Africa highlights: Kenyan ivory kingpin guilty, Nigeria soldiers 'missing in action'

Koffi Olomide, one of Africa's most popular singers, has been caught on camera purportedly kicking a woman at the main airport in Kenya.

Police are seen intervening to stop the attack on the woman, identified by Kenyan media as one of his dancers.

The 60-year-old rumba star has denied that he attacked the dancer and said he respected women.

He told BBC Afrique's Ata Ahli Ahebla:

Quote Message: I didn't fight no-one... I came to stop a fight... I didn't kick anyone

I didn't fight no-one... I came to stop a fight... I didn't kick anyone

Quote Message: I wanted to stop a girl who wanted to fight the dancers I came with."

I wanted to stop a girl who wanted to fight the dancers I came with."

In the Ivory Coast city of Bouake a riot over an electricity price rise has led to the death of at least one person and the wounding of 10 others, the AFP news agency reports.

The death and injuries were the results of gun shots it adds.

They were fired as people raided electricity company and government offices.

Zimbabwe's war veterans have doubled down on their criticism of President Robert Mugabe. 

Douglas Mahiya, the veterans' association chairman, told the BBC's Brian Hungwe that his organisation is not happy with the role of the country's first lady Grace Mugabe in local politics and her interest in the presidency. 

“As it stands the war veterans political leadership seems not to be getting any favours from leadership of the party. I think there is a problem, she has a problem,” Mr Mahiya said.

The comments come a day after the veterans's association, which has played a key role in supporting President Mugabe, released a statement withdrawing its backing for him.  

Read Zimbabwe war veterans end backing for Robert Mugabe.

AFPCopyright: AFP

A Kenyan court has sentenced Feisal Mohammed, a man authorities have described as a leading Ivory smuggler, to 20 years in jail.  

Mohammed has also been fined $200,000 (£150,000).

He was found guilty of possession of 413 pieces of ivory worth at least  $400,000.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Magistrate Diana Mochache ruled that all circumstantial evidence pointed to Mohammed as the owner of the ivory haul, which was found in a warehouse in the coastal city of Mombasa nearly two years ago.  

The magistrate described poaching as a heinous crime and said ivory dealers must be locked up to end what she called the massacre of elephants.  

She warned that if poaching wasn’t stopped, future generations would be told tales of elephants the same way dinosaur stories are told today.  

Mohammed's lawyers have described the ruling as harsh and discriminatory and vowed to file an appeal. 

Around the world there is growing appetite for space exploration and Africa is no exception.

Images from the MeerKAT telescope - currently being built in Carnarvon, South Africa - have been unveiled, showing that it has picked up 13,000 galaxies since construction of the telescope began in 2009.

The BBC's Lerato Mbele has been to Carnarvon to find out more about the continent's contribution to the international space race.

South African cyclist Louis Meintjes of Italian team Lampre-Merida has moved up to eighth overall in the Tour de France. 

He is now seven minutes and 2 seconds behind the leader, Britain's Kenyan-born Chris Froome.

Froome finished fourth on today's 19th stage that was 146km long, 23 seconds behind winner Romain Bardet of France.

Meintjes also closed the gap slightly on Britain's Adam Yates in the race for the White Jersey given to the best rider 25 an under - he is now two minutes and 26 seconds behind.

With two stages left, the 24-year-old is still on course to be the highest placed African finisher of the Tour de France.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Authorities in Egypt say they have arrested 90 migrants about to set sail for Italy. 

Fifty migrants, from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Sudan and Somalia, were found in two boats in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. 

Forty others were detained further east. 

Each passenger had paid between $1,500 and $3,000 for the crossing.   

AFPCopyright: AFP

A leading Muslim group in Nigeria has welcomed a court ruling lifting the ban on girls wearing the headscarf in government schools in Lagos state.

The Muslim Rights Concern said the Lagos Court of Appeal's ruling was a victory for the rule of law.

The judges said the ban violated the religious rights of Muslim girls, overturning a lower court's ruling.

Girls had been barred from wearing the headscarf, or hijab, because it was not part of school uniforms.

The state government has not yet comment. 

Read the full story

AFPCopyright: AFP

It is five years since 77 Norwegians died at the hands of a right-wing extremist named Anders Behring Breivik, eight in Oslo and 69 at a summer camp on Utoeya.

One of the victims was Mona Abdinur, who was from a Somali-Norwegian family.

BBC Africa's Victoria Uwonkunda has visited the scene of the massacre and talked to Mona's mother.

We reported earlier about a video appearing to show Congolese musician Koffi Olomide kicking one of his female dancers at the Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi, Kenya. 

The musician has just shared a video on his Facebook page in which he appears with the dancer he was supposed to have attacked. 

He says that he didn’t kick the dancer and she confirms this in the video. 

He has also said that he was defending his dancers from an aggressor. 

Koffi OlomideCopyright: Koffi Olomide

Reports from the Libyan city of Benghazi say the bodies of 14 people have been found and that they may have been victims of execution-style killings. 

A medical source says they were shot in the head. 

The UN envoy to Libya, Martin Kobler, has demanded an investigation:

Benghazi has been the scene of many months of fighting between the forces of General Khalifa Haftar and various armed groups.   

Oil militancy has made a comeback in Nigeria with a recent wave of attacks carried out by the Niger Delta Avengers. 

The targeting of oil facilities has reduced the country's output and threatened its fragile economy. 

Last night, President Muhammadu Buhari said the government was talking to the militants.

But what is behind the renewed violence? The BBC's Martin Patience has spoken to one of the people who says he is carrying out the attacks. 

Uganda's Ministry of Public Service says it has removed over 5,000 public servants from the government payroll following a validation exercise.

The authorities compared payroll data with the national identification register to weed out the ghost workers. 

The government employs more than 300,000 people

A court in the Kenyan city of Mombasa has sentenced Feisal Mohammed, who authorities have named as a poaching gang leader, to 20 years in prison. 

Mohammed was found guilty of ivory trafficking after he was found with 413 pieces of ivory.

Five of his co-accused have been found not guilty. 

See earlier reports.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Tanzanian public servants risk not being paid their July salaries if they fail to submit their original academic and employment documents. 

It is part of an effort to find ghost workers - names on the payroll who don't exist in real life.

It's unclear when this order was officially issued. But already several ministries, government agencies and institutions have notified their workers about the exercise. 

Public Service Minister Angellah Kairuki has been quoted in local papers saying that already 3,600 officers in the coastal region will not receive their pay for failing to comply with the order.

One trade union has criticised the government directive saying the order contravenes workers right to their salaries.

Since coming to power last year, President John Magufuli‘s administration has been weeding out ghost workers in the civil service, who the president says cost the government $20m (£15m) a year.

AFPCopyright: AFP

We posted earlier that Nigeria's Information Minister Lai Mohammed dropped in on us here at BBC Africa Live, and gave us a Yoruba proverb to consider: 

Quote Message: A man who goes to bury his brother naked is telling the world how he should be buried when he also dies."

A man who goes to bury his brother naked is telling the world how he should be buried when he also dies."

BBCCopyright: BBC

Some people on the BBC Africa Facebook page have been sending in their interpretations:

Quote Message: Those amassing wealth at the expense of the poor should be mindful that that money can't be used to bargain for life in the distressing moment on their sick bed." from Richard K. B. Eyiah

Those amassing wealth at the expense of the poor should be mindful that that money can't be used to bargain for life in the distressing moment on their sick bed."

Quote Message: The way you treat others when you are suffering is the way you too will be treated when bad things happen." from Aron Ojulong

The way you treat others when you are suffering is the way you too will be treated when bad things happen."

Ghana’s parliament has refused to endorse a constitutional amendment which would have allowed the electoral commission to bring forward this year's elections by a month. 

This means that the presidential election will be held on 7 December

The electoral commission told the BBC it was satisfied with parliament’s decision, and said in a statement that it would be ready to "deliver a free, fair, transparent and credible elections this year".

Three people have been arrested in Burundi in connection with the murder of Hafsa Mossi, a former government minister and MP in the East African parliament.

She was shot dead in the capital, Bujumbura, 10 days ago in what President Pierre Nkurunziza called an assassination, and a vile and cowardly act.

The police spokesperson has tweeted the statement announcing the arrests:

The statement also says that the three were arrested as they were planning the assassination of an adviser to the president.

It adds that investigations show that they were getting financial backing and orders from people based in Kigali, the capital of neighbouring Rwanda.

BBCCopyright: BBC

A court in the Kenyan city of Mombasa has found Feisal Mohammed guilty of possession of ivory after he was found in with 413 pieces of ivory.

Five of his co-accused have been found not guilty.