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-US Guantanamo detainee deal 'must be made public'
BBC Africa, Accra
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.
The 'callous indifference' of South Sudan's leader
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:
Kenyan pupils ordered to learn the East Africa Community anthem
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:
Oh no! Not him again! Not Ezekiel Mutua. I was having a good day!
Kenyan schools to remain open despite fires
BBC Africa, Nairobi
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.
Zambia ballot papers delivered
BBC Africa, Lusaka
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.
Zimbabwe war veterans' spokesman arrested
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.
'120 women raped in South Sudan fighting'
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".
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:
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.”
Congo judge 'put under pressure to convict Kabila rival'
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.
Sacked South African 'censorship' journalists return to work
Seven of the eight journalists sacked by South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC for speaking out against censorship at the corporation have returned to work today - to the joy of one of their colleagues who tweeted this photo:
Accidents of this type are rare, unforeseeable, and unusual. Accidents of this nature happened in international zoos, most recently in Disney World Orlando and the Cincinnati Zoo in the United States.”
The statement said the enclosure met international standards with guardrails and ditches separating the animals from the visitors.
A bystander filmed the girl receiving treatment at the scene - and footage has been posted on YouTube (beware the clip has graphic images.)
Al-Shabab 'destroys communication mast in Kenya'
The Islamist militant group al-Shabab has attacked and destroyed a communications mast in Fino, a town in Mandera county in north-eastern Kenya, the country's Daily Nation newspaper reports.
Bosita Omukolongolo, the region's police chief, told the paper it happened early this morning.
"There was heavy fire exchange between the attackers and our officers guarding the area but no casualty has been reported, " he is quoted as saying.
This is the second attack by the militants on a mast in the area in the last two months.
He asked for the government to boost security in the area as "the destruction of the mast could be a signal that they are going to attack again."
Mandera borders Somalia, the base for the al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgents who have launched attacks in the area several times.
Al-Shabab has been at war with Kenya ever since Kenyan forces entered Somalia in October 2011 in an effort to crush the militants.
No end to Kenya's school fires
Yet another emergency meeting has been called by Kenya's Education Minister Fred Matiang'i to try and find a solution to the ongoing cases of school arson.
More than 100 secondary schools across the country have been burnt blamed on students.
The Kenya Red Cross has tweeted a photo of school dormitory burning this morning:
Founded in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education
Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
Launched military operations in 2009
Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, and hundreds abducted, including at least 200 schoolgirls
Joined so-called Islamic State, now calls itself IS's "West African province"
Seized large area in north-east of Nigeria, where it declared caliphate
Regional force has now retaken most territory
Zimbabwe five-star luxury 'compensates for days in the bush'
Zimbabweans are angered that one of their vice-presidents' continuous stay at a five star hotel in the capital, Harare.
Phelekezela Mphoko has spent nearly 600 nights at the Rainbow Towers Hotel since he was sworn in as vice-president in December 2014, at a cost of $1,000 (£755) for his room and meals a day.
He is from the country's second city Bulawayo, and does not own a home in Harare and has reportedly rejected official residences as inadequate.
The government says it owns the hotel and there is better security there.
The country has been has been facing serious economic problems, with the government struggling to pay civil servants and its stock exchange under pressure after news that it recently traded a measly $105 in a single day.
The BBC's Brian Hungwe in Harare has been out and about seeking the public reaction.
Some people told him the VP was a beneficiary of President Robert Mugabe's patronage, others blamed his "voracious appetite for luxury", while another said the Mr Mphoko felt entitled to such luxuriousness after spending years in the bush fighting for liberation.
Sten Zvorwadza, an activist and chairman of the National Vendors Union, said it was "irresponsible and selfish" to use of taxpayers' money when other accommodation was available. Listen to his interview on the BBC's Newsday programme:
Cartoonist's take on South Africa's deadly campaigning
South African cartoonist Sifiso Yalo has tweeted his impressions of the deadly campaign in the run-up to hotly contested local elections in the country next week:
On Tuesday night, a candidate for councillor was shot dead in Port Elizabeth, taking the total number of politicians killed in campaigning to 13 - most of them from the governing African National Congress (ANC) party.
Funeral for popular South African rally driver
BBC News, Johannesburg
Thousands of mourners are attending the funeral of Gugu Zulu, the South African rally driver who died while attempting to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
It is taking place at the Rhema Bible Church, one of the most well-known churches in Johannesburg.
Mr Zulu and his wife Letshego both descended the mountain when he experienced breathing problems whilst attempting the trip earlier in July for a Nelson Mandela-linked charity to raise funds to buy sanitary towels for girls.
The two known has as the “adventure couple” are well celebrated in sporting circles.
Social media has been flooded with message of support for Letshego and their one-year-old daughter Lelethu.
Mr Zulu won the hearts of many South Africans with his warm spirit as a motorsport television presenter and was well-loved even by those who did not follow racing.
Lion on the loose in Kenya's capital
BBC Africa, Nairobi
A lion is on the loose in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, after escaping from a nearby national park.
It is roaming through the upmarket suburb of Karen.
The Kenya Wildlife Service is trying to lure the cat back towards the Nairobi National Park.
The park is separated by a main road from suburbs in the south of the city.
This is the third incident this year of a lion escaping the park.
How to catch a lion?
In less built-up areas bordering the park:
Manually comb through areas of thick scrub, where lions tend to hide • Use helicopters to spot the animals and then fly low to steer them in a direction away from inhabited areas.
In densely populated areas:
Alert the public to report sightings and stay clear of big cats
Once located, lure the lion out into an open space with goat meat
Once easily visible, a vet should fire a dart with tranquilisers to sedate the cat
Never approach or irritate the animals - lionesses with cubs are most dangerous as they will attack if provoked even when not hungry.
Source: KWS senior warden Nelly Palmeris
Today's African proverb:
The world is a bone which you can only bite and leave