Soldiers have been seen on the streets of Korhogo in the north of the country, although no gunfire has been reported there.

It means soldiers have been taking unofficial action in the country's second, third and fourth biggest cities.

Image source, Google

James Copnall
Africa editor, BBC World Service

An MP from Bouake has told the BBC that the mutiny in the city is being carried out by soldiers who are currently serving in the military, not demobilised former soldiers.

The soldiers are asking for bonuses and money but do not appear to have a spokesman or leader, the MP said. However some are in contact with their military bosses, he added.

Most used to be in the Forces Nouvelles - the former rebels - and were integrated into the army after the country's civil war ended in 2011.

The Forces Nouvelles controlled the north part of Ivory Coast between 2002 and 2011.

Image source, AFP/Getty

BBC Afrique

BBC Afrique has spoken to a resident in ivory Coast's second city of Bouake, where soldiers have looted police stations and have taken up positions in the street:

The soldiers are demanding so-called "ecomog" payments of CFA 5,000 ($8,000; £6,500) they say they are owed since the end of civil conflict in the country in 2011.

Read more: Ivory Coast country profile

More gunfire has been heard at a military camp in a second Ivory Coast town, Daloa in the west of the country, Reuters news agency reports.

Karim Sanogo, a student in Daloa, told AP news agency heavily armed men were parading through town and security forces have abandoned their posts. 

It follows heavy gunfire overnight in the city of Bouake, where former soldiers have seized weapons from police stations and taken up positions at the entrances to the city.

An army officer told Reuters that Bouake was "under the control of former soldiers".

AFP news agency quoted a soldier as saying it was a "mutiny by former fighters integrated into the army who are demanding bonuses of CFA 5m ($8,000) each plus a house".

Bouake was the seat of a rebellion that controlled the northern half of the country from 2002 until reunification following a civil war in 2011. 

An officer at the country's military headquarters in the commercial capital Abidjan said reinforcements had been sent to Bouake.

Residents in Bouake said they had been told to stay at home and the city was deserted. 

Image source, Google

Kenya's doctors' union has been giving details of its reasons for rejecting a pay offer from the government, intended to end the month-long strike which has strained operations in public hospitals. 

The union has been tweeting details of their statement:

Anne Soy
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, AP

Kenyan doctors have rejected the latest pay offer by the government in its attempt to end the month-long nationwide strike that has paralysed operations in public hospitals. 

President Uhuru Kenyatta met the doctors' union representatives on Tuesday and made an offer to increase the health workers' allowances by at least $560 (£450).

That would have brought the entry level pay for intern doctors to about $2,000 per month.

The union, which was set to respond to the offer today, now says that the pay offer favours doctors but leaves out the public. 

The doctors are pushing the government to honour an agreement signed in 2013 that promised to increase the number of doctors, research funds, drugs and equipment in public hospitals. 

Meanwhile many Kenyans continue to suffer and their resources are strained as they seek medical care in expensive private hospitals. 

Leicester forward Riyad Mahrez has won the Confederation of African Football's player of the year award.

The 25-year-old Algerian, who helped Leicester to the Premier League title, is also the PFA Player of the Year and BBC African Footballer of the Year.

Borussia Dortmund's Gabonese forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was second and Senegal and Liverpool striker Sadio Mane came third.

Arsenal and Nigeria forward Alex Iwobi, 20, won the young player award.

Countryman and Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho, 20, won the most promising talent award.

South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Denis Onyango, 31, was named African-based player of the year and Nigeria forward Asisat Oshoala, 22, was named female player of the year.

Read the full story here

Gunfire erupted overnight in Ivory Coast's second-largest city of Bouake after former soldiers seized arms from police stations and took up positions in the city, the Reuters news agency reports. 

According to a local journalist and a military source in the city, the gunfire started at 0200 GMT and the city is under the control of the former soldiers, the report adds. 

Abidjan Press, external reported that the troops had taken control of the two main streets in the city and had briefly taken a senior military officer hostage. Schools in the city were closed and markets and streets deserted, it said.

RFI, external reported that the soldiers were making salary demands and quoted a municipal source as saying negotiations with them were underway.

Image source, Google

Image source, AF

Senators allied to the governing party in Kenya voted in a late night session to pass a controversial election law that would allow manual voting as a backup if the electronic system fails, the Nation newspaper reports, external. 

The opposition had been against the use of the manual system arguing that it was a plan to rig the August elections. 

Twenty-six MPs in the 47-member house voted in support of the bill and 10 opposed it. 

Opposition leaders had threatened to call a mass protest on 4 January after MPs in the National Assembly, which is the lower house, passed the controversial law. 

They however cancelled the plans to allow the senate to debate the law. 

The government argues that the use of electronic voting might disenfranchise some voters in areas where there is no electricity. 

The electronic system was used in the 2013 elections but some of the kits used to identify voters failed. The result transmitting system also crashed forcing the electoral commission to resort to manual tallying. 

The Information Minister also warned that the electronic system was vulnerable to hackers from the Islamic militant group al-Shabab. The claim that has been ridiculed by opposition lawmakers.

The President of Angola’s daughter, Isabel dos Santos, known as the richest woman in Africa, has taken control of Angola’s largest bank Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA). 

The controlling stake was bought from a Portuguese bank by Angola’s largest phone operator Unitel which is run by Ms dos Santos. She already runs the state oil company.

Portugal's BPI bank ceded control of the bank following months of pressure from the European Central bank, which said BPI's exposure to Angolan government debt was too risky under new European banking laws.

Ms dos Santos also owns a large stake in BPI. She is seen as being more likely to support a takeover bid by another BPI shareholder, Spain's CaixaBank, following the sale of the controlling stake in BFA to Unitel.

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