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Summary

  1. Catholic church finds more than 3,000 dead in Congo violence
  2. Kenyan Primary school closes after pupils beat teachers
  3. Somalia arrests 10 foreigners for illegal fishing
  4. Thirteen soldiers accused of raping aid workers and killing journalist
  5. UN tells Djibouti and Eritrea to solve border dispute peacefully
  6. Tuesday 20 June 2017

Live Reporting

By Damian Zane and Clare Spencer

All times stated are UK

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Scroll down for Tuesday's stories

We'll be back tomorrow

That's all from the BBC Africa Live page today. Keep up to date with what's happening on the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website.

A reminder of today's wise words:

Every success comes through trial."

Sent by Nelson Iwegbue in Amai, Nigeria

Click here to send us your African proverbs

And we leave you with this picture of Ramadan decorations in Cairo, Egypt:

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Burkinabe architect hailed in London

Burkina Faso's Diebedo Francis Kere has become the first African architect to undertake the prestigious assignment to set up a temporary structure in London's Hyde Park.

The temporary pavilion, which is an annual project, is visited by thousands of people over the British summer.

Kere told AFP news agency that his circular structure was inspired by a tree in his hometown of Gando that serves as a central meeting point.

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Every year a world-famous architect is asked to assemble a temporary structure in London's Hyde Park. Previous architects include Zaha Hadid, Jean Nouvel and Frank Gehry.

Moves to ease Eritrea-Djibouti tensions

The African Union is sending a fact-finding mission to Eritrea and Djibouti as tension mounts over their disputed border at one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

The UN and the regional body Igad have called for calm. But what's it all about?

The tension has been driven by Qatar's move to withdraw its peacekeeping forces from the border.

The peacekeepers had been in place since 2010 as part of efforts to resolve a dispute over the status of Dumeira Mountain and Dumeira Island, claimed by both Djibouti and Eritrea.

Map showing disputed border area
BBC

The two countries' armed forces clashed on the border in 2008. Both states later accepted Qatar's offer of mediation and the deployment of peacekeepers, though bilateral relations have remained strained.

Now Djibouti has accused Eritrea of moving troops to the disputed border. Eritrea has not commented directly on this accusation, but without the Qatari troops there are fears that trouble could flare up again.

Read more about where this could be heading in this piece by BBC Monitoring.

Should couples be tested for sickle cell before marriage?

Sickle cell disease is passed on genetically and now some in Nigeria are calling for mandatory sickle cell testing before marriage.

The health commissioner in Nigeria's Sokoto State, Dr Balarabe Kakale, told BBC Focus on Africa the state government would back a new law if there was widespread support for it:

Some in Nigeria are calling for mandatory sickle cell testing before marriage

But earlier today the head of the Sickle Cell Foundation in Nigeria Dr Annette Akinsete told the BBC's Newsday programme that such a law would just "increase stigmatisation" and lead to people hiding that they had the condition.

Sickle cell disease is a condition which affects the shape of red blood cells. The blood cells can block blood flow and can cause severe pain.

How can you be a patriotic Ugandan?

Ugandan Investment Minister Evelyn Anite is being mocked on Twitter after she suggested that Ugandans should own a Uganda Telecom mobile SIM as a show of patriotism, the Observer newspaper reports.

At one time Uganda Telecom was jointly owned by the Libyan and Ugandan governments, but it has been in trouble since the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi, says the BBC's Patience Atuhaire in Kampala.

And there are other mobile networks to choose from.

Ugandans have been using the hashtag #TweetLikeAnite with their own suggestions of patriotic acts:

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View more on twitter

Three al-Shabab suspects arrested in Mozambique

Jose Tembe

BBC Africa, Maputo

Mozambican police say they have detained three suspects accused of belonging to Somali Islamist militant group al-Shabab.

This is the first time an alleged al-Shabab militant has been detained in Mozambique.

The spokesperson in the Cabo Delgado provincial police command, in the north of the country, said the three had been calling for people to disrespect authorities and carry knives for self defence.

The Islamic Council of Mozambique has distanced itself from the three, describing them as members of a political group using the cover of Islam.

Fresh clashes in CAR 'wound 35'

BBC World Service

Aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres says at least 35 people have been wounded in fighting in the Central African Republic, a day after a ceasefire agreement was signed between the government and rebel groups.

Clashes are said to have broken out in the town of Bria, north-east of the capital, Bangui, early on Tuesday.

The truce signed in Rome, which included an immediate ceasefire, was intended to bring an end to several years of sectarian violence between Christian and Muslim militias.

Kenyan teachers who were beaten by pupils 'refuse to return to school'

The Daily Nation, which carried the story about the primary school teachers who were beaten by their pupils (see earlier entry), now has an update.

It has tweeted that the teachers don't want to work there anymore:

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What's behind Congo internet outage?

Computers
Reuters

An article in African Arguments ask if there are political motivations behind the internet being down in Congo-Brazzaville.

Africa News reports that the internet first went down on 9 June and phone companies said it was due to a ship damaging an underwater fiber optic cable.

But Brett Carter points out in African Arguments that the timeline for getting the internet back up - between two and seven weeks - means that the shutdown may well persist through legislative elections scheduled for 16 July.

Before the presidential election in March 2016 the communication minister ordered telephone operators to cut all telephone, text messages and the internet.

But it isn't clear if the government has ordered a block this time around.

Internet rights campaigners Access Now says that the internet still only appears to be partially available - possible through satellite. They say it's challenging to identify the exact cause of the disruption.

"Our measurement tools make it hard distinguish between a submarine cable being accidentally cut - which would take time to repair - and a government ordered disruption. Governments - and telcos - are rarely transparent about internet shutdown orders, and this needs to change" they say.

Musical gems coming out of Somalia

The record company behind the forthcoming release of archive recordings of Somali music has been teasing us with a few tracks that will be on the CD.

Ostinato Records' compilation Sweet as Broken Dates, which is out in August, is a collection of tracks dug out by Vik Sohonie from the Somalia national radio archive that were squirrelled away to avoid being damaged in the civil war.

The music from the 1970s and 1980s offers a glimpse into the country's past.

Sohonie sees the compilation as a way to help change perceptions of Somalia and renew interest in a rich musical heritage.

Listen to one of the tracks here:

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OkayAfrica has three more tracks you can listen to and an essay by Sohonie on how he came to find the music.

And you can watch his Ted Talk here:

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Police in Italy 'arrest Nigerian accused of human trafficking'

Libya crossing
Reuters
Criminals take advantage of vulnerable migrants making the perilous journey from Libya to Europe

A Nigerian known as "Rambo" has been arrested in Italy on charges of torturing and killing migrants held captive in Libya, Italian told AFP news agency.

The suspect named John Ogais, 25, was traced to a reception centre in Calabria in southern Italy.

He has been accused of belonging to a transnational smuggling ring, specialising in human trafficking, murder and rape.

Detectives in Agrigento in Sicily have pulled together witness testimony from migrants who accuse Mr Ogais of torturing people held captive in a makeshift prison, with at least two men reportedly dying at his hands.

He has made no comment about the allegations.

The next most expensive African player?

Liverpool are closing in on Roma and Egypt winger Mohamed Salah in a deal that could be worth a club record $49m (£39m).

The 25-year-old has been a prime target for manager Jurgen Klopp and could join for a fee which would eclipse the $44m the Reds paid for Andy Carroll in 2011.

Talks are ongoing, with Salah excited to play in the Premier League again after an unfulfilling spell at Chelsea.

If the deal exceeds the $43m Liverpool paid for Sadio Mane, Salah will become the most expensive African player ever.

The Egypt international almost joined Liverpool in 2014 but moved to Chelsea from Basle for $14m.

Mohamed Salah
Getty Images
Salah (r) could become the most expensive African player ever

Read more: Liverpool in talks to sign Roma's former Chelsea winger

Kenya asks if you love your country enough to pay your taxes

Hands up who wants to pay tax?

Most of us understand that government services have to be paid for but at the same time are reluctant to hand over hard-earned cash.

So the question is: how can the tax authority persuade people to cough up?

Kenyans have just 10 more days to fill in their tax returns and the revenue authority there have gone for a mixture of shame and obligation.

Media personality Caroline Mutoka is part of their campaign, and she is being quoted in some tweets re-issued today.

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But not everyone is convinced by this approach.

One tweeter, for example, has questioned where the money goes:

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Somalia arrests foreigners for illegal fishing

The authorities in Somalia's southern Jubaland state have arrested 10 foreigners - eight from Pakistan and two from Iran - for allegedly fishing illegally.

Their boat was found drifting off the Somali coast.

The men have been fishing in the area for the past four months and were found with 300 tonnes of fish according to a local official quoted by the Somali-language Jowhar News Portal.

The police have told the BBC that they are now investigating.

Illegal fishing off the Somali coast is a big problem and the difficulties it causes local fishermen has been cited as one of the reasons why some took up piracy.

Nigerian jobseekers on the hunt for work

Chris Ewokor

BBC Africa, Abuja

There are 11.5 million Nigerians who want a job but cannot get one, according to the country's statistics office. Or, put another way, that's 14.2% of the labour force.

Today in the capital, Abuja, the Nigeria Job Fair and Business Expo is trying to address that with exhibitors looking for new talent.

Stall at job fair
BBC

The two-day event is aimed at bridging employment gaps in the country and help to connect young unemployed people with potential employers.

The organiser, Fortunes Dynamics Foundation, believes unemployment is a significant contributor to the rise in social unrest and crime.

However, there are concerns that many graduates and job seekers lack the required skills and so cannot take advantage of the job offers.

Last month, Nigeria's former President Olusegun Obasanjo to BBC Africa Business Report that unemployment was the greatest challenge facing the continent.

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At least 10 killed in Somalia car bomb attack

BBC World Service

Officials in Somalia say at least 10 people have been killed in a bomb attack in the capital, Mogadishu.

A vehicle laden with explosives was rammed into a security barrier outside a government building in the southern district of Wadajir.

Islamist militant group al-Shabab said in a statement carried by the SITE intelligence agency that they were behind the attack.

Al-Shabab wants to force out African Union peacekeepers, topple the government and impose its strict version of Islam.

Ugandan virtual lawyer wins innovation prize

Barefoot Law's Joy Birabwa talks to boda-boda operators in Kampala on 19th May 2017
King Baudouin Foundation
The legal service is for ordinary people, like boda-boda drivers

A Ugandan service where you can get law advice through texts and Facebook messages has won a €75,000 ($84,000; £66,000) Belgian innovation prize.

BarefootLawstarted in 2012 and now responds to over 30,000 legal questions each month. Ugandans can ask lawyers questions on SMS, Facebook, Twitter, Skype and email.

They are hoping to expand to more face-to-face services in places that aren't connected to the internet.

BarefootLaw was one of three winners of the King Baudouin African Development Prize, who all won the same prize money.

Another joint-winner, Farmerline, makes software for small-scale farmers across 10 countries to keep them informed on the market prices for their crops.

Freda Akoma Yeboah from Farmerline explains to Douglas Adjei how the Mergdata service works at Douglas' farm in Gyinase, Kumasi, Ghana
King Baudouin Foundation

And the third joint winner, Kytabu, developed an android app for students across East Africa to rent digital textbooks.

Tonee Ndung'u explains how the Kytabu App works to form one students in Dr Buconyori Free Methodist Boys School in Soy, Kenya, on 6th June 2017.
King Baudouin Foundation

The chair of the King Baudouin Foundation, Thomas Leysen, said the winners have "set a new precedent on how technology can change lives across Africa”.

UN blames new militia for Congo deaths

Imogen Foulkes

BBC News, Geneva

Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein
EPA
Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein accused the authorities of being complicit in deaths

The UN human rights commissioner has called for an independent inquiry into violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, following what he said were horrific atrocities committed in central Kasai province.

Speaking in Geneva Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein accused the DR Congo authorities of being complicit in ethnically inspired violence and said UN investigators had identified 42 mass graves.

The UN says its investigators found evidence that hundreds of villagers from the Luba and Lulua ethnic groups had been killed. Many of them, including young children, were shot dead or hacked or burned to death.

The investigators claim a new militia, the Bana Mura, is responsible for the atrocities.

The UN believes that the militia was set up specifically to support the Congolese authorities.

The UN also accuses the opposition Kamuina Nsapa militia of killing civilians thought to be loyal to the government, and of recruiting children as young as seven, many of whom are committing acts of violence themselves, apparently under the influence of drugs.

Violence erupted in Kasai last August, after the death of a local leader during fighting with security forces.

Since then the UN estimates that more than a million civilians have been displaced.

The other side of Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp

We reported earlier about the Somali refugees who are returning to the large Dadaab camp complex in north-east Kenya because of harsh conditions in Somalia.

Our reporter Bashkas Jugsodaay said that things will not be that easy back at the camp.

But on World Refugee Day Twitter account Humans of Dadaab is trying to present a different image of the camp:

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Phil Ofosu-Ayeh: Wolves sign Ghana defender from Eintracht Braunschweig

Wolves have signed Ghana defender Phil Ofosu-Ayeh from German side Eintracht Braunschweig on a free transfer.

The Germany-born 25-year-old will start a three-year contract at the Championship club on 1 July.

Ofosu-Ayeh is the second defender signed by new head coach Nuno Espirito Santo since he took charge at Molineux on 31 May.

Phil Ofosu-Ayeh playing
Getty Images
Phil Ofosu-Ayeh helped Eintracht Braunschweig finish third last season in Bundesliga 2

Find all the latest football transferson our dedicated page.

Pressure on SA minister over Guptas' citizenship

Karen Allen

BBC southern Africa correspondent, Johannesburg

Pressure is mounting on South Africa's former Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba to explain to parliament why the controversial Gupta business family, apparently jumped the queue to secure South African citizenship.

Mr Gigaba, who is now finance minister, released a statement saying he had the legal power to waive the five-year residency requirement before citizenship can be granted.

The family, who are friends of President Jacob Zuma, are accused of using their relationship to secure favourable business deals - something which they deny.

The Gupta brothers' bid to become South African citizens, only came to light after a series of emails were leaked.

President Zuma
AFP
President Zuma has been under pressure over allegations that he has been influenced by the Gupta family

Somali refugees return to Dadaab camp

Bashkas Jugsodaay

BBC News, Dadaab

Two months ago thousands of Somali refugees in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp complex signed up to return home voluntarily, but some have started to come back to Kenya.

Government officials in north-east Kenya say they have received about 800 returnees so far.

One woman told me that she returned because she was hungry in Somalia:

I came back to Dadaab because I couldn't cope with the hardship out there. I just gave birth to twins and right now I don't have food. I walked for 20 days to get here, I have 7 children and the little money I had is finished."

Woman with twins
BBC

One young man told me he returned to Dadaab because it was unsafe in Somalia:

Three days after my arrival back home my father was taken and killed by al-Shabab militants. Back at home al-Shabab are abducting young men and forcing them to fight. I didn't want to join the group so I ran away and came back to Dadaab where I am suffering from hunger as I do not have a food ticket."

One of the camps in the Dadaab complex, Ifo, was meant to accommodate 20,000 people but numbers swelled to 200,000 as more kept arriving due to the years of instability in Somalia.

Twenty six years after civil war broke out there, people are still trying to eke out a living in the camp:

Shoe stall
BBC
Goats
BBC

Man 'sentenced' after dangling baby to get Facebook likes

BBC World Service

A man in Algeria is reported to have received a two-year jail sentence for dangling his baby out of a window in order to attract 'likes' on Facebook.

The man posted a picture of himself holding his baby out of a window in a high-rise building with the caption: "1000 likes or I will drop him".

The posting prompted other social media users to demand that he be charged with child abuse.

This is how the Al Arabia website is reporting the news:

Screen grab from Al Arabia website
Al Arabia

Kenyan Primary school closes after pupils beat teachers

A school in central Kenya has been closed after the pupils attacked the teachers, the Daily Nation reports.

Shot of newspaper page
BBC

It adds that pupils were seen with clubs and sticks ready to attack the female staff and three teachers were "seriously injured".

Police then turned up at the Kirimon Primary School and shot in the air.

Kenya's NTV news reports that the students were cross about the punishments that they had received.

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A representative from the teachers' union says that the school will be closed until Friday when a meeting of teachers, parents and ministry of education will take place.

'Twenty villages destroyed' in Congo clashes

BBC Monitoring

The world through its media

Radio France Internationale has been giving more details about the Catholic church report that more than 3,000 people have been killed in the violence in Kasai, Democratic Republic of Congo, since October last year (see earlier entry).

It says that the church found that more than 3,700 homes have been destroyed, and also 20 villages, 10 of them by the army and four by militias.

Benin president 'admits to surgery' after conspicuous absence

Patrice Talon
Reuters

Benin President Patrice Talon underwent two operations while in Paris, the AFP news agency reports.

A statement said a lesion was found at an early stage in his prostate.

The second operation was to his digestive system when complications arose after the first operation, the statement added.

Mr Talon returned to the main city, Cotonou, on Sunday after an absence of more than three weeks, reports RFI news.

RFI adds that the absence of communication from him "fueled controversy" and speculation about his health.

He arrived back in the country on a private flight from Paris, RFI says.

'More than 3,000 killed' in Congo violence

The Catholic church in the Democratic Republic of Congo has said that 3,383 people have been killed in the violence in the country's Kasai region since last October, the Reuters news agency is reporting.

The figures are based on local church sources, it adds.

The UN has reported on the discovery of more than 20 mass graves but has put the death toll at around 400.

The clashes have been between the army and a rebel group, but civillians have got caught up in the violence.

Reuters says that the church has found that army also destroyed 10 villages.

In a separate report, the Norwegian Refugee Council says more than 1.3 million people have been displaced by the violence in what it calls "one of the largest displacement crises in the world today".

Soldier
AFP
DR Congo's army has been fighting a militia group in the central Kasai region

Read more: DR Congo's Kasai conflict

Ghana to decide on extending IMF deal

Thomas Naadi

BBC Africa, Accra

In Ghana, one of the main stories in the Daily Graphic is focusing on discussions between the government there and a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Front page of Graphic business
BBC

The government has to decide whether to extend a three year bailout programme.

Government minister Yaw Osafo Maafo says the extension of the programme will be based on Ghana's record in meeting economic targets set by the IMF.

How a South Sudanese refugee became a supermodel

Mari Malek came to the US as a child refugee. Now she uses her supermodel status to advocate for children affected by war in South Sudan.

Video by Charlie Northcott

UN calls for calm on Djibouti-Eritrea border

The UN has called on Djibouti and Eritrea to solve their border dispute peacefully after Djibouti accused Eritrea of moving troops into their disputed border area.

The accusation came after peacekeeping troops from Qatar pulled out of the area which they had been monitoring since 2010.

Eritrea has said that it does not want a confrontation with Djibouti, the AP news agency reports.

After discussing a report on the border tension, the UN security council called "on the parties to resolve their border dispute peacefully in a manner consistent with international law," the AFP news agency reports.

South Sudan soldiers' rape trial

Emmanuel Igunza

BBC Africa

The trial of South Sudanese soldiers accused of raping five foreign aid workers and killing a local journalist last July, is due to resume in the capital Juba.

The alleged murder and rape occurred during an attack on the Terrain Hotel in the city.

A subsequent UN report admitted their peacekeepers had failed in their duty to protect civilians.

The 13 soldiers are accused of being part of a group of between 80 and 100 military personnnel who raided the hotel.

The soldiers' lawyer said the allegations were untrue.

Soldiers in the court
Reuters
The 13 soldiers are being tried in a military court in Juba

In an attack which lasted for more than four hours, they killed a local journalist and raped foreign aid workers.

One of the victims described how up to 15 soldiers took turns to rape her in what was described as the worst attack against humanitarian staff in the country.

Aid workers accused UN troops of refusing to respond to their pleas for help despite being stationed just a mile from the hotel.

Today's wise words

Our African proverb of the day:

Every success comes through trial."

Sent by Nelson Iwegbue in Amai, Nigeria
At the top of Mount Kilimanjaro
Getty Images

Click here to send us your African proverbs

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