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Welcome back to BBC Africa Live where we will bring you the latest news from around the continent.

BBC Africa Live
By Clare Spencer

That's all from BBC Africa Live for now. Keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or check the BBC News website.

A reminder of today's wise words:

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And we leave you with this picture from Angolan artist Kiluanji Kia Henda:

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

South Africans can't stop talking on social media about a video of a six-year-old DJ from Johannesburg’s Alex township.

DJ Arch Junior took America’s Got Talent TV show by storm earlier this week and entertainment journalists agree the video has well-and-truly gone viral:

DJ Arch Junior, whose real name is Oratilwe AJ Hlongwane, impressed judges - receiving a standing ovation and huge praise from Simon Cowell.

Mr Cowell said:

When his set was over, the former Spice Girl and music talent judge Mel B exclaimed "I didn't want him to stop," followed by Terry Crews who said "That's incredible!"

After the show one of South Africa’s biggest DJs tweeted a good luck message:

And even the South African government felt compelled to tweet a reaction:

At six-years-old, we are pretty sure he is the world's youngest DJ. But, incredibly, he has been at the decks for years.

The BBC first met him when he was three-years old.

Politicians, musicians and fans are sending condolence messages on social media following the news that the Afro-jazz musician Oliver Mtukudzi died earlier today.

Among the politicians tweeting, is former education and sports minister David Coltart who says the musician made him proud to be Zimbabwean:

A Zimbabwean journalist points out that this follows the death of his Mtukudzi's son Sam. He was a successful musician in his own right but died in a car accident in March 2010.

Fans also pointed out that today, 23 January, also marked one year since his close friend and South African jazz legend Hugh Masekela died.

Among the musicians paying tribute was South African rapper Blaklez who shared a picture of the two:

Others shared their personal memories of the musician, including our own colleages, Will Ross and Larry Madowo:

BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

The US State Department says , externalit is committed to working with the new president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, who is to be sworn in on Thursday.

But it has urged him to address reports of electoral irregularities.

The US had previously condemned the lack of transparency over the result, which many observers say was rigged by Mr Tshisekedi and the outgoing president, Joseph Kabila.

A rival opposition candidate, Martin Fayulu, says he won about 60% of the vote, but his challenge was dismissed by the Constitutional Court.

Following the Constitutional Court ruling African presidents also came out to congratulate Mr Tshisekedi.

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) plans to drop corruption charges against former President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane.

Last year he was charged over an allegation that he and his business partners, the Guptas, offered a $43.3m (£33.2m) bribe to ANC MP Mcebisi Jonas with the proviso that he took the job of finance minister.

But now, charges are expected to be provisionally withdrawn on Thursday.

The NPA have not given a reason for the withdrawing the charges.

I once asked Mr Zuma about these damning allegations which he denied. You can watch his response here.

Stanley Kwenda
BBC Africa

Zimbabwean music legend Oliver Mtukudzi has died. He passed away this afternoon at the Avenues Hospital in Harare. He was 66.

Mtukudzi has been battling ill health for quite some time and had to cancel a number of musical bookings around the world as a result.

His afro-jazz music crossed continents creating a huge base of fans around the world.

The prolific artist made more than 60 albums and one of his most famous songs - Todii - describes in both Shona and English how the HIV/Aids epidemic has devastated communities:

He came to prominence in Zimbabwe prior to independence in 1980 when he joined forces with US-based Zimbabwe musician Thomas Mapfumo to provide the sound of the revolution at a time when the country was fighting the government of Ian Smith.

Post independence he used his unmistakable husky voice to provide profound political and social commentary.

Most of his music was coded to escape the wrath of a government averse to criticism.

Mtukudzi's career spans more than four decades with 67 albums to his name. His last album put a spotlight on some of Zimbabwe's current political and social problems.

People have been paying tribute to him on social media:

Image source, Getty Images

Andela, a firm which uses African computer programmers to work remotely for US corporations, has secured $100m (£77m) in investment.

This deal is the third-largest venture investment ever for an African startup, Bloomberg quotes market researchers CB Insights as saying, external.

The funding comes from Generation Investment Management - a firm run by the former US Vice-President Al Gore.

The technology company says it intends to use part of the funding to improve its software to spot talented programmers and monitor the performance of their workers.

“It’s increasingly clear that the future of work will be distributed, in part due to the severe shortage of engineering talent,” says Jeremy Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Andela said in a statement.

“Given our access to incredible talent across Africa, as well as what we’ve learned from scaling hundreds of engineering teams around the world, Andela is able to provide the talent and the technology to power high-performing teams and help companies adopt the distributed model faster.”

Andela employs 1,100 developers based in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.

BBC Somali service

A car has exploded outside a bank in the centre of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

No causalities have been reported so far.

Gunfire was heard briefly outside Premier Bank after the explosion - shots thought to have been fired by nearby security guards.

Fire engines have now extinguished the flames.

It is believed that an explosive device may have been planted on the vehicle, which belonged to the bank.

Somalia has been unstable since the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991.

Islamist al-Shabab militants, fighting the UN-backed government, often launch attacks in the city.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

France has extradited to The Hague a senior football official wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes committed in the Central African Republic (CAR).

Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona, a committee member of the Confederation of African Football, was arrested in Paris last month accused of coordinating attacks on Muslims in his country.

He was the self-declared political co-ordinator of the Christian anti-Balaka militia, which was created after mainly Muslim Seleka rebels swept President Francois Bozize from power in 2013.

The militia has been blamed for hundreds of killings, and the ICC says Mr Ngaïssona was responsible for murder, torture and the recruitment of child soldiers.

He denies the allegations.

Britain's Somali community is rarely represented on screen and in public life.

Two young British-Somali filmmakers, Mohamud Yusuf Mussa and Yasin Mohamed, have attempted to address this through their short documentary See My Dunya (See My World).

The film offers a unique glimpse into the close-knit Somali community in the UK city of Manchester and shines a light on myriad untold narratives and perspectives.

Produced and filmed bySafia Mohamed

Edited byAaron Akinyemi

Image source, Reuters

An NGO has warned that the Central African Republic (CAR) is "steering towards catastrophe" unless tomorrow's peace talks are successful.

The Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland warned that the meeting in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, was the opportunity to "prevent the country from sliding backwards into a full-blown war".

After years of sectarian conflict, armed groups control much of the CAR.

Image source, AFP

A Zimbabwean court has delayed the bail application for activist pastor Evan Mawarire, reports Reuters news agency.

Mr Mawarire was arrested by armed police at his house last Wednesday.

He is charged with subverting the government and inciting public violence after he posted a video on Twitter.

He denies the charges, saying that a video he posted specifically urged people to stay in their homes, reports the Zimbabwean news site News Day, external.

The pastor gained fame as a figurehead of the #ThisFlag protests against the former president, Robert Mugabe, in 2016.

He faces 20 years in prison if convicted.

Ferdinand Omondi
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, Reuters

The trial has begun in Kenya of four policemen charged with the murder of a British aristocrat, Alexander Monson.

He was arrested in 2012 for possession of cannabis in the coastal town of Diani and died in custody.

Police said he had died of a drug overdose.

But his family insisted police beatings caused his death, prompting a judicial inquest.

Last year a judge ruled he died of injuries to his head.

Now four policemen, one of whom has since retired, are facing trial for his murder.

It’s a case that could take months, perhaps years, to conclude.

Mr Monson was the son of the 12th Baron Lord Nicholas Monson and Hillary Monson.

An heir to the family estate in Lincolnshire in UK, the family moved to Kenya in 2008 and settled in Diani where they had established a home and a business.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir is in Qatar on his first trip abroad since a wave of anti-government protests began last month.

Sudanese officials say Mr Bashir will discuss the peace process in the restive western region of Darfur, but analysts say he is also seeking assistance for Sudan's battered economy.

Cuts to government bread and fuel subsidies sparked the demonstrations against his government.

Anger at economic hardship has been stoked by a heavy-handed response by the authorities that has led to dozens of deaths, and the protesters are now calling for Mr Bashir to resign.

Overnight police clashed with demonstrators who had blocked roads in Khartoum with burning tyres.

Image source, Getty Images

A South African man arrested in Mozambique on terrorism charges has died in hospital, his daughter told the BBC.

Andre Hanekom, accused of being one of the leaders of a jihadist group in northern Mozambique, was arrested in August - accused by Mozambican prosecutors of being responsible for the group's logistics.

Mozambican prosecutors had named Mr Hanekom and two Tanzanians as leaders of a group established to create instability to prevent the exploitation of natural gas in Palma and later create an independent state, South Africa's EWN news site reported earlier this month., external.

His daughter, Andrie Hanekom, told the BBC that her father became ill on Saturday in Pemba jail with suspected poisoning.

She said he was bleeding from the stomach, convulsing, became paralysed and was unable to speak.

He was moved to an intensive care unit where his distraught wife had only been allowed to see him in hospital for a couple of minutes at a time, she said.

Her father had been due in court this week and the family maintain his innocence, she added.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Addis Ababa

Image source, Getty Images

A former top Ethiopian government minister, Bereket Simon, who at one time wielded a lot of influence, has been arrested over the alleged misuse of public funds.

Mr Bereket has served as the communications minister, overseeing the country's media output, and at times acting as a government spokesperson. He was also a close confidante of former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who died in 2012.

He was picked up by police at his home on Wednesday morning around the same time as another senior official was arrested, local media are reporting.

They are both accused of corruption in relation to an endowment fund in Ethiopia's Amhara region.

Mr Bereket was a founding member of the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and was a long-standing cabinet minister in the governments of the Mr Meles and his successor Hailemariam Desalegn.

He also held a senior position in a government think tank before resigning in 2017.

Since then he has largely retreated from public life.

Under Prime Minsiter Abiy Ahmed, who took over last April, the authorities have detained more than 70 senior intelligence and military officials accused of corruption and human rights abuses.

But critics of Mr Abiy have accused him of targeting his opponents particularly from the once powerful Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, one of the four parties in the EPRDF coalition.

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

The government of Zimbabwe has defended crackdown by its security forces following violent protests over sharp rise in fuel prices.

A government spokesman told the BBC that "when things get out of hand, a bit of firmness is needed".

The comment came after Zimbabwe's human rights commission accused the security forces of using systematic torture against protesters in recent days.

In a report issued after visiting various part of country affected by the violence, the commission said opposition activists were subjected to severe beatings.

The report also accused the security forces of letting dogs loose on those they suspected of causing trouble.

Read more on the BBC News website.

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