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Live Reporting

Hugo Williams 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: You do not need to tell the deaf person that the war has started." from An Igbo proverb sent by Ada Okonkwo in Croydon, UK and Edu Chioke in Enugu, Nigeria
    An Igbo proverb sent by Ada Okonkwo in Croydon, UK and Edu Chioke in Enugu, Nigeria

    Click here to send us your African proverbs

    And we leave you with this photo of 17-year-old Madalena Francisco Jorge at school in Tete, Mozambique, surrounded by her classmates. For the full New York Times photo story focusing on the discrimination faced by people with albinism in Africa, go here.

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  2. African heritage 'forgotten' in latest exhbition by top British artist

    Nigerian artist Victor Ehikhamenor has highlighted an exhibit at British artist Damien Hirst's current show as the latest example of cultural appropriation.

    Hirst's Venice exhibition Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable hosts the imagined artefacts rescued from a fictional ship that went down off the coast of East Africa.

    One of the pieces looks like one of the famous Benin bronzes cast in the 13th Century in the Ife Kingdom in what is now Nigeria.

    Ehikhamenor says in his Instagram post that this postcard of Golden Heads (Female) "makes no reference to the Kingdom of Ife and great artists that originally made these timeless classics... Once again the hunter has glorified his tale in the absence of the lion." 

    View more on instagram

    In another post he says: "For the thousands of viewers seeing this for the first time, they won't think Ife, they won't think Nigeria. 

    "Their young ones will grow up to know this work as Damien Hirst's. As time passes it will pass for a Damien Hirst regardless of his small print caption. 

    "The narrative will shift and the young Ife or Nigerian contemporary artist will someday be told by a long-nose critic: 'Your work reminds me of Damien Hirst's Golden Head'. 

    "We need more biographers for our forgotten."

    View more on instagram
  3. Ex-rebels end protest in Ivory Coast

    Several hundred former rebel fighters in Ivory Coast have ended their protest in the second city, Bouake, after talks with local officials, Reuters news agency reports. 

    It quoted Defence Minister Alain-Richard Donwah as saying:

    Quote Message: The situation is calm. Order has been re-established."
    Several hundred ex-rebels block access to Bouake, their former stronghold in central Ivory Coast, on May 8, 2017 to press pay demands after a mutiny in January that led to a deal.
    Image caption: The protesters blocked off a main road leading out of Bouake

    A spokesman for ex-fighters said that President Alassane Ouattara had agreed to meet them to discuss their demands for a payment of 12 million CFA francs ($20,000) each, as well as jobs in the armed forces and government services, Reuters reports.  

    A representative of the president's office said she was not aware of any meeting having been agreed, it added.

    See earlier post for more details 

  4. What fate awaits the recently released Chibok girls?

    Chibok girls
    Image caption: The 21 girls released last October are still being held by the authorities

    As parents slowly start to learn about whether their daughters are among the 82 freed by Boko Haram militants two days ago, what can we learn about how this group will be treated from those who have come before? 

    Twenty-one of the Chibok girls who were released last October are still on a "military reintegration programme" seven months on.

    They were allowed to go home to Chibok at Christmas, but their families were only able to see them at a local politician’s house.

    Nigerian journalist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, writing in the New York Times in March, said:

    “The girls now seem to have exchanged one form of captivity for another.”

    And of course there are still thousands of others who Boko Haram have abducted who have not been heard from.

    Read the latest Q&A on what we know about the abductions.

  5. SA 'coup plotter' released on bail

    A court in South Africa has granted bail to a man accused of plotting a coup and planning to assassinate President Jacob Zuma, and nearly 20 other people - including government ministers, officials, and businessmen. 

    Elvis Ramosebudi posed no danger to society, and was a "penniless young man who seems desperate to make quick money, no matter how dirty", the magistrate said, as he ordered his release, the local News24 site reports. 

    Elvis Ramosebudi suspected for planning the assassinations of 19 South African politicians, prominent business people and employees of state-owned entities looks on at the Johannesburg Magistrate Court on April 28, 2017
    Image caption: Elvis Ramosebudi father says he was shocked by his arrest

    South Africa's elite Hawks police unit arrested Mr Ramosebudi on 26 April, saying he had been soliciting money from businessmen to plot the assassinations and a coup. 

    His father, Stanley Ramosebudi, said his unemployed son would not hurt an ant, News24 reports.

  6. Deadly bomb blast in Somalia

    BBC World Service

    At least six people have been killed in an explosion in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, police officers have been quoted as saying. 

    Reports say the blast was caused by a car bomb on a busy thoroughfare. Witnesses have also spoken of gunfire after the explosion. 

    Militant Islamist group al-Shabab regularly targets the city.

  7. Muntari: I have been treated like a criminal

    Pescara midfielder Sulley Muntari, who left the field in protest at racist abuse during their game against Cagliari, says people who are abused should not be afraid to speak out.

    The Ghana star told BBC Sport that he has "been through hell" since the incident last weekend:

    Quote Message: I've been through hell. I was treated just like a criminal. My message to [victims of] racial abuse is... You should not get scared to talk. You should speak out to set yourself free. Don't be scared of anybody."

    Video content

    Video caption: Racial abuse: Don't be afraid to speak up - Sulley Muntari

     Read more: Muntari has ban for racist abuse protest overturned

  8. Water polo coach accused of sexual abuse

    Milton Nkosi

    BBC Africa, Johannesburg

    A 22-year-old water polo coach has been accused of sexually molesting teenage boys at one of South Africa's most prestigious schools, Parktown Boys' High in Johannesburg.

    More than 20 boys have some forward since video footage from a surveillance camera allegedly showed the the popular coach fondling a 15-year-old boy.

    He is due to appear in court on Wednesday.

  9. SA police try to quell racially charged protest

    Police have fired rubber bullets to prevent black protesters from entering a farm in South Africa's north-western town of Coligny, in the latest incident of racially-charged unrest in the area since two white men were accused of killing a black teenager last month.

    A journalist with a South African radio station has been tweeting from the scene:   

    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter

    The latest trouble  erupted after a magistrate gave bail to two white men accused of killing 16-year-old Matlhamola Jonas Mosweu, saying he was satisfied that they will not flee. 

    South Africa's City Press newspaper reports that the teenager's father, Sakkie Dingake, reacted angrily to the magistrate's decision:

    Quote Message: This is my son. They are now going back to work after killing my son so cruelly. What about my son? He is dead, he is sleeping forever."

    Pieter Doorewaard, 26, and Philip Schutte, 34, deny killing the teenager, saying he died after jumping out of a van while they were driving him to a police station for stealing sunflowers from a farm.

    See earlier post for more details  

  10. How many other people is Boko Haram holding?

    Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, pictured sitting among the 82 rescued Chibok girls during a reception ceremony at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, on 7 May, 2017
    Image caption: The 82 girls were taken to Abuja to meet President Muhammadu Buhari after their rescue on Saturday

    Parents of the missing Chibok girls are slowly learning if their daughters are among the 82 freed by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria two days ago.

    It's the biggest breakthrough so far in the high-profile abduction, which made waves around the world. 

    But the girls kidnapped in Chibok in 2014 represent a small fraction of the number of people taken by Boko Haram.

    Exact figures are hard to come by, but in 2015 Amnesty International said at least 2,000 women and girls had been taken since 2014, with many of them being forced into sexual slavery.

    Amnesty Nigeria's spokesperson Isa Sanusi said that since 2014 his organisation has recorded 14 mass abductions and that it still gets reports of kidnappings on almost a daily basis.

    "Almost all towns and villages in Borno state have a long list of missing persons, mostly women, girls and young men," he told the BBC in an email.

    Read more:

  11. New York throws spotlight on African photographers

    The New York Times photo blog has a great feature on African photographers, tying in with the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, which was held in the city over the weekend (you might remember our coverage from April when it came to London).

    The picture below is from Johannesburg-based photographer Jabulani Dhlamini:

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  12. The deer hunters of Ghana

    Every year in May, the people of the Ghanaian coastal town of Winneba celebrate their migration from the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu with a traditional hunt, known as the Aboakyer festival. 

    This year the BBC’s Sulley Lansah and Christian Parkinson accompanied the hunters as they took to the bush in search of an elusive prey. 

    The animal is not killed during the hunt but later at a secret ceremony.  

    Video content

    Video caption: Aboakyer festival: The deer hunters of Ghana
  13. Racially-charged unrest hits SA town

    Violence has erupted in the small town of Colingy in South Africa after two white men accused of killing a black teenager were released on bail. 

    Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte deny killing 16-year-old Matlhamola Jonas Mosweu, saying he died after jumping off a van while being driven to a police station for stealing sunflowers. 

    A journalist with South Africa's News24 site has tweeted about the latest unrest:  

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

    Giving the accused bail of about $36 each, the magistrate Magaola Foso said there was no link at this stage between "witness evidence" of the alleged crime and the two men, the news site reports. 

    More than 1,000 people attended the teenager's funeral on Sunday.

    Read more on South Africa's Mail & Guardian website.

  14. Guinea crash death toll rises to 23

    The number of people killed in a head-on crash in Guinea on Saturday between a minibus packed with people going to a wedding and a lorry carrying sand has risen to 23, AFP news agency reports. 

    Many of the victims were women, and one of those who died on Sunday was a six-month-old baby, Abdoulaye Sako, a doctor at a hospital in the capital, Conakry, was quoted as saying. 

    Eighteen people died at the scene of the crash, just north of Conakry, on Saturday. 

  15. Career advice from top BBC Africa presenter

    Salim Kikeke, presenter of BBC Swahili TV programme, Dira ya Dunia, has been giving his top tips to the BBC Minute team for a series on careers. 

    Salim, who has nearly two million fans on Facebook, says "always being prepared" and not taking things for granted have helped him achieve his goals:

    Video content

    Video caption: Has top BBC presenter Salim Kikeke ever had a bad job interview?
  16. Nigeria opposition condemns deal over Chibok girls

    View more on twitter

    A faction within Nigeria's main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the government's decision to free suspected Boko Haram militants in exchange for the release of  82 schoolgirls abducted from the north-eastern town of Chibok in April 2014.

    In a statement, the faction, led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi, said that it while it welcomed the fact that the girls had been freed, it opposed the release of "hardened criminals". 

    The suspected militant Islamists had escaped and could "unleash terror" again, it said. 

    Boko Haram could also be emboldened to continue abducting innocent people with the belief that it could "blackmail" the government into releasing more of its fighters, the statement added. 

    Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari applauds as he welcomes a group of Chibok girls, who were held captive for three years by the millitant group Boko Haram, in Abuja, Nigeria, May 7, 2017
    Image caption: President Muhammadu Buhari met the released girls yeserday

    A total of 276 girls were abducted from Chibok,triggered a global outcry and a huge social media campaign to demand their return. 

    More than 100 of the girls have yet to be freed.  

    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was a "neutral intermediary"and had "facilitated the safe return" of the 82 girls.

    Four militants were freed in exchange, sources have told the BBC.

    Read: torment of a freed Boko Haram 'bride

  17. Ex-rebels in Ivory Coast 'seal main road'

    Ivory Coast's president Alassane Ouattara (R) speaks with presidential spokeswoman Massere Toure at the presidential palace during a May Day rally on May 1, 2017 in Abidjan
    Image caption: President Ouattara took power after a civil conflict followed elections in 2010

    Former rebel fighters protesting in Ivory Coast's second city, Bouake, have blocked off the main road leading to the commercial hub, Abidjan, and the capital, Yamoussoukro, Reuters news agency reports. 

    They are demanding payments of 12 million CFA francs ($20,000) for each of them, as well as jobs in the armed forces and government services, Amadou Ouattara, who described himself as a spokesman for the group said. 

    He added:

    Quote Message: We're asking for President Alassane Ouattara to have a thought for his sons, who have suffered for 15 years."

    Some of the ex-rebels were armed, and were wearing balaclavas or had blackened their faces with ash, Reuters reports. 

    It quoted resident Isabelle Kouassi as saying he could not leave Bouake:

    Quote Message: They've blocked everything."

    Rebels from Bouake and other areas in northern Ivory Coast helped President Ouattara take power in 2011 after then-ruler Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept defeat in elections.

    See earlier post for more details

  18. New African football chief refuses salary

    Ahmed
    Image caption: CAF boss Ahmad goes under a single name

    The new Confederation of African Football (Caf) President, Ahmad, says he has refused to accept a salary from African football's governing body.

    His election in March ended Cameroonian Issa Hayatou's 29-year reign.

    "I've refused a Caf salary for the simple reason it doesn't respect good administration," he told BBC Sport.

    "The salaries of all Caf employees, from administrators to the executive committee and president, all have to be transparent."

    He also wants to look at the re-investment of Caf resources to aid the development of football across the continent, stressing that "Caf is not here to make money to enrich itself."  

    Read more:

  19. Trevor Noah wins best host at MTV awards

    View more on twitter

    South African comedian Trevor Noah was crowned best host at the MTV Movie and TV Awards in LA last night. 

    His name is trending across South Africa this morning as people celebrate the fact that he won the award. 

    He dedicated his victory to his mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah:

    Quote Message: There is one person I aspire to be every single day and that is my mom... a powerful, strong black woman who never listened when people told her she couldn't be more."
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    He also thanked the US president for helping to supply material for his satirical Daily Show:

    Quote Message: Thank you to Donald J. Trump for the comedy. The J stands for Jesus, a lot of people don't know that."
  20. Funeral for Tanzania schoolchildren killed in bus crash

    Aboubakar Famau

    BBC Africa, Arusha

    Mourners

    Hundreds of mourners are attending the funeral service of 32 school pupils who were killed, along with two teachers and their driver, in a bus crash in northern Tanzania on Saturday.

    Mourner
    Mourner

    Relatives of the dead were overcome by emotion at the service, being held at a stadium in Arusha city. Some wept, and others fainted. They were rushed to the first aid tent or taken to nearby hospitals.    

    Mourner faints

    The government is paying for the expenses of the funeral, including buying coffins and arranging transport. 

    Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan is leading the government delegation at the funeral.   

    Coffins brought to stadium

    Officials said the bus plunged off the road in a steep ravine near the town of Karatu.

    The final year pupils from the Lucky Vincent school - believed to be aged between 12 and 14 - were on their way to take mock exams when the accident happened on Saturday morning.