Africa Live this week: 23-26 April 2019 as it happened

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The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says it is unprecedented for two tropical cyclones of such intensity to have struck Mozambique in the same season.

The UN body describes the current cyclone season in the south-west Indian Ocean as exceptionally intense, with 15 storms and nine intense cyclones.

The WMO has sent a team to Mozambique to look at the country's preparedness for such extreme weather and it says discussions with the authorities are likely to look at how the country has been affected by climate change and rising sea levels.

Officials in northern Mozambique are assessing the damage caused by Cyclone Kenneth.

Just last month another cyclone - Idai - left hundreds of thousands of Mozambicans homeless.

Although there has been less destruction of property this time, there are fears of floods and landslides which could destroy crops in northern Mozambique because several days of heavy rain have been predicted.

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The United Nations says nearly 2,000 migrants in Libya are in urgent need of evacuation from detention centres because of fighting around the capital, Tripoli.

Vincent Cochetel from the UN refugee agency described them as innocent civilians who had been caught in the crossfire.

Video footage appears to show a large number of migrants at one centre coming under attack.

Forces loyal to the eastern Libyan militia leader, Khalifa Haftar, launched an offensive on Tripoli at the start of the month.

Officials in northern Mozambique have sent out teams to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Kenneth amid fears that hundreds of thousands of people are going to need humanitarian aid.

In the three worst affected districts of Cabo Delgado Province, homes have been badly damaged or collapsed.

Although winds have now died down, there are warnings that several days of heavy rain are on the way and there is a high risk of flooding and landslides.

There are also fears that large areas of crops will be left destroyed.

A resident of Pemba, the main town in Cabo Delgado, told BBC Outside Source what the situation is like right now:

“In the town there’s no light. I do have light because the hotel uses a generator but for national electricity lines, it’s not working,” said Madjedje Alves.

“Today I think [people] are more relaxed because yesterday everyone was scared about the kind of destruction that could happen like Beira [hit by Cyclone Idai]. But since the wind was not too much, people are more relaxed. Even this afternoon you can find more people in the street than the morning.”

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It is the last day of campaigning for legislative elections in Benin where voters will head to the polls on Sunday.

But the process has been marred with controversy as no opposition party will be on the ballot.

The electoral commission blocked five opposition parties from taking part in Sunday’s polls on a technicality.

The two parties that met the criteria are loyal to President Patrice Talon, who has been in power since 2016.

The opposition have held demonstrations in the city of Cotonou, which have featured two former presidents.

There are fears that with no opposition parties in parliament, the country’s democracy could be weakened.

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Drum groups from across the continent have gathered in Nigeria's Ogun State for the African Drum Festival.

This is the fourth outing of the yearly festival, featuring drummers from Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Sengal, Kenya, Uganda, Congo and several regions of Nigeria.

The three-day event, which is taking place in the ancient town of Abeokuta, also features the opening of a museum at the ancestral home of the Kuti family which produced Afrobeat legend Fela.

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, who is from the town, says the celebration of rhythms is central to the African existence.

The festival, which is geared towards cultural integration and unity, is fast becoming a tourist attraction with visitors from all over Africa.

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Sudanese protesters have performed the weekly Muslim prayers outside army headquarters, a day after vast crowds of demonstrators flooded Khartoum to demand the military rulers cede power.

Thousands gathered for the prayers according to AFP news agency.

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On Thursday, thousands of protesters filled the streets of Khartoum calling for an end to the country's military council.

Many had travelled in from across Sudan to take part in the "million-strong march" for civilian rule.

A mass sit-in outside the military HQ has been taking place since 6 April. The protesters were demanding the president stand down and the military take over.

Five days later President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown and replaced by a military council.

But this wasn't enough for the protesters who are still demanding that the military hand over power to a civilian administration.

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Stoke City forward Saido Berahino has paid tribute to his international team-mate Papy Faty who died of suspected heart failure during a match in eSwatini on Thursday.

Faty, 28, was playing for local team Melanti Chiefs, whom he joined in early February.

They were playing against Green Mamba when he collapsed after only about 15 minutes on the pitch.

He was rushed to hospital, where he was declared dead.

"I still can't believe it. It was an honour to play with you for Burundi and also qualifying for the first time ever," Berahino wrote on Instagram.

"History was made, you will never be forgotten. Rest in peace."

Read more on the BBC Sport website.

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One person has been killed by a falling coconut tree in after a powerful cyclone smashed into Northern Mozambique, says Mozambique's emergency agency the INGC.

The agency adds that the tragedy happened in the the port city of Pemba which is Cabo Delgado's provincial capital.

Cyclone Kenneth, which made landfall in Mozambique on Thursday, has been downgraded after winds weakened, but heavy rainfall is expected for days.

Read more from the BBC News website.

The final of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) takes place in Tanzania on Sunday, but how does the world of football ensure all the players are of the correct age?

Football's world governing body Fifa introduced MRI scans in 2009 which they say can identify whether player is under 17.

However critics argue the tests cannot be solely used to determine someone's age.

BBC Africa's Muthoni Muchiri took a look at the issue.

Mirgrants and refugees in Libya, who are attempting to travel to Europe, have found themselves caught in a new war zone.

Fierce fighting has flared near the Libyan capital, Tripoli, between pro-government forces and fighters from the east of the country.

The BBC's Orla Guerin spoke to those being held in detainee camps near the front line.

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Caster Semenya won 5,000m gold at the South African Athletics Championships - a new distance that would not require her to lower her testosterone levels.

The double 800m Olympic gold medallist is challenging athletics' governing body over its regulation restricting testosterone levels in female runners.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport is due to deliver a verdict on Semenya's appeal by the end of April.

Semenya, 28, also cruised into Friday's 1500m final.

Read more on the BBC Sport website.

Eritreans at a UN-run refugee camp in eastern Sudan have complained of water and food shortages.

Some of the refugees contacted BBC Tigrinya from Shegreab camp, saying they verbally abused by UN refugee agency staff when they raised their concerns.

In its response, the agency said it does not tolerate abuse and the refugees could lodge complaints against staff members who treated them badly.

The refugees said each of them were given only a kilo of rice, pasta and sugar for a month.

Sometimes they ran out of water as the 20 litres a day they received was not enough in an area that was extremely hot and dusty, the refugees added.

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Contacted for comment, the UN refugee agency said fuel shortages sometimes made it difficult to transport water to the camp, but refugees received most of the time 20 litres a day in accordance with international emergency standards.

It added that there was a need to increase food aid for the refugees, but insufficient funds were available to do this.

Most of the people at the camp fled Eritrea because of the lack of political freedoms in the one-party state.

Read: Jailed without trace in Eritrea

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The second-biggest uncut diamond in history has been unearthed from a mine in Botswana.

The 1,758-carat diamond is about the size of a tennis ball.

The biggest diamond ever discovered is the 3,106-carat Cullinan, found in South Africa in 1905 - that was found before industrial mining began.

There has been a spate of large diamond finds in the last few years, which has been put down to new sorting machines that can process diamonds without breaking them.

Read more: Why have so many huge diamonds been found recently?

Remarkable progress has been made in vaccinating children against measles in the rural northern Nigerian state of Jigawa, the head of its vaccination campaign, Kabir Aliyu, has told BBC Newsday.

Dr Aliyu says the rate of immunisation in the state has jumped from 2% in 2017 to 92% this year.

The success comes at a time when the United Nations is warning there could be an increasingly number of masle outbreaks because of the failure to vaccinate children.

Dr Aliyu told BBC Newsday how they achieved progress here:

Cyclone Kenneth has caused widespread damage to homes in Pemba city in northern Mozambique, the World Food Programme's Deborah Nguyen has said.

Cyclone Kenneth hit the northern coast of Mozambique on Thursday, lashing the area with high winds and delivering heavy rains and flooding.

Officials said 30,000 people had been evacuated from their homes.

Listen to Ms Nguyen's interview with BBC Newsday here:

People who fled to safer areas in southern Tanzania's Mtwara region because of fears that Cyclone Kenneth would cause widespread destruction have been told by officials that they can go back home, BBC Tanzania reporter Aboubakar Famau says.

Mtwara regional commissioner Gelasius Byakanwa told residents who were taking shelter in higher areas without food or water that the cyclone is not going to hit the area, our reporter adds.

A former governor of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, has been arrested over an alleged irregular payment of $665,485 (£515,976) to a law firm, local media reports say.

Evans Kidero was arrested along with his former chief of staff George Wainaina, the reports add.

Earlier, Kenya's prosecuting authority issued a statement saying there was sufficient evidence to charge 17 people, including Mr Kidero and Mr Wainaina, with money laundering, conspiracy to commit corruption, abuse of office, and unlawful acquisition of public office.

The accused or their legal representatives have not yet commented.

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Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah was involved in an altercation at Haile Gebrselassie's hotel but was the victim of an attack, his coach says.

Farah and Gebrselassie are involved in a dispute over an alleged theft at a hotel belonging to the Ethiopian athletics great in Addis Ababa.

On Thursday, Gebrselassie said Farah "punched and kicked" a husband and wife during the Briton's stay this year.

Farah's coach Gary Lough said he was acting in self-defence.

Gebrselassie made further claims on Thursdaythat his falling out with Farah stems from when he would not allow Jama Aden, a coach who was arrested as part of an anti-doping operation in Spain in 2016, to enter the hotel.

A spokesperson for Farah said Aden "has never trained Mo" and that the allegation had "no basis" and is "not true".

Read the full BBC story here

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Research group Afrobarometer has released a survey about freedom and security in Africa. Its five key findings are:

1. Many Africans are willing to trade freedom for security
2. Fewer Africans feel free to say what they think
3. A significant number of Africans are willing to allow their private communications to be monitored
4. Fewer Africans care about the right to join groups and
5. Support for religious freedom is evenly divided.

Read the BBC's full coverage of the report here