France's president says the ambassador will leave and all military co-operation will end in the coming months.

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

BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

Niger's military rulers have banned French aircrafts from entering the country's airspace.

The air safety agency, ASECNA, said Niger's skies were open to all commercial flights, except for those belonging to or chartered by France.

Paris is the former colonial power and has around 1,500 troops in the country.

Niger reopened its airspace earlier this month, after closing it for nearly four weeks.

The West African nation said it had shut it because of the threat of intervention from neighbouring countries.

The regional bloc, Ecowas, had threatened military action after July's military coup.

Nicolas Négoce
BBC News

At least 35 people, including one child, were killed on Saturday in a fire at a smuggled fuel depot in southern Benin near the border with Nigeria.

The number of casualties was announced by Interior Minister Alassane Seidou.

“Saturday morning, a serious fire occurred in the town of Seme Podji. We unfortunately recorded 35 deaths including two babies,” he said, specifying that “the cause of the fire was the fuel smuggling”.

The bodies were found charred at the scene.

Twenty people were also injured, some seriously, and admitted to hospital.

In Benin, smuggled petrol comes from its eastern neighbour, Nigeria, a major oil producer where fuel is cheaper.

The West African country heavily relies ob smuggled fuel from Nigeria with a substantial black market.

The illegal industry is a major source of jobs in Benin – a country of about 13 million people.

The government is said to have undertaken several initiatives to curb the black marketing of fuel, but with different degrees of success. As a result, fires occur frequently with heavy tolls.

Benin, passed a law in 2018 that banned the illicit fuel trade and related activities, including sales outside the official trading and distribution network.

Image source, AFP

Ethiopian Tigst Assefa has broken the women's world marathon record in Berlin by more than two minutes.

In a dominant performance, the 26-year-old runner crossed the finish line in two hours 11 minutes 53 seconds.

She smashed Kenyan Brigid Kosgei's time of 2:14:04 set in 2019.

In the men's race, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, the greatest men's marathon runner of all time, came first in 2:02:42 - more than a minute outside his own world record set in the German capital last year.

A group of firefighters who helped after the earthquake in Morocco say it was "terrifying" at times.

Gen Burhan's army has been fighting a brutal war against the Rapid Support Forces since April.

Two sisters tell the BBC how the earthquake in Morocco has left them traumatised and anxious.

An inaugural celebration of South African culture, food and music is being staged on Saturday.

South African street vendors face attempted murder charges over sickening of 90 primary school pupils.

US Deputy Secretary of Treasury, Wally Adeyemo says the US sees a 'real business opportunity in Nigeria'.

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

There will be an automated news feed here until then and you can get the latest updates at BBCAfrica.com and find out about stories behind the news on the Focus on Africa podcast.

A reminder of Friday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of a masked witness leaving court in Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, during the trial of six soldiers accused of crimes against humanity - one of our favourites from this week's gallery of top shots.

Image source, Getty Images

Wazir Khamsin
BBC News, Nairobi

Kenya’s security minister, Kithure Kindiki, has issued a shoot to kill order against criminals who target law enforcement officers in the troubled northwest of the country.

Mr Kindiki reiterated the government's commitment to bring order to parts of the Rift Valley region that border South Sudan.

The directive was given a day after armed bandits killed three people in an attack.

For years, bandit attacks and cattle rustling have been a cause of instability in northwest Kenya.

Earlier this year, the army was sent to the area to deal with cross border criminal networks after several people were killed and livestock stolen.

Head coach Desiree Ellis pays tribute to USA icon Megan Rapinoe as South Africa prepare to play in the American's final international match.

The culturally significant Malian city is under siege by jihadists, causing shortages of basic items.

DJ Edu
Presenter of This Is Africa on BBC World Service

Vernyuy Tina and Witty Minstrel both come from the war-torn Anglophone North-West region of Cameroon. The two artists belong to the Nso community and even though they have been unable to perform in, or even visit, their homeland for several years, they are both determined to keep the rich Nso culture alive.

The ongoing conflict has cost many lives and forced thousands to flee their homes.

"Every sensitive person from the English regions of Cameroon has been affected," says Vernyuy Tina.

"It is so, so painful not to be able to go back home," agrees Witty Minstrel.

"Can you imagine doing music out of home? Nso is where my inspiration comes from. I can’t perform in my own home town. There are so many people who would like to see me but I can’t go there."

Vernyuy Tina features on the remix of Witty Minstrel’s hit Be Proud, which he wrote as a way of helping his shattered people feel better about themselves and remember the good things they have - including a strong musical tradition and a unique style of dressing.

"Now that we cannot go back to where we come from, I am trying to make sure that the cultural part of where we come from stays alive," he says.

"The first thing is the Njang music, which is a cultural music that is played throughout the North-West. My goal is to make that music go worldwide."

Witty Minstrel is particularly keen that young displaced Cameroonians should watch his videos so as not to lose connection with their roots.

"If you watch my videos you will see everything we grew up seeing in Nso land and I think it is helping, because when I came to the UK and had a show for the Nso community in Birmingham I found that the kids were so into tradition, so I am congratulating our parents here."

Vernyuy Tina has coined the phrase AfroNjang to describe her blend of traditional north-west rhythms and other Afro sounds.

She feels vindicated because she is beginning to get international recognition. She was named best female artiste from Central Africa at the Afrima All Africa Music Awards 2022.

"When I hear African music in our local language it really makes me happy, and keeping that Africanism and not trying to be like other continents is something that means a lot to me."

"I was so happy [to win the Afrima award]. I want to succeed in this genre to give hope to other people who just want to be themselves and original. You don’t have to change for anybody."

You can hear Vernyuy Tina and Witty Minstrel on This Is Africa on BBC World Service radio.

BBC World Service

Kenya has offered to take the lead in a UN security mission aimed at stabilising Haiti after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, appealed for more international support.

He told a meeting in New York that there was no time to lose.

Mr Blinken promised another $65m (£53m) to help the police in Haiti.

He again urged the Security Council to sanction the deployment of a UN-backed mission.

Haiti has suffered worsening security problems since the killing of president Jovenal Moise two years ago.

Gangs control much of the capital, Port-au-Prince and there were more than 2,000 killings in the first half of the year while 1,000 people were kidnapped.

With the Africa Cup of Nations line-up decided, here's the essential information on Afcon 2023.

Aliyu Tanko
BBC Hausa editor, Abuja

Image source, Getty Images

An unspecified number of female students have been abducted by gunmen from a Nigerian university in north-west Zamfara state.

The students of the Federal University Gusau were abducted from three hostels in Sabon Gida community, in the early hours of Friday.

Local journalists told the BBC that the gunmen began shooting indiscriminately before attacking the students' hostels.

The police and the university authorities have not commented yet.

In 2021, bandits abducted over 300 school girls in Zamfara state, but they were released after the government negotiated with the kidnappers.

North-west Nigeria has seen a rise in kidnapping, with armed gangs abducting individuals from villages, highways, and farmlands for ransom.

It happened after a memorial concert in Lagos for MohBad, who died last week aged 27.