That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team, but we'll be back on Tuesday morning.

Until then you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to our podcast Africa Today.

A reminder of our African proverb of the day:

And we leave you with this photo of Orthodox Ethiopian Christians who celebrated Christmas on Saturday in Lalibela in Amhara, northern Ethiopia:

Image source, Getty Images

A 60-year-old man who was mauled to death over the weekend by his own dogs in the South African town of Lichtenburg, has been formally identified as Zambian football star, Philemon Mulala.

Mr Mulala's wife is reported to have found the him lifeless in the garden of their home and quickly called for the emergency services who pronounced him dead at the scene, according to a statement by the South African Police Service, external.

Tributes have been pouring in with the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) leading the way. FAZ general secretary Adrian Kashala told South Africa's Times Live newspaper, external; "We remain with wonderful memories that the late Philemon honoured us with on the pitch."

Mr Mulala moved to South Africa in the 1980's to play for the Kaizer Chiefs and later, the Cape Town Spurs.

The South African Police Service have said that an inquest docket has been opened and investigation into the matter continues.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have removed the three dogs from their home and put them in shelters.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, NRC

Authorities in Nigeria’s southern Edo state say security forces have rescued six people, including children, kidnapped by gunmen at a train station in Igueben.

As we reported earlier, the police said that the travellers were waiting to board a train when they were attacked and kidnapped by suspected criminal gangs.

More than 20 other hostages are still missing, while the train station has been shut down indefinitely.

The spokesman for Edo state also announced that a suspect has been arrested in connection with the abductions.

Eyewitnesses of the Saturday incident said some of the passengers sustained gunshot injuries.

The Nigerian government has condemned the kidnapping of the passengers describing it as despicable and utterly barbaric.

The attack comes less than two months before Nigeria’s general election.

In March last year gunmen attacked a Kaduna-bound train in northern Nigeria, killing some passengers and kidnapping dozens of others.

More on this topic:

• Nigeria train attack: How I survived hijacking and captivity

BBC World Service

Image source, Bukedde TV

Police in Uganda say they've arrested a key suspect who went on the run after a deadly New Year's Eve crush.

They said the event's host, Elvis Francis Juuko, was found in a hideout about 60 km (37 miles) from the capital Kampala.

He has been accused of urging revellers to go through a narrow passageway to watch fireworks outside the mall where the party was held.

The event's organisers closed other exits to prevent people who hadn't paid from accessing the venue. At least 10 people died in the crush, most of them children.

Former South Africa captain and SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith believes the country's new T20 competition can help the Test team rediscover former glories.

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Image source, Getty Images

Passengers in the capital of northern Ethiopia's Tigray province, Mekelle, have told the BBC that they were restricted from flying to the federal capital, Addis Ababa.

The passengers have alleged police at the city’s airport have barred anyone between the ages of 16 and 64 from boarding flights, without explanation, unless they are traveling for medical reasons.

A federal police spokesperson said he was unaware of the allegations while a senior official at Ethiopian Airlines, the national carrier, told the BBC that the airline does not discriminate against travellers.

Ethiopian Airlines, one of Africa’s largest airlines, resumed commercial flights to conflict-hit Mekelle late last month following a deal that was reached between the federal government and Tigrayan fighters to end a two-year civil war.

Much of Tigray had been sealed off from the outside world for more than a year and a half before the deal was agreed in November in South Africa.

Basic services including electricity, phone lines and flights are slowly returning to the region.

Read more about the Ethiopia-Tigray peace deal here.

Image source, Getty Images

Nigeria's Labour Party Vice-Presidential candidate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, nearly broke down in tears during a TV townhall meeting televised on Channels TV alongside his presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

When the presenter asked him about fake news targeted against him, Mr Baba-Ahmed, described it as "uncivilised, undemocratic and unpolitical" and said his personality, as well as that of others, was being attacked.

"Me and my family have been paying a huge price for, you know, my attempts to save Nigeria," he added.

"They sent all sorts of people after me. I would have been happier if they stopped at me as an individual," he said.

He went on to say that people have started to insult his late father, since his run for high office.

His voice then gets audibly shaky as he repeats that it is "a huge price".

He subsequently walks off the podium.

Nigeria's presidential election takes place on 25 February. Peter Obi is running against two big name rivals - Bola Ahmed Tinubu from the ruling APC party and Atiku Abubakar from the PDP party.

Mercy Juma
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Lawren Studios

A Kenyan court has allowed police to detain five suspects linked to the murder of LGBT activist Edwin Chiloba for 21 days.

This is to enable further investigations into the death, including conducting an autopsy and a forensic examination of the deceased's house and the vehicle which was used to transport and dump the body.

The police said they also need time to review CCTV footage of Chiloba’s last moments and phone records from his handset.

The model’s decomposing body was found stashed in a metal box and dumped along a remote road outside Eldoret town.

Human rights activists and civil society groups have condemned the horrific killing.

The five people arrested include Chiloba’s long-time friend Jackton Odhiambo and three minors.

Read more about the death of Edwin Chiloba here.

Modeste M'Bami "was a joyful player", says Cameroon coach Rigobert Song as tributes pour in for the late Indomitable Lions midfielder.

Emery Makumeno
BBC News, Kinshasa

At least 14 people were killed and about 36 others are missing following an attack on a village in the east of Democratic Reublic of Congo, according to the local MP.

The attackers were armed with machetes when they descended on the village on Sunday in Djugu in Ituri province, said Gratien Iracan.

A local source speaking under anonymity told the BBC that the killings were linked to rivalries between militia groups operating in the region following the murder of a local teacher on Saturday.

An army spokesperson told the BBC that investigations had started on the incident.

Ituri province has been witnessing fighting between militia groups over ethnic tensions and possession of gold mines.

Image source, Getty Images

American rapper, Meek Mill, is trending in Ghana, after people have expressed fury over a music video posted by the musician which appears to have been filmed in the country's Jubilee House, which is the presidential palace.

The video was reportedly first posted on Meek Mill's Instagram account on Sunday according to the news site GhanaWeb, external, but the BBC could not find any trace of the video on the rapper's social media page at the time of writing this post.

Several American celebrities have been in Ghana over the last few days as the country hosted the Black Star Line Festival last week, which featured big names musicians like Chance the Rapper, T-Pain and Erykah Badu.

Local media say that people are enraged over what they view as the "desecration", external of the presidency by Meek Mill and the security issues regarding the filming of a music video in such a high-profile building.

On Twitter, Ghanaians have expressed similar concerns: "All those responsible for this despicable desecration of the Jubilee House by Meek Mill must be fired immediately, external," Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, who is a former Deputy Minister for Education and Information said.

Mr Ablakwa then went on to complain about "explicit" lyrics used by Meek Mill in the video.

Another Twitter user expressed similar anger: "This is the lowest point we can get as a country.", external

Meek Mill, whose real name is Robert Williams, recently took a DNA test where he discovered that he is 18% Ivorian and Ghanaian.

A Ghanaian politician, external has come out in defence of Jubilee House appearing to be used to shoot a hip-hop video saying it is not just "international celebrities" who have access to the presidential lectern - where part of Meek Mill's video appeared to be filmed.

"All the visitors the president receives at the hall where the presidency lectern is, get access to it and are allowed to take pictures too. From Ghanaians to foreigners," Kofi Ofosu Nkansah posted on Facebook.

He also noted that guests only get to take photos from the lecture with a badge saying "Presidency", meanwhile President Nana Akufo-Addo uses a lectern with a badge saying "President".

Image source, Getty Images

In an interview with the UK's ITV news channel, Prince Harry agreed when the interviewer said that he and his brother, Prince William, had a dispute over Africa.

In a highly personal and explosive 90-minute interview Harry, who now lives in California, agreed with the suggestion that he had a sibling rivalry with his sibling, which spilled over into charity work in Africa.

The prince conceded that his brother did not want him to get too involved in charity work in Africa because William saw the continent as his "thing", in the words of interviewer Tom Bradby.

William has not commented.

It is not the first time Africa has come up in Harry's revelations about the Royal Family.

In yet another explosive series of interviews - his Netflix series released with his wife, Meghan, last year - Harry says that he and Meghan were making plans to move to South Africa, until the story was leaked to the press.

The Royal Family has not commented on any of the accusations made by Harry and Meghan. Although in 2021 when accusations of maltreatment surfaced in another interview, Buckingham Palace said that "recollections may vary" and wanted to address grievances held by the now California-based couple privately.

Image source, Rigathi Gachagua/Twitter

Kenya’s deputy president says he is ashamed that he has beg for food relief amid food shortages in the country.

“I spend all my time, with foreigners, begging for food. Including those who colonised us. It is humiliating. But I have no choice because we cannot let our people die,” Rigathi Gachagua told local media.

The deputy president said that consecutive failed rains had left many people with no food and some had died.

He said he had prayed while at the foot of Mt Kenya for God to “heal our land” and save the people from the crisis.

Speaking to a local-language TV, Mr Gachagua said begging was deeply loathed within his community, terming it demeaning as a son of a former freedom fighter.

Malawi's government has made an appeal for support to help fight a cholera outbreak that has so far killed hundreds of people.

The outbreak began in March 2022 but has become acute lately. It has spread to nearly all of Malawi's 28 districts.

In a statement, the government appealed for support in medical supplies and support to schools' sanitation facilities.

It also appealed for chlorine, oral rehydration salts and cash.

But the announcement has been criticised for urging potential donors to contact the national co-ordinator through a gmail address instead of an email address with a government domain.

Read more:

• Malawi suspends school opening over deadly cholera outbreak

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

The UN mission in Sudan on Sunday launched a second phase of negotiations between military and civilian groups to end the political crisis that followed the October 2021 coup.

The United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (Unitams) said the signatories would on Monday begin a four-day conference to consult on five issues in the political framework agreement.

Civilian and military signatories of the political framework agreement, civil society groups, academics, private sector representatives and religious and traditional leaders will attend the talks.

On 5 December, the former ruling coalition, Forces for Freedom and Change and allied political groups signed a framework agreement that provides for a 24-month transition to begin once a new prime minister is appointed.

However, powerful pro-military, Islamist groups and pro-democracy activists in the country have rejected the deal.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Somaliland Energy Ministry / Facebook

The self-declared republic of Somaliland has confirmed that oil has been discovered in the Sallahey area of Marodi-Jeh region, its ministry of energy and mineral resources said in a statement, external posted on Facebook.

The ministry said it had launched scientific investigations after a black liquid spilled from a waterwell drilling site in the area, and the results had confirmed the oil discovery.

This is the first confirmed oil discovery in the area.

The statement added that UK firm Genel Energy would start further oil exploration and production.

The discovery comes two weeks after the Somali federal government warned Genel Energy against oil exploration in Somaliland without authorisation from Mogadishu, saying the firm was undermining its sovereignty.

Somaliland, which declared independence from the south in 1991 and has since been unsuccessfully seeking international recognition, said the statement from Mogadishu was meaningless.

Image source, AFP

Egyptian authorities have refloated a cargo vessel that ran aground in the Suez Canal.

Shipping agency Leth Agencies had earlier said that MV Glory had ran aground near the north-eastern city of El-Qantarah.

It later said that it had been refloated by the Suez Canal authority's tugboats and 21 vessels would resume their transit through the channel, with minor delays expected.

The vessel was listed as carrying over 65,000 metric tonnes of grain from Ukraine bound for China, the Associated Press agency reports.

In 2021 a giant container ship, the Ever Given, blocked the canal, disrupting global trade.

The Suez Canal is a vital waterway that connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, providing an avenue for vessels to pass between Asia and the Middle East and Europe.

Emery Makumeno
BBC News, Kinshasa

Image source, AFP

The streets of the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, Kinshasa, will undergo a makeover from Monday ahead of Pope Francis' visit at the end of the month.

Kinshasa Governor Gentiny Ngobila says the main city centre will be spruced up, with street vendors and abandoned vehicles removed from roads connecting to the Kinshasa International Airport.

Last month the city experienced the worst floods in years that left more than 120 dead.

This is the first time that the city of at least 14 million residents will be hosting Pope Francis.

A previous pope, the late John Paul II, visited the country twice in 1980 and 1985 during the rule of former strongman Mobutu Sese Seko.

Catholics make up the majority of the country's population.

Image source, Benin Presidency / Twitter

Votes are being counted in Benin after voting in Sunday's parliamentary elections.

The AFP news agency reports that voter turnout was low.

Opposition parties took part this time after having either boycotted or being excluded from other polls in recent years.

"I believe that we are definitively turning the wrong pages of our recent political history," President Patrice Talon said in a statement, external after voting.

He added: "No one is boycotting anymore despite the reforms that are still in progress and which are transforming our political, economic and administrative environment."

The results are expected within the next week, AFP reports.

Parties winning more than 10% of the vote will share out the 109 parliament seats, according to a proportional system.

More on this topic:

• How Benin's democratic crown has slipped

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Zimbabwean police say they are investigating allegations of violence against the opposition.

This comes after a video was widely shared on social media showing what appears to be a gang interrogating and assaulting people holding an opposition meeting.

The incident has raised fears that this year's election will see a repeat of some of the violence that has marred previous polls in Zimbabwe.

In the video, reportedly filmed in Murehwa, north-east of Harare, a woman interrogates a group of people and castigates them for supporting the opposition.

An elderly man is then held down on the ground as men beat him repeatedly with wooden poles.

The punishment is carried out in front of a young child.

The opposition Citizens Coalition For Change says this is one of many pieces of evidence that show the governing Zanu-PF party has unleashed vigilante groups ahead of elections.

A Zanu-PF official in the area has distanced his party from the attack.

Rights groups have often accused the governing party of using systematic violence as a tool to win elections.