Africa news updates from the BBC

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now. To keep up with news from the continent, visit the BBC Africa webpage.

And if audio is your thing, have a listen to the BBC's Focus on Africa and Africa Daily podcasts.

A reminder of Monday's wise words:

Quote Message: The earliest cow to the creek drinks clean water." from A Luyana/Lozi proverb sent by Mulako Sianga in Kitwe, Zambia

The earliest cow to the creek drinks clean water."

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of jockey Michael Fundiand after winning the Lord Macmillan Trophy in Kenya on the gelding Assured:

AFPCopyright: AFP

University of Stirling/University of Wisconsin-MadisonCopyright: University of Stirling/University of Wisconsin-Madison

Scientists say they have found evidence that changes in animal behaviour caused by damage to forests can lead to wildlife and humans being exposed to dangerous viruses.

A study led by Stirling and Wisconsin-Madison Universities focused on a forest in western Uganda where palm trees have become extinct as a result of people using them to dry tobacco leaves.

Scientists filmed chimpanzees and antelope finding an alternative source of minerals in bat excrement.

But tests found this contained several viruses including one related to the virus that caused the Covid-19 pandemic.

"About a quarter the 27 viruses we identified were viruses of mammals - the rest were viruses of insects and other invertebrates," Prof Tony Goldberg told the BBC.

"All 27 viruses were new to science, so we don't know what effects they might have on humans or other animals. But one virus stood out because is was a relative of a virus everyone knows: SARS coronavirus 2."

Researchers hope their findings could help understand and prevent the onset of outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics including coronaviruses and possibly Ebola.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

A group of 100 workers at a ruby mine have blocked the entrance to the gem-washing facilities, forcing work to come to a halt.

The ruby mine is owned by a company called Fura and is located in Montepeuz in northern Mozambique. The people who work there are employed by a logistics firm called Reef.

The workers say their employer owes them more than $265,000 (£215,000) in unpaid wages over the past three months.

But a Reef management representative says they have already tried to negotiate the debt with Fura to no avail. Fura has not yet commented on the claims.

Large-scale ruby mining began in Mozambique around 14 years ago.

The UK's lower house of parliament is again debating the government's flagship bill which seeks to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The bill has been repeatedly blocked and amended since January.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged that one-way flights will begin setting off for Rwanda in July.

He said he was determined that the latest part of the policy would finally be approved in parliament later.

The plan is designed to deter the record number of migrants arriving from France in small boats but it's been beset by legal challenges.

Polls suggest majority support for the policy but critics say it's morally wrong and expensive.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

A counter-terrorism summit is under way in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, aimed at improving West Africa's response to the threat from Islamist militant groups.

Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, who organised the two-day event, said it aimed to focus on finding African-led solutions to the insecurity.

In recent years jihadist groups have increased their attacks across the Sahel region despite the presence of thousands of international troops.

Three countries worst affected by the violence - Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger - have not sent officials to the summit.

They are all under military rule following coups - a situation which has strained relations with other nations in the region.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Kenya is bringing in a ban on people using plastic bags to dispose of their organic waste, burnishing the country's status as a global leader in the fight against plastic pollution.

It comes seven years after the East African nation banned single-use plastic bags.

The country's environmental agency says residents and local authorities now have three months to prepare for the changes before they will be enforced.

News of the changes were widely circulated to the public on Monday but, according to the statement sent out, they had first been issued on 8 April.

BBCCopyright: BBC

There are reports from Mali that at least 100 civilians are being held by suspected jihadists after being kidnapped last week.

Local residents told the AFP news agency that they were travelling in three buses when the attackers forced them to drive in the direction of a forest between Bandiagara and Bankass.

Six days on, there has been no sign of the dozens of hostages.

This area of Mali's Mopti region has seen frequent attacks by Islamist fighters.

Following several recent attacks in the area, people are getting increasingly frustrated.

Civil society organisations in Bandiagara have been staging protests denouncing the fact that many people have been displaced and calling for a military camp to be set up to protect the local communities.

Following a coup in 2021, Mali's military rulers ordered thousands of international troops to pull out leaving the country even more fragile.

Jihadist attacks began in northern Mali more than a decade ago and have spread to the centre of the country as well as neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

This prompted military coups in all three nations.

More on this topic:

• Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to form joint force to fight jihadists
• The coups that promised - and failed - to bring safety

Mining giant Anglo American said on Monday that it would oppose any appeals by a group of Zambian women and children who are suing it for alleged mass lead poisoning.

The Johannesburg High Court had on Friday allowed the claimants to appeal against an earlier ruling that threw out their class action lawsuit against Anglo American South Africa (AASA).

The lawsuit claims that more than 140,000 people may have been poisoned, over generations, by exposure to toxins from a lead mine in Zambia's Kabwe district, where AASA was a shareholder from 1925 to 1974.

Anglo American said "it has every sympathy for the situation in Kabwe, but is not responsible for it".

A joint statement by Mbuyisa Moleele Attorneys and Leigh Day, the law firms representing the claimants, said the ruling was a "crucial step towards achieving justice" for the women and children.

The Johannesburg High Court judge Justice Leonie Wendell said that there were "compelling reasons to grant the appeal" and that the appeal had "reasonable prospects of success", the lawyers said in a statement on Monday.

They added that the claimants had "clear" evidence to support their allegations.

"From the early 1970s children were already falling ill and dying of lead poisoning, and a high proportion of them were suffering from massive blood lead levels."

The case is now expected to go to South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal later this year.