Plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda were passed by Parliament, but still face legal challenge.

The government says "stopping the boats" is a key political priority, but how is it going about it?

The monarch's traditional prime minister says he is being treated in a hospital in Eswatini.

With South Africans experiencing worsening power cuts, the crisis is fuelling demands for change.

A local police commander says the vehicle rammed into cars, motorcycles and people by the roadside.

Justine Greening tells BBC Newsnight domestic policy should not affect efforts to tackle human rights abuses.

Yaya Toure, Efan Ekoku and Gabriel Zakuani debate all things African football in a new podcast starting Monday 3 July.

Sudanese refugees in Egypt speak about the heartbreak of spending Eid without their families back home.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for this week. There will be an automated news feed here until we're back on Monday morning here.

In the meantime you can get more from BBCAfrica.com and listen to the new BBC Focus on Africa podcast.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of Eid al-Adha celebrations in Ivory Coast - it's one of our favourite shots of the week:

Image source, Luc Gnago/Reuters

BBC Focus on Africa

Image source, Courtesy of Ahmed Haji

Young Muslims in Africa say soaring travel costs are stopping them from fully honouring their faith, which demands that they visit the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia at least once in their lifetime.

That spiritual voyage is called the Hajj.

"I'm really upset about it. I'm also disappointed that this issue isn't widely discussed. It feels like Saudi Arabia and travel agents are profiting from a religious practice that we want to experience spiritually," says 24-year-old NGO worker Ahmed Haji in Kenya.

He says he managed to save up $3,000 (£2,360) after a Hajj travel agent quoted that price. But later, to his dismay and confusion, prices unexpectedly doubled to $6,000.

This year's Hajj is free from Covid-related restrictions for the first time since 2019 and the number of participants is astounding, with more two million people from 160 countries taking part.

But the high costs involved make it a pipe dream for many of the world's Muslims.

This is especially true in Africa, where poverty rates exceed 30%, making it the region with the highest number of people unable to afford Hajj globally.

• Listen to more on the BBC's Focus on Africa podcast

As it pushes out 12,000 UN peacekeepers, Mali will be relying ever more heavily on Russian mercenaries.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa's government watchdog has absolved President Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in relation to a robbery at his farm.

The scandal erupted in June last year when a former spy boss, Arthur Fraser, alleged that President Ramaphosa had concealed the theft of millions of dollars in cash from his game farm in Limpopo province three years ago.

An investigation by the ombudswoman, also known as the public protector, found that his handling of the case was not in violation of the constitution.

More on this topic:

• What was the 'Farmgate' scandal?
• Who is Cyril Ramaphosa?

Priya Sippy
BBC News

Image source, Jade Osiberu/Twitter

Five Nigerians from the country's film industry Nollywood have been selected to become members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, external.

The Academy is known around the world for its annual Academy Awards, officially and popularly known as "The Oscars".

Veteran actor Richard Mofe-Damijo, director CJ Obasi, external, producer Jade Osiberu, and writers Kunle Afolayan and Shola Dada, have all been selected based on their contributions to cinema. As members, they will now receive voting rights for The Oscars nominations and winners.

"The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang.

The Academy has previously faced criticism for its lack of diversity. A study in 2012 by the Los Angeles Times newspaper found that 94% of Oscar voters were white. However, critics note there have been some changes since #OscarsSoWhite trended eight years ago.

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Image source, Getty Images

Some Ghanaians will be without regular electricity for over a week, if an independent power consortium follows through on threats it has made.

Intermittent outages will begin from Saturday and last for eight days, says the Ghana Chamber of Independent Power Producers (GCIPP), if the state fails to pay arrears of $1.9bn (£1.5bn) by the close of Friday.

Ghana is suffering its worst economic crisis in a generation, so the government is hoping to cut down on interest payments on debts.

About 47% of power in Ghana is generated by independent companies. They also generate 67% of thermal power.

GCIPP members are demanding that the government pays at least 30% of $1.4bn overdue arrears from March, because the debt has significantly affected their capital and ability to continue to generate electricity.

The consortium previously rejected a government proposal to defer debt payment as part of measures to implement the $3bn IMF bailout programme.

Lion Tsigab
BBC Tigrinya

Image source, AFP

In the two months since the US and the UN suspended food aid to Ethiopia's war-ravaged Tigray region, at least 728 people have died, according to the regional government.

Most of those who died were children, pregnant mothers, and people with underlying health conditions, says Gebrehiwot Gebregziaher of Tigray’s Disaster Risk Management Commission.

He says that although USAid and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) officially froze aid in April - after discovering shipments were being stolen and re-sold - in reality many Tigrayans had been without aid for much longer.

People feel they are "dying of famine in the dark even though it is declared to the world [that] peace is flourished," said Dr Gebrehiwot, referring to a peace deal made in Pretoria in November last year between Ethiopia's government and TPLF rebels after two years of civil war.

Image source, AFP

The UN has called on France to "address deep issues of racism" in law enforcement, external, after police shot dead a 17-year-old boy from an Algerian family.

Named only as Nahel M, the teenager was killed at a traffic stop in a suburb of Paris three days ago.

President Macron is now chairing a crisis meeting about the riots that have swept France since then, leaving a trail of burning buildings, smouldering vehicles and ransacked public facilities.

The French government says it's examining all options to restore calm. The country's three biggest cities - Paris, Marseille and Lyon - are suspending or restricting public transport from Friday evening.

Nearly 900 people have been arrested. Some 250 police have been injured.

Unrest has also spread to the French Indian Ocean territory of Réunion.

Read more: Who was Nahel M?

Barbara Plett Usher
BBC News

Image source, UN

Later on Friday, the UN Security Council is set to vote to end its peacekeeping mission in Mali and on the terms of the withdrawal.

The government of the West African country abruptly demanded two weeks ago that the force of 13,000 leave without delay.

It was deployed 10 years ago to stabilise a security situation worsened by a growing Islamist insurgency.

But in recent years, Mali has turned to Russia and its Wagner mercenaries for military help. This followed years of tension between the UN and Mali's military government.

Mali’s leaders suddenly ordered the peacekeepers out, saying they have a crisis of confidence in the force because it hasn’t done enough to stem the violence of the Islamist insurgency.

The peacekeepers have played a key role in protecting civilians, and flying government workers to cities in the conflict zones. Their departure will leave a security and logistics gap, and it’s not clear if there are enough Wagner mercenaries in the country to fill it.

Mali made the decision to expel the UN before the Wagner group’s unsuccessful rebellion against the Kremlin, which has led to uncertainty about Wagner’s continuing role in Africa.

BBC Arabic's Sudan Lifeline radio

The governor of Sudan’s North Darfur state says a mediation team formed in the city has been successful at making warring parties reach a ceasefire and are providing basic services there.

Nimir Abdel Rahman told the BBC's Sudan Lifeline radio station that while violations have occurred in the state from time to time, “all parties are now fully committed to the ceasefire, and fighting will not be renewed".

He says the Mediation and Elders Committee, in collaboration with the state government, has begun providing the basic services such as water, electricity and heath care.

He says public markets are also open, while being guarded by joint forces.

So far, one medical mission has reached the city and arrangements are being made to provide food and shelter to civilians, he says.

According to an agreement between the elders' committee and the warring forces, all humanitarian convoys “from the state of the White Nile, in the east, to North Kordofan, North Darfur and then the rest of the Sudanese states” are to be protected.

But the governor says there are no guarantees about the forces’ compliance with the agreement.

“The only guarantee we have is their respect for citizens, public utilities and the state institutions, which will be all destroyed if the fighting is resumed. Only civilians will be harmed in case the fighting is resumed.”

Biniam Girmay's former coach says the Eritrean can be the first black African to win a stage at the Tour de France and help grow cycling on the continent.

Image source, Bobats

A top South African tennis player who was blocked from competing at Wimbledon in the 1970s has asked for a public apology from its organisers and from the sport's international governing body.

Hoosen Bobat had been thrilled to qualify for the junior tournament in 1971 at a time when apartheid was at its height - but later had that invitation rescinded just one week before the event.

"After all those years of training and practice, I had the opportunity to play in the greatest stage in the world. When my entry was accepted - there was great joy in Africa among black players... It would have been a gateway to my future tennis career," he tells BBC Newsday.

He believes that the real reason he was blocked was because of racism. The British government still supported the apartheid regime although international opposition to it was growing.

At this time in South Africa non-white players weren't allowed to play their white counterparts, and he says matches at all-white tennis centres were watched from caged sections.

This week two British MPs and anti-apartheid veterans - Peter Hain and Jeremy Corbyn - raised the matter in parliament and backed Mr Bobat's demand for an apology.

Wimbledon's organisers the AELTC, and tennis' international governing body the ITF, say they are reviewing the information.

Mr Bobat says the sport still has a long way to go in South Africa, telling The Guardian, external: "Even now, nothing much has changed. There are less black – which we define as Indian, coloured and black – tennis players now than then."