BBC Outside Source

Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has declared a state of emergency in an attempt to end a 10-week uprising that has threatened to bring an end to his 30 years in power.

Samar, Sara and Dallia have all been taking part in the protests against the Sudanese government.

But they say women protesters are treated particularly harshly, and they believe they are more likely to be targeted.

They tell us stories of seeing women being violently beaten, having their hair cut and being threatened with rape. But they add they are determined to keep protesting.

The government denies using disproportionate force against protesters.

Read more:

• How 'cheating husbands' are linked to Sudan's protests
• Find out more about Sudan

A leader of a charismatic church in South Africa has gone to confront another pastor for "bringing Christianity into disrepute" by staging a bogus resurrection.

Self-styled prophet Paseka "Mboro" Motsoeneng of the Incredible Happenings church can be seen in the video below shouting at the gates of Alph Lukau's church saying: "I'm not here to fight anyone, I'm here to get answers."

"If it's true that you resurrected a man, then let's go to Mandela’s grave to do the same," the BBC's Nomsa Maseko heard him say at the scene.

Mr Motsoeneng was himself mocked online after reportedly charging followers to view his photos of "heaven".

Read more:

• Funeral firm to sue pastor for 'resurrection stunt'
• South Africa's 'Doom Pastor' found guilty of assault

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa says government should act to curb "bogus pastors" but has ruled out regulating churches because it would cause a "backlash".

His remarks on the campaign trail in Cape Town are in response to self-styled prophet Alph Lukau's recent claims to have resurrected a dead man. A viral video of the spectacle has triggered national debate as well as widespread ridicule on social media with the #ResurrectionChallenge hashtag.

President Ramaphosa said on Wednesday evening:

Image source, .

The Sowetan news site reported that the church has since backtracked on its resurrection claim, external, saying the "dead" man was in fact "already alive" when he was brought to the premises in Kramerville.

Victor Kenani
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Tributes have been pouring in for Kenyan hip hop star Chris Kantai after he died in hospital in the capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday.

He was aged 42, and succumbed to breathing complications, external, the privately owned Nairobi News reported.

The rapper is regarded as one of the pioneers of hip hop music in Kenya. His lyrical prowess and masterful delivery made him a huge favourite in the early 2000s.

He rose to fame through street rap battles before releasing recorded music. He went on to win several accolades in Kenya's prestigious Chaguo La Teeniez Awards.

Kantai's most famous hits included Huu ni Nani G (Swahili for Who is this G - gangster) and Happy, which featured another music star, Stella Kimani.

The musician then disappeared from the music scene only to reappear three years ago.

His comeback saw him collaborate with rapper Khaligraph Jones and together they released the hit song Ting Badi Malo, which in the Luo language means "raise your hands up".

Several Kenyan musicians and celebrities have taken to social media to mourn the legend.

Julius Owino, popularly known as Juliani, tweeted that "the only rap battle that I never won was against [fellow rapper] Mwafrika & Kantai".

In tribute posted on Instagram, celebrated DJ Joseph Mwenda, AKA DJ Joe Mfalme, said: “Thank you for the great music. Your legacy will live on. Rest easy Chris Kanta".

Actor Eve D’Souza said it was very sad to hear of the death of "one of the most talented individuals I ever met".

Kantai is survived by his wife and child.

Anne Soy
BBC Senior Africa Correspondent

Image source, AFP

One police officer was killed and four Ebola patients are missing after the treatment centre they were in was attacked on Wednesday night in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

This is the second such attack in just three days by unknown assailants. In both cases, they set the treatment centres on fire and destroyed equipment.

The four missing Ebola patients who ran away from the treatment centre in Butembo would be highly infectious. DR Congo’s Ministry of Health says it is searching for them.

A further people 32 suspected to be carrying the virus also escaped when the armed attackers set the facility on fire.

It is not yet clear if the attackers wanted to free them.

Health workers have struggled to win the trust of local communities. More than 550 people have died from Ebola so far, making it the second largest ever.

The outbreak shows no sign of ending soon. The government says it will now send military officers to guard such facilities. Dozens of armed groups are active in the area affected by the outbreak.

Read More:

• Why Ebola keeps coming back
• Congo: A river journey
• In pictures: Life in Liberia post-Ebola

Our proverb of the day:

Image source, Corbis News

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

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

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:

And we leave you with this picture from Bengo in Angola:

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

The premier of KwaZulu Natal province, Willies Mchunu, has collapsed live on TV.

South Africa’s public broadcaster posted footage of the moment on its Twitter feed.

The incident happened during a provincial equivalent of a "state of the nation" address.

Shortly before his collapse, Mr Mchunu called the province's economic affairs minister to take over from him at the podium.

Government colleagues held him just as his knees gave in. The provincial health minister, Sbongiseni Dhlomo - who is also a medical doctor - climbed to the podium to assist the premier.

Paramedics rushed to the scene and he was taken to hospital.

Mr Dhlomo later confirmed on the government Twitter account that Mr Mchunu’s condition is not critical.

Mr Mchunu was treated in hospital and discharged.

The UN in Somalia has accused the Somali government of violating agreements which exempt UN staff from paying taxes and visa charges, according to Somali private newspaper Goobjoob., external

Goobjoob goes on to say that the UN said, in a letter to the Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Awad, that close to 1,000 of its staff and contractors have been forced to pay penalties for expired visas and income tax,

Last year, Somali journalist Harun Maruf said that UN contractors exploited an alleged loophole in the agreement:

The Tanzanian newspaper The Citizen has announced that the government has suspended its publication for the next week:

It said that this was following the publication of an article entitled "closely monitor falling of shilling".

The article warns, external that the cost of imported goods would go up as a result of the Tanzanian shilling depreciating against the US dollar.

One US dollar is currently worth about 2,345.10 Tanzanian shillings. A year ago, $1 bought 2,250 shillings - which would be consistent with the article's sentiment that the shilling has devalued against the dollar.

The article also says that earnings from cashew nut sales have decreased over the last year. In November the government bought the whole harvest of cashew nuts after a price row. The nuts were collected by military trucks but earlier this month, the government recently said it would not be able to process all the nuts.

Critics have complained previously that the Tanzanian government has brought in regulations that have muzzled freedom of expression.

Seventeen people have been killed in an explosion caused by a booby-trapped corpse in central Mali, security sources and a local official told AFP news agency.

AFP goes on to say that the incident occurred on Tuesday in Diankabou, a small town in central Mali.

An explosive device was planted on the body of a man who had been shot dead, a local official is quoted as saying.

BBC World Service

The Ethiopian authorities have announced they are planning a fundraising dinner hosted by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed where people will be charged more than $175,000 (£130,000) a head.

This is part of an effort to raise around $1bn for ambitious infrastructure projects in the capital Addis Ababa, including establishing parks and developing the city's river network.

The office of the prime minister has released a video of their vision:

The dinner appears aimed at attracting foreign investors keen to seek opportunities in one of Africa's fastest growing economies.

The authorities in Kenya are struggling to contain fires which are spreading on the slopes of Mount Kenya, destroying vegetation and killing wildlife.

Although it's not yet known how they started, the fires are spreading due to high winds and extremely dry conditions.

The Kenya Wildlife Trust has appealed for funding so that helicopters can spend more time dousing the slopes of Mount Kenya with water.

It says the flames are dangerously close to a forest which serves as a vital water catchment for millions of Kenyans.

The NGO has been sharing photos of the fire and the emergency services' work on Instagram:

Image source, Getty Images

A vote intended to guarantee Kenyan women more seats in parliament has fallen through because of the lack of a quorum.

The speaker of parliament, Justin Muturi, said the motion was "lost" after only 174 MPs turned up for the vote - far short of the 233 required for any constitutional amendment to be voted upon.

The bill provided for extra places for women MPs, in line with the 2010 constitution which states that "not more than two-thirds of the members of elective public bodies shall be of the same gender".

This is the fourth time an attempt to address the gender imbalance in the Kenyan parliament has failed.

Women have spent more than eight years pushing for a bigger role in politics and public service through the enactment of the law.

You can read more about the campaign in our Letter from Africa by Kenyan journalist, Joseph Warungu.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari says last Saturday's election was not rigged, contradicting claims by his defeated rival, Atiku Abubakar, that the result had been unfairly manipulated.

"From the comment of several observers, both local and foreign, it is obvious that the elections were both free and fair."

On Wednesday afternoon, he received a formal certificate from the election commission in Abuja, confirming his victory.

Results released earlier show Mr Buhari defeated Mr Abubakar by around 4m votes.

Mr Abubakar has vowed to challenge the result in the courts.

Image source, AFP

Mohanad Hashim
BBC Africa

Police have broken up a protest over the death of a five-year-old boy in Sudan.

Witnesses said a pick-up truck crashed into the family’s home on the outskirts of Khartoum in the early hours of this morning, according to the Central Doctors' Committee.

Video shared on social media shows that the vehicle was a Toyota Land Cruiser truck with no number plates, similar to those used by the security forces.

The boy was identified as five-year old Mu’yad Yasir Jum’a.

His older brother is still in hospital, according to a statement by the Central Doctors' Committee.

Earlier today, the protest organisers - the Sudanese Professionals Association - called on demonstrators to assemble, external at the hospital where the brother is being treated.

This tweeter shared video of that protest:

But later videos show the police breaking up that gathering:

Another video shows the children’s mother saying in Arabic: “They killed my child and ruined my life.”

This demonstration was in defiance of a ban on protests and public gatherings that President Omar Al-Bashir imposed last week.

More protests are planned for Thursday, despite the ban.

The journalists who write for the editor of a popular Facebook page providing news from Eritrea don't know who the editor is.

The editor keeps his anonymity because Eritrea has one of the world's worst records on press freedom.

He talked to BBC Trending, who agreed to just refer to him as "J".

All news outlets in the country are state-owned, and journalists have been imprisoned without trial or charge.

That makes J's page, Eritrean Press, external, unusual - and perhaps unique. It has more than 250,000 followers, and is independent of the Eritrean government.

The page reaches around 1.25 million people each week.

He says that he and his reporters are often tipped off about stories by top officials.

For example, J says the source for a post in October, external calling for a change in government was a high-ranking government official.

In the post headlined "Nepotist Isaias Has Got To Go", J alleged that the president had appointed his son Abraham as an advisor.

The post was a major departure for Eritrean Press. It was such a shift that Eritrean Press readers were taken aback. One of the most-liked comments read: "This page must be hacked".

For now, Eritrean Press occupies an unusual niche - a freely available independent media outlet aimed at a country where there is virtually no press freedom.

Read more on BBC Trending.

Leaders from across the world are coming out to congratulate Muhammadu Buhari for his re-election as the Nigerian president.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo extended a "warm congratulations" to Mr Buhari in a tweet:

A statement from the South African presidency says that President Cyril Ramaphosa paid "particular focus on the strengthening of economic cooperation" when congratulating Mr Buhari.

Meanwhile, the Xinhua news service reports, external that Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang called Nigeria an "important strategic partner of cooperation" in China's congratulatory message.

Mercy Juma
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

Social media access has been restored across Sudan after a 10-week shutdown by the government.

In Sudan, the state tightly controls traditional media, and the internet has become key.

During the shutdown, activists turned to virtual private networks (VPNs), to organise and document the protests.

On social media, people are advocating for the continued use of VPNs, to protect users’ privacy and to remain prepared for any further disruptions.

There are fears that the government may track down and arrest those who go back to using social media without the use of virtual private networks, especially to relay information on the protests.

The protests started over cuts to bread and fuel subsidies, but now demonstrators are calling for the president to resign.

Since December Sudan has been rocked by near-daily demonstrations.

Last week Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir declared a year-long state of emergency and banned unauthorised assembly and public protest but the protests have continued.

Read more: How African governments block social media