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Live Reporting

Farouk Chothia and Damian Zane

All times stated are UK

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  1. Scroll down for Thursday's stories

    We'll be back on Friday

    That's all from the BBC Africa Live page today. Keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website

    A reminder of today's wise words:

    Quote Message: A stubborn person sails in a clay boat." Sent by Ayebale David Livingstone, Hoima, Uganda from Sent by Ayebale David Livingstone, Hoima, Uganda.
    Sent by Ayebale David Livingstone, Hoima, Uganda.

    Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.    

    And we leave you with this image of a woman, dressed in the colours of the Eritrean flag and symbolically chained, at a demonstration by Eritrean refugees and dissidents outside the headquarters of the African Union in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa:

    A woman dressed in the colors of the Eritrean flag stands symbolically chained, at a demonstration by Eritrean refugees and dissidents outside the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, June 23, 2016
  2. Ancestral Soul - Africa's new sound

    Central African Republic is not normally associated with cutting-edge electronic music but DJ and Producer Boddhi Satva has gained a global reputation for just that.

    Known as the founding father of Ancestral Soul, Boddhi blends dance music with traditional African sounds.  He recently came into the BBC's Focus on Africa studio in London to tell us more about his unique sound:

    Video content

    Video caption: DJ Boddhi Satva, founding father of Ancestral Soul
  3. South Africa train collision injured in hospital

    A private South African emergency medical service is tweeting video and pictures from the scene of a train collision in Durban.

    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter

    The AFP news agency is quoting other meidcal sources at the scene saying that nearly 130 people have been injured.

  4. Silverbird shopping malls shut in both Abuja and Lagos

    We've been reporting about the closure of Nigeria's Silverbird malls over the issue of unpaid debts (see earlier post).

    Our reporter sent us pictures of the closed mall in the capital, Abuja.

    And the AFP news agency has posted pictures of the shut shopping complex in the main city, Lagos.

    Side of shopping mall with closure sign
    Front of shopping mall with closure sign

    The owner of the Silverbird company says the situation will be resolved.

  5. Uganda 'to get national airline'

    Yoweri Museveni attends his swearing-in ceremony at the Independance grounds in Uganda"s capital Kampala, May 12, 2016.

    Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has said he wants a national airline to be set up in the next five years in order to reduce travel costs.  

    Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the cabinet he appointed after being elected for a fifth term in February, Mr Museveni said Ugandans would save about $420m (£283m) a year if the country had its own airline. 

    He added:  

    Quote Message: Ugandan travellers are suffering because of, apparently, not having a national airline.
    Quote Message: A ticket to Nairobi costs between $1,100-1,200 (business class) and $500-700 (economy class) depending on the time of booking while a ticket to London costs between $2,700-3,000 (business class) and $1,000-1,300 (economy class).
    Quote Message: This is a big shame."
  6. UK opposition leader backs call for release of UK citizen in Ethiopia prison

    It's a busy day for UK politicians as the country votes on whether to remain in or leave the European Union, but the leader of the opposition has taken time to tweet about a UK citizen in an Ethiopian prison.

    Andargachew Tsege was abducted when he was changing planes in Yemen two years ago and taken to Ethiopia, where he is now in jail.

    He had been living in the UK since 1979, but was active in Ethiopian opposition politics and was sentenced to death in absentia in 2009 for an anti-government plot.

    The British government has been under pressure to do more to get Mr Andargachew released and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn is now adding his voice:

    View more on twitter
  7. SA guest house to be investigated

    South Africa's Human Rights Commission and the KwaZulu-Natal government have both announced that they will investigate allegations of racism against a guest house after its owner refused to give accommodation to black people (see earlier post).

    Local media quoted KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Minister Sihle Zikalala as saying that he had ordered officials to "get to the bottom of matter":  

    He added: 

    Quote Message: Such behaviour, if true, is not only abhorrent, but it is has no place in the new South Africa we are all trying to build. "
  8. Arrested African athletics on conditional release

    Piers Edwards

    BBC Africa Sport

    Somali athletics coach Jama Aden has been released by police in Spain after being charged with administering banned substances to athletes. 

    Aden, who coaches Ethiopian star Genzebe Dibaba, was arrested on Monday. 

    He was released with two other personnel, Moroccan physio Ouarid Mounir and Qatar's Sudanese-born athlete Musaeb Balla. 

    However, the passports of all three have been confiscated, meaning they cannot travel outside of Spain, and he must report to the police station once a month. 

    Aden has yet to comment - but in a post on Facebook, one of his children defended his innocence - saying justice will be served.

    The Spanish anti-doping agency has tweeted pictures of evidence that it has found:

    View more on twitter
  9. Nigeria's Silverbird mall closures will be 'resolved'

    In an earlier post we wrote about the trouble at some of Nigeria's shopping malls owned by Silverbird.

    Our correspondent in the capital, Abuja, reported that the Silverbird mall there was shut by the authorities over alleged unpaid debts.

    Local media are reporting that the company's outlets in other cities have also been shut.

    The owner of Siverbird has tweeted that things will be sorted out:

    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter
  10. The Conversation: How to transport giraffes?

    When Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka started out as chief veterinary officer of the Ugandan Wildlife Service her first order of business was to restock her country’s national parks.  

    Years of civil war had devastated the country’s wildlife with many animals either shot or eaten. 

    In this week’s episode of The Conversation on the BBC World Service, Dr Kalema-Zikusoka talks with her counterpart in Sierra Leone, Dr Nalinika Obeyesekere, about the logistics of transporting giraffes, her love of mountain gorillas and why being a vet is more about people than animals.

    Take a listen:

    Video content

    This content is currently not available

  11. People in Nigeria camp 'haven't eaten for days'

    The medical charity MSF says a "catastrophic humanitarian emergency" is unfolding at a makeshift camp in north-eastern Nigeria. 

    It houses more than 20,000 people who have fled the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. 

    People in Bama

    MSF says nearly 200 people have died of starvation and dehydration. 

    It says many of those who have sought refuge at the camp in the city of Bama are traumatised and a fifth of the children they have examined are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. 

    A man originally from Bama, who visited the town two days ago, described to the BBC Hausa service what he saw:

    Quote Message: At least 20 to 21 people have died everyday and they were dying one after the other. The elderly and the young were also affected because they haven’t eaten for days.
    Quote Message: They look starving because they were skinny with bulging eyes. If you see them you will think that they come from the dead."
  12. Zambia's Post newspaper in defiant mood

    Edgar Lungu addresses tens of thousands of supporters on May 21, 2016 at the Heroes Stadium in Lusaka
    Image caption: The newspaper is a strong critic of President Edgar Lungu

    Despite the authorities ordering its closure over the non-payment of $6.1m (£4.1m) in taxes, Zambia's The Post newspaper has published today with a smaller print run - and a defiant editorial which said:   

    Quote Message: As we have repeatedly stated, the actions of the Zambia Revenue Authority against The Post have nothing to do with tax collection.
    Quote Message: It is simply a shameless and naked political scheme to silence a critical voice."

    Zambia's Information Minister Chishimba Kambwili strongly denied the allegation in an interview with the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme. 

    Quote Message: There is no persecution of The Post whatsoever.
    Quote Message: I sympathise with my brother [Post editor Fred] M'membe, but evasion of tax is criminal offence."

    The Post, a daily newspaper, is a strong critic of President Edgar Lungu who is seeking re-election in polls in August. 

  13. SA unrest 'kills five'

    Violent protest in Pretoria
    Image caption: The government has accused "thugs" of causing the violence

    The number of people killed in riots in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, has risen to five, police say.

    Two more bodies were found as unrest and looting of shops continued in the city's poor neighbourhood of Mabopane, police added in a statement

    About 150 people were arrested in overnight raids, bringing to nearly 200 the number arrested since riots broke out on Sunday, the statement said. 

    They have been charged with public violence, malicious damage to property, possession of unlicensed firearms and stolen goods.

    The riots broke out after some members of the governing African National Congress (ANC) rejected the nomination of ex-government minister Thoko Didiza as mayoral candidate (see earlier post). 

  14. 'Many injured' after South African train collission

    A private company that assists in medical emergencies has tweeted a dramatic picture from South Africa's coastal city of Durban: 

    View more on twitter

    South Africa's Eyewitness News is reporting that 70 people have been injured.

  15. The fight for Sirte

    The BBC's Quentin Somerville has been in Libya tweeting some images from when he joined pro-government forces in their fight against the so-called Islamic State (see earlier post) in the city of Sirte.

    View more on twitter

    There have been a lot of casualties.

    View more on twitter

    And the fighters are getting help from UK and US special forces:

    View more on twitter
  16. South Sudan soldiers 'steal' food

    BBC Monitoring

    Hungry soldiers in South Sudan have stolen food items from a trader at one of the main markets in the capital, Juba, Netherlands-based Radio Tamazuj reports.

    When the trader at the Konyo Konyo market asked the soldiers to pay him, they replied that he should go to President Salva Kiir to claim his money as they had not been paid for months, it reports. 

    Other traders closed their shops so that the soldiers did not steal from them also, it adds. 

    A Ugandan worker unloads velgetables imported from Uganda at Konyo Konyo market in Juba, South Sudan on september 19, 2012.
    Image caption: Konyo Konyo is the busiest market in Juba
  17. On the front line in the Libyan fight against IS

    The BBC's Quentin Sommerville has been with pro-government Libyan forces as they target fighters from the so-called Islamic State in the city of Sirte.

    He witnessed how - with the help of a drone and intelligence from UK and US special forces - the pro-government soldiers fired at IS positions in buildings.

    Under attack, IS-controlled territory diminishes week after week, but the fighting is leading to a lot of casualties on both sides.

    You can read Quentin's report here.

    Mahamud Madi
    Image caption: Pro-government soldier Mahamud Madi: "IS beheaded our children, crucified them, threw them off the roofs of buildings, terrorised the people and abused faith to justify their crimes"
  18. Cameroon lawyers protest over new immunity law

    Randy Joe Sa'ah

    BBC Africa, Bamenda

    Cameroonian lawyers have today staged a street demonstration in the main city in the north-west, Bamenda. 

    Lawyers on a demonstration

    They are protesting against a new law which gives immunity against prosecution to government ministers. 

    The same law now allows a tenant to go to prison for failing to pay rents. 

    Demonstration banner

    The police tried to disrupt the lawyers' protest.

    Lawyers on a demonstration
  19. Emergency yellow fever vaccination on Angola DR Congo border

    The World Health Organization is to begin an emergency vaccination campaign along the border between Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo in an effort to prevent the spread of yellow fever. 

    The campaign, which will get underway in the next few weeks, will also target the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, where an epidemic has been declared. 

    The worst yellow fever outbreak in decades has killed nearly 350 people in Angola, where it began, and more than 70 in the DRC. 

    The global stockpile of yellow fever vaccine has been depleted, mainly because of large-scale immunisation campaigns in Angola. 

    Woman with yellow fever in hospital bed
    Image caption: There have been more than 3,000 suspected cases of yellow fever in Angola

    Read Angola's front line against yellow fever

  20. Controversial SA mayoral candidate hopes community can work together

    In South Africa, the selection by the governing ANC of Thoko Didiza as the mayoral candidate for Tshwane caused two days of violence as some in the party expressed their anger over the decision.

    The Tshwane area includes the capital, Pretoria.

    Ms Didiza, a former cabinet minister from KwaZulu-Natal province, has been talking to the media today and trying to calm tempers.

    The ANC has been tweeting some of her comments:

    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter