An aviation website has published the route of the plane which has landed in Malta after it was apparently hijacked in Libya: 

The Times of Malta is reporting more information about the alleged hijacker of a Libyan plane which has landed in Malta.

"He is claiming to be in possession of a hand grenade," it reports.

"The hijacker, claiming to be pro-Gaddafi, said he was willing to let all passengers go apart from the crew, if his demands were met. It is not known what his demands are at this stage," the newspaper added, external.

Image source, Reuters

A number of soldiers and special forces vehicles can be seen at the Malta International Airport, where a plane suspected to have been hijacked in Libya has landed, Darrin Zammit Lupi, a Reuters news agency photographer, has said. 

Malta's prime minister has tweeted that security services are co-ordinating operations following reports that a hijacked plane from Libya has landed in the country: 

The Malta International Airport has confirmed that there is an "unlawful interference" at the airport, reports the Maltese news site The Independent, external.

The site quotes an airport statement as saying:

Malta's president has tweeted about reports that a plane hijacked in Libya has landed on the island: 

Maltese national TV channel TVM have broadcast live pictures of the Libyan plane which landed in the country following a suspected hijacking:

Image source, TVM

The channel also tweeted:

You can follow the story live on the TVM website, external.

The plane which is suspected to have been hijacked had been flying from Sabha in south-western Libya to the capital, Tripoli, when it was diverted to Malta, Reuters news agency is reporting. 

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A plane hijacked while on an internal flight in Libya has landed in Malta, Maltese media is reporting. 

The Airbus A320 was flying inside Libya for state-owned airline Afriqiyah Airways with 118 people aboard, when it was diverted, the reports said. 

The two hijackers had threatened to blow the plane up, the reports added. 

Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said he has been alerted about a "potential hijack" of a Libyan plane reported to be headed for the Mediterranean island. 

In a tweet, Mr Muscat said:

Angola has declared the end of the world's worst yellow fever epidemic in a generation, reports Reuters news agency.

A UN-backed vaccination campaign of 25 million people resulted in no new cases in six months, Reuters adds.

The outbreak began a year ago in a slum in the capital, Luanda, before spreading to other parts of Angola and into neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. 

More than 400 people died.

Yellow fever is transmitted by the same mosquitoes that spread the Zika and dengue viruses. The "yellow" in the name refers to the jaundice that affects some patients.

Catholic Church officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo say some differences between the ruling party and the Etienne Tshisekedi-led opposition still need to be resolved but the two sides could sign a deal later today on the future of President Joseph Kabila. 

See earlier post for more details

The Nigerian president's spin doctor has found Christmas cheer in the most surprising of places - Nigeria's prisons. 

The prison guards, police, traffic safety officers and drug enforcement agency have got together to make a Christmas video:

Here's one of the lyrics:

Image source, AFP

The Berlin market attack suspect, Tunisian Anis Amri  has been shot dead by police in Milan, according to Italian media.  

Read the latest updates on the BBC News website.

Read more on what we know about Anis Amri.

Adelaide Arthur
BBC News

Image source, Myjoyonline.com

At least five people are reported dead and 12 others injured in an explosion in Ghana's capital, Accra, according to local media.

The explosion at the gas filling station in Labadi, which is close to a national exhibition centre and a university, occurred at 18:00 local time on Thursday, Joy News, external reports.

Witnesses told journalists that they heard a loud bang and then saw huge flames billowing into the sky. 

Injured persons were reported to have suffered severe burns and have been sent to the hospital. Several images of charred bodies from the explosion have also been shared on Whatsapp.

Image source, Myjoyonline.com

It is unclear what had caused the explosion but fire officers were called to the scene to put out the flames which was said to have been spreading. 

The fire also caused a black out in the area as some electricity cables reportedly, also caught fire.

Ghana's incoming president Nana Akufo-Addo has expressed sadness over the incident in a Facebook post, external.

He also called for a "second look" at the location of gas stations in the country and "strict enforcement" of safety regulations to prevent "such avoidable incidents".

Image source, Nana Akufo-Addo/Facebook

In 2015, two explosions at separate gas filling stations in Accra killed two people and injured several others. 

In the same year, a deadly explosion at a fuel station in the capital killed more than 150 people.  

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Opposition leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo say they've reached an agreement with the ruling party over the transition of power. 

In a deal mediated by the Catholic Church, President Joseph Kabila will stay in office until the end of 2017, despite his term having officially expired.

A new prime minister will be chosen from the opposition and the deal will be overseen by the veteran opposition leader, Etienne Tshisekedi. 

Mr Kabila has served the maximum two terms allowed under the constitution, but elections to choose a successor have been delayed. 

Mr Kabila's refusal to step down has sparked street protests. The government has not commented on the deal, which the opposition say it will be signed today.

Preliminary tests showed there was no evidence of "plastic rice" having been imported to Nigeria, Health Minister Isaac Adewole has said. 

Earlier this week, senior customs official Haruna Mamudus said that 2.5 tonnes of "plastic rice" had been seized in the main city, Lagos, and it was intended for sale during the Christmas season. 

In a series of tweets, Mr Adewole said he had been briefed by the head of Nigeria's food and drug control agency, Nafdac: 

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

An experimental vaccine has been found to be highly effective against the deadly Ebola virus. 

The trial was conducted in Guinea - one of the West African countries most affected by an outbreak of the disease that ended this year. 

The final results, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, show that of the nearly 6,000 people to receive the vaccine, all were free of the virus 10 days later. 

Among a group of the same size who were not vaccinated, 23 went on to develop Ebola.

The director of the British-based medical research institute, the Wellcome Trust, described the findings as remarkable. 

More than 11,000 people died during Ebola outbreak. 

BBC Afrique

Image source, Getty Images

Senegal will lead military intervention to oust The Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh if he refuses to step down when his mandate expires on 19 January, a senior official of the West African regional grouping Ecowas has said. 

"Stand-by forces" were on alert and would be deployed "to restore the people's wish" if mediators, led by Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, failed to persuade Mr Jammeh to give up power, said  Marcel Alain de Souza, the chairman of the Ecowas commission. 

He added that it was not Ecowas' "wish to set alight the zone" and if Mr Jammeh "loves" his people, he should "negotiate an exit door calmly":  

Mr de Souza said: 

Mr Jammeh initially conceded victory to property developer Adama Barrow in the 1 December election, but he later called for the election to be annulled, alleging that it was marred by irregularities.

The Supreme Court has set 10 January as a date for a case brought by Mr Jammeh's party to cancel the result. 

Image source, Getty Images

The Catholic Church in South Sudan has cancelled the traditional Christmas Eve Midnight Mass in the capital, Juba, because of security concerns, the privately owned Eye Radio reports on its news site. 

It quotes Archbishop Paulino Lokudu Loro as saying:

The cleric urged people not to kill or steal during the Christmas period, and made a plea to set aside ethnic differences and work for peace in the country. 

South Sudan has been hit by conflict between rival forces since its independence from Sudan in 2011.