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Live Reporting

Dickens Olewe and Farouk Chothia

All times stated are UK

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  1. Scroll down for Monday's stories

    We'll be back tomorrow

    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: Once the mushroom has sprouted from the earth, there is no turning back." from A Luo proverb sent by James Otieno Ouma, Homabay, Kenya.
    A Luo proverb sent by James Otieno Ouma, Homabay, Kenya.

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

    And we leave you with this image of a photo shoot from afrostylemagz Instagram account. 

    View more on instagram
  2. Historic day at ICC as Mali's militant Islamist confesses to crimes

    Anna Holligan

    Reporter BBC News, The Hague

     It's been an unprecedented day at the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

    After confessing he was guilty, Malian militant Islamist Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi stood and told the court he would accept its judgment with pain and a broken heart. 

    He hoped the punishment would be sufficient for the people of the ancient city of Timbuktu to offer forgiveness.

    Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, a Muslim, told the court attacks on cultural heritage sites had become a weapon of war. 

    She made reference to the ancient site of Palmyra in Syria that was damaged by the so-called Islamic State last year. 

    She said the sentence should act as a deterrent and send a warning to others that the destruction of these cultural treasures would not be tolerated. 

    Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi sits as he appears at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Aug. 22, 2016
    Image caption: Mahdi faces a possible 30 years in jail.
  3. Guinea-Bissau cleared to play in Africa Cup of Nations

    Guinea-Bissau will play at its first ever Africa Cup of Nations finals after a protest by Zambia was dismissed.

    The tournament will be held in Gabon next year. 

    The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has ruled that Papa Massa Mbaye Fall is eligible to play for Guinea-Bissau.

    The Football Association of Zambia had claimed that Mbaye Fall had previously played for Senegal after their 3-2 loss in a 2017 qualifier in September.

    However, Caf's investigations found that the keeper had not played for Senegal.

    Caf added that he has never been registered with the Senegalese Football Federation, who sent them a letter to that effect in June. 

    Read full story:  

    Guinea-Bissau cleared to play in the African cup of Nations
  4. Accra art festival growing in popularity

    Thomas Naadi

    BBC Africa, Accra

    The Chale Wote Art festival has just taken place in Ghana's capital, Accra. A large stream of people both young and old poured onto the streets of James Town to catch a glimpse of the beautiful art works. 

    The works include street painting, photography, graffiti murals, live street performances, and extreme sports among others.

    Accra art festival growing in popularity

    The festival has grown in popularity since its inception in 2011. This year's event brought together more than 200 local and international artists to exchange ideas and connect with the public through their art work. 

    Artists in Ghana have always struggled to sustain their business because their work is not often appreciated. 

    But Matse Aryeequaye, one of the organizers of the festival, says Ghanaians are beginning to appreciate and buy art works.

    As part of the Chale Wote festival, six galleries were set up to showcase modern Ghanaian art work. But many emerging artists say they still lack still lack support to develop their careers. The street art festival provides a perfect platform for them to market their art work.

    Accra art festival growing in popularity
    Accra art festival growing in popularity
    Accra art festival growing in popularity
  5. Zambia shuts down three radio stations

    Meluse Kapatamoyo

    BBC Africa, Lusaka

    Zambia's Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) has the suspended broadcasting licenses of three privately owned radio stations - Muvi TV, Komboni Radio and Itezhi Tezhi Radio. 

    IBA chairman Justin Mutale said the suspension followed the "unprofessional conduct" of the three stations during the fiercely contested 11 August presidential elections. 

    Their coverage had posed a risk to national peace and stability and they had been suspended in the "public interest", he added. 

    The three stations can appeal against the decision within 30 days. 

    The opposition has launched court action to challenge President Edgar Lungu's re-election, alleging the poll was rigged. 

    The electoral commission  insists that he defeated Hakainde Hichilema in a free and fair contest.   

    This file photo taken on August 10, 2016 in Lusaka shows Zambian Ruling party Patriotic Front presidential candidate and incumbent Zambian President Edward Lungu (C) dancing and gesturing before delivering a speech during his presidential campaign closing rally.
    Image caption: Mr Lungu scraped to victory with 50.35% of the vote
  6. 'Tip-off' led to raid on gay wedding ceremony in Nigeria

    Haruna Shehu Tangaza

    BBC Africa, Abuja

    A tip-off received by Nigeria's intelligence officers led to police raiding a suspected gay wedding ceremony on Saturday in the northern city of Sokoto - a leading centre of Islamic learning, a police spokesman Almustafa Sani has told the BBC Hausa service. 

    Police were conducting a thorough investiagting with a view to charge the two people arrested for being involved in "unnatural" conduct, he added.

    Mr Sani said homosexuality was illegal under Nigeria's secular constitution, and Islamic law which is applied in Sokoto state. 

    Other people at the ceremony dispersed when police arrived at the venue, he added. 

    See earlier post for more details

  7. Libya's UN-backed government loses vote

    BBC World Service

     A spokesman for the Libyan parliament based in the eastern city of Tobruk says it has passed a vote of no confidence in a proposed United Nations-backed government. 

    The full implications of the vote are still unclear. But it is being seen as a setback for the UN's efforts to establish a government in the capital, Tripoli, which would aim to end the civil war and unify the country. 

  8. Ethiopia's Feyisa Lelisa will 'seek asylum in the US'

    Emmanuel Igunza

    BBC Africa, Nairobi

    I have just met a relative of Ethiopia's Olympic marathon silver medallist Feyisa Lilesa and it's now clear that his next destination will be the US where he intends to seek asylum. 

    A legal team hired by Ethiopians in the US is heading for Rio to try and help with his asylum bid.

    If he can't stay in the US, he is likely to move to Kenya where he has relatives. 

    Lilesa crossed his hands above his head as he finished the race - a gesture made by Ethiopia's Oromo people who have suffered brutal police crackdowns.  

    Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia celebrates on the podium after winning th silver medal in the men"s Marathon race of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Athletics
  9. Tanzanian who finished last in the 1968 Olympics

    John Stephen Akhwari

    Tanzania's former athlete John Stephen Akhwari is remembered for participating in the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico. 

    He's better known for ‘The Greatest Last-Place Finish Ever’ in the Olympic Games. He finished last, almost an hour after the runners had finished. 

    He had entered the stadium hobbling, with blood and bandages hanging on his legs.

    He told the BBC's Sammy Awami why he didn't quit the race:

    Quote Message: My country did not send me thousands of miles away to start the race, but they sent me to finish.
    Quote Message: It was the passion and patriotism in my athletic life that pushed me to finish that race. Even though I was in pain."

    He explains that unlike other countries who look after their athletes nobody seemed to care about him representing his country. 

    John is now a farmer, and looks back at his participation in the Games with fond memories:

    Quote Message: I’m very proud to have taken part in the of the international marathon in Athens, Greece in 1962. I was a runner-up in that race. And the second one is that of 1968 in Mexico.

    On Tanzanian's performance at the Olympics in Rio, he says:

    Quote Message: I feel bad, but what can I do. The sports leaders can’t change. If your team didn’t win at this year’s event you have to look for ways to improve so that you can win the next year and bring honour to your country"
  10. Gambian activist 'dies in detention'

    The main opposition party in The Gambia says one of its activists has died in detention - the second to lose his life in custody since a security force crackdown started in May.

    Solo Krummah died being admitted at the Edward Francis's Small Teaching Hospital in the capital, Banjul for an undisclosed operation, United Democratic Party (UDP) said. 

    He was arrested with 14 others on 9 May during protests demanding electoral reform, and died on Saturday after the operation, it added. 

    The government and hospital authorities have not yet commented. 

    In April, Amnesty International said UDP national organising secretary, Solo Sandeng, died in custody after being arrested in similar protests.  

    The tiny West African nation is due to hold presidential elections in December. 

    Opposition groups have called for reforms to enable the elections to be free and fair.

    President Yahya Jammeh , who came to power in a coup 20 years ago, is expected to run for office again.

    Gambia's President and leader of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction party, Yahya Jammeh, during a presidential campaign meeting 20 September 2006 in Serekunda.
    Image caption: Mr Jammeh's critics say he runs a repressive regime

    Read: A climate of fear

  11. Kerry push on quick deployment of AU troops in South Sudan

    The US is pushing for the quick deployment of a 4,000-strong African Union (AU) "protection force" to bolster the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, US Secretary of State John Kerry has said, Reuters news agency reports. 

    Mr Kerry was speaking in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, at the start of his tour of several African countries. 

    He announced the backing of the South Sudan plan at a press conference in Nairobi after meeting with foreign ministers from regional countries. 

    Kenya's Foreign Affairs Minister Amina Mohamed said she wanted the force to be deployed "sooner rather than later", Reuters reports.

    The UN Security Council approved the deployment of troops to South Sudan following renewed fighting in June between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former Vice-President Riek Machar. 

    Kerry backs plans for AU troops in South Sudan
    Image caption: US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) flanked by Kenya"s Minister for Foreign Affairs Amina Mohamed (R)
  12. DA beats ANC in Johannesburg

    South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has won the speaker's post in the all-important Johannesburg metropolitan council, taking control of it for the first tume from the once-mighty African National Congress (ANC). 

    A BBC reporter is tweeting from the city that the DA's Vasco Da Gama beat the ANC's Contance Bapela in a vote at the inaugural meeting of the council:. 

    #Joburg has been trending on Twitter in South Africa - not least becuase of some o the drama ahead of the vote, as this tweet by a local media group shows:

    View more on twitter

    The DA's Herman Mashaba is also expected to be sworn in as the mayor of Johannesburg, the economic hub of South Africa. 

    Despite winning the popular vote in the 2 August local government poll, the ANC failed to get more than 50% and was unable to form a coalition to continue to govern the city. 

    As the ANC finds itself on the council's opposition benches for the first time since the advent of democracy in 1994, the DA has been celebrating its success, as this tweet shows: 

    View more on twitter
  13. Zambia's drought hits honey farmers

    Zambia honey farm

    The widespread drought in southern Africa has had many direct effects including serious falls in crop yields and livestock deaths.

    But there have been other consequences too. The falling water levels in Lake Kariba mean there is a shortage of hydroelectric power in Zambia, so people have turned to other energy sources such as charcoal.

    And that has led to a huge effect on Zambia's honey industry, as the BBC's Kennedy Gondwe explains  in the video here

  14. Ethiopian athlete's 'relatives arrested'

    Emmanuel Igunza

    BBC Africa, Nairobi

    Ethiopian runner Feyisa Lilesa has been described by some as the bravest Olympian at Rio 2016 after he staged a protested against the government. 

    But now he is facing the prospect of a life in exile. After the race Feyisa explained his motives, saying his relatives had been arrested by Ethiopia's security forces and that feared a similar fate if he went back home and he would now seek asylum abroad.

    The government has dismissed his assertions and insists he will be received as a hero for flying the country's flag high at the Olympics. 

    His protest against the government for, as he put it, "killing my people" received massive support on social media but the state broadcaster has not been showing pictures of his win or his comments at the press briefing. 

    Thousands of anti-government protesters from the two largest ethnic communities - the Oromo and Amhara - have been demonstrating for weeks calling for political reforms and inclusivity in the running of the country. 

    Human rights groups say more than 100 people have been killed in past weeks since a fresh wave of protests begun, a number which the government disputes.

    Protesters in Ethiopia (2015)
    Image caption: People in the Oromia region have long complained of marginalisation
  15. Kenyan police helicopter crashes

    A private television station in Kenya is tweeting that a police helicopter has crashed at an airport in the capital, Nairobi:

    View more on twitter
  16. Kerry meets six African foreign ministers

    John Kerry (L) chats with Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed (R) prior to the ministerial meeting with his African counterparts in Nairobi, Kenya, 22 August 2016.
    Image caption: ohn Kerry (L) chats with Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed

    US Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting six of his counterparts in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, to discuss ways to end conflict in South Sudan, Reuters news agency reports. 

    After a two-hour meeting with Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr Kerry joined the foreign ministers of Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda to discuss options for putting the peace process back on track. 

    Read: The wounds of war in South Sudan

  17. Nigerian Bauchi state sacks village rulers

    Ishaq Khalid

    BBC Africa, Bauchi

    Bauchi Emir's palace
    Image caption: Bauchi Emir's palace

    About 1,100 traditional rulers have been sacked in the northern Nigerian state of Bauchi. 

    The state government says the affected village and district heads were not properly installed by the previous administration, voted out of office last year. 

    The speaker of the state legislature also told the media that the traditional rulers had failed to  maintain peace and security and deal effectively with land disputes.  

    He said a new law would be enacted to streamline the process of appointing traditional leaders. 

    The deposed traditional rulers were appointed between 2014 and 2015 by the previous government when hundreds of district and village areas were created in the state. 

    One of the rulers, Husaini Abubakar Othman, the village head of Tudun-Yarima, told me he is yet to receive an official letter informing him that he has been sacked.  

    He dismissed allegations that they had not been properly appointed and cautioned politicians against meddling in the traditional institutions because of what he described as their importance, reverence and lineage. 

  18. War crimes trial expected to last a week

    Anna Holligan

    Reporter BBC News, The Hague

    Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi appears at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, August 22, 2016

    The war crimes trial of Mali's militant Islamist  Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi is likely to last just one week, rather than years, after he pleaded guilty to destroying historical shrines in the northern city of Timbuktu in 2012.

    This is the first time an International Criminal Court (ICC) suspect has pleaded guilty and it's also the first time it has tried a case of cultural destruction.

    The rubble left from an ancient mausoleum destroyed by Islamist militants, is seen in Timbuktu, Mali, July 25, 2013
    Image caption: The rubble left from an ancient mausoleum destroyed by militant Islamist in Timbuktu when the city was under their control

     A number of victims will share their stories in court - human rights groups say this will demonstrate that the desecration of cultural heritage doesn't only damage buildings but tears through the social, cultural and historic fabric of communities. 

    The court hopes the trial will send a warning to others that the destruction and plundering of cultural treasures will not be tolerated.  

    In pictures: Timbuktu's manuscripts

  19. Ethiopian state media fails to show athlete's protest

    BBC Monitoring

    News from around the globe

    Silver medalist Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia stands on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Men"s Marathon during the Closing Ceremony on Day 16 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Maracana Stadium on August 21, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    Ethiopian state-owned television station EBC did not air video of protesting athlete Feyisa Lilesa being awarded his medal. 

    The station's EBC Channel 3 covered the race live, including the finish. However, in subsequent bulletins the station did not repeat video clips of the athlete at the finishing line.

    The websites of Ethiopia's other state-owned media outlets only reported about the medal Lilesa won.

    See previous post for more details

  20. Ethiopian runner will be treated as a 'hero'

    Emmanuel Igunza

    BBC Africa, Nairobi

    Ethiopia's government has said it will treat Feyisa Lilesa as a hero if he returns to the country, despite the fact that he staged a protest against it at the Rio 2016 Olympics. 

    Information Minister Getachew Reda just told me that the government had no reason to arrest him and it respected his political opinion  

    Feyisa won a silver medal in the men's marathon race in Rio but made a gesture of solidarity with anti-government protesters as he finished the race.

    He later said at a press conference that his life was in danger and he would have to move to another country - a claim the minister dismissed as baseless

    Feyisa Lilesa

    See earlier post for more details