That's all from BBC Africa Live 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 and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this picture taken in Zanzibar by Nigerian photographer Yagazie Emezi:

Our colleague Peter Okwoche, who presents Focus on Africa TV, tweeted a picture of his interview with South African maestro Hugh Masekela.

He especially remembers the legendary musician regaling him with stories of another famous African artist, Fela Kuti.

Image source, AFP

Pilots for Israel's national airline are refusing to fly African asylum seekers who are being deported, the Times of Israel reports, external, because they disagree with Israel's strict new laws.

One pilot reportedly said he refused to “fly refugees to their death".

The news site describes the decision, announced on Facebook "by at least three El Al pilots", as "mostly symbolic" because the air carrier "does not fly directly to Rwanda or Uganda, and deported migrants usually fly on other airlines through Ethiopia or Jordan".

It follows the introduction of tough new laws at the start of the year.

The Israeli government issued a notice for thousands of African migrants to leave the country or face imprisonment.

It said migrants would be given up to $3,500 (£2,600) for leaving within the next 90 days, and would be given the option of going to their home country or third countries.

But if they do not leave, the Israeli authorities have threatened that they will start jailing them from April.

The Times of Israel says the campaign was organised by local rights group, Zazim, which says that the country's Civil Aviation Authority and the pilots union had received more than 7,500 calls "urging the pilots not to participate in the deportation and send the refugees to a place where their lives are in danger”.

Chris Ewokor
BBC Africa, Abuja

Aid officials in Nigeria's Cross River state say the number of Cameroonian refugees crossing the border into their territory is three times higher than the UN's estimate of 10,000 people.

Up to 33,000 people have now crossed into Cross River state and their situation is worsening, the head of the state emergency management agency, John Inakuththe, told the BBC.

Mr Inakuththe also said there are plans to build camps to accommodate them.

Local authorities say they are registering the refugees to produce accurate data and to plan for adequate care.

Many of the refugees are currently living in among residents of some communities in Ikom and Ogoja area about 297 kilometres ( 187 miles) north of the port city of Calabar.

One man told the BBC that he spent about 8 weeks wandering in the bush.

Another said he was hungry and lost for about a week.

They say they are fleeing a government crackdown on Cameroon English-speaking North-west and South-west regions of Cameroon and restricted internet access.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC Africa, Abuja

Police in Nigeria's capital Abuja have released members and leaders of the pressure group, Bring Back Our Girls, after holding them for several hours.

Many of those who were taken into custody are women, including former World Bank Vice-President Oby Ezekwesili.

The activists were rounded up into police vans as they marched to the presidential palace to put pressure on the government to ensure the release of the remaining Chibok schoolgirls.

One of the group's leaders told the BBC that they were shocked by the police action, which they say violates democratic principles. They have vowed to continue their campaign.

A police statement says the activists were taken into custody to ensure there was no breakdown of law and order during their protests.

The Bring Back Our Girls campaign started after the mass abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria's north-eastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram militants in 2014.

The campaign gained international support including from Michelle Obama - the wife of the former US President Barack Obama.

Many of the schoolgirls have been released in a prisoner swap deal with Boko Haram, but there are still more than 100 who are still in the hands of the militants.

Read more: The fate of the Chibok girls

Stanley Kwenda
BBC Africa, Kutama

Image source, Getty Images

The manger of English football club Arsenal has today confirmed his club is in talks with Germany Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund over a possible transfer of Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Journalists also asked Arsene Wenger if he was confident of signing the much sought after striker.

He said: "Confident or not confident I don't know. At the moment we are not close to doing any deal, be it Aubameyang or anybody else. You never know how close you are."

The 28-year-old Gabon striker is a proven goal machine.

If he signs for the Gunners, he will certainly boost the club which has struggled to convert many goal-scoring chances it creates.

So far this season, Aubameyang has scored 13 goals in 15 appearances.

He finished last season with 31 goals in 32 matches, and is currently just two goals shy of making it 100 goals in the Bundesliga since his arrival in 2013.

His mix of a measure of a "stubborn character" and "ambition" will certainly suit him in the cutthroat English Premier League.

Flora Drury
BBC Africa

Image source, AFP

Jazz legend Hugh Masekela first picked up a trumpet in the 1950s: a time when the colour of his skin meant he was no more than a second-class citizen in his own country, South Africa.

Ramapolo Hugh Masekela was born on 4 April 1939 in KwaGuqa township, 100km (60 miles) east of the capital, Pretoria, part of a musical household.

"You know, everybody had a gramophone," he recalled. "My uncle, he had the greatest voice so he sang along with all the records - Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong."

Over the following decades, he would become known across the world for both his music and his role as an anti-apartheid activist.

Indeed, songs like Soweto Blues would provide the soundtrack of the movement.

By the time of his death at the age of 78 - almost 30 years after the fall of white minority rule - he was revered as South Africa's Father of Jazz.

Read the full profile on the BBC website.

Image source, Getty Images

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has said he "loves" US President Donald Trump who recently called African countries "shitholes", privately-owned Daily Monitor reports. , external

Mr Trump had been discussing immigration policy to the US when he reportedly used the word to describe people he wants barred from entering the US.

He has however denied he used the word, saying only he used "tough language".

Mr Museveni made the comments while addressing the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) assembly in Kampala.

He said Mr Trump was "the best" US president and that he was frank with Africans.

Watch him making the remarks:

The Monitor also reports the US ambassador to Uganda, Deborah Malac, told the parliament's speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, that Mr Trump’s comment about the continent was insensitive.

Mr Trump's comments were deemed vulgar and were widely condemned by African leaders. The African Union even called on the US president to apologise.

Lebo Diseko
BBC News, Johannesburg

Hugh Masekela was given his first trumpet as a boy by the British priest and anti-apartheid activist Trevor Huddleston.

Today at the Trevor Huddleston Memorial Centre, surrounded by images of the musician as a young man, I was told how Hugh Masekela came to get that instrument.

“There are two stories,” says Tshepo Letsoalo, the centre's heritage coordinator.

“One says that Hugh was very ill in bed, and Trevor Huddleston asked him ‘what is it that I can do for you that will make you feel better?’."

The young Masekela is said to have replied “if you can get me a trumpet I’ll be better”.

The other story, Mr Letsoalo tells me, is that "Hugh was a very naughty guy... he chose the trumpet over being a gangster.

"He promised Trevor Huddleston, 'if I get the trumpet I will never get in trouble and be on the opposite side of the law'."

Tributes to the musical great continue to pour in on social media, TV and radio - from President Jacob Zuma, to singers and artists like Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, and Black Coffee.

And they all reflect the words of Tshepo Letsoalo: “We have lost a giant”.

Former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh was accused by human rights groups of widespread abuses against his own people during his 22 years in power.

But after his departure, what is life like for a new generation of Gambians?

BBC Minute asks three activists what they think has changed a year since he was voted out of office.

Video journalist: Raïssa Ioussouf

Lebo Diseko
BBC News, Johannesburg

Growing up as a child of anti-apartheid activists in political exile in the UK, this song really embodied all the hopes and wishes of the adults around me at the time: the yearning for freedom, and a return to South Africa.

No party or social gathering of South Africans seemed complete without that song being played.

The trumpet, and Masekela’s husky voice demanding Nelson Mandela be brought back “tomorrow!” - along with the cry “Mayibuye” (may it - South Africa - return), was a statement of resistance.

The fight against apartheid was so brutal, with so many friends and family lost. And yet this song said “we will not give up”.

And so the adults would take to the dance floor, doing their best moves from back home - and on any given evening there would more than one shout of “Phindams!” (rewind).

And the song would be played again.

When we finally did get to see Nelson Mandela walking hand in hand with Winnie Mandela on his release from prison, I thought of this song.

The hope had not been in vain.

Years later, as a young journalist I was fortunate enough to interview Ntate Hugh as I called him, and told him just how much the song had meant for my parents and me.

He laughed that unmistakable laugh, and told me as it happened he knew my parents - and had shared good times with them both. He certainly will be very missed.

Image source, Getty Images

Morocco has launched its campaign to host the 2026 World Cup in Casablanca.

If successful, it will become the second African nation to host the tournament, after South Africa in 2010.

Bidding for their fifth finals, the Moroccans are up against a joint bid from Canada, Mexico and the United States.

"Morocco 2026 will showcase the best of football, at the heart of the world," said bid chairman Moulay Hafid Elalamy.

The decision on who will host the event will be made on 13 June,, external the eve of the 2018 World Cup in Moscow.

"We promise to stage a tournament overflowing with real passion and to celebrate the values of unity and peace," Mr Elalamy added.

"A World Cup in Morocco will deliver commercial success and leave a long-lasting legacy and if we win the honour of hosting we believe the winners will be football, the young people of our nation, Africa and the world."

No details were given about the host cities, with the vote to determine the host less than five months away.

The North African nation has failed in four previous World Cup bids - in 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010.

Read more on the BBC Sport website.

Image source, .

A Kenyan film which reenacts a 2015 terrorist attack in northern Kenya where a Muslim man protected Christians has been nominated for an Oscar.

Watu Wote, which means 'all of us' in Kiswahili, is one of the five shortlisted films in the live action category.

The BBC's Anthony Irungu was with the film crew when they received the news:

Here is the film trailer:

In the 2015 attack, militants from Islamist group al-Shabab ambushed a bus in Mandera town which was carrying workers travelling south for their Christmas holidays.

A group of Kenyan Muslims protected Christian passengers by refusing to be split into groups.

At least 28 non-Muslims were executed at point-blank range.

Image source, Getty Images

The organisation's flag and blue helmets no longer offer "natural protection", a new report says, external.

UN peacekeepers should be prepared to take offensive measures to eliminate threats, according to the report.

It said that force was the only "language" understood by attackers.

Almost 200 peacekeepers have been killed in the past five years. Missions in Africa are among the most dangerous.

This figure is more than during any other five-year period in history, and 2017 saw the highest number of peacekeeper fatalities through violent acts in over two decades, with 56 peacekeepers killed, the report says.

Peacekeepers face armed groups, terrorists, organised crime, street gangs, criminal and political exploitation, and other threats, it said.

Read the full article on the BBC News website.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Sami Anan, a former chief of staff in the Egyptian army, has been detained after saying he'll run for president in next month's elections.

The armed forces said Mr Anan's announcement of his candidacy on Saturday amounted to a severe violation of Egypt's military code.

In a Facebook post, the general command of the Egyptian armed said Mr Anan's announcement "constitutes direct incitement against the armed forces with the intent of causing a rift between it and the great Egyptian people".

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

Hugh Masekela’s love for his people was not just confined within these borders.

He was an internationalist. He used to regale me with tales of life in West Africa where he lived during part of his 30 year exile.

Bra Hugh, as he is affectionately known here, formed an amazing partnership when he was briefly married to another musical icon Miriam Makeba.

Together they became a formidable force.

She spoke at the UN about apartheid. He crisscrossed the globe calling for the cultural boycott against apartheid South Africa.

Their music and speeches helped to liberate this land from the yolk of colonialism.

Oh, and my favourite song of his is Market Place:

Image source, AFP

First the baguette, now couscous?

A group of experts could mount the case for the small semolina ball beloved in North Africa to be granted Unesco world heritage status.

Its origins have been disputed. Some say the staple came from North Africa's indigenous Berber culture, others say that ancient poems and texts from the Eastern Mediterranean and Moorish Spain referring to couscous suggest it came from elsewhere.

But its transcultural nature is what makes it special, argues one of the experts.

"It belongs to several peoples," says Ouiza Gallèze, a researcher at the Algerian National Centre of Research in Social and Cultural Anthropology.

Speaking to the Algerian state press agency, her colleague Slimane Hachi confirmed that preparation for a joint Unesco application by Magheb countries is taking shape:

Tomi Oladipo
BBC Africa security correspondent

Engineers from Kenya's University of Nairobi have built the country's first satellite, which will be launched in two months time.

The 10cm cube satellite described as a nano-satellite was supported by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Japan provided the $1m (£720,000) funding and the platform for construction but it was Kenyan hands that did the building.

The satellite will be used observe farming trends and to monitor the country’s coastline.

It will be sent to the International Space Station in March and then launched into action – by a robotic arm – about a month later.

This would make Kenya one of just six African countries to have sent satellites into space.

The team from the University of Nairobi that developed it was the first to benefit from a joint project – between the United Nations and Japan’s national aerospace agency – aimed at supporting educational institutions from developing countries to manufacture their own satellites.

Watch the video below about how the satellite launch industry is changing:

Image source, EPA

If you've ever complained about being forced to sleep in an airport after a delay, spare a thought for one Zimbabwean family who have finally left Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport where they've lived for the past three months.

The family - four children under the age of 11 and four adults - first arrived in Bangkok in May.

When they tried to leave in October for Spain, they found they didn't have the right visas.

They couldn't legally re-enter Thailand as they'd overstayed their tourist visas and had to pay a fine. But they said they could not return to Zimbabwe because they faced persecution.

Read the full story on the BBC News website.

One of the most-read stories in South Africa's TimesLive news site, external is that of a news anchor from the state broadcaster, SABC, who mistakenly announced the death of opposition politician Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

Peter Ndoro announced that Mr Buthelezi had died instead of another politician, Lucas Manyane Mangope.

He did not notice his mistake and went on to ask Mr Buthelezi on a live phone interview to comment on his death.

Watch the video below:

Mr Ndoro was criticised on social media for the mistake but he apologised and said it was an error.

He said in a statement: