 special forces to support the rebels.

Rwanda has firmly denied the allegation, calling the current crisis a DR Congo's "internal problem”

A new wave of clashes started on Monday after a week of calm in Rutshuru.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Saghir Ahmed, from Alum Rock, is helping communities in Tanzania to build wells and a mosque.

Cameroon's Mankon people regard it as a taboo to speak of the death of their 97-year-old monarch.

Algeria extend their perfect start in qualification for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations while Mozambique and Sudan record their first wins.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now - there'll be an automated service until Thursday morning.

In the meantime you can listen to our Africa Today podcast and check the BBC News Africa page.

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 Belgium's King Philippe planting a tree at the Palace of the Nation in Kinshasa during his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo as a symbolic bond between the two countries:

Image source, AFP

Ameyu Etana
BBC Afaan Oromoo

Image source, Getty Images

Two opposition political parties in the Ethiopian region of Oromia are fighting over a flag seen by many as a symbol of resistance by the Oromo people.

The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) says it is not happy to see Jawar Mohammed, of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), pictured with its flag on his recent tour of Europe.

Mr Jawar, a popular opposition politician who was released from prison in January after 18 months behind bars, has not commented on the row.

Speaking to the BBC, OFC leader Merera Gudina tried to down play the OLF's concerns, saying it was not a big issue.

Five authors have been shortlisted for this year’s prestigious AKO Caine Prize for African Writing:

• Joshua Chizoma from Nigeria for Collector of Memories
• Nana-Ama Danquah from Ghana for When a Man Loves a Woman
• Hannah Giorgis from Ethiopia for A Double-Edged Inheritance
• Idza Luhumyo from Kenya for Five Years Next Sunday
• Billie McTernan from Ghana for The Labadi Sunshine Bar.

“The 2022 entries represented a staggering feast. It was a testament to the vibrancy, variety and splendour of creative talent among writers of African descent,” said chair of the judges Okey Ndibe, a Nigerian author and award-winning journalist.

The organisers also said one publisher stood out amongst the 2022 shortlist: independent, US-based Akashic Books, which published three of the shortlisted stories.

Each shortlisted writer receives £500 ($630) and the winner, to be announced at a ceremony held at the V&A Museum in London on Monday 18 July, will receive a £10,000 prize.

Image source, Caine Prize

BBC World Service
Mark Pivac, Newsroom

Image source, Getty Images

A report commissioned by 55 developing countries says the impact of climate change has wiped out about 20% of their economic growth over the past two decades.

Commissioned by finance ministers from nations across Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Pacific, the report says the grouping is bearing an “alarming” cost, despite having contributed the least to climate change and having the poorest ability to respond to ever more disasters.

The vulnerable countries say wealthier ones are not curbing emissions, and are failing to meet a $100bn (£80bn) a year commitment to help developing nations adapt.

Climate negotiators are discussing adaptation funding in the German city of Bonn this week.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, Getty Images

Algeria has suspended a 20-year-old co-operation treaty with Spain, after Madrid reversed its neutral stance towards Western Sahara.

In March Spain publicly recognised Morocco's autonomy plan for the disputed territory to end a diplomatic spat with the kingdom, Algeria's arch-rival.

Morocco controls around 80% of the Western Sahara.

The rest is held by the Algerian-backed Polisario movement, which fought a 15-year war with Morocco after Spanish forces withdrew in 1975.

International efforts to resolve the dispute have repeatedly failed.

• PROFILE: Western Sahara - a quick guide

Ashley Lime
BBC News, Nairobi

Two days after Kenyan presidential candidate Raila Odinga described second-hand clothes as clothing “worn by dead people”, the hashtag #DeadPeopleClothingChallenge is trending.

It involves people posting photos of themselves in second-hand clothes, known in Kenya as “mitumba”.

Many of these comments come from supporters of Mr Odinga’s main rival William Ruto, who has criticised the plan.

Mr Odinga made the remarks on the campaign trail, promising that he would boost the local textile production if elected. The importation of second-hand clothing has been blamed for the collapse of once-vibrant textile industries on the continent.

The hashtag #Gikomba is also trending - this is the name of Kenya’s largest open-air market where traders sell used clothes. Many tweeters are asking if any thought has been given to these young entrepreneurs and their livelihoods.

However those in support of Mr Odinga are behind another trending hashtag - #MadeInKenya - saying people should promote local produce like potatoes, which was the subject of a furore earlier in the year when KFC said it wasn’t able to offer chips as it could not import its preferred pre-sliced potatoes from Egypt.

Ethiopian newcomer Mogos Tuemay wins the men's 10,000m final on the first day of the African Athletics Championships in Mauritius.

King Philippe is on a week-long visit to DR Congo at the invitation of President Félix Tshisekedi.