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Live Reporting

Dickens Olewe and Damian Zane

All times stated are UK

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  1. Scroll down for Wednesday's stories

    We'll be back tomorrow

    That's all from the BBC Africa Live page today. Keep up to date with what's happening on the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website.

    A reminder of today's wise words:

    Quote Message: An elder's words are sweeter the following day." from A Chewa proverb sent by Remmy Shawa in Lusaka, Zambia
    A Chewa proverb sent by Remmy Shawa in Lusaka, Zambia

    Clock here to send us your African proverbs.

    And we leave you with this photo of a fisherman carrying his catch in Joal, Senegal.

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  2. Uganda theatre 'to be demolished for mall'

    The iconic Uganda National Theatre is to be demolished to make way for a shopping complex including a 36-storey tower after tenants were ordered to leave the premises by the end of June, the Observer reports.

    Uganda National Cultural Center (UNCC) is expected to sign a contract with the developers next week, it says.

    The $100m (£78m) complex will also include modern restaurants, bars, cinemas, state of the art auditoriums and a six underground car parking lots.

    The building, which is shaped like a piano, is among 51 buildings and sites in Kampala, which were constructed before 1969, the report says.

    Veteran artist, Jack Sserunkuma, is quoted as saying he is concerned by the way government has taken his industry for granted.

    View more on twitter
  3. Burkina Faso uprising: 'We want to know the truth'

    In 2014, thousands of people protested on the streets of Burkina Faso, after President Blaise Compaore attempted to extend his 27-year rule.

    According to official figures, 33 people died and some 80 injured. Families are still hoping for justice.

    Video journalist: Maxime Le Hegarat

    Video content

    Video caption: Burkina Faso uprising: 'We want to know the truth'
  4. 'This was really horrific'

    The death toll in the fire that engulfed a London tower block has now risen to 12 and the number of deaths are expected to rise, police say.

    As we reported, some of those who lived in the block were of African descent.

    This British-Somali man Mahad Egal made it out of the flats with his family, but as he told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire he knows that some friends and family did not escape.

    Warning: There are some graphic descriptions in this video.

    Video content

    Video caption: 'This was really horrific'
  5. South African midfielder joins Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem

    South African international Thulani Serero has completed his move from Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam to rivals Vitesse Arnhem.

    The 27-year-old Bafana Bafana midfielder becomes a Vitesse player on 1 July following the expiry of his contract with Ajax Amsterdam.

    Serero joined Ajax from Ajax Cape Town in 2011 but has struggled for game time in the past couple of seasons.

    Read the full story

    Thulani Serero
  6. This week's Kenya Election Watch podcast is out!

    This week we look at the inaccuracies revealed in the electoral register – we asked a top official at the electoral commission if they can be corrected in time.

    Plus we discuss the role of ethnicity in these elections, and ask how class identity might outweigh ethnic divisions in some areas.

    Listen to the show:

    Video content

    Video caption: Kenya Election Watch 3
  7. Confusion and distress after London fire

    The fire which tore through a 24-storey town block in London killed six people but police expect that number to rise.

    BBC Africa's Mohanad Hashim, who has been to scene in west London, says that he was told many people living in the block were of African descent - with parents from Morocco, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan. Some of those are still missing.

    He took a picture of people from the area trying to find out what had happened:

    People standing around in the street

    Mohanad adds that the community is coming together with mosques, churches and community halls becoming shelters.

    Church hall

    Talking of the tragedy, one British-Somali woman told him that she was distressed that there was little definite information about what was going on:

    Quote Message: We need to know what's happened... how can a whole building go up like that? You heard people screaming for help... and you can't do anything about it."
  8. Recording captures SA man discussing his wife's murder

    A court in South Africa's city of Port Elizabeth has played a video recording of a businessman who is accused of planning the kidnap and murder of his wife, JacarandaFM reports

    In the video Christoper Panayiotou is seen talking to an alleged middleman in the murder of his wife.

    Jayde Panayiotou's murder was reported at the time as a house robbery gone wrong.

    Mr Panayiotou has repeatedly denied any wrong doing.

    In the video he is heard expressing his unhappiness to the middleman about the way things turned out on the day that his wife was abducted and later murdered in April 2015 saying that he was supposed to make it look like a robbery.

    View more on youtube

    The defence failed to block the video being played in court and to be admitted as evidence, the report says.

  9. Ntaganda takes the stand at the ICC

    Congolese former rebel commander Bosco Ntaganda is now giving evidence at his war crimes trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

    The start of his evidence was delayed as his lawyers argued that the case should be adjourned.

    You can follow what he is saying on the ICC website.

    Bosco Ntaganda giving evidence
  10. ICC orders arrest of Saif Gaddafi

    Saif Gaddafi

    The International Criminal Court (ICC) has called for the arrest and surrender of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who was released by a militia in Libya last week after six years in jail.

    The son of late leader Col Muammar Gaddafi is wanted for alleged crimes against humanity during the rebellion that ousted his father in 2011.

    His location is unclear. The UN-backed government has condemned the release.

    It is feared that the move could fuel further instability in the country.

    Saif al-Islam was freed from jail last Friday by the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion militia in the western town of Zintan under an amnesty law.

    He has not been seen in public since then. A source told the BBC he was in the Tobruk area of eastern Libya.

    READ: What next for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi?

  11. South Africans debate changing name to Azania

    A call by South Africa's Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa for the country's name to be changed to Azania has sparked a debate in the country, IOL reports.

    Mr Mthethwa said the country's name was just a geographical reference and should be changed, like other colonial-era names in Africa.

    Old map of South Africa
    Image caption: Some people object that South Africa was the colonial name for the country

    Thamba Godi, from the African People’s Convention, supported the call saying that South Africa should have followed the model of Namibia and Zimbabwe "which after gaining liberation changed from colonial names South West Africa and Rhodesia respectively," IOL says.

    Reactions on social media have been mixed as reflected on the Cape Argus newspaper’s Facebook page:

    Quote Message: It can take millions or even billions of rand to change the name, I don’t see the point. The money could be spent on things that are needed. Try to change inequality in the country instead.”
    Quote Message: I would like to be identified as Azanian as it is personal. Yes, it will take time for people to get used to it but eventually they will. The name suits us and there is great history behind the name.”
    Quote Message: No, it should have been done after liberation”. from Malwande Blayi, 28, from Philippi
    Malwande Blayi, 28, from Philippi
  12. Kenya police seek owner of collapsed building

    A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the owner of the seven-storey building that collapsed on Monday in Kware Pipeline estate in the eastern part of Kenya's capital Nairobi.

    Two children were pulled out alive from the rubble on Tuesday night but a woman who was also pulled out of the wreckage died almost immediately after being rescued.

    Rescue officials say the boy and a girl are now being treated in a hospital.

    Kenya Red Cross says another person was killed after the building collapsed on Monday night. Several more people have been reported missing.

    A search and rescue operation is continuing.

    The Star newspaper said dozens of people had been evacuated moments before the collapse.

    Witnesses told the paper that the building had been condemned after cracks appeared in its walls.

    The BBC's Anne Soy went to the site on Monday:

    Video content

    Video caption: Nairobi building collapse: 'I don't know where my son is'
  13. Corruption charges dropped against Nigeria senate leader

    Martin Patience

    BBC News, Nigeria correspondent

    One of Nigeria’s top politicians, senate leader Bukola Saraki, has been cleared of falsely declaring his assets.

    He was facing 18 charges, but now a tribunal says he has no case to answer.

    Bukola Saraki

    The charismatic senate leader is a controversial figure who will no doubt welcome this ruling almost two years after he was first charged.

    In a bid to promote transparency and tackle corruption, Nigerian politicians are supposed to declare all their assets.

    But the tribunal overseeing the matter said Mr Saraki had no case to answer because of a lack of evidence.

    The current government has vowed to tackle rampant corruption within the system.

    Political opponents of President Muhammadu Buhari also accuse his government of using corruption allegations to carry out a political witch-hunt.

  14. Many missing after London fire

    It is feared that many people have died after a residential tower block in London was engulfed overnight in a huge blaze.

    Police have confirmed six fatalities, but expect the number to rise, saying the recovery operation was likely to be lengthy.

    People are tweeting about friends and colleagues who are missing.

    One of the names mentioned is Khadija Saye. She is a friend of British MP David Lammy.

    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter

    Ms Saye is a young photographer whose work about The Gambia was recently exhibited in the Diaspora Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

  15. Mortuary strike causes distress in South Africa

    Milton Nkosi

    BBC Africa, Johannesburg

    South Africa's Gauteng provincial government has called in help from the army as bodies pile up in some mortuaries following a strike by forensic pathology assistants.

    Diepkloof mortuary in Soweto is the most affected with tens of bodies waiting for autopsies, leaving bereaved families in distress.

    Forensic pathology assistants have downed tools over salaries and working conditions.

    Provincial health minister Dr Gwen Ramokgopa said that the local authorities have "spared no effort to try and resolve the impasse", but they had no choice but to request military help.

    Authorities tried to reassure concerned families that talks to resolve the deadlock are continuing.

  16. 'Devilish forces' persecuting Cameroon clergy

    Cameroonian bishops are saying that their colleague Bishop Jean Marie Benoit Bala was "brutally murdered" a fortnight ago, dismissing theories that he took his own life see earlier entry).

    In a statement they highlighted the deaths of a number of members of the Cameroonian clergy in recent years.

    One of the church leaders, Jervis Kebei Kewi, told the BBC that the clergy are being persecuted:

    Quote Message: We strongly feel that the clergy in Cameroon are particularly persecuted by some obscure and devilish forces."
  17. Ghanaian who lost fingers to frostbite in trek to Canada gets refugee status

    A Ghanaian immigrant who lost his fingers due to frostbite while crossing the the US -Canadian border has been given asylum

    Razak Iyal entered Canada with a fellow Ghanaian, Seidu Mohammed, on Christmas Eve, after they had walked for hours through waist-deep snow.

    The two left the US on Christmas Eve last year fearing they would be deported but were not dressed for the sub-temperature weather conditions they faced on their journey.

    They were spotted by a truck driver after crossing into Canada and spent weeks recovering in hospital.

    Mr Iyal lost all his fingers but kept his thumbs. But he is not downcast.

    "I can do a lot of things that people who have fingers can do," he is quoted as saying

    He plans to bring his wife to Canada and opening an electronics business similar to one he had in Ghana. Mr Mohammed has also won his asylum case.

    The BBC spoke to the two in February:

    Video content

    Video caption: 'I lost all my fingers': Asylum seekers make dangerous border crossing

    Read: Letter from Africa: Why do Ghanaians leave home?

  18. Sudanese activist on trial for spying

    Prominent Sudanese human rights activist Mudawi Ibrahim Adam has gone on trial today in Khartoum on charges of spying, the AFP news agency reports.

    It adds that he was arrested at the end of last year in a round up of opposition figures and other activists.

    Mr Adam is also accused of distorting the image of the state for some of the things that he has published, AFP says.

    The first session of the trial was attended by foreign diplomats.

    Rights group Amnesty International has called for his release and has been campaigning on his behalf.

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  19. Uganda passport shortage

    Uganda's government says it has run out of ordinary passports and it is restricting the number of new travel documents it issues, the Monitor newspaper reports.

    The report quotes a government statement saying that the few remaining passports will only be given to people who have an emergency such as seeking to travel abroad for treatment or students who get a foreign scholarship.

    Spokesman Jacob Simiyu said the shortage will be resolved within the next month.

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  20. Are African footballers more susceptible to heart attacks?

    The recent death of Ivorian footballer Cheick Tiote on the pitch brought an outpouring of sadness in the world of football.

    This left us asking if there is any evidence to suggest that African players are more likely to die on the pitch than other players, writes Jordan Dunbar.

    In the past few years there have been a number of players who have died while playing football.

    The BBC's More or Less programme has looked into whether African players and players of African heritage are more susceptible to cardiac arrest.

    It heard from researchers who found that black athletes could be more at danger, but the risks are still very small.

    Read full story

    Cheick Tiote
    Image caption: Cheick Tiote, who was 30, collapsed and died during training