Africa highlights: Zimbabwe war veteran arrested, Nigeria holds Keshi funeral

South African Telecoms giant MTN will list its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2017.

It said the listing was part of a settlement arrangement with the Nigerian government

The company has already agreed to pay a fine of $1.7bn  (£1.2bn) to the government for failing to deactivate more than five million unregistered sim cards in Nigeria.

The fine, which was originally $5.2bn, was imposed last year for missing a deadline to disconnect them amid fears that criminals and militants were using the phone lines.

The year 2016 could be the deadliest so far in the migration crisis, according to figures from the International Organisation for Migration.

More than 3,000 migrants and refugees have perished so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

But many others are still willing to risk death in the search for a better life.

One migrant told her story to Orla Guerin in Tripoli:

Read Orla's feature: Nameless dead of the Mediterranean wash up on Libyan shore

University students in Cameroon will receive free laptops as part of a government plan to promote research and entrepreneurship. 

President Paul Biya government plans to distribute 500,000 laptops.

The laptops will be produced by a Chinese company as part of a $126m (£95m) loan from China's EXIM Bank, which the government will have to repay over 20 years.

Ghana’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to make public its agreement with the US government to accept two former Guantanamo Bay detainees, who were transferred to the country in January.

It made the ruling in a case brought by two people suing the government for "illegally accepting to accommodate two Guantanamo detainees".

The attorney general had argued that releasing details of the agreement could undermine national security. 

But the court disagreed, saying the government was not protected by the secrecy act of 1962.

The two Yemeni detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, were transferred as part of the US government plan to close down the detention facility in its naval base in Cuba.

Their arrival continues to generate a lot of controversy in the country.

Read more: Ghana's footballing connection to Guantanamo Bay

Huw Evans Picture AgencyCopyright: Huw Evans Picture Agency

South Sudan faces ongoing political turmoil, following the replacement of Riek Machar as first vice-president.

After his soldiers clashed with President Salva Kiir's forces earlier this month, he was forced out of the capital, Juba.

Earlier this week a senior official from his SPLM-In Opposition (SPLM-IO) party, Taban Deng, was sworn in as first vice-president in his place. Mr Machar has objected to his sacking.

So how has the oversight body of the peace agreement that was supposed to end the recent civil war responded? Festus Mogae, Botswana’s former president, is head of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, gave the BBC's James Copnall his views:

Kenya's cabinet has today decided that all schools in the country should fly the East African Community (EAC) flag and sing the regional body's national anthem at public events.

This will be in addition to flying the Kenyan flag and singing the Kenyan anthem.

And this flag ruling now applies to all government institutions in Kenya with immediate effect, the cabinet said.

For those Kenyans who need to brush up on the EAC anthem, take a listen to this choral version loaded on to YouTube:

It is envisioned that the EAC, made up of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, with eventually become an East African federation.

The Kenya Red Cross has just tweeted that another school is up in flames - this one in the county of Meru in central Kenya.

The hashtag #EndSchoolFires has just started trending in the East African country where more than 100 schools have been set on fire this year (see earlier posts).

Former English cricket star Alan Butcher spent three years coaching Zimbabwe cricket and wrote a book about his experiences called The Good Murungu?: A Cricket Tale of the Unexpected. 

It celebrates the country's beauty and energy - as well as the limitations of its cricket team. 

Butcher tells BBC's Stumped presenters Alison Mitchell, Jim Maxwell and Charu Sharma about a player not turning up for a match because he couldn't afford the bus fare.

Listen to the full interview here: 

AFPCopyright: AFP

The funeral has been held today for Nigerian football legend Stephen Keshi, who died in Benin City on last month at the age of 54.

He was one of only two men to have won the Africa Cup of Nations as a player and a coach.

There was a requiem mass for him this afternoon at St Paul's Catholic Church in Benin City in southern Nigeria.

His body was later laid in state at the city's main stadium and was followed by a football match in his honour.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Last night, sports personalities, including the sports minister, gathered at an event in the capital, Abuja, to remember and praise Keshi for his outstanding career.

He was popularly known as “the big boss” and captained the Super Eagles for 11 years and coached Togo and Mali’s national teams as well as Nigeria’s over the years.

He is due to be buried tomorrow in his home town of Illah in Delta State.

A Malawian man who was arrested for having sex with young girls as part of a traditional initiation ceremony has sparked an animated discussion in the country.

Debating on the BBC's World Have Your Say programme some said that the girl's parents should also be arrested. 

Others suggested that it would be best to work with communities to help them stop the entrenched cultural practice. 

Listen to the debate here:

We have sort out the opinion of an elephant expert after a seven-year-girl was killed this week at a zoo in Morocco after an elephant threw a stone at her head (see earlier post).

He says that targeted throwing of stones and branches by elephants is very unusual:

Quote Message: It can happen when elephants are frustrated or bored.

It can happen when elephants are frustrated or bored.

Quote Message: In my opinion, it's unlikely the elephant was directly targeting the girl - but exhibiting frustration.

In my opinion, it's unlikely the elephant was directly targeting the girl - but exhibiting frustration.

Quote Message: You can't predict what animals in captivity will do." from Phyllis Lee, scientific director of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants

You can't predict what animals in captivity will do."

The controversial head of Kenya's film board, a government body that regulates film content, is trending again on Twitter.

Ezekiel Mutua has been dubbed "the moral policeman" for his campaign to weed out what he perceives to be immorality in Kenyan society. 

He has been criticised for giving himself powers that he does not have, banning things he finds offensive. 

Earlier this year, had tried to force Google to block a gay-themed video from Kenya.

Today he announced that the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) had banned an "only girls" party advertised as "rainbow speed dating".

He said he believed it would be a gathering of lesbians where pornography would be filmed.

Someone's tweeted Mr Mutua's Facebook statement: 

Here are some of the responses to the ban on Twitter:

bbcCopyright: bbc

A consultative meeting organised by Kenya's education ministry has resolved not to order a national closure of schools following the recent crisis. 

The meeting, which was attended by religious leaders and teachers, agreed that closing down schools would set a bad precedent. 

So far some 100 secondary schools have been burnt across the country. 

Ministry officials say that the school fires have been caused by a cartel behind examination cheating which is protesting against the stringent measures recently introduced to curb the vice (see earlier post). 

However, the main teachers' union blames them on the changes made to the school calendar by the ministry, shortening the August holidays by two weeks. 

At least 150 students have been arrested in connection with the fires.

It's all set for Zambia's elections on 11 August as the ballot papers have started arriving in Zambia's capital, Lusaka, from Dubai where they were printed.

The process of printing took almost a month. 

A close contest is expected between President Edgar Lungu of the Patriotic Front (PF) and opposition candidate Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND).  

Here are some pictures of the material being unloaded at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport.

Courtesy/ Hermit Nkhosana HachilondeCopyright: Courtesy/ Hermit Nkhosana Hachilonde

Courtesy/ Hermit Nkhosana HachilondeCopyright: Courtesy/ Hermit Nkhosana Hachilonde

Zimbabwe’s war veterans’ spokesman, Douglas Mahiya, has been arrested.

He was taken into custody on Wednesday, the day President Robert Mugabe threatened to punish those war veterans who last week said they were withdrawing their backing for him.

Mr Mahiya, along with about 150 others, attended the meeting of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association which came up with the communique accusing Mr Mugabe of being dictatorial and egotistical.

The BBC’s Brian Hungwe in the capital, Harare, says he has yet be formally charged.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights told the AFP agency that he may be charged with “subverting a constitutional government and insulting the office of the president”.

Pressure on Mr Mugabe is growing, with factions in the governing Zanu-PF openly fighting to succeed him and protests about the failing economy. 

APCopyright: AP

At least 120 women were raped in South Sudan's capital Juba following the recent fighting, according to the UN, the Reuters news agency reports. 

UN spokesman Farhan Haq said the peacekeeping mission in the country continued to receive "deeply disturbing reports of sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, by soldiers in uniform and men in plain clothes against civilians, including minors, around UN House and in other areas of Juba".   

AFPCopyright: AFP

A story by US-based publication Daily Beast says the UN had failed to protect civilians. 

One woman told how she was attacked near the UN compound and did not receive any help: 

Quote Message: I tried to run to the UN gate and passed some of the shops, but when I almost reached I was captured,” said Mary. “I was less than 100 meters away and I saw the [private security guards], and even the UN police at the main gate.”

I tried to run to the UN gate and passed some of the shops, but when I almost reached I was captured,” said Mary. “I was less than 100 meters away and I saw the [private security guards], and even the UN police at the main gate.”

 Read the full story  

Nairobi residents can breath a sigh of relief as the lion which was roaming through the Kenyan capital has returned to the nearby park.

Eyewitnesses in the upmarket suburb of Karen have told the BBC that a lioness was padding around this morning.

KWS spokesman Paul Gathitu told the BBC she was driven back by rangers.

He said that lions had strayed out into residential areas before and often go back unnoticed and without causing any harm.

This is the third incident of a lion straying into residential areas of the city, which is separated from Nairobi National Park by a main road.

On one occasion in March, an elderly man was attacked.

AFPCopyright: AFP

It is estimated that about 30 lions live the park, in an area spread over 117 sq km (45 sq miles).  

In the past, drought and lack of food have been led to lions straying out of conservation areas, but the KWS official could not explain the recent incidents.

"Maybe it is caused by human interfering with their habits," Mr Gathitu said.

In recent years, some people have been building houses close to the park.

See our earlier post about how to catch a lion.

Some Zimbabweans have been sharing photos on Twitter this week of a vendor in the centre of the capital, Harare, who is dressed as a graduate.

They say it a sign of how far the economy has deteriorated. With unemployment at more than 90%, many Zimbabweans have become vendors and rely on cross-border trading to make a living.

It has spawned the hashtag #thisgown – a reference to the #ThisFlag campaign which was launched by Zimbabwean Pastor Evan Mawarire a few months ago to demand accountability from the government.

#ThisFlag backed a stay-at-home strike earlier this month, one of the largest anti-government protests in years.

Mr Mawarire was arrested in the wake of the stay away, but released when a court threw out the charges after his lawyers successfully argued he would not get a fair trial.

He is now in South Africa with his family.

Read: What's behind Zimbabwe's protests?

Zimbabwe's 'hero' preacher

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

A judge in the Democratic Republic of Congo says she was put under pressure by her bosses and the intelligence service to convict the opposition politician and presidential hopeful Moise Katumbi. 

Chantal Ramazani was on a panel of judges which sentenced Katumbi in absentia last month to three years in jail for illegally selling a property in Lubumbashi, his eastern power base.

Ms Ramazani, who is now in hiding, believes the intention was to remove Katumbi from the Congolese political scene before presidential elections due in November. 

It was not immediately possible to get an official response to her accusations.

Katumbi flew out of the country on 20 May, a day after the authorities issued an arrest warrant for him on separate charges of hiring foreign mercenaries - allegations he denies.  

President Joseph Kabila, in power since 2001, is nearing the end of his second term and he is constitutionally obliged to step down by December.

But there is growing political tension as it is not clear whether the elections will be held this year.

Katumbi has said he plans to return to DR Congo by the end of the week.

Veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, who was the runner-up in the 2011 polls, returned home yesterday after more than two years living in Belgium.