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Live Reporting

Lucy Fleming

All times stated are UK

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  1. Scroll down for Tuesday'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 .  

    Quote Message: Some Siamese twin crocodiles are joined at the stomach, yet they fight over food." from An Akan proverb sent by Bernard Agyeman Boateng from Accra, Ghana
    An Akan proverb sent by Bernard Agyeman Boateng from Accra, Ghana

    Click here to send us your African proverbs .

    And we leave you with this photo of a Somali fisherman casting his nets on a beach in Eyl, once a stronghold of pirates: 

    
          A Somali fisherman casts his nets at dusk on the beach in the former pirate village of Eyl, in Somalia"s northeastern semi-autonomous state of Puntland - Monday 6 March 2017
  2. Kenyatta denounces doctors' strike as 'blackmail'

    Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has been speaking about the doctors' strike (see earlier posts). He said he was committed to a "fair resolution" to the dispute but there was "no fairness" in doctors continuing to work in private practice while striking in their public sector roles.

    "Fairness to you as doctors cannot come at the expense of fairness to other Kenyans. Your duty is to serve all, to protect and to care for all."

    He said doctors were being "offered... more money than even doctors in the private sector receive".

    "This is blackmail and we are not going to entertain it," Mr Kenyatta said.

    View more on twitter
  3. Meat treat for Kenya's 'sacred' cats

    The BBC's John Nene says some communities in Lamu on Kenya's coast consider cats to be sacred.

    And he recently spotted some of these lucky felines receiving some meaty treats:

    Cat being fed in Lamu, Kenya
  4. Kenyan MP arrested amid ranch invasions

    A Kenyan MP has been arrested a day after the government warned that it would apprehend leaders alleged to be inciting violence in Laikipia county.

    Matthew Lempurkel, the member of parliament of Laikipia North, the constituency where British rancher Tristan Voorspuy was killed by armed herders on Sunday, is expected to record a statement about the ongoing violence: 

    View more on twitter

    Media reports say that an ongoing drought has driven pastoralists to move into private farms to find pasture for their animals.

    But analysts say local leaders are inciting armed herders to invade the farms. 

    A security operation is currently under way in the area. 

  5. Mozambique to track illegal fishing vessels

    Jose Tembe

    BBC Africa, Maputo

    A fish seller in Maputo, Mozambique
    Image caption: Mozambique is famous for its seafood

    A body to track illegal fishing vessels off the east and southern coasts of Africa is to be set up in Mozambique.

    It is estimated that Mozambique alone loses about $67m (£55m) annually to illegal fishing.

    Leonildo Chimarizene, a top official in Mozambique's fisheries ministry, said the centre would be based in the capital, Maputo, with the aim of improving co-operation among member states of the regional body, Sadc.

    Quote Message: “Under the project, if a suspected fishing boat is spotted in a given territorial water, the centre will act to alert and communicate that an illegal fishing boat is in Mozambican, South African or Tanzanian territorial waters.
    Quote Message: An inspection team will, then, be dispatched to the area in question to intercept the vessel.
    Quote Message: This work will be done by experts on monitoring, controlling and inspecting.
    Quote Message: The centre will also have a training component.” from Leonildo Chimarizene
    Leonildo Chimarizene
  6. New coach for Congo-Brazzaville football team

    
          Democratic Republic of the Congo's forward Dieudonne Mbokani (R) vies with Congo's defender Boris Moubio Ngonga during the 2015 African Cup of Nations quarter final football match between Congo and Republic of the Congo in Bata, on January 31, 2015
    Image caption: Congo-Brazzaville has been without a permanent coach since November

    Frenchman Sebastien Migne has replaced compatriot Pierre Lechantre as coach of Congo-Brazzaville.

    Migne, 44, has previously worked as Claude LeRoy's assistant at both Congo-Brazzaville and Togo.

    It is a swift return to the 1972 African champions for Migne, who worked as LeRoy's assistant with the Red Devils until November 2015.

    Congo-Brazzaville had been without a permanent coach since  Lechantre was sacked  in November 2016.

    Read the full story from BBC Sport.

  7. Kenya doctors urged to 'stay calm'

    
          Doctors celebrating outside court in Nairobi, Kenya - 7 March 2017
    Image caption: Earlier today, doctors celebrated what they thought was a deal to end the strike

    Doctors' leaders in Kenya have urged medics to remain resolute in the face of a breakdown of the deal negotiated by religious leaders to end their three-month strike (see earlier posts).

    Mwachonda Chibanzi, deputy secretary general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union, said:

    Quote Message: Dear members we have just concluded our National Advisory Council deliberating on the current strike. We have noted the government's plan on our strike, and the threats thrown our way. We wish to advise all the membership to maintain their resolve and stay calm. LISTEN to the UNION only. Further communication will follow."
  8. Builders start Lagos port to Ibadan rail link

    Umar Shehu Elleman

    BBC Africa, Lagos

    
          Track at the opening ceremony of the Lagos-Ibadan railway project

    Nigeria’s government today launched a railway project to link the port of Lagos to the city of Ibadan by 2019.

    A Chinese loan is funding the 100km (62-mile) rail link – and the track is being built by the China Railway Construction Corporation and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.

    There is an existing rail link between Lagos and Ibadan, but it was built during the colonial era – and does not extend to the port.

    The new track will enable high-speed trains to carry cargo and passengers between two of Nigeria’s important commercial centres.

    It is hoped it will also ease congestion in Lagos where lorries have to queue for days to gain entry to the port to collect goods.

    Nigeria’s Acting President Yemi Osinbajo was at the opening ceremony in Lagos along with other officials, including the transport minister and head of the Nigerian Ports Authority.

    After its completion, the intention is to then continue the track from Ibadan to Kano in the north.

    At the same time, the line will be extended south to Calabar, another important port.

  9. South Sudan MPs approve huge work permit fee hike

    South Sudan's parliament is reported to have approved an increase in the cost of work permits for professional foreign workers to $10,000 (£8,203) from $100.

    Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth told CGTN Africa that South Sudan's work permit rates had been the lowest in the region and it was "normal" to levy such fees.

    President Salva Kiir's spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny was quoted as saying : "Any country in the world has a right to impose work permits on foreigners. If you can't pay $10,000, then you hire a local person instead."

    Most foreigners in South Sudan are thought to work in humanitarian aid or the oil industry. The new work permit rates were announced days after the UN declared a famine in parts of the country, and called for relief efforts to be stepped up.

    Even before its latest move, the South Sudanese government had been accused of impeding access for humanitarian agencies.

    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter
  10. Video clips of fierce winds hitting Madagascar

    Weather watchers Storm Report SA have put together a compilation of clips they've received from people in Madagascar experiencing Cyclone Enawo.

    It says the Indian Ocean island has recorded wind gusts of up to 300km/h:

    View more on twitter
  11. Kenya government backtracks on doctors’ deal

    Demonstrating doctors in Kenya
    Image caption: Doctors in Kenya called the strike in December after the government failed to honour a 2013 deal on salary increases

    Kenya’s government and county governors have withdrawn a 50% pay rise and other allowances offered for doctors to end their three-month strike.

    A government statement said its offer had been on condition that doctors reported back to work this morning.

    Quote Message: "Consequently for failure to call off the strike, the government has now rescinded this offer and there will be no further negotiations on remuneration (salaries and allowances)."

    For the last week, religious leaders have been negotiating a deal between doctors’ leaders and the government – which was presented to a court in the capital, Nairobi, this morning ( see earlier entry ).

    The doctors said they would return to work as soon as the agreement had been signed.

    But a BBC reporter tweets that instead they now face the sack:

    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter
  12. A South African health minister performs post-mortems

    Pumza Fihlani

    BBC News, South Africa

    A provincial health minister in South Africa has had to step in and perform post-mortems after staff at a busy morgue did not turn up for work as they said they were sick.

    Sibongiseni Dhlomo, a trained forensic pathologist, cancelled his plans in order to help clear the backlog of bodies at the Park Rynie morgue, in KwaZulu Natal province.

    In a statement ‚ KwaZulu Natal health spokesman Desmond Motha said the minister’s intervention would see that bodies due for burial would be examined by the weekend.

    He assured the public that there would not be any delays. 

    The minister and his team will complete 17 examinations today and tomorrow.

  13. What's different in the new US travel ban?

    US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order replacing his previous travel ban. How does the new travel ban differ from the last? Will refugees be affected? Will you? Rajini Vaidyanathan reports:

    Video content

    Video caption: New US travel ban: What's different?
  14. Somalis 'have contributed to the US economy'

    Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed - a dual US-Somali citizen - has criticised the new US travel ban on people from six mainly Muslim nations, including Somalia.

    The Associated Press new agency quotes him as saying that the estimated 150,000 Somalis in the US had “ contributed to the US economy and the US society in different ways, and we have to talk about what the Somali people have contributed rather than a few people who may cause a problem .''

    It was critical that Somalia continue to work to defeat the Islamist militant group al-Shabab, he said.

    The new Somali president was speaking at an event in the capital, Mogadishu, with UN chief Antonio Guterres to address Somalia's drought that poses the risk of famine to five million people (see earlier posts).

    
          UN Secretary general Antonio Guterres (R) and Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed
    Image caption: President Mohamed and UN chief Antonio Guterres discussed the challenges facing Somalia

    On Monday, US President Donald Trump signed the new executive order presented as a means to strengthen US national security against terror threats.

    The directive, which includes a 120-day ban on all refugees, takes effect on 16 March.

    Read the BBC New story for more .

  15. The astonishing vision and focus of Namibia's nomads

    
          A Himba woman poses on August 19, 2010 in the village of Otjakati, 40 kms from Opuwo in northern Namibia.

    The Himba people of Namibia can see fine details and ignore distraction much better than most other human beings – a finding that may reflect the many ways that modern life is changing our minds and abilities, David Robson writes on BBC Future.

    Here are his opening paragraphs: 

    Nestled in a grassy valley of north-eastern Namibia, Opuwo may seem like a crumbling relic of colonial history. With a population of just 12,000, the town is so small that it would take less than a minute to drive from the road sign on one side of town to the shanty villages on other. Along the way, you would see a hotchpotch collection of administrative offices, a couple of schools, a hospital and a handful of supermarkets and petrol stations.

    For many of the people living in the surrounding valley, however, this small town is also the first taste of modern life. The capital of the Kunene region, Opuwo lies in the heartland of the Himba people, a semi-nomadic people who spend their days herding cattle. Long after many of the world’s other indigenous populations had begun to migrate to cities, the Himba had mostly avoided contact with modern culture, quietly continuing their traditional life. But that is slowly changing, with younger generations feeling the draw of Opuwo, where they will encounter cars, brick buildings, and writing for the first time.

    Opuwo street
    Image caption: Opuwo is the first taste of modern life for some of those who live nearby

    How does the human mind cope with all those novelties and new sensations? By studying people like the Himba, at the start of their journey into modernity, scientists are now hoping to understand the ways that modern life may have altered all of our minds. The results so far are fascinating, documenting a striking change in our visual focus and attention. The Himba people, it seems, don’t see the world like the rest of us.

    And  here's the link to the full story .

  16. Kenyan doctors to sign deal to end strike

    Abdinoor Aden

    BBC Africa, Nairobi

    Doctors outside court in Nairobi, Kenya
    Image caption: The doctors, seen outside court today, feel the deal is a victory for them

    Doctors in Kenya have agreed to end their three-month strike over pay and conditions following mediation by religious leaders.

    The doctors’ unions and the government are due to sign a deal after seven days of negotiations led by the Religious Council of Kenya. 

    The council intervened after doctors' leaders were jailed for refusing to comply with a court order to negotiate.

    The court agreed to calls for an out-of-court settlement and they were freed on condition a deal was reached by today. 

    Medical staff began their strike in December after the government failed to implement a 2013 agreement signed with the Kenya Medical Practitioners' Union, which included a pay rise of around 180%. 

    Religious leaders in Kenya
    Image caption: The religious leaders led negotiations for seven days

    Both parties presented the new deal to the court this morning.

    Doctors have now agreed to accept a lower salary offer, but details have not been made public. 

    They have also dropped demands for improvements to medical facilities after a government assurance that this was a long-term goal.

    The government has agreed to pay the striking doctors their salaries and allowances for the last three months. 

    Doctors see the deal as a victory – and say they will return to work as soon as the agreement is signed.

    President Uhuru Kenyatta has said they should return to work immediately.

    Read more: The cancer patient and the medic

  17. Migrants killed in fighting between Libya people smugglers

    Migrants drifting in a boat off the Libyan coast
    Image caption: Nearly 20,000 migrants have reached Europe by sea this year

    Fighting between rival gangs of people smugglers in Libya has led to the deaths of 22 migrants, the International Organization for Migration has said .

    The IOM said the incident happened in Subratah recently. 

    Reports about the fighting emerged after 110 migrants were brought ashore by the Libyan coastguard on 3 March when their boat started taking on water.

    The migrants have since been transferred to two detention centres where they are receiving emergency assistance.

    In its latest report on migration to Europe, the IOM said 19,384 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017 up until 5 March - more than 80% of whom arrived in Italy and the rest in Spain and Greece. 

    This compares with 138,524 through the first 65 days of 2016, when many Syrians were making the journey across the eastern Mediterranean to Greece.

    The IOM says the number of Mediterranean fatalities this year stood at 521, as of 5 March, compared with 471 at the same date in 2016.

  18. SA's Jordaan out of Fifa Council race

    Danny Jordaan

    South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan has pulled out of the race to be a member of the Fifa Council.

    South Sudan's Chabur Goc Alei has also withdrawn from the race,  as he did in 2016,  while Zambian Kalusha Bwalya  abandoned his bid  over the weekend.

    The withdrawals were revealed in a letter sent by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to the continent's member associations.

    Caf confirmed the eligibility of 10 candidates for next week's elections.

    This came after Fifa's Governance Committee approved their candidacy following eligibility checks, which Fifa introduced following the  corruption scandal of 2015.

    Read the full story on BBC Sport .

  19. Photos of 1920s and 30s Accra

    Yesterday Ghana marked 60 years of independence with celebrations in Accra.

    The Guardian has a photo gallery today, with images from pre-independence Accra which it has obtained from Deo Gratias - the oldest photography studio still in operation in the Ghanaian capital.

    You can see the pictures, from the 1920s and 1930s, via the link below.

    View more on twitter
  20. Sudan condemns Trump's visa ban

    Ahmed Mohamed Abdi

    BBC Monitoring

    Donald Trump signing the executive order on 6 March 2017
    Image caption: The new order does not give priority to religious minorities, unlike the previous directive

    Sudan has condemned the decision by US President Donald Trump to impose a visa ban on its citizens.

    A statement from the foreign ministry published by the state-owned Sudanese News Agency said :

    Quote Message: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its disapproval and deep regret of the executive order issued by the US president yesterday, 6 March 2017, according to which travels by citizens of six countries, including Sudan, to the USA was restricted for a period of 90 days."

    The previous order, signed when Mr Trump came into office in January, was blocked by a federal court and effectively remains on hold.

    In the statement, Sudan also reiterated its call for the US to remove its name from the list of countries supporting terrorism.

    Mr Trump's new order has also halted the country's refugee programme for 120 days.

    Read more: 'We Sudanese still feel like pariahs'