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Live Reporting

Dickens Olewe and Damian Zane

All times stated are UK

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  1. Scroll down for Wednesday's stories

    We'll be back tomorrow

    That's all from the BBC Africa Livepage 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: Don't leave your old mat for a new one which you see in passing." from A Swahili proverb sent by Anderson Maina, Nairobi, Kenya
    A Swahili proverb sent by Anderson Maina, Nairobi, Kenya

    Click here to send your African proverbs.

    And we leave you with this image of an Ethiopian priest during celebrations to mark Meskel, the festival of the finding of the true cross:

    An Ethiopian Orthodox priest blesses the faithful with incense during the Meskel Festival to commemorate the discovery of the true cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified
  2. South Africans react to video of police clashing with Rhodes University students

    We have reported about students at Rhodes University in South Africa clashing with police earlier today. 

    People have been tweeting their reaction:

    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter

    Some have come to the defence of the police, saying that they were firing only at those who threatened public safety:

    View more on twitter
  3. Warning of 'catastrophic' situation in north-east Nigeria

    The medical charity MSF says that the humanitarian situation in north-east Nigeria "is reaching catastrophic levels".

    Hundreds of thousands have been displaced during the Boko Haram insurgency and many are in desperate need of help, MSF adds.

    A team from MSF go to the town of Ngala, Boreno state, and found people who "desperately lack food and healthcare".

    A nutrition emergency was declared three months ago, but there has not been much response, MSF says.

    In July Unicef warned that almost a quarter of a million children in parts of Borno state were suffering from severe malnutrition.

    Man holding his son
    Image caption: In August, farmer Bulama Mohammed said people were dying of hunger in his camp in Maiduguri, Borno state capital
  4. Rhodes University students clash with police

    Students at Rhodes University in South Africa have clashed with police in the ongoing nationwide protests against plans to increase fees. 

    A video of the confrontation has been shared on You Tube:

    .Police confront one of the students. She reacts furiously after being showed by one of the officers.
    Image caption: Police confront one of the students. She reacts furiously after being showed by one of the officers.
    .One student, in a red t-shirt, confronts the police and criticise their heavy-handed tactics
    Image caption: One student, in a red t-shirt, confronts the police and criticise their heavy-handed tactics
    .He says the students want the ruling ANC party to honour its 1994 promise of free education for all
    Image caption: He says the students want the ruling ANC party to honour its 1994 promise of free education for all
    .He punches the air as he shouts the rallying cry Amandla!
    Image caption: He punches the air as he shouts the rallying cry "Amandla" and then the other students respond
    .The police apprehend him and drag him down towards the police van
    Image caption: The police apprehend him and drag him down towards the police van
    .More police officers join in carrying the student to the police van
    Image caption: More police officers join in carrying the student to the police van
    .The police then move forward to shoot
    Image caption: The police then move forward to shoot rubber bullets to disperse the students
    .Undeterred one of the students walks casually across the line of fire
    Image caption: Undeterred one of the students walks casually across the line of fire
  5. 'Threats' against reporter angers UN in DR Congo

    The UN peace mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monusco) protested on Wednesday against what it calls "threats and intimidation" against a reporter who works for Radio Okapi, a UN-sponsored media outlet in the country, the AFP news agency reports.

     A Monusco spokesperson, Felix-Prosper Basse, told journalists at a press conference in the capital Kinshasa, that the wronged reporter was interviewing contributors at the Kinshasa central prison when he was briefly detained by prison guards who accused him of trespassing. 

    AFP quotes Mr Basse as saying:

    Quote Message: The journalist from Radio Okapi intended to report on the trial of people arrested in connection with the deadly protests on 19 and 20 September, when he was intimidated, threatened and briefly detained by prison guards.
    Quote Message: He was just interviewing a lawyer representing the defendants."

    A prison official denied the accusations, telling the AFP news agency: 

    Quote Message: That's total nonsense. We were even nice to him; we did not snatched his reporting equipment.
    Quote Message: He entered the prison compound like anybody else and we were surprised to see him interviewing prisoners."
    The newsroom of Radio Okapi
    Image caption: Radio Okapi provides public service broadcasting as part of the UN peace efforts in DR Congo
  6. Somali states in dispute after 20 fighters killed in raid

    Somalia's central state of Galmudug says more than 20 members of its regional security forces have been killed in an air strike. 

    Galmudug's Security Minister Osman Isse accused the neighbouring state of Puntland of instigating the violence. 

    Puntland says those killed were members of the Islamist group al-Shabab not regular soldiers. 

    Hundreds of people in Galmudug have demonstrated against the raid. 

    They burned US flags, and said America was behind the attack. 

    There has been no word so far from the US. 

    Puntland and Galmudug clash regularly over territory and other issues.

  7. SA tennis player Joshua Chetty handed life ban over match-fixing

    South African Joshua Chetty has been banned for life from professional tennis after being found guilty of match-fixing offences.

    The 21-year-old admitted offering money to another player to underperform at an ITF Futures F1 tournament in his home country in November 2015.

    The fellow player reported the approach to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), who carried out an investigation.

    Chetty is currently ranked 1,857th in the world, with a career high of 1,370.

  8. EU might sign exclusive trade deal with Kenya

    Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania have so far failed to sign up to a European Union trade deal which all member states of the East African Community were supposed to agree to by January.

    The delay could mean that the EU ends up doing an exclusive deal with Kenya, the Daily Nation reports, quoting EU ambassador to Kenya Stafano Dejak. 

    Only Kenya and Rwanda have signed the Economic Partnerships Agreement, the deal that grants the region some privileges to export horticultural products to the EU without customs charges.  

    The deadline for signing was initially set for 1 October but was moved to January.

    Flower farm
    Image caption: Only Kenya and Rwanda have signed the Economic Partnerships Agreement
  9. Pangolins placed on the world's most endangered list

    The meeting of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) in Johannesburg has agreed to put the pangolin on its most endangered list - known as appendix one.

    View more on twitter

    This means that they are threatened with extinction, but their trade is now prohibited.

    The pangolin is considered to be the most trafficked mammal in the world.

    Video content

    Video caption: Pangolin:The most trafficked mammal in the world
  10. US deports Rwanda genocide suspect Leopold Munyakazi

    The US has deported a Rwandan academic, accused of being a key figure in the 1994 genocide, to his home country.

    Leopold Munyakazi's deportation came after he lost a long-running legal battle to gain asylum in the US.

    He is accused of wearing banana leaves during the genocide to identify himself as a Hutu, and of organising night raids on the homes of families from the rival Tutsi ethnic group.

    Read the full story

    US deports Rwanda genocide suspect Leopold Munyakazi
    Image caption: About 800,000 people were killed in the Rwandan genocide, the first in Africa
  11. Drones - good or bad for Africa?

    Drone use is on the rise in Africa - in film-making, conservation and construction.

    But BBC Monitoring Africa security correspondent Tomi Oladipo says some governments on the continent are worried about security and have begun cracking down on pilots.

    Video journalist: Michael Onyiego.

    Video content

    Video caption: Drones - good or bad for Africa?
  12. Tanzania charges officials in quake fund fraud

    John Magufuli
    Image caption: Mr Magufuli said the two officials were dishonest

    Two public officials, who were suspended for setting up a fraudulent bank account to receive funds for victims of the 10 September earthquake, in the north-western region of Kagera, have been charged in court, the Reuters news agency quotes President John Magufuli as saying. 

    Mr Magufuli who was receiving a $3m (£2.3m) donation from the UK said the two officials were dishonest:

    Quote Message: Our people are suffering as a result of this earthquake and require emergency relief assistance, yet these dishonest officials are trying to benefit financially from this tragedy.
    Quote Message: We are receiving these donations from the United Kingdom and others because our development partners are now confident that their financial assistance will be well spent."

    Several countries have given donations to Tanzania.

  13. South African teen wins $50,000 Google prize

    South African Kiara Nirghin, 16, has won the grand prize at this year's Google science fair for her project on developing a cheap super-absorbent material that can help soil retain water.

    After winning a competition against young people from around the world, Ms Nirghin was awarded with a $50,000 (£38,000) scholarship fund to help her with her education.

    Her work was a direct response the South Africa's recent drought, one of the worst in the country's history.

    Superabsorbent Polymers (SAPs) are available, but they are expensive and not biodegradable. 

    Ms Nirghin set about trying to create an alternative, the Google science fair website says.

    She discovered that a mixture made from orange peel could be an effective substitute.

    She now hopes that this can help local farmers save both money and their crops.  

    Kiara Nirghin
  14. South Sudanese troops are 'frustrating UN operations'

    A leaked report from the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon details a series of events that suggests South Sudanese army is frustrating the UN mission in the country, the AP news agency reports. 

    The report lists 22 incidents that describe South Sudan security forces denying passage or access, at times also making threats, extorting money or taking equipment. 

    In one incident, an ambulance which was carrying a pregnant woman in need of urgent care was delayed for two hours after having to go through 15 security checks in a journey that would normally take 15 minutes, AP reports.

    The baby did not survive the birth.

    AP adds that the report says such incidents are in "direct violation'' of the UN mission's operating agreement.

    Concern about the security situation in South Sudan has grown since the violence in July, which led to the ouster of Vice-President Riek Machar.

    South Sudan's President Salva Kiir (C) walks with a high delegation from the United Nations (UN) Security Council, including US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power
    Image caption: A delegation of ambassadors from the UN security council visited South Sudan earlier this month
  15. Ivory Coast trafficked children flown back home

    Six children from Ivory Coast who were victims of human trafficking have been rescued and returned home, the news website Abidjan.net reports.

    Ivorian officials were alerted on Tuesday to the situation of the children after they were spotted in Agadez, Niger, according to the news site. 

    Authorities in Niger raised the alarm when they failed to properly establish family links between the children and their apparent minders. 

    They have been taken home with help from the International Organization for Migration. 

    Unitl further investigations the children will not be returned to their families. 

    An official from the Ivory Ministry for Family Affairs, Magel Kouakou, was quoted by Abidjan.net as saying: 

    Quote Message: We have to make sure children are no longer thrown onto the highways towards uncertain destinations."
    Ivory First Lady Dominique Ouattara with trafficked children
    Image caption: Ivory Coast is often at the receiving end of child trafficking and first lady Dominique Ouattara has made fighting it a personal cause

    As a relatively rich farming country, known for its coffee and cocoa plantations, Ivory Coast is usually a destination rather than a provider for child trafficking. 

    That is why Ivorian officials are said to be investigating this unusual case out of fear that the children might have fallen victims to a new kind of underground network of traffickers.

  16. Liverppol's Mane wins player of the month award

    Nick Cavell

    BBC Africa Sport

    Liverpool's Sadio Mane has won the PFA Fans' Premier League Player of the Month award for August and September, beating Kevin De Bruyne and Etienne Capoue to second and third respectively.

    Jurgen Klopp's side are now fourth in the table and the division's second-top scorers behind Manchester City, with 16 goals in six matches - 11 of those coming in their past three. 

    Mane has had a hand in six goals in six games for the Reds this season in all competitions (three goals, three assists).

    Liverpool's Sadio Mane
  17. Bemba appeal against war crimes conviction

    Former Democratic Republic of Congo rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, who has been jailed for 18 years by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, has appealed against his conviction on the groubds that his trial was "flawed", the AFP news agency quotes his lawyers as saying. 

    Bemba, who is also a former vice-president of DR Congo, was convicted in March of crimes his forces committed in neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) in 2002-2003. 

    He was accused of failing to stop men from killing and raping people.

    Jean-Pierre Bemba
    Image caption: Bemba was arrested in Belgium in 2008 under an international arrest warrant
  18. Slain Somali journalist laid to rest

    Somali journalist Abdulaziz Ali, who was shot dead on Tuesday in the capital, Mogadishu, by two gunmen on a motorbike, has been buried.

    Mr Ali is the 13th journalist working for Radio Shabelle to have been murdered since 2007.

    The radio station is well known for its independent stance and is critical of both the government and the al-Shabab militant group.

    Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

    The AU mission in Somalia has shared a photo of Mr Ali at work:

    View more on twitter
  19. Praise for honest Ethiopian Airlines crew member

    Ethiopian Airlines has taken to its Facebook page to praise one its cabin crew for giving back $10,000 (£7,600) to a passenger who had lost the money during a flight. 

    It calls the act a "living testament to the highest standards of ethics and integrity".

    The airline does not give details of what happened. 

    People have joined in the commendation of the crew member, who the airline identifies as Roza Shiferaw

    Ethiopian Airline facebook page
  20. Search under way for 'Buddy' the penguin

    A desperate search is under way for an endangered African penguin "freed" by activists who may have unwittingly sent the bird to his death.

    Buddy was stolen from a South African marine park by two students who claim it was a demonstration against animals being kept in captivity.

    But Buddy was born in the park, and has no idea how to survive in the wild.

    Experts say the penguin could last for just two more weeks before he will starve to death.

    Read the full story

    Search underway for 'Buddy' the penguin