That's all from the BBC Africa Live page this week. 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 our African proverb of the day: 

Click here to send us your African proverbs

And we leave you with this picture of followers of South Africa's Shembe church, a loose combination of Zulu culture and Old Testament Christianity. Some of them are wearing fake pelts designed by conservationists in an effort to save leopards:

Image source, AP

Image source, .

Several Cameroonian players will be watching Sunday's African Cup of Nations finals full of regret. 

At least eight players refused to honour a call-up to the represent their country in Gabon. 

Former Senegalese international El Hadji Diouf has told the BBC that the players should have listened to reggae legend Bob Marley. 

"I don't understand people turning down their country," former Senegal striker Diouf told BBC World Service.

"And like the legend Bob Marley always said 'if you don't know where you come from, you don't know where to go'."

Read full story

Image source, AFP

The inquest is on to find out why Ghana's Black Stars lost to Cameroon yesterday. 

The Indomitable Lions won the game 2-0 to book their ticket to the finals to face Egypt. 

The BBC's Thomas Naadi spoke to several Ghanaians still reeling after the match last night: 

Widows in Zimbabwe are fighting their in-laws who leave them destitute when their husbands die. 

Most of them marry through customary traditions which keeps no record of the union leaving them with no protection in the law:  

South Africa's entrepreneur Jabu Stone spoke to the BBC's Africa Business Report about the skill of plaiting dreadlocks and setting up his Jabu Stone Natural Hair business which now sells its products in several African countries:

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Pedestrians in Namibia's capital are being warned that they'll be breathalysed if they are unlucky enough to be hit by a car, it's reported.

Police in Windhoek will treat those travelling on foot in the same way as drivers if there's a collision - provided the pedestrian survives, the Namibia Press Agency reports, external. 

Police spokesman Edmund Khoaseb says when pedestrians are hit it's often on weekend nights after people have had a tipple or two.

"Most of the time, the victims will be coming from bars and under the influence of alcohol, which makes it difficult for them to fully concentrate on the road," he tells the agency, adding that motorists could also slow down and be more attentive. It's not clear what the consequences of any elevated breath test readings would be.

Read full story

Image source, Alamy

A Kenyan journalist has tweeted a court document which bars the media from reporting on a case filed by a woman who has sued Deputy President William Ruto over child support. 

Mr Ruto says the child is "well catered for"

Three Somali shopkeepers were killed within minutes of one another in a poor neighbourhood in South Africa's Cape Town city, police have said. 

The motive for last night's killings in separate incidents in Khayelitsha township was still unclear, and investigations were continuing, police added. 

Somali and other immigrants have often been the victims of xenophobic attacks in South Africa. 

Read more - Anti-foreigner violence: South Africa's identity crisis

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

 Zimbabwe's detained #ThisFlag movement pastor Evan Mawarire sent out a "Don't worry" message to his supporters, as he was escorted out of court by guards after his bid to be released on bail failed, the Associated Press news agency reports. 

The pastor could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted of subverting a constitutionally elected government. 

He is due to stand trial on 17 February for organising protest against President Robert Mugabe's rule of almost four decades, and the economic crisis in the country. 

Addressing a handful of his supporters who had come to show solidarity with him in court in the capital, Harare,  he said: 

South Africa's Eye Witness News is reporting that the Agriculture ministry has confirmed the presence of army worms, which devour crops, in the country:

We reported earlier that the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that the pests may have spread to as many as six southern African countries. 

They are called army worms because they eat most vegetation in their way and can destroy entire crop fields.  

Zambia and Zimbabwe have also confirmed the presence of armyworms, with outbreaks also suspected in Malawi, Mozambique and Namibia. 

Image source, Reuters

A court in Zimbabwe has refused bail to  #ThisFlag movement pastor Evan Mawarire following his arrest on Monday after his surprise return from the United States, reports the BBC's Shingai Nyoka from the capital, Harare. .  

The magistrate said there was reasonable suspicion that he had committed a crime.

He appeared in the dock without the trademark national flag and was instead holding a Bible, our reporter adds.  

The pastor was charged yesterday with subversion. 

He has not yet been asked to plead. His lawyers have dismissed the charges as "trumped-up" and have demanded his unconditional release. 

Our reporter says the authorities are essentially holding him responsible for the violent protests that happened last year.

In July, protesters staged a national "shutdown" which led to a complete closure of schools, businesses and shops across the country. It was the biggest strike action since 2005. 

He fled to the US before returning to Zimbabwe on Monday via South Africa.  

Read: From preacher to 'Captain Zimbabwe'

Image source, AP

Nigeria's government has tweeted that it upholds the right of people to protest peacefully, amid reports that police in the commercial capital, Lagos, had intended to prevent a march organised by music star 2face Idibia against the economic crisis in the West African state.   

A group organising the protest has also tweeted that police intend to allow the march to go ahead:

Angola's President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos will remain the leader of the ruling party, when he steps down from government later this year after almost four decades in power.

Mr Dos Santos, president of the oil-rich country since 1979, announced in a televised address that the MPLA party's candidate in the August election will be Defence Minister Joao Lourenco. 

Image source, AFP

Playing down the significance of Mr Dos Santos' announcement, South African-based political analyst Gary van Staden told Reuters news agency:

Image source, AFP

Mr Lourenco, 62, is expected to win the poll in a country where the security forces have been accused of brutally crushing dissent.

But Darias Jonker, Africa Director at the Eurasia Group risk consultancy, told Reuters that the defence minister was a "competent technocrat without major scandals in his past and he's probably the best selection the party could have made".

Here are more facts about Mr Lourenco:    

• a ruling party stalwart who fought in the independence struggle
• studied history in the former Sovet Union
• fluent in several languages, including Russian and Spanish
• plays chess and practises Shotokan karate in his spare time.

A woman disrupted a public meeting  attended by Tanzania's President John Magufuli  in the main city of Dar es Salaam to appeal to him to act against people whom she accused of conspiring to deprive her of property.

Ms Shoshi, as she was identified by government-owned Daily News, external, caused a commotion during Law Day, an annual event organised by the judiciary to provide legal education and legal aid. 

In a video shared online, she caught Mr Magufuli's attention, leading him to order policemen to allow her to come near the dais where he was seated. 

Ms Shoshi then went on to narrate how the court system has frustrated her inheritance case by issuing conflicting orders and that she had received death threats.   

The paper reports that Ms Shoshi is a widow and a Kenyan citizen who was married to a Tanzanian and lived in the northern region of Tanga. 

Mr Magufuli ordered the judges to speedily listen to her case. He also directed the chief justice, who was present, to give the woman his phone number so that she can follow up with him on the case's progress.  

Mr Magufuli also ordered the police boss to ensure that Ms Shoshi gets full protection. 

Read: Tanzania's 'Bulldozer' president in profile

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that an outbreak of armyworms - a pest which causes considerable damage to crops - may have spread to as many as six southern African countries. 

Zimbabwe has confirmed the presence of armyworms, which are also suspected in Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. 

The outbreak is particularly concerning because a drought affected much of the region last year, hitting crop production and leaving millions in need of food aid. 

The FAO said an emergency meeting would be held in the Zimbabwean capital Harare in 10 days' time to coordinate an emergency response.

Image source, .

Kenya's Business Daily reports on an ingenious technique being used in hospitals to address the shortage of incubators for babies born prematurely, external: 

The Kangaroo technique, also known as skin-to-skin contact, is derived from the way kangaroos carry their young ones in pouches after birth, the report says. 

The technique started in Colombia more than 30 years ago due to a shortage of incubators.

The paper interviewed Maureen Akinyi at the Busia Referral Hospital in western Kenya. 

She gave birth to two boys who weighed 1.9kg and 2kg and their internal organs were not fully developed. 

They were placed in incubators for three days but had to be moved so that others could use it. The boys were then cared for using the kangaroo technique. 

Ms Akinyi says the effect the technique had on her sons surprised her and was an eye opener:

Image source, AFP

Chad's long-serving President Idriss Deby has postponed parliamentary elections yet again, saying that "in the time of the lean cow, we can do nothing", AP news agency reports. 

Mr Deby said the oil-producing nation lacked money to hold elections, first scheduled for 2015.

He added: 

Mr Deby called for talks with the opposition:

The opposition accuses Mr Deby, in power since 1990, of running a repressive state and rigging elections.

He is a key ally of France, and has used the threat posed by militant Islamists to strengthen his position internationally. 

Chadian are playing a key role in fighting the Islamic State-affiliated Boko Haram group in neighbouring Nigeria.  

They also fought al-Qaeda-linked militants in Mali.    

US President Donald Trump recently signed an order restricting travel to the United States from seven countries, three in Africa. 

His trade policies are also likely to have a far-reaching effect on the continent: 

Kenya's Daily Nation is reporting that doctors at a private hospital in the coastal city of Mombasa have removed a coin stuck in a boy's throat:

Image source, AP

Fans of Cameroon have reacted with jubilation after victory in the semi-final of the Africa Cup of Nations. 

Their 2-0 defeat of much-fancied Ghana sets up a Sunday showdown with seven-time champions Egypt in Libreville. 

And their supporters feel upbeat about their prospects. Here is one of them:  

And another: