Africa highlights: Senegal's jazz festival cancelled, Leicester's African winners

A Somali-born imam in Australia has come out as gay, the SBS Australia is reporting.

It says the well-respected leader Nur Warsame was at one time married and has a daughter.

"Reconciling spirituality with sexuality is a very difficult journey," he told the SBS programme.

Quote Message: The idea is to make avenues and paths for other young queer Muslims to live their lives to the fullest and to hold on to their spirituality. My intentions are to try to make a difference in Muslim homes."

The idea is to make avenues and paths for other young queer Muslims to live their lives to the fullest and to hold on to their spirituality. My intentions are to try to make a difference in Muslim homes."

Leicester City have been trending across the continent today after pulling off one of the greatest upsets in sporting history, by winning the English Premier League. 

TrendsmapCopyright: Trendsmap

Nigeria and Arsenal legend Kanu is perhaps suggesting the Gunners might think about taking a lesson or two from Leicester in his post on Twitter:

Riyad Mahrez, the Algerian forward who played such a big part in Leicester's campaign, was grateful for all the support: 

Even the Rwandan president thought it was a big enough deal to get to send his congratulations to The Foxes: 

....And a South Sudanese follower of the BBC's James Copnall sent this wonderful analogy of the improbability of Leicester's victory: 

And finally, one Chelsea fan in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, appeared to undergo a half-conversion to Leicester, leaving his Blues badge intact, but replacing his team's sponsor YokoHama with Leicester's King Power:

New research shows that the number of cheetahs left in the wild has been overestimated.

Most of Africa's 6,600 cheetahs live in the Maasai Mara, but there are half as many as had previously been thought. 

Femke Broekhuis from the Mara Cheetah Project told the BBC World Service's Newsroom programme that the loss of habitat was to blame: 

Vincent, who lives in Kalangala, a town on a Ugandan island on Lake Victoria sent this picture to our WhatsApp account of his friend, Raymond, showing off the catch of the day that's about to be transported to other parts of the country.

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Vincent says that fish like tilapia and Nile perch can be caught in the lake.

He writes that Raymond is about to drive the catch to a factory on the mainland for the fish to be processed.

Please send us your pictures and stories to our WhatsApp number +44 7341 070844.

AFPCopyright: AFP

The 24th annual Festival of Jazz in Saint Louis, northern Senegal, due from 11-16 May has been cancelled, according to a statement on its official Facebook page.

The festival is a popular event in the northern seaside town, attracting foreign tourists as well as Senegalese music lovers. 

Last week, the US embassy issued a fresh warning to its citizens in Senegal, saying that it had “learned of reports that unspecified locations in Senegal, including those associated with Westerners, may be the target of an attack by extremists".  

It said it had also learned "of a recent attack being planned by terrorist groups against unspecified targets in Senegal”. 

Senegal has so far avoided a major attack by Islamist militants, despite attacks on several other Francophone countries in West Africa. 

AFPCopyright: AFP

Read more: France's former colonies under growing threat

Police in Kenya say two other suspects are on the run, following the arrest of a terror suspect whom they say was planning a Westgate-style attack (see 16:42 entry).

Kenya PoliceCopyright: Kenya Police

Kenya PoliceCopyright: Kenya Police

Police say that Ahmed Hish and Farah Dagane, both medical interns, "have gone into hiding to evade justice".

Kenya police have arrested a man who they say was in charge of a "terror network" that was "planning large-scale attacks akin to the Westgate Mall attack" of September 2014 in which 67 people were killed.

In a statement, the police say that Mohammed Abdi Ali, a medical intern at a Kenyan hospital, was also part of a group planning to "unleash a biological attack... using anthrax".

They say that he was also "engaged in the active radicalisation" of students and helped recruit Kenyans "to join terror groups in Libya and Syria".

Mr Ali is said to be linked to the so-called Islamic State group.

Kenya PoliceCopyright: Kenya Police

Kenya's Hollywood star Lupita Nyong'o has been nominated for a major award for her stage role in the Broadway play Eclipsed.

The play deals with events in Liberia's civil war and has been well reviewed.

Three African players are set to receive Premier League winners medals. 

First up, it's Algeria's Riyad Mahrez.

Mahrez has scored 17 goals and made 11 assists in 34 league games in The Foxes' remarkable march to victory. 

He was also named Player of the Year by the Professional Footballers' Association, a prestigious honour voted for by fellow professionals. 

APCopyright: AP

Second, it's Ghanaian international Jeffrey Schlupp. 

The left-sided midfielder has made 22 league appearance this season, scoring once. 

EPACopyright: EPA

But can you guess the third African who will be taking home a winners' medal at the end of the season? 

He only just qualifies for the prize, having made five appearances so far, the minimum required to qualify for a medal, since his arrival from Danish club Copenhagen in January... 

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

...And the answer is: 

Daniel Amartey!

 The 21-year-old Ghana international, who can play in defence or midfield, signed a four-year deal for a fee of up to £6m ($9m).

Cameroon's President Paul Biya has arrived in Nigeria for a three-day visit that is expected to focus on security concerns.

The two countries share a border and are both heavily involved in the fight against the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

Mr Biya (pictured second from left) came on the visit with his wife Chantal (pictured right greeting President Muhammadu Buhari).

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given some gloomy short-term forecasts in its latest report about the economic growth prospects for sub-Saharan Africa (see 12.12 entry).

But it does say that prospects are still good in the medium term and there are some countries like Ivory Coast and Kenya which are showing strong growth.

But one of the key questions is whether that growth is keeping up with the population increase. 

The IMF has also provided figures for its 2016 forecast for economic growth per person, which indicates - assuming the growth in income is distributed evenly - how much richer, or poorer, people are getting.

Here are some of the figures for economic growth per person:

• Ivory Coast 5.8%
• Mauritius 3.8%
• Rwanda 3.6%
• Kenya 3.1%
• Zambia 0.3%
• Nigeria -0.4%
• South Africa -1%
• South Sudan -12.3%

AFPCopyright: AFP

Trying to get around the Ugandan capital, Kampala, can involve a ride on one of the infamous motorcycle taxis known as boda bodas. 

But in some rural communities, they are also helping save lives by being adapted as ambulances, in areas where roads are less easy for a car to navigate. 

Focus on Africa radio's Patience Atuhaire took a trip to see them in action in Mukono District, east of Kampala:

The Documentary: Alan Kasujja visits Uganda to explore the rise of the boda boda  

Police in Zambia have confirmed the murder of two men on Monday, who were suspected by locals of carrying out ritual killings.

The two victims, who were taxi drivers in the north-western province, stopped at a stream where children were swimming to wash their car.

Upon seeing them, the children ran back to the village and informed elderly people that they had seen ritual killers.  

Local residents then attacked the men, killing them instantly. 

Police say they are investigating what they describe as an episode of "mob justice". 

Six people have been murdered in recent suspected ritual killings in the capital, Lusaka. 

Victims' bodies were found with missing private parts, hearts and ears, in attacks which were quickly blamed on foreigners.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Read: Anger, fear and 'Afrophobia' in Zambia

The BBC's Emmanuel Igunza has sent through footage from a temporary shelter in Kenya's capital Nairobi, where many of those who had been living in the building that collapsed on Friday evening are now staying (see earlier post at 13:16): 

The BBC's Ishaq Khalid joined a group of football fans last night at a viewing centre in Kafin Tafawa village, which is on the outskirts of Bauchi city, northern Nigeria.

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They were there to watch live coverage of Chelsea's home game against Tottenham Hotspur, and there were fans of both teams in the room, debating and cheering throughout.

The match ended 2-2 which killed off Tottenham's chances of winning the English Premier League and handed the title to Leicester City.

Ishaq says that some in the room celebrated Leicester's title win, telling him that the side has added colour to the league and made it more interesting.

Magic System, the iconic Ivorian Zouglou band, have cancelled their headline act at the opening night of the Rolling Saone festival in Gray in France on Thursday after the death of their drummer.  

Didier Deigna, know by everyone as Pepito, "was our backing vocalist, our drummer, but above all the conductor," said the band in a statement on Facebook. 

It added that "he will always be engraved on our hearts".

Pepito was at the beach in Jacqueville, a few hours west of Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan, during the May Day celebrations yesterday when he drowned in the sea.  

It’s not yet clear exactly what happened but reports claim he was trying to save someone else.  

Only last week Pepito, and the rest of the band, were on stage at the Papa Wemba tribute concert in Abidjan, which they had organised.  

Magic SystemCopyright: Magic System

The father of the baby who was rescued from the collapsed building in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, has been speaking to journalists.

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Ralson Wasike said that his daughter had been strong but he had feared for the worst when he was unable to find her.

He had visited the hospitals and mortuaries to look for his child. 

He said he was overjoyed when he heard that his girl was in hospital, but Mr Wasike is still unable to find his wife.

The child was six months old, not seven months, as reported by emergency services earlier (see entry at 11:22), he said. 

He was speaking at a temporary shelter for all the people who had been living in the collapsed building. 

Well-wishers are bringing them food and bedding.

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The figures involved are just staggering. 

Previously Nigeria's government accused a former security advisor of awarding fake military contracts totalling $2bn (£1.4bn).

But now Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says that around $15bn (£10bn) was stolen by the previous administration in fake arms procurement deals (see 09:02 entry).   

The anti-corruption agency, the EFCC, refused to say why the figure has dramatically increased. 

But a string of senior officials from the previous administration are currently facing corruption charges over the allegedly fake deals. 

Since President Muhammadu Buhari took office last year he’s pursued a relentless campaign to tackle corruption, warning that without it corruption will kill the country. 

But his political opponents accuse him of waging a witch-hunt against the previous administration. 

AFPCopyright: AFP

The team behind Kenyan startup Sendy are using all the advances of the sharing economy to try to transform delivery services in the capital Nairobi.

By launching the service, though, they are taking on the big established players of the delivery world like DHL and UPS.

Watch the video report here

BBCCopyright: BBC