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:   

Click here to send your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of an elephant under a night sky, which came third in this year's World Press Photo awards.   

Zanzibar's famous Sauti za Busara music festival, which translates as the 'Sound of Wisdom', wrapped up over the weekend.

Widely regarded as the best event of its kind in East Africa, the festival nonetheless failed to take place last year, due to lack of funds. 

So what might the future hold? Sammy Awami went along to find out.   

Image source, NJI COLLINS GBAH

A UN expert has called on Cameroon to restore internet access to English-speaking parts of the country.

Web services in the south-west and north-west regions of the nation were cut on 17 January.

The move was described as an "appalling violation, external" of the right to freedom of expression, UN special rapporteur David Kaye.

He said the move also broke international law and called for internet services to be restored.

Read the full BBC story here

Image source, Reuters

The trial of three English-speaking protesters facing the death penalty opened at a military court in Cameroon on Monday, Reuters reports.

Since October, people in Cameroon's two western English-speaking regions have joined protests against what they say is their marginalisation by the French-speaking majority under President Paul Biya's 35-year rule. 

At least six protesters have been shot dead and hundreds of others arrested, prompting criticism from human rights groups and concern from the African Union.

The three civil society figures and political activists - Felix Agbor Balla, Fontem Aforteka'a Neba and Mancho Bibixy - pleaded not guilty in a court in the capital Yaounde as dozens of security officials stood guard. 

They face multiple charges including complicity in hostility against the homeland, secession and civil war, and campaigning for federalism following their involvement in the English regions' protests. 

One of the defendants, Mr Bibixy, made a speech in the regional hub of Bamenda in November while standing inside an open casket meant to show his willingness to die for his beliefs.

"You can see clearly that these are all hyper-political offences which...means you have no chance, none," said Alice Nkom, a lawyer and president of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, who is representing Agbor Balla. 

The differences in language - and the cultures those languages stem from - were evident during the court hearing.

The English-speaking defence lawyers wore the elaborate British-style wigs in the French-speaking court, while government lawyers went bare-headed. 

The Anglophone lawyers waited for the translation of proceedings but the quality was so poor that they asked for the interpreter to stop, a Reuters witness said. 

In a speech last week, President Biya blamed the unrest on extremist and separatist groups.

"The government had to take measures to maintain order, protect citizens and their property and hand over to the judicial authorities those who committed or were suspected of committing these criminal acts," he said. 

The hearing was adjourned and the next one is scheduled for March 23.

Ghanaians have been paying tribute to Sam Arday, the legendary coach who took Ghana's Olympic team to a bronze medal at the Barcelona in 1992, who has died aged 71.

Former Black Stars international Jonathan Mensah tweeted his condolences:

Arday earned the nickname Mr Multi System for the special tactics he employed when leading the U-17 national team to victory at the World Cup in 1995, where they beat Brazil in the final, local media report, external.

The Ghanaian president has also paid tribute on his official Twitter feed: 

Image source, Trendsmap

It's fair to say that - on social media at least - many Kenyans disagree with the court decision to jail seven doctors union officials (see earlier posts for more details).

Some of the most heavily retweeted posts observe that while the doctors are now in prison, politicians accused of corruption remain free.

Others have praised the doctors' battle for better healthcare as well as more pay and even compared the jailed union reps to Nelson Mandela.

The doctors union in Kenya says doctors in private and faith-based medical organisations are to join striking public doctors in protest at the jailing of seven union officials.

The seven were jailed for a month for contempt of court after failing to comply with an order to end the strike, which has paralysed public medical facilities for weeks.

The union has been tweeting from its official account:

Kenya's Channel 1 is reporting that doctors belonging to the Kenya Medical Association are also joining strike action:

The BBC's Hanan Razek meets people from Djibouti and Somalia who trudged through the snow to cross the US border into the small Canadian town of Emerson:

Image source, AFP

The South African presidency said in a statement:

Image source, PA

Hundreds of readers on the BBC Africa Facebook page, external have been pitching in with their ideas for important issues to be raised during the phone calls between US President Donald Trump and the leaders of Nigeria and South Africa. 

The Nigerian presidency has confirmed that Mr Trump and Mr Buhri have already spoken (see previous entry).  

Many people on our Facebook page have picked up on Mr Trump's travel ban on people from seven mainly Muslim countries, which includes the African nations Sudan, Somalia and Libya:

Jacob Dior in Juba, South Sudan says: I would just ask Mr. Trump simple question, are you sending back Africans to their homelands so that we begin the same to the whites?

One user criticises what she sees as a double standard in the laws governing the movement of people: 

When they move from Europe & America to Africa = Voyages of discovery. 

When we move from Africa to Europe & America = Illegal immigrants. 

Theophilus Gblorkpor in Accra, Ghana, has this question for the new US president: 

What is his foreign policy towards Africa? Because, as I write, there's no such clear plan laid out for my great African continent by the Trump Administration.

James Daniel says: Trump should encourage and support Buhari in fighting corruption in Nigeria, also return all looted funds that are kept in US banks and repatriate all corrupt Nigerians wanted by EFCC [Nigeria's anti-corruption agency].  

Daphne Magidi says: The Nigerian president should ask Trump to assist in the fight against terrorism - Boko Horam and Daesh [IS]. 

Daphne came closest to guessing the actual subject of the conversation, as presidents Trump and Buhari did discuss counter-terror co-operation. 

Image source, Reuters

The phone call between Donald Trump and Muhammadu Buhari has taken place, the Nigerian government says.

In a statement, the Nigerian presidency said:

Image source, Red Media Africa

Tomi Oladipo
BBC Monitoring's Africa security correspondent

Image source, AFP

The Horn of Africa is strategic for Gulf nations because of ongoing military operations in Yemen and in the long term to protect their shipping interests in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Djibouti has been the regional hub for foreign military bases, but now faces competition from its next-door neighbour.

In Somaliland, the UAE has an alternative and less controversial location for a military base than Eritrea, which is under UN sanctions.

The Emiratis will also provide much-needed training and equipment for Somaliland forces. 

The threat posed by militant Islamist group al-Shabab in Somalia has been largely kept at bay in the breakaway region - having a stronger local force backed by an international partner will shore up this stability.

Its port in Berbera is not solely for military use. Expansion could provide Somaliland with more robust economic opportunities, particularly targeting its landlocked neighbour Ethiopia.

But as Somaliland is not internationally recognised, the authorities will need to be wary of any legal complications that could arise, given the UN-backed government of Somalia was not party to the base or expansion of Berbera.

Read the news story here

Flower shops in Nairobi are getting ready for Valentine's Day tomorrow. 

The owner of this shop says says he has been taking orders all day today and expects even better sales tomorrow

You might also like: Pakistan capital bans Valentine's Day

Image source, AP

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said he "deeply regrets" the US decision to block a former Palestinian prime minister from leading the UN's political mission in Libya. 

Mr Guterres said Salam Fayyad was "the right person for the right job at the right moment".

The US blocked Mr Fayyad's appointment on Friday, saying it was acting to support its ally Israel. 

Image source, Reuters

The US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the UN was "unfairly biased in favour of the Palestinian Authority to the detriment of our allies in Israel".

Speaking at the annual World Government Summit in Dubai, Mr Guterres said:

Libya has been gripped by war and unrest since the 2011 overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Read more: Why is Libya so lawless?

New US President Donald Trump is due to speak to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari soon, Nigeria's foreign minister tweets:

Image source, Twitter

A Tanzanian tourist guide has been charged in court with breaching cybercrime legislation after he wrongly translated a tourist's comments in a video he put on Facebook.

Saimon Sirikwa was not asked to plead and was remanded in police custody.

A second video selfie of him and tourist has emerged in which they say they were joking in the original one.

He was arrested last week for casting the tourism ministry in a "bad light", police said.

Read the full story here

Image source, AP/Courtesy of World Press Photo Foundation

A Turkish photographer for the Associated Press has won this year's World Press Photo Competition. 

Burhan Ozbilici was covering a photo exhibition in the Turkish capital, Ankara, in December, when an off-duty policeman drew a pistol and shot dead the Russian Ambassador, Andrei Karlov. 

There were also several Africa-related photos honoured by the competition judges.

This shot of two Nigerian refugees at a detention centre in Libya took third prize in the contemporary issues category.

Image source, Daniel Etter/World Press Photo

Other photos depicting different aspects of the migration crisis were also on the shortlist:

Image source, Mathieu Willcocks/MOAS.eu/Courtesy of World Press Photo Foundation

And then there were some surreal shots, like this one of Libyan forces inside a damaged conference centre in Sirte, which they had recaptured from so-called Islamic State militants:

Image source, Alessio Romenzi/Courtesy of World Press Photo Foundation

Read: World Press Photo 2017: Russia envoy killing picture wins award- WARNING, it contains pictures that some readers may find disturbing  

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

A South African court has sentenced a convicted paedophile to 32 life sentences.

Car salesman Warren Troy Knoop will also spend 170 years behind bars after being convicted of 870 charges of rape and possession of child abuse images.

Knoop was caught when US authorities found him sharing dozens of videos on a website commonly frequented by paedophiles.

Laptops, hard drives, memory cards, mobile phones, a spy camera and many other electronic items were seized during a raid in his house east of Johannesburg.

The anti-abuse lobby group Women and Men Against Child Abuse said Knoop tried to distribute images internationally.

One of his victims was a child born in 2011.

Prosecutor Riana Williams said the child was just one year old when Knoop began to molest her.

“I can’t take back everything I have done to all those people,” Knoop told the court on Friday.

"I need help. This has been a cry for help and from here on, I can make a difference. It hurts me, but I deserve this. I need help," he added.

At least 12 houses were torched during a weekend of violence in Rosettenville in Johannesburg, with locals saying that the properties were being used as drug dens and brothels. 

Many of the burned houses were occupied by foreigners. 

Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba has been condemned for making comments in the past linking crime to illegal immigrants. He denies inciting anyone to violence. 

His Twitter account has retweeted an appeal sent on Sunday by a resident of another neighbourhood who said "these foreigners don't have respect for South Africa". 

Image source, @HermanMashaba

Mr Mashaba joined police raids on suspected brothels in Rosettenville last Wednesday.

A government delegation is expected in the area on Monday afternoon, including Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba.

The parliament for Somalia's breakaway northern territory of Somaliland has passed an agreement that allows the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to establish a military base in its territory. 

The Emirati government submitted a formal application in January seeking permission from the Somaliland government to open a military base in the port town of Berbera. 

Somaliland is not officially recognised as an independent country and this agreement may put it at loggerheads with Somalia’s federal government, which has just elected a new president.  

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed - known by the nickname Farmajo - was chosen last week. He is a technocrat and a former prime minister who served just eight months in office.

Read more: Somalia's 'Mr Cheese' president has a lot on his plate

Image source, AP