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:

Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this picture from Barra, Gambia. It's one of our favourite pictures from this week.

Image source, Reuters

Louise Dewast
Kinshasa, DR Congo

Image source, Reuters

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has set the terms of release of former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo.

He will be freed on the condition that he is accepted by a country willing to co-operate in enforcing any future decisions made by the ICC.

So it is not clear if the politician, who was acquitted by the war crimes court, can go home after his seven years behind bars.

These conditions may include returning him to The Hague in the event of a retrial.

The prosecutor has said she will lodge an appeal, meaning Mr Gbagbo could be called back in court.

He had been charged with crimes against humanity in connection with violence following a disputed 2010 election that left 3,000 dead and 500,000 displaced.

The conflict pitted forces loyal to him against those backing current President Alassane Ouattara.

Mr Ouattara's government has pardoned 800 people in an attempt to reconcile the country.

But two weeks ago after Mr Gbagbo was acquitted of crimes against humanity.

After Mr Gbabo's acquittal more than 50 of his allies, who had been in exile for eight years, began returning to the capital this week.

Image source, AFP

Bollywood actress Esha Gupta shared a screengrab of a WhatsApp conversation in which a friend mocked the team's Nigerian star, Alex Iwobi, as a "gorilla" and "Neanderthal" who "evolution had stopped for".

"Hahaha," wrote the actress, who helped Arsenal unveil its 2017 away kit, as she shared the screengrab with her 3.4m Instagram followers.

Image source, Reuters

The racist slurs horrified many, and the backlash was swift.

Gupta apologised quickly, but the Instagram post hints at a long-known - but little acknowledged - problem of racism towards people of African descent in Indian society.

The incident didn't surprise Africans in India who are used to experiencing racism.

Image source, Getty Images

One such person is Endurance Amalawa, who was beaten by a mob as he made his way through a mall near Delhi in March 2017.

The attack followed the fatal drug overdose of an Indian teenager. At the time, the teen's death was blamed on "Nigerian drug dealers".

Read more: Esha Gupta: Has Instagram exposed everyday racism in India?

At least 60 people were killed by Boko Haram militants on Monday when they raided Nigeria's north-east town of Rann, rights group Amnesty International says.

It says a group of fighters on motorcycles arrived in the town and set houses ablaze and killed those left behind.

They also chased after those who attempted to escape and killed some people outside the town, Amnesty says.

The rights group shared satellite imagery showing the area before and after the attack.

On Tuesday the UN's refugee agency said more than 30,000 people had fled Rann and crossed into Cameroon fearing renewed attacks by Islamist militants.

Residents feared an attack was likely after a regional force stationed in the area withdrew.

Boko Haram militants have repeatedly attacked Rann where a military base was overrun last month.

Image source, Egg ministries

Controversial Malawian self-styled prophet Shepherd Bushiri has been arrested with his wife Mary in South Africa, according to his church's Facebook page.

Police told South Africa's News24 website, external that the couple's detention was linked to alleged fraud and money-laundering offences. They have not commented on the allegations.

Earlier on Friday, a religious and cultural body, the CRL Rights Commission, found that the pastor was not responsible for a stampede at his Pretoria church on 28 December when three people died.

The church leader is known as much for his lavish lifestyle as for his successful ministry, which stretches across Africa.

He claims to have cured people of HIV, appeared to walk on water on social media and owns four private jets.

The pastor has more than 2.3 million likes on Facebook and filled Johannesburg's FNB Stadium on New Year's Eve.

• Read more: Meeting the man who ‘walks on air’

The mother of a three-year-old girl has become the first person in the UK to be found guilty of female genital mutilation (FGM).

The 37-year-old woman from Uganda was convicted following a trial at the Old Bailey.

Her 34-year-old partner was acquitted by the jury.

Spells and curses intended to deter police and social workers from investigating were found at the woman's home, the trial heard.

Read more on the BBC News website.

The US has imposed visa restrictions on Ghana for refusing to accept the return of 7,000 Ghanaian nationals that it wants to deport.

The US embassy in Accra will limit the awarding of visas to certain applicants, such as the domestic staff of diplomats posted to America.

The sanctions could be expanded to include other categories if the issue was not resolved, US officials warned.

Last year, Ghana had questioned the deportees' nationality and treatment.

But last September, the country's ambassador to the US, Baffour Adjei-Bawuah, was quoted by local media as saying that an agreement had been reached to return the deportees.

The US accuses the 7,000 deportees of being guilty of immigration offences, including abusing the terms of their visas.

Read more on the BBC News website.

Gaius Kowene
BBC Africa, Kinshasa

Image source, Reuters

Today marks six months since the declaration of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There have been close to 700 confirmed cases, making it the second largest outbreak in history.

This is the 10th time DR Congo has been hit by an Ebola outbreak since 1976, and this is the country’s worst outbreak yet.

Nearly 400 people have died since the outbreak was declared in August with the survival rate of 37% according to Health ministry data.

The confirmed cases have been scattered in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.

Response efforts continue to be hampered by community resistance and insecurity - as eastern DR Congo has suffered decades of conflict.

Insecurity in the affected areas limits movements of health workers, making it impossible, in some instances, to follow up on suspected cases.

However, a director of the health ministry’s Ebola response team on the ground told the BBC that denial of existence of the virus by some local communities is one of the main challenges to curtailing the spread of the disease.

With its partners, the Congolese Ministry of Health has installed nine Ebola treatment centres in the region and equipped and trained health workers.

To speed up the identification of new cases, six labs have been installed in the affected provinces.

Approximately 70,000 people have been vaccinated against the Ebola virus as part of containment efforts and millions of people screened all over the region.

Still, neighbouring Uganda and South Sudan remain on alert.

The longer the outbreak goes on, the more concern grows that it will spread across borders.

Image source, Reuters

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has dismissed speculation in local media of a rift with his deputy.

Mr Mnangagwa said that he and Constantino Chiwenga understood each other better than anybody thought.

He said this was the result of strong ties dating back to the independence struggle in the 1970s.

President Mnangagwa also defended the response of Zimbabwe's security forces to last month's anti-government protests that left 12 people dead.

He dismissed foreign criticism, and claimed western countries had sponsored the violence.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

China and Russia have once again obtained an exemption from the UN Security Council (UNSC) arms embargo imposed on Central African Republic (CAR).

The approval was given after France, US and UK dropped their reservations.

In late 2017, and again in 2018, Russia obtained a UNSC exemption to supply weapons to CAR security forces which was conditional on the storage and traceability of the weapons.

France was also a beneficiary of an exemption at the end of 2018 to deliver assault rifles to the European Union's army units operating in CAR.

In 2018, China requested an exemption to supply arms, but was denied by the UN.

China's request, according to a diplomatic source, was finally granted after a reformulation of its request which no longer lays emphasis on lethal weapons and anti-aircraft weapons, but mainly focuses on vehicles.

A proposal by France to extend the embargo, perhaps for the last time, is under consideration by UNSC.

It calls for the UN to relax the arms embargo, which has been in force since 2013, by end of September 2019, based on an assessment of progress of security in the country.

Since Monday, thousands of Central Africans have been marching to demand the total lifting of this UN sanction.

CAR has been riven by conflict since it got independence from France in 1960.

The country of 4.6 million people is rich in diamonds, gold, oil and uranium but has one of the world's poorest populations.

Rosie Blunt
BBC News

Netflix has released the trailer for The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, out on 1 March, but has garnered criticism over its poor use of Chichewa, Malawi's official language aside from English.

Adapted from the real life story of Malawian William Kamkwamba, who built his own windmill and used it to provide electricity for his village, the film switches between English and Chichewa, which is subtitled.

But Facebook comments on the trailer have questioned director Chiwetal Ejiofor's use of the language.

“Does Hollywood think Africans all sound the same? The accents are so bad. These chaps don’t sound Malawian in both Chichewa and English,” said Chikhu Chanthunya, from Blantyre.

Lloyd Chimwaza said: "Is there any reason why native Malawians were not featured in such scenes?"

Twitter users responded similarly.

Rasheed Kasito disagreed, suggesting the film's intention was to appeal to the African market as a whole, which has varying use of Chichewa, sometimes known as Nyanja.

The film was written and directed by Chiwetal Ejiofor, star of Twelve Years a Slave. He also takes a lead role as the boy’s father.

A new campaign introduced by the Sierra Leone's president has called on people to get out on the streets and clean in order to improve everyone's hygiene.

Cleaning days are held on the first Saturday of each month.

Watch more:

Louise Dewast
BBC Africa

Image source, EPA

More than 50 allies of former Ivorian Oresident Laurent Gbagbo have returned home after eight years in exile in Ghana.

This follows a recent amnesty law in Ivory Coast as well as the recent acquittal of Mr Gbagbo at the International Criminal Court (ICC), where conditions for his release are being heard on Friday.

Large crowds and the former first lady Simon Gbagbo welcomed back six former ministers of Mr Gbagbo and dozens of his allies who had fled to Ghana after a disputed election in 2010.

Mr Gbagbo refused to concede defeat in that election, and a violent conflict erupted between forces loyal to Mr Gbagbo and to current President Alassane Ouattara, leaving more than 3,000 people dead.

The return of Mr Gbagbo's allies to the country was co-ordinated by the UN's refugee agency, which is attempting to bring back more than 20,000 Ivorians in exile.

It is part of reconciliation efforts led by current president.

Last year he decided to pardon 800 people - a step that angered some human rights activists who say they could entrench widespread impunity.

Among the group of returnees is a former interior minister, who said they were preparing for Mr Gbagbo's return to the country after his acquittal two weeks ago.

If the former president is released unconditionally it could have a big impact in the country where fresh elections are scheduled for next year.

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

Education officials in South Africa say at least three students have been killed after a school building collapsed at Höerskool Driehoek, south of Johannesburg.

Panyaza Lesufi, Gauteng provincial education minister, said a walkway gave in after assembly – injuring 23 pupils.

He tweeted shortly after the collapse:

More than 20 students have been were taken to hospital - some were airlifted for urgent medical care.

The school is now closed as it is regarded as a crime scene.

The cause of the collapse it not yet known but investigations are under way.

The school says it is working on identifying those who died and notifying their next of kin.

There are 1,060 students at the school and trauma counselling will be available to those who need it.

Höerskool Driehoek is a government school that opened 45 years ago.

A local journalist has tweeted that parents gathered to hold a prayer session.

Messages of condolences and support have begun streaming in on local social media under the tag #hoerskooldriehoek.

Prime Ndikumagenge
BBC Africa

Image source, Getty Images

The annual East African Community summit is being held amid open hostility not long after Burundi declared Rwanda its enemy.

And not all six heads of state from the member nations - Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda - are attending the gathering in the Tanzanian city of Arusha.

Burundi's Pierre Nkurunziza will be sending his first deputy while South Sudan's Salva Kiir will be represented by a special envoy.

The summit had been planned for last November but was postponed twice because of boycotts by Burundi, which has accused the regional bloc of turning a blind eye to its poor relations with Rwanda.

Mr Nkurunziza accuses his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame of sponsoring a coup attempt against him more than three years ago as well as training armed groups to undermine his country's security.

Rwanda has always denied Burundi’s accusations.

Meaanwhile, Rwanda is complaining about what it calls abductions, torture and arbitrary deportations of some of its citizens who travel to Uganda.

From the official agenda there is no indication that any of these hostilities will be discussed at the summit.

It is scheduled to review progress towards establishing a common currency and a political federation.

But talks about further integration may not go far without and unless the simmering differences among member states are resolved.

Tomi Oladipo
BBC Africa security correspondent

Image source, Alamy

Authorities in Somalia say they have moved a British detainee from a prison, where he had been attacked, for his own safety.

Anthony Cox, a private security adviser, was arrested at the airport in the capital Mogadishu after he was accused of failing to disclose prohibited devices in his possession.

Days into his detention, Mr Cox was attacked by two other inmates who, according to local media reports, lunged at him with razor blades.

Prison officials said he only received minor injuries as wardens stopped the attack following a tip off.

The British national was being held in Mogadishu’s central prison alongside jihadist militants belonging to al-Shabab and the so-called Islamic State. He has since been moved to police custody.

Mr Cox had been working for a private security company in Somalia before he was arrested attempting to leave the country two weeks ago, at the Aden Adde International Airport, for carrying suspicious luggage.

Read more: Briton survives razor-blade attack in Somali jail

Damian Zane
BBC News, Lagos

Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has refused to back either of the two main presidential candidates in this month's election, the Nigerian Guardian reports.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is challenging the incumbent Muhammadu Buhari, but there are dozens of other hopefuls.

"I find both of them worthy of absolute rejection," Soyinka is quoted as saying.

"My position is simply that it is time for a totally new direction," he told an audience in Lagos, the Guardian reports.

He said that activists had been meeting to come up with a consensus candidate who would be worthy of voting for.

Acknowledging that the vote for an alternative may not make much difference now he said it could "sow a seed... that will germinate eventually".

Image source, Getty Images

A record eight tonnes of pangolin scales found in a container from Nigeria have been unveiled by officials in Hong Kong.

Customs officers said they seized 8,300kg of pangolin scales and 2,100kg of ivory tusks hidden inside a container declared to be carrying frozen beef, reports the AFP news agency.

Officials estimated the value of the haul at HK$62m ($8m; £6.11m).

"This is a record high in quantity for a seizure of pangolin scales," the customs department said in a statement.

A man and a woman from a trading company in the city have been arrested, the department said.

Pangolins are sought after for the unproven medicinal properties of their scales - which are made from nothing more than keratin, the same material that makes up human fingernails and hair.

Watch this video from 2016, which explains that the pangolin is the most-trafficked mammal in the world, leading to fears it could become extinct:

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