Farhad and Touheed were among thousands paying huge sums to risk a perilous boat journey via Libya.

The Newsroom
BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Senegal's interior ministry says two people have been killed in the city of Ziguinchor, during protests against the detention of the main opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.

The ministry didn't say who had died, but urged calm and said measures were being taken to maintain stability in the country.

Earlier the government dissolved Mr Sonko's party, accusing it of rallying its supporters towards an insurrection.

On Monday Mr Sonko appeared in court and was remanded in custody, charged with plotting an insurrection, criminal conspiracy and other offences.

He denies the charges, saying they're politically motivated.

Image source, AFP

The French foreign ministry says it will soon start evacuating its nationals in Niger following a coup last week.

It said that amid the deteriorating security situation, evacuations by air were being prepared and "will take place very soon in a very limited span of time," the AFP quoted a message sent out by the French embassy in Niamey.

Niger President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown last week by troops from his presidential guard after they seized power.

It is the third country in the Sahel, after Burkina Faso and Mali, to experience a coup in less than three years.

The incidents have been accompanied by anti-French sentiment, with the countries embracing ties with Russia.

The Newsroom
BBC World Service

Reports from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, say bursts of gunfire have been heard in the early hours of the morning from an air base in the centre of the city.

A security source said the situation was under control, without giving more details.

The incident comes 10 months after a coup, the second in less than a year in the country which has been battling an Islamist insurgency since 2015.

It also comes nearly a week after the ousting of the elected government in neighbouring Niger by the military.

Nkechi Ogbonna
West Africa Business Journalist, BBC News

Image source, AFP

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has fleshed out the details of a raft of measures to tackle the rising cost of living, which has prompted civil unrest and looting.

In a televised address to the nation, Mr Tinubu said he had ordered the release of 200,000 tonnes of grain from strategic reserves.

He also promised to increase the minimum wage, encourage more and better-paid jobs and financial help for the farming, manufacturing and smaller business sectors.

Mr Tinubu said he understood the difficulties people faced but defended his recent scrapping of a fuel subsidy, saying it had saved Nigeria some $1.3bn (£1bn).

The removal of the subsidy has led to protests.

“I understand the hardship you face; I wish there were other ways, but there are none… Have faith in our ability to deliver. We will get out of this turbulence,” he assured citizens.

He announced a $129m fund to purchase about 3,000 commercial buses to be distributed nationwide to combat the rising cost of transportation.

He appealed for patience while implementing his economic plans.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

Burkina Faso and Mali have issued a joint statement saying that they would regard any military intervention in Niger as a declaration of war on them.

The junta in Guinea has also joined the call.

On Sunday the regional organisation Ecowas threatened to use force to reinstate Niger's elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who was deposed in a coup on Wednesday.

But Burkina Faso and Mali said in such a scenario they would come to the defence of their eastern neighbour. They would also quit Ecowas.

The warning from the two junta-led countries marks a significant twist that could escalate the volatile regional situation.

They said such a move would be disastrous and destabilising.

Both countries have severed ties with the West and embraced alliances with Russia. Like Niger, they were colonised by France and have been fighting extremists in the Sahel.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Ghana archaeologists say they have found 17th Century remains of the long-lost Fort Kormantine.

Supporters of the military which seized power in Niger have been showing their support for Russia.

Supporters of the convicted opposition leader say he's being persecuted, but others say he's a trouble-maker.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team - we'll be back on Tuesday morning.

Until then you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to the Focus on Africa podcast.

A reminder of Monday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

We leave you with this image of the post-match celebrations from Nigeria's Super Falcons after they qualified for the knock-out stages of the Women's World Cup following a 0-0 draw with Ireland:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Senegal opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has been formally charged with fomenting insurrection and has been placed in custody, his lawyer is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

He had also been accused of stealing the mobile phone of a gendarme, whose vehicle had broken down near the politician's home, and issuing a subversive message on social media.

Sonko, who was arrested at his home on Friday, has denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated.

On Sunday he announced he was going on hunger strike and invited all political detainees to join him.

Sonko, who is very popular among unemployed youth, has undergone a meteoric political rise in the last few years.

In June, he was sentenced in absentia for two years in jail for immoral behavior towards individuals younger than 21 - that sentencing sparked violent demonstrations.

Mobile internet access was earlier suspending in Senegal in order to prevent public order disturbances, the ministry of communications said.

The authorities in Nigeria's north-eastern state of Adamawa have relaxed the 24-hour curfew imposed on Sunday after the looting of food stores and warehouses in the state capital, Yola.

Hundreds of people were captured on video, breaking into warehouses, carrying off sacks of grain, cartons of pasta and other household items.

On the orders of Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, security personnel had been deployed to enforce the curfew.

The state’s Deputy Governor, Kaleptapwa Farauta, has now said the curfew will now only be for 12 hours, beginning at 18:00 local time.

“We are expecting that the people of Adamawa state, the good citizens of Adamawa State will go about their lawful businesses and be calm because calm has returned to town,” the Reuters news agency quotes the deputy governor as saying.

“The security agencies will continue to maintain peace, still continue to maintain their checkpoints, and there will be a lot of patrols going on, not just in the state capital but also in our local government areas.”

Recalling the events of Sunday, one resident, Hauwa’u Musa, who lives near a warehouse that was raided told BBC Hausa that she had to defend her own home “to prevent some of the hoodlums from carrying my own property too because they came in force, holding sticks in their hands.

“The damage done was very large because the number of sacks of grain I saw people carrying out was unimaginable.”

Last month, Nigeria ended a fuel subsidy regime, leading to soaring food and petrol prices.

The economy has also been weakened by recession and the ongoing fallout from the Covid pandemic.

Image source, AFP

The military junta currently in charge of Niger has detained a leading official in the ousted president's party as well as two more government ministers, the party has said.

Five ministers are now being held among a total of 130 party activists detained since Sunday.

President Mohamed Bazoum himself has been held since last week, when the officers seized power.

His PNDS party says that Niger could become a "dictatorial and totalitarian regime", the AFP news agency reports quoting a party statement.

The PNDS said that Oil Minister Mahamane Sani Mahamadou and Mining Minister Ousseini Hadizatou are being held, along with the head of the party's national executive committee, Fourmakoye Gado.

The coup leaders are continuing to say they are about to be attacked – alleging without evidence that France has been considering an assault on the presidential palace to free Mr Bazoum.

Azeezat Olaoluwa
BBC News, Lagos

Image source, AFP

Voters in the Central African Republic are awaiting the results of a constitutional referendum which President Faustin-Archange Touadera hopes will end term limits.

The opposition boycotted the process which concluded with the voting on Sunday, describing it as illegal.

President Touadera, who is in his final term in office, may be able to run for a third term if the referendum gets enough yes votes.

Supporters of Mr Touadera - who is backed by the Russian Wagner group - believe the proposed changes will help achieve stability and development in the country.

But the opposition argues that it will help him secure his grip on power and become a president for life.

If passed, the new constitution would also increase presidential terms from five to seven years.

In addition, it will ban dual citizens from running for presidency, create the role of a vice-president and scrap the senate.

The referendum results are expected within a week and the constitutional court will have to adopt it 21 days later.

Mohamed Bazoum meets Chad's president, as Niger's junta says France is planning military intervention.

Image source, Getty Images

There were scenes of celebration on the pitch after Nigeria secured a 0-0 draw against Ireland to make it to the knock-out phase of the Women's World Cup for the third time.

Image source, Getty Images

Defender Glory Ogbonna opened her arms up to the Nigerian fans in the stadium in Brisbane.

Image source, Getty Images

Attacker Michelle Alozie also enjoyed the moment.

Read the match report.

Image source, Chad presidency

In an interview with a French television channel, Niger’s Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou has said there is no question that President Mohamed Bazoum would resign.

He is currently being held in detention by the military following a coup last week.

"This is a seizure of power by force. It is not a voluntary departure of the president so there is no reason to talk about this resignation issue," Mr Mahamadou said.

Reflecting on the president’s health, he said:

"President Bazoum is in high spirits. You know, he is a great fighter, he is a seasoned trade unionist and, also, as you know, he is someone who is always outspoken. So, if he is optimistic about the situation, you would better believe it. He really hopes that things will turn out for the best."

In a photograph released overnight, Mr Bazoum was seen for the first time since officers detained him.

Mr Bazoum was pictured meeting Chad's leader, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, in Niger's capital, Niamey.

Mr Déby, who also met the coup leaders, is spearheading mediation efforts after West African leaders gave Niger's military seven days to give up power.

Nigeria have qualified for the next round of the women's world cup after securing a 0-0 draw against Ireland.

The Super Falcons finish their group in second place with five points and could face England, Denmark or China in the next round.

Congolese-born French rapper Maitre Gims has cancelled a concert in Tunisia that was scheduled for 11 August.

In an Instagram story, the rapper cited the mistreatment of migrants for the cancellation saying: “Children, women, men expelled from Tunisia to Libya, live in inhumane conditions. I cannot maintain my visit to Tunisia.”

Image source, Gims/Instagram

Libyan guards recently rescued dozens of sub-Saharan migrants in a desert area on the border between the two countries

They said they had been dumped there from Tunisia without water, food or shelter.

Tunisia has become the main departure point for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

In recent months, black migrants in Tunisia have faced violent attacks due to an increasingly hostile environment.

Tunisia's President Kais Saied has previously accused migrants of partaking in a "plot" to change the country's demographic profile, blaming "traitors who are working for foreign countries". He later denied being racist.

Read more on Tunisia:

• Tunisia migrant attacks: 'They held a knife to my throat'
• Tunisia's El General: The rapper who helped bring down Ben Ali