The government says "stopping the boats" is a key political priority, but how is it going about it?

Provides an overview of Malawi, including key dates and facts about this southern African country.

A video of an Italian politician claiming that France exploits African countries has been widely shared. Is she right?

For the latest updates, go to bbc.com/africalive.

Anger mounts after the killing of children, including Keketso Saule, by pit bulls in South Africa.

Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema has led the country's authoritarian regime for 43 years.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

Members of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) and its allied Communist Party have staged a protest outside the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg to express their anger at a decision to free the man who murdered the anti-apartheid activist Chris Hani.

Janusz Walus, a Polish immigrant, killed Hani in 1993 in an effort to derail the transition from white-minority rule to democracy.

On Monday Chief Justice Ray Zondo ordered the country's correctional services minister to place Walus on parole.

Senior ANC member Panyaza Lesufi said more demonstrations were planned to coincide with his expected release next week.

Walus killed Hani as he picked up the newspapers outside his home in April 1993 by shooting him at point-blank range in the chin, behind the ear and in the chest.

He was arrested and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life after South Africa abolished the death penalty at the end of apartheid, a legalised system of racial discrimination, in 1994.

Hani's murder still evokes deep emotions in South Africa. He was regarded as the most popular politician after South Africa's first black President Nelson Mandela, and his death caused much shock and anger.

Questions of cultural identity among the huge Moroccan community in Belgium will arise when the two countries meet at the World Cup.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Sammie Okposo/Instagram

There have been many tributes and reactions following the death of award-winning Nigerian gospel musician Sammie Okposo at the age of 51.

The cause of death of the man behind the hit Welu Welu is not yet known but he is said to have slumped and died at his home in Lagos on Friday.

“It is with a heavy heart but with total submission to God that I announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, brother, uncle, and Minister of God, Sammie Okposo,“ a statement signed on behalf of the family by Hector Okposo said.

“We are consoled because we know that he is with Jesus singing with angels.”

Many Nigerians said they were shocked to hear of the musician’s sudden passing, just months after surviving a ghastly car accident.

In a tribute on Twitter, one person wrote: “I remember the day I watched Sammie Okposo perform live. He brought the Heavens down with him that night. Everyone was indeed blessed. I felt blessed, I will never forget that experience.”

TV personality Frank Edoho wrote that he was “saddened because he literally praised and worshipped God all the time. God probably needed that sonorous voice in heaven.”

Okposo made headlines earlier this year when he took to his verified Instagram page to apologise to his wife, after he reportedly cheated on her with another woman in the United States.

In this now deleted post, he wrote: “I got intimately involved with a lady, knowing that this was not appropriate as a married man and a minister of the gospel.”

Following the scandal, the late singer announced he was taking time off from music to retrace his steps with God.

Okposo, whose first album Unconditional was released in 2000, became a favourite among many lovers of Christian music, with its track Welu Welu being widely acclaimed.

Among his many honours was a prestigious Kora All Africa Music award in 2006.

Additional reporting by Makouchi Okafor and Azeezat Olaoluwa.

Charles Blé Goudé, once seen as a divisive figure, flies back after being acquitted by the ICC.

The man whose wife and children died after a flat fire says they were set to join him in the US.

Australia hold on to a narrow first-half lead to pick up a crucial victory over Tunisia that keeps alive their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup last 16.

Image source, AFP

Presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo will be held on 20 December next year, the electoral commission has announced.

Currently, insecurity is plaguing the east of the country with numerous rebel groups creating instability.

This week's attempt to get the M23 group to agree to a ceasefire appear to have foundered.

The AFP news agency reports that the head of the electoral commission acknowledged that "persistent insecurity in some parts of the territory" would make holding a "free, democratic and transparent" vote challenging.

But the authorities are determined to stick to the timetable.

"It is not a question of negotiating with the constitutional deadlines, it is a question of us of respecting them and consolidating our democracy," government spokesman Patrick Muyaya is quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.

He estimated that the vote would cost about $600m, Reuters reports

Current President Félix Tshisekedi, who first came to power in January 2019, has already said he will run for a second term, according to AFP.

He took over from Joseph Kabila - the first time in DR Congo that power was transferred peacefully.

Houssem Sakkahas is a Tunisian barber, based in Doha who cuts the hair of many of the players at the World Cup .

Meet Babalwa Latsha, the Springbok prop who was Africa's first professional rugby player and says athletes "can really change the world".

How Kenyans are being scammed by south-east Asian trafficking cartels posing as job recruitment agents.

Egyptologists are still learning about his life and treasures a century after his tomb was opened.

Senegal coach Aliou Cisse says he may need to change tactics in their final Group A match against Ecuador to reach the World Cup knockout stage.

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

We'll leave you with an automated service until next week.

ln the meantime, you can listen to the BBC Africa Daily podcast or follow the news on our website .

A reminder of our Africa proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

We leave you with this picture of Cameroonian football fans at the World Cup in Qatar, it's from our selection of the best pictures from the continent and beyond.

Image source, Reuters

Namibians have been reacting to a recommendation of the recent National Men's Conference where what's called a “girlfriend allowance” - a form of financial assistance some men provide to their partners - should no longer be seen as compulsory.

The conference, organised by the gender equality ministry, was aimed at tackling a host of issues including gender-based violence.

The chairperson opened the discussion on the girlfriend allowance asking: “Are we saying that we will not give girlfriend allowances?".

This prompted one participant to say: "It should be according to what you can afford - but we can’t say 'no girlfriend allowance'. That one would be selfish of us.”

The host concluded the discussion by instructing the panel to remove the word allowance from the recommendations, which received applause from several of the men in attendance.

Namibians on Twitter ridiculed that the allowance would even be discussed at the conference when the theme centred on ending male violence with one saying they were "dealing with pathetic issues", external.

Another insisted: "Men are also allowed to put themselves first, external."

Journalist Koi Gouahinga joked that an international treaty should be drafted on the issue, external.