Africa highlights: Lupita wows Broadway critics, 'Deadly' Messi-Ronaldo row

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Teachers in a district of Tanzania's main city Dar es Salaam can now travel for free on buses to get to and from school, as part of a scheme which officials hope will be extended to the whole city. 

Around 3,000 teachers in  Kinondoni  district are expected to receive the bus passes by the end of the week. 

The passes can only be used at specific times in the morning and evening. 

Most teachers currently use buses called Daladalas to get to school paying approximately 18 US cents per trip.

The initiative was set up by the city authorities and the Dar es Salaam Commuter Bus Owners Association.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Al-Shabab fighters had neared the completion of specialist training to conduct "offensive operations" when the US launched a drone strike on their base in Somalia, killing about 150 f them, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis has said, AFP news agency reports. 

"Their removal will degrade al-Shabab's ability to meet the group's objectives in Somalia, which includes recruiting new members, establishing bases and planning attacks on US and Amisom forces there," he said, referring to the African Union mission in Somalia. 

The training camp had been under surveillance for some time, Capt Davis added, AFP reports.

Ground crew staff at Stockholm's Arlanda airport have found a stowaway hidden in a cargo container on a flight from Ethiopia, police say, AFP news agency reports. 

The man has applied for asylum in Sweden, police added, AFP reports. 

There was no immediate confirmation of the man's nationality or age, but Swedish news agency TT reported he was 27 years old.

The US drone strike had targeted a training camp of al-Shabab in Somalia, the Pentagon has said, AFP news agency reports.

"The fighters were there training and were training for a large-scale attack. We know they were going to be departing the camp and they posed an imminent threat to US and [African Union] forces," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis is quoted as saying. 

"Initial assessments are that more than 150 terrorist fighters were eliminated," he added. 

Capt Davis said the strike took place at some point on Saturday, and the camp was about 195km (120 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu. 

Al-Shabab has not yet commented on the claim.

Read: Who are al-Shabab?

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Nigeria's elite anti-corruption agency, the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has seized a home of a former chief of defence. 

Retired Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh has been accused of stealing $20m (£14m) from the air force and buying a mansion, at a time when government forces were battling militant Islamist group Boko Haram.  He has denied the charges. 

A BBC producer has tweeted a photo of the mansion: 

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A Catholic priest of Congolese origin has resigned in southern Germany after getting death threats and racist abuse.

Olivier Ndjimbi-Tshiende, 66, told parishioners of his decision during a church service on Sunday in Zorneding, a small town near Munich in Bavaria.

Read the full BBC story here

A plane has come down in South Africa, near Lanseria airport in the main city, Johannesburg. 

A campaign group has been tweeting about it:

Africa's richest man, Nigeria's Aliko Dangote, says his firm plans to produce one million tonnes of rice within the next five years in the West African state, Reuters news agency reports. 

Nigeria so far imports 2.8 million tonnes of rice annually, most of which is smuggled into the country, he said during an economic summit in the main city, Lagos.

"Our projects are mainly import substitution," he said. "We are working to be self-sufficient."

Dangote's main interest is in cement, oil, food and sugar business.

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The billionaire businessman also says he wants to buy phosphate from Morocco and potash from Congo-Brazzaville to feed a planned fertilizer plant.

Mr Dangote said his firm was close to signing a deal with a Moroccan firm to supply phosphate, without giving details, Reuters reports.

Dangote Group has raised a $3.3bn (£2.3bn) loan to develop a $9bn oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer. It has invested $3.5bn of its own equity.

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Kenya police say they have arrested four young men on suspicion of attempting to leave the country to join the militant Islamic State group in Libya, the Associated Press news agency reports. 

The four appeared in court in the coastal city of Mombasa where police, through a public prosecutor, asked for permission to hold the suspects for an additional 30 days, while investigations continue, AP reports. 

The men have not yet been charged, and have not commented on the allegation against them. 

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Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi has vowed to "exterminate these rats", in his first comments since militants Islamists launched a deadly assault on police and army posts near his country's border with Libya, AFP news agency reports. 

In statements broadcast on state television, Mr Essebsi said the attack was coordinated, unprecedented, and "maybe aimed at controlling" the border region, AFP reports. 

Forty-four people were killed, including seven civilians, in the shoot-out between the militants and government forces. 

See our 14:48 post for analysis from our Tunis correspondent

Some of you have been reacting to our story, based on a report by the AFP news agency, of a Nigerian man who stabbed his friend to death in India after arguing over whether Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo was the best footballer in the world:

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The Australian navy says it has seized a huge cache of weapons on a fishing boat that was apparently heading for Somalia. 

Grenade launchers, machine guns and nearly 2,000 assault rifles concealed under fishing nets were found by one of its warships, it added.

It's not clear who was transporting the weapons or the final destination of the boat. 

The Australian warship is part of an international naval force which is enforcing UN sanctions - these authorise the interception of weapons heading for Somalia. 

Despite the ban, the UN allows the Somali government to buy light weapons for its fight against militant Islamist group al-Shabab.    

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Tunisia produces more people who go off to join jihadi groups in Iraq, Syria or Libya, than any other country in the region.

Now it is having to deal with the problem that officials have long been reluctant to admit to.

Tunisia is becoming increasingly vulnerable to militant attacks, but counter-terrorism measures by the state are not limited to securing its border crossing with Libya.

The army has been engaged in battles with local militants in the Chaambi Mountains, along its south-eastern border with Algeria for over a year.

Tunisian Islamist militants in Libya are now being targeted and may be trying to return to their home country to carry out attacks there.

EPACopyright: EPA

Young and Connected is BBC Africa's first ever WhatsApp series  - bringing the story of the rise of youth groups who are challenging their leaders who want to stay in power or who are not accountable. 

This is happening in African countries like Senegal, Burkina-Faso, Congo Brazzaville, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where our reporter Maud Jullien spent some time with a group called Lucha, in the eastern city of Goma, which has been badly hit by years of conflict. 

This is chapter one of the week-long series.

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Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o has wowed critics in Broadway play Eclipsed - written by none other than Walking Dead's Danai Gurira, who plays Michonne.

It's not for the faint-hearted, depicting the roles women played in the second Liberian civil war, during which warlords conscripted child soldiers and performed human sacrifices.

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Ms Nyongo made her stage debut, but this obviously didn't hold her back as she played a 15-year-old girl among several women held captive as a warlord's "wives".

The New York Times was fulsome in its praise, describing her as "one of the most radiant young actors to be seen on Broadway in recent seasons".

Deadline said she "lights up" the stage, while Variety added that her performance was "intelligent".

ABC News said she "soared" in her role and Entertainment Weekly described the actress and her fellow cast members as "captivating to watch".

Before the show, its star tweeted a few tips for people going to see the play: 

And it looks like playwright Gurira was pretty excited too - here's her picture of her with the cast:  

The number of people killed in the shoot-out between Tunisia's security forces and militant Islamists has risen to 44, the government has said. 

The dead include 28 militants, seven civilians, one customs official, and eight soldiers and security officers. 

The militants crossed over the border from Libya and attacked an army barracks in the town of Ben Guerdane in eastern Tunisia, the government says. 

BBCCopyright: BBC

Eighteen people have been killed in a head-on collision between a bus and a truck in Nigeria. 

Seventeen of the passengers on the bus were burnt beyond recognition when it caught fire as a result of the accident on the road between the north-eastern city of Bauchi and the central city of Jos, police said. 

Accidents in Nigeria are frequent because of bad roads, reckless driving and poor maintenance of vehicles.