{UAH} 'Three killed' in Somalia market fire
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'More foreign shops looted' in South Africa
Police in South Africa's largest city of Johannesburg say that about 100 people took part in looting incidents overnight, Reuters news agency reports.
Shops in Jeppestown area belonging to foreigners were attacked forcing owners to barricade themselves in for safety, one witness said.
Doors and windows were smashed, food and other items were strewn on the floor in stores believed to belong to immigrants, Reuters adds.
Abdul Ebrahim, a Somali shopkeeper who was hiding in his shop with others, said he did not know why the mob had targeted him:
We've been stuck inside here until the police came... no-one told us what they were looking for."
Police spokesman Mathapelo Peters said that at least one person has been arrested and that the investigations were ongoing.
South Africa has been facing renewed attacks and protests against foreigners with a group holding an anti-foreigner march last week in the capital, Pretoria.
The attacks have been condemned widely on the continent with a Nigerian government official calling for the African Union to intervene.
President Jacob Zuma has assured foreigners that their rights would be protected if they lived and worked according to the laws of the country and denied charges that South Africans were xenophobic.
Tanzania fails to publish gay list
The Tanzanian government shall not be publishing a list of suspected homosexuals today.
Dr Hamisi Kigwangalla, the deputy health minister, has been behind the move, saying those who advertised homosexual activities online would be targeted and arrested.
He tweeted this morning:
It is not clear what the technical reasons were.
Three hours later he confirmed to his Twitter followers that the list existed and the authorities intended to make it public.
But he then tweeted that in order to prevent people from "getting rid of evidence", their strategy had changed and the public would be informed how the health ministry would proceed in due course.
Homosexual acts are illegal in the East African nation and punishable by up to 30 years in jail.
Morocco to pull out of UN buffer zone
Morocco is to pull out of a UN buffer zone in the disputed Western Sahara territory, an official statement says.
The country says the former Spanish colony is part of its territory, while the Polisario independence movement wants a vote on its self-determination.
Tension in the area flared up a year ago when Morocco moved into the buffer zone, breaching a UN-backed ceasefire.
Morocco recently rejoined the African Union, which it had left over the body's recognition of Western Sahara.
The decision to withdraw from the Guerguerat zone is said to have been taken in person by the Moroccan King Mohammed VI.
The move came after the sovereign spoke on the phone with the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who asked him to pull out his troops.
Ruby town deportations: Mozambique police crackdown
Sammy Awami
BBC Africa, Kilamba, Tanzania
More than 5,000 Tanzanians and dozens of other foreigners have fled Mozambique amidst a government crackdown on what it calls "illegal" immigrants residing in the northern mining town of Montepuez, famous for its rubies.
Migrant workers have been drawn to the town, which is 800km (500 miles) from the Tanzanian border, to work in the mines thought to hold 40% of the world's known supply of rubies.
Two weeks ago, local authorities issued a five-day ultimatum for all foreigners regarded as illegals to vacate the area.
Those arriving at the border post at Kilamba village in Tanzania say the ongoing crackdown has been dominated by police brutality alleging their property was stolen, passports destroyed and even women being raped.
Other nationalities affected are Somali and Senegalese.
The returnees recounted tales of brutality that was meted on them by the security forces. One man said:
"I was sleeping in my shop when all of a sudden the door was broken then police officers entered and they started beating me. Luckily I got a chance to escape and fled to the forest. When I came back I found they've taken all of my stuff."
Dotto Michael told me he and some other immigrants were to be officially deported in buses:
"We were about to board a bus which was offered for free but the police decided to charge us. So when the bus was about to leave, this young man wanted to climb in without paying - and he didn't have money at all, in fact he hadn't even eaten for almost three days – so the police pushed him over and when he fell on the ground, the bus ran over him and he died instantly."
Emilia Jose, a Mozambican woman, married to a Tanzanian, told me she witnessed her friend being raped by the police in front of her children after they took the little money she had.
They told her, 'Give us money or else we'll kill you!' One of the policemen said, 'Let's not kill her, let's rape her.'. Then they started raping her - not one policeman, but two of them."
We tried to get a response from the Mozambican authorities about these allegations, but they were not available for comment.
SA's Vaal Dam full for first time in six years
Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg
One of South Africa's largest dams is full for the first time in six years.
The announcement comes after two sluice gates at Vaal Dam, which is about 77km (47 miles) south of Johannesburg, were opened by Minister of Water and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane on Sunday.
She warned of possible flooding downstream:
The minister said after recent heavy rainfall dam levels countrywide were looking promising:
The country's drought outlook is looking up. Most dams and systems are showing recovery at different levels."
With Val Dam at 100% capacity, residents of Gauteng Province, which includes the country's economic hub Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria, are likely to see an easing on water restrictions imposed during the devastating drought.
But Sputnik Ratau, spokesman for the water affairs department, said: "What we want to caution is that we'd rather that the practice of water saving becomes second nature."
The sluice gates are expected to remain open for at least the next couple of days
Kidnapped German archaeologists freed in Nigeria
Two German citizens who were rescued from kidnappers by Nigerian security forces over the weekend are in the care of the German embassy in the capital, Abuja, the German news site Deutsche Welle reports .
The two were kidnapped on Wednesday during a dig at Jenjela village in the northern state of Kaduna while working at an archaeological centre.
Two villagers who attempted to help the Germans were shot and killed by the kidnappers, the report says.
The BBC's Abuja bureau editor Naziru Mikailu says the kidnappers had demanded $200,000 (£160,000) for their release, but a police official said that no ransom was paid.
The police deployed a special unit and used aerial surveillance to secure their release, the officer said.
Deutsche Welle says the two archaeologists, from Goethe University in Frankfurt, are doing well, quoting an unnamed source at the German foreign office.
Bakara market's specialist streets
Firefighters have managed to extinguish the fire that engulfed three sections of Bakara market in Somalia's captial, Mogadishu, this morning (see earlier reporters).
It is estimated that millions of dollars in damage has been caused.
BBC Somalia expert Mary Harper says Bakara market is a vast commercial district, covering a large area and comprising many streets, alleys, open areas and buildings.
It is informally divided up into areas, like Suitcase Street or Pharmacy Street, where the whole area is dedicated to that specialism.
Mary visited the market in 2012 - and posted the photos on her blog , some of which show the meat and vegetable sections burnt down in today's fire:
Kenyans road protesters 'plant banana tree'
Operators of Kenyan minibuses known as "matatus" are holding a protest over the poor state of the roads the capital, Nairobi,
A radio station has tweeted a picture of a protesters placing a banana tree on one road in the Kayole surburb - implying it is more fit for farming than driving:
Analysis: Second airstrikes in a week in CAR
Tomi Oladipo
BBC Monitoring's Africa security correspondent
The attack helicopter strike on rebels approaching Bambari on Sunday (see earlier post) is the second incident of its kind in as many weeks.
The UN has declared the town of Bambari off-limits to armed groups and warned them that it will not hesitate to use force to stop any violence.
But local militia groups have attempted to violate the order as they seek to control the town.
Last week, one of the warlords, Ali Darassa, hesitantly withdrew with his fighters from Bambari following a UN ultimatum.
But some MPs say this only relocates the armed groups but does not reduce the likelihood of them clashing in another town.
The CAR is attempting to rebuild its police and army, so UN peacekeepers have been responsible for security in some parts of the country.
'Three killed' in Somalia market fire
At least three people have been killed in an early morning fire that broke out at Bakara market in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, a journalist with VOA reports.
He says the market has been completely destroyed:
Burkina Faso revels in Fespaco, Africa's biggest film festival
Africa's biggest and most popular film festival in the world is under way in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou.
It is the 25th edition of Fespaco , a biennial event.
A journalist form the UK Guardian newspaper journalist has been tweeting from the the pan-African film extravaganza:
Ruth Maclean's article in The Guardian today quotes the mayor of Ouagadougou saying the city is "capital of African film" and President Roch Marc Kabore that Fespaco had become "the best vehicle for culture in our continent".
'UN attack helicopter' disperses fighters in CAR
UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic have prevented heavily armed militia launching an attack on the town of Bambari.
A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission, Vladimir Monteiro, said about 40 fighters from the FPRC militia were spotted gathering in the town, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades.
Mr Monteiro told the Reuters news agency that an attack helicopter had been called in to disperse them.
He said the operation had been conducted under the UN's mandate to protect civilians from being caught up in clashes between rival militias.
The region has seen rising violence as the result of a conflict between the FPRC and a rival group, the UPC.
According to the AFP news agency, the two factions have been fighting for control of taxes levied on Fulani herders during the current seasonal migration.
The are both former members of the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel alliance, which ousted Francois Bozize as president in 2013, when the country descended into civil and religious conflict.
Read more: Peacekeeping, warlords and Donald Trump
Kenya orders private media advertising boycott
Kenya's government has announced a ban on state advertising in commercial media in the country, a move intended to cut costs.
It says it spends about $20m (£16m) on advertising on things such as state tenders, job positions and public service announcements.
A government memo has told all state agencies to advertise through a new government magazine, My.Gov.
Privately owned The Daily Nation reports, quoting the document, that the move followed a resolution to bypass private media organisations:
During the special cabinet meeting held on February 8, 2017, the cabinet discussed and approved establishment of a wide circulation newspaper to be known as MY.GOV that will articulate the government agenda in a deeper and more accurate way for a better appreciation of government's effort to improve the livelihood of the citizens."
The move if implemented will lead to huge revenue losses and probably lead to more job cuts in the media industry.
The Nation reports that two main newspapers, The Star and The People Daily, have entered into an agreement with the government to distribute its advertising magazine for a fee.
The BBC's Ferdinand Omondi in the capital, Nairobi, says some commentators are concerned about the move given that general elections are due in August when there is a need for strong and independent media coverage.
Firefighters battle Somali market fire
Firefighters and police are battling a large fire at Bakara market in the Somali capital, Mogadishu- the biggest open-air market in the country.
Witnesses say the flames have gutted three sections of the market: those selling meat, vegetable and cutlery and crockery.
The fire started early in the morning and it is not known if there are any casualties.
Plumes of smoke can be seen billowing all over the city this morning.
The city authorities have appealed to people not to loot.
It is believed millions of the dollars will have been lost in the fire – the cause of which is yet to be determined.
Wise words
Today's African proverb:
Hunger gets over but treachery does not."
Good morning
Welcome to the BBC Africa Live page where we'll be keeping you up-to-date with news and trends from across the continent
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