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Live Reporting

Naziru Mikailu and Farouk Chothia

All times stated are UK

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  1. Scroll down for Monday's stories

    We'll be back on Tuesday

    That's all for today from the BBC Africa Live page. Listen to the Africa Today podcast and keep up-to-date with developments across the continent on the BBC News website.  

    A reminder of today’s African proverb:

    Quote Message: The grasshopper which was killed by the locust must have been deaf." from An Igbo proverb sent by Ezeorah Alphonsus Ugochukwu, Abuja, Nigeria.
    An Igbo proverb sent by Ezeorah Alphonsus Ugochukwu, Abuja, Nigeria.

    Click here to send us your African proverbs.  

    And we leave you with this photo from the weekend of a pelican with a man’s head in his mouth in Senegal's capital, Dakar. It's our #regramtheweekend picture sent by @JaneHahn

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  2. Liberia banker 'feared drowned'

    Jonathan Paye-Layleh

    BBC Africa, Monrovia

    A prominent Liberian banker is feared to have drowned in circumstances that are still unclear while on a boat ride near the capital, Monrovia.

    Daniel Orogun - the president of the Liberia operation of Nigerian-based Guaranty Trust Bank - was on the boat with his wife and three children when the suspected drowning happened on Sunday. 

    Well-known Liberian businessman George Kailando left with them for the boat ride from his riverside villa.  

    “Overnight rescue efforts have intensified to make sure whether the individual in question can be found,” police spokesman Sam Collins told me. 

    Police were also investigating reports that the boat did not have life-jackets at the time of the incident.

    “We are trying to extract statements from all of the passengers that were on the boat,” Mr Collins added.  

    The bank said  that Mr Orogun had gone “missing” as a result of “an unfortunate” situation.  

    Guaranty Trust Bank operates in 10 countries, including Sierra Leone, Ghana Rwanda and Uganda.

  3. Did Egypt revolution live up to expectations?

    The BBC's World Have Your Say team has put together a great video looking back at the people they heard from at the start of Arab Spring five years ago:

    View more on twitter
  4. Arab comedians 'break out of the box'

    The sold-out fifth edition of Arabs Are Not Funny was held a few days ago in London. 

    The line-up included award-winning British Somali comic Prince Abdi and upcoming Tunisian comedian Houssem Rhaiem.

    Muslim and Arab identity were popular themes, along with insecurity and Islamophobia. 

    BBC Africa's Nora Fakim went along to see what they had to laugh about:

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  5. SA mayor defends virgins scholarship scheme

    A South African mayor has defended the decision to award scholarships to 16 female university students, which are conditional on them remaining virgins.

    Dudu Mazibuko told the BBC that the scheme was  intended to "reduce HIV, Aids and unwanted pregnancy" among young girls in the Uthukela district of eastern KwaZulu-Natal province - the heartland of Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini.

    Students receiving the bursary will need to provide evidence of regular virginity tests, the mayor added.

    Young girls at the annual reed dance at eNyokeni Royal Palace on September 6, 2014 in Nongoma, South Africa.
    Image caption: The Zulu king holds an annual ceremony to encourage women to remain virgins until marriage

    Rights groups have condemned the plan.

    The conditions of the scholarship were "a violation of the rights and dignity of the girl child", a spokesperson for the South African group People Opposing Women Abuse (Powa) told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio.

    "Virginity testing will never stop the spread of HIV and Aids,"Idumeleng Muloko said.

  6. Cameroon market bombed

    Chris Ewokor

    BBC Africa, Abuja

    The suicide bombings in northern Cameroon were the deadliest in more than two years, with at least 28 people killed and 62 others wounded. 

    The attack was co-ordinated, with reports that two bombers blew themselves up at the market in Bordo village. A third bomber blew up at the entrance of the village. 

    Shoppers and stall owners were killed in the blasts.  

    Under pressure from the military in its stronghold of north-eastern Nigeria, it seems that militant Islamist group Boko Haram is now stepping up cross-border attacks, targeting Cameroon, Niger and Chad. 

    Northern Cameroon is badly affected - last week, four worshippers were killed in a suicide attack at a mosque in a remote village, and a few days earlier 12 were killed in a similar attack at another mosque.

    This photo taken on June 17, 2014 in the border town of Amchide, northern Cameroon, shows police forces of the multi-purpose intervention brigade holding a surveillance position, as part of a reinforcement of its military action against Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram.
    Image caption: Cameroon's security forces are battling to guard the border
  7. Aubameyang 'hurt' by Toure comments

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyangsays he was hurt after Yaya Toure said it was "indecent" to give the Gabon forward the African Player of the Year award.

    Manchester City midfielder Toure said the decision had brought "shame" on the continent, while Swansea's Andre Ayew also questioned the move.

    Ivory Coast's Toure and Ghana's Ayew reached the African Cup of Nations final, and Gabon went out early.

    "I was hurt by what was said, it's a shame," Borussia Dortmund striker Aubameyang said.

  8. CAR parliamentary poll 'scrapped'

    Senegalese UN peacekeeping forces stand guard as people wait to vote at a polling station during presidential and legislatives elections in the streets of the Muslim PK-5 district of Bangui on December 30, 2015
    Image caption: UN troops have struggled to restore stability in CAR

    Parliamentary elections held in Central African Republic last month have been annulled by the Constitutional Court because candidates have been involved in what it calls "numerous irregularities", AFP news agency reports. 

    The poll - along with a presidential vote - was expected to restore stability in CAR, which has been hit by conflict between mainly Muslim and Christian militias since 2013. 

    See 14:04 post for more details

  9. Hashtag battle marks Egypt anniversary

    Five years have passed since mass protests toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. With the government cracking down on street protests, many Egyptians are resorting to social media to mark the anniversary.

    One commemorative hashtag has become the focus of an online battle:

    Video content

    Video caption: Egypt's revolution five-year anniversary sees hashtag battle

    Produced by Radwa Gamal and Joe Inwood

  10. CHAN 2015: Cameroon through to the last eight

    Nick Cavell

    BBC Africa Sport

    Cameroon are through to the quarter-finals of the African Nations Championship - or CHAN with a 3-1 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    This also means Cameroon finish top of Group B ahead of DR Congo who made nine changes for the match today having already qualified for the last eight.

    Angola got their first win at the tournament as they beat Ethiopia 2-1 - but both sides are now out of the competition.

    Cameroon will face Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals while DR Congo will be up against neighbours Rwanda - both matches are on Saturday.

    The Confederation of African Football has been tweeting some photos of the match:

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  11. Are Kenya's Matatus out of control?

    Many of you have been responding on Twitter to our story on the Kenyan government decision to target the popular minibus taxis, Matatus (see our 2:15 post).

    The country's transport and safety authority accuses some Matatus of using "excessive and vulgar" language while decorating their vehicles.

    Here are some of your tweets on the issue:

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  12. Child obesity 'increasing' in Africa

    The number of obese children in Africa has nearly doubled since 1990, a World Health Organization (WHO) commission said in a new report, the AFP news agency report.

    The number of overweight or obese children in the continent has surged from 5.4 million to 10.3 million between 1990 and 2014, the report added.

    Child obesity "is an exploding nightmare in the developing world," the commission co-chair Peter Gluckman said.

    Progress in tackling childhood obesity has been slow and inconsistent globally, he added. 

    The report notes that in wealthier countries, poorer children are more likely to be obese, partly due to the relative affordability and abundance of fatty fast foods and high-sugar snacks.

    In poorer countries the children of wealthier families are more likely to be obese, including in cultures where "an overweight child is often considered to be healthy."

    Hannah Adams, 12, sketches during the Shapedown program for overweight adolescents in Colorad
  13. Tunisia police in pay protest

    Rana Jawad

    BBC North Africa correspondent, Tunis

    Tunisian policemen wave the national flag and shout slogans during a demonstration outside Tunis" Carthage Palace on January 25, 2016

    Thousands of police have marched peacefully to the presidential palace in Tunisia's capital, Tunis, to demand higher salaries. 

    Some observers have described it as the biggest police march over pay since the 2011 revolution which toppled long-serving ruler Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. 

    Protester Ryadh Rezgui described the salaries of police officers as “nonsense” saying on average a policeman in Tunisia gets $300 (£210) a month.  

    This latest march comes after a week of public protests in several cities and towns across Tunisia over chronic unemployment.  

    A nationwide night curfew has been in place since Friday.

  14. Rwanda cleric dies in police custody

    A Muslim cleric accused of seeking to recruit young men to join the Islamic State group has been killed in Rwanda's capital, Kigali, police say, AFP news agency reports.

    Muhammad Mugemangango, deputy imam of the Kimiromko mosque in Kigali, was shot dead on Saturday night as he sought to escape police custody during an escorted visit to his home, police are quoted as saying. 

    "He was under investigations for mentoring Rwandan youths into jihad and recruiting them to join Islamic State in Syria," the police statement said, AFP reports. 

    Rwanda's Muslim community accounts for 2% of the population, and maintains a low profile. 

    There is no history of radicalisation and no known cases of Rwandans joining IS. 

    However, the police statement said it believed the "formation of terror networks" was under way. 

    It gave no further details, except to add that "we will do our best to unmask the network and deal with them in accordance with the law", AFP reports.

  15. 'Blow' to Libya unity government

    Smoke rises from burning oil storage tanks in the port of Ras Lanuf, Libya, January 23, 2016
    Image caption: Oil-rich Libya has been in chaos since 2011

    Libya's internationally recognised parliament has rejected a UN-backed unity government, lawmakers have said.

    "We voted against endorsing the government and ask... to be presented with another government," parliamentarian Ali al-Gaydi is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying. 

    The vote is seen as a major blow to efforts by the UN to end the instability which has hit Libya since Nato-backed forces overthrew Col Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. 

    Read: Can peace be achieved in  lawless Libya?

  16. Kenya crackdown on 'pimped up' taxis

    Painted matatu

    Matatus, the minibus taxis used by so many Kenyans to navigate the capital Nairobi, often covered in graffiti and modified with extra-loud horns, are facing a crackdown from regulators.

    Offensive graffiti, noisy modified exhausts, horns and sound systems are all being targeted by the country's transport and safety authority (NTSA).

    Vehicles flouting the rules will be pulled off the road, the NTSA says.

    President Uhuru Kenyatta has previously said he supports artwork on matatus.

    The extra decoration or "pimping" of matatus is viewed by many as an important aspect of cultural life in the capital.

    However, the NTSA is unhappy about the decoration on some matatus, which it deems "excessive and vulgar", making it harder to identify which bus operator the vehicle belongs to.

    Read the full BBC story here

  17. Cameroon death toll 'rises' after blasts

    At least 25 people are now known to have been killed in a spate of suicide attacks in the far north of Cameroon, police say, AFP news agency reports. 

    "An initial toll shows 29 dead and around 30 injured," a police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP. 

    He did not say whether the fatalities included the bombers and whether there were three or four blasts, in a region where the militant Islamist group Boko Haram is active. 

  18. CAR to hold run-off vote

    Central African presidential candidate Anicet Georges Dologuele waves from a car in a motorcarde during a presidential campaign tour in Bangui on December 28, 2015
    Image caption: Mr Dologuele failed to get an outright majority in the first round

    Two former prime ministers of Central African Republic (CAR), Anicet-Georges Dologuele and Faustin-Archange Touadera, will face off in a presidential run-off poll, the constitutional court has said, AFP news agency reports. 

    Mr Dologuele won 24% of votes cast in the 30 December first round, followed by Mr Touadera with 19%, said the court, which was tasked with certifying the results. 

    The law requires a second round of polls if no candidate wins an outright majority in the first round.  

    The elections are aimed at restoring stability in a country hit by sectarian conflict since 2013. 

    This file photo taken on December 28, 2015 shows Central African presidential candidate Faustin Archange Touadera waving to supporters during a presidential campaign tour in Bangui
    Image caption: Mr Touadera obtained 19% of the December vote
  19. Pro-Sisi protest on anniversary of Egypt uprising

    An man holds up a portrait of the Egyptian president on Cairo's landmark Tahrir Square on January 25, 2016

    About 100 people have gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square - where a popular uprising which led to the overthrow of long-serving ruler Hosni Mubarak started five years ago - to praise the police who tried to stop them, Reuters news agency reports.

    "We are here to celebrate with our brothers, fathers, and colleagues in the Egyptian police... who sacrificed their lives and blood for us," said one of the demonstrators, 52-year-old repairman Refaat Sabry. 

    He wore a pin on his jacket depicting Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt's latest general-turned-president, Reuters reports. 

    Mr Sisi overthrew Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood government which took power in Egypt's first democratic election after Mr Mubarak's overthrow. 

    "Continue Mr President," said a placard held by one demonstrator, while others handed flowers to police, who have arrested thousands of government opponents under Mr Sisi's rule, Reuters reports. 

    Police are deployed near Tahrir Square, and thousands of homes have been raided, as the authorities look for people who might be planning protests against Mr Sisi.

    Read: Why US-Egyptian ties are warming

  20. South Africa match-fixing ban

    Cricket South Africa has banned former international Gulam Bodi for 20 years after he admitted charges of contriving or attempting to fix matches in the 2015 RAM SLAM T20.