The BBC's Umaru Fofana says Gambia's Chief Justice has decided against ruling on an injunction filed by President Yahya Jammeh's legal team aimed at preventing President-elect Adama Barrow's inauguration on Thursday.

Mr Jammeh had sought the injunction because he wants to stay on as president until May, when foreign judges are available for the Supreme Court to rule on the outcome of December's election, which Mr Jammeh disputes.

It is unclear what will happen on Thursday, when Mr Barrow insists his swearing-in will go ahead.

However he is currently staying in the Senegalese capital Dakar at the request of West African leaders. 

Meanwhile a report in Sunday's Financial Times, external suggested West African leaders were stepping up plans for a military intervention following the failure of attempts to persuade Mr Jammeh to step down.

Nigeria has asked the UK to train 800 troops for such a mission, the newspaper reported.

Image source, Gallo Images

South Africans have been paying tribute to renowned jazz musician Thandi Klaasen who has died aged 86.

President Jacob Zuma said the nation had lost a leading pioneer of jazz who promoted a "cosmopolitan culture".

Born to a shoemaker and a domestic worker in racially segregated South Africa, she performed with US stars such as Roberta Flack and Patti LaBelle in a career of more than 50 years.

Klaasen was battling pancreatic cancer at the time of her death.

"She was a role model to many of our young and upcoming musicians and her legacy will live on for generations to come," Mr Zuma said in a statement.

Read the full story here

Reports say US car maker Ford is planning to announce a recall of its Ford Kuga model. Details are expected to be released at a news conference to be held by the South Africa's Consumer Commission.

Over 40 Ford Kuga model cars have caught fire while on the road, which have reportedly started from the engine. 

The South African Times newspaper has put together a collage of some of the car fire incidents on its front page: 

Image source, The Times

An AFP correspondent says one person died in one of the incidents.

Image source, AFP

The presidential office in Burundi has officially asked the Defense and Foreign Ministries to start the process of withdrawing the country's troops from the African peace mission in Somalia (Amison), the AFP news agency reports. 

Burundi, with 5,400 soldiers forming part of Amison, is the second largest contributor of troops to the AU mission, which is funded by the European Union (EU). 

But it has decided to pull out its contingent over the EU's decision to stop paying the Burundian government a monthly 5m Euros for the soldiers' salaries. 

The disputed presidential election of April 2015, which saw President Nkurunziza take the oath for a third term not authorised by the constitution, has led to sanctions against Burundi imposed by international institutions, including the EU. 

A senior official of the government, Gaston Sindimwo, is quoted by AFP as saying: 

Last November, the African Union rejected the EU's decision to stop paying the soldiers' salary to the Burundian government, warning of the possible negative impact on Amison.

The African Cup of Nations kicked off in Gabon over the weekend and there's already so much to talk about. 

Senegal beat Tunisia 2-0 to register the first win of the tournament. Zimbabwe held favourites Algeria to a 2-2 draw with BBC Africa's footballer of the year Riyad Mahrez scoring both goals. 

Despite a dominant performance Cameroon were held to a 1-1 draw against Burkina Faso. Host Gabon relied on their main man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to secure a point against Guinea-Bissau. 

The BBC's Farayo Mungazi in Gabon's capital Libreville is already looking ahead to Senegal match against Zimbabwe:

Day three:

Reigning champions Ivory Coast play their first game today against Togo at 16:00 GMT

Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha is set to make his competitive debut for Ivory Coast as they begin their defence of the Africa Cup of Nations title.

Zaha switched international allegiance from England ahead of the tournament and already has an assist and a goal from his two warm-up appearances.

Togo will be skippered by striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who has not had club since leaving Crystal Palace in June.

Coach Claude LeRoy is making a record-extending ninth finals appearance.

The Belgian, who won the title in 1988 and has only once failed to reach the quarter-finals, will be eager to take Togo deep into the tournament.

Read full preview

Democratic Republic Congo face Morocco in the late kickoff at 19:00 GMT

DR Congo's preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations have been hindered by a row over unpaid bonuses that goes back to the last edition of the tournament.

Players went on strike on Friday and refused to train and although they have since returned, the dispute has been damaging to their focus.

Morocco coach Herve Renard has been set a target by the country's FA of reaching at least the quarter-finals.

Read full preview

Image source, Getty Images

The short answer is that no one really knows, according to J Brooks Spector writing in South Africa's Daily Maverick, external.  

Most American efforts towards Africa have been supported by Republicans and Democratic presidents and Congresses alike, he says. They have focused on trade as an engine for development, counter-terrorism and the battle against HIV and AIDS.

SA analyst Greg Mills is quoted as saying that President Obama's engagement with Africa was "minimalist" and tough diplomacy "conspicuous by its absence" - but Africa will have to work hard to gain the attention of the Trump administration beyond being just a series of "problems to be solved".

Mr Trump is unlikely to do a complete u-turn on current Africa policy, J Peter Pham of the Atlantic Council has told the New York Times, external.

However the newspaper reports that an Africa-related questionnaire has been circulating in the State Department, questioning whether the money spent on aid and efforts to fight groups such as Boko Haram, al-Shabab and the Lords Resistance Army is effective and whether these battles are even core US interests

It also queries whether US companies are competitive enough in Africa, asking whether they are losing out to Chinese rivals.

The tone of the note suggests a "more transactional and short-term approach to policy and engagement with African countries", Monde Muyangwa, director of the Africa programme at the Woodrow Wilson Institute, told the newspaper.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Addis Ababa

Owning a car for many Ethiopians - even those with ready cash to spend in one of the world's fastest-growing economies - remains a pipe dream.

"I have been saving for nearly four years now, and I still can't afford to buy even the cheapest vehicle here," a frustrated Girma Desalegn tells me.

He has been shopping around for a whole week in capital, Addis Ababa, and has still not found an affordable car.

He is looking to buy a second-hand car imported from the Gulf states or Europe - but even they are prohibitively expensive because the government classifies cars as luxury goods.

This means even if a vehicle is second hand, it will be hit with import taxes of up to 200%.

Read the full story here

Stephanie Hegarty
BBC Africa, Lagos

Image source, AP

A twin suicide attack has hit the university of Maiduguri in north-east Nigeria. At least four people have been killed, including two suicide bombers. 

A police spokesman told the BBC they intercepted one attacker - a girl of about 12 years old - at the gate of the university. 

Suspecting she was carrying a bomb they shot at her, detonating the explosive strapped to her body. 

Within minutes there was another explosion at a mosque close to the entrance of the university.  

Image source, AP

So far 15 people have been reported injured. 

For a long time suicide bombing has been a preferred tactic of Boko Haram, often using young girls as bombers. 

While the Nigerian government claims they’ve cleared Boko Haram from all of its strongholds, it seems the Islamist group are still capable of lashing out. 

There has been a marked increase in these kinds of attacks, penetrating further into the north-east’s main city. 

Pollsmoor is one of the most notorious prisons in South Africa. But now a new technique is being used to help rehabilitate offenders - yoga.

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

Musician Thandi Klaasen had an unmistakable presence. 

Being around her transported you to South Africa’s golden age of jazz music. Her quick wit and Totsitaal (township lingo) reminded you of days long gone. 

I first met her as young reporter at a charity event in Johannesburg some 10 years ago. I’m not quite sure what my first words to her were, but hers stayed with me.

“Don’t be afraid, I might be ugly but I don’t bite,” she said letting out hearty laughter. 

I blushed. She was referring to the acid scars on her face, injuries she had sustained as a young musician. 

She’d been burnt by a fellow musician trying to end her career. She told me how she decided years ago that “they can burn my face but they can never burn my voice”. 

Ms Klaasen wore her past with pride and continued to face the world with her head held up high. 

Hers was a story of resilience. Certainly on the scale of the late musician Miriam Makeba, but Ms Klaasen was not celebrated and was underrated. 

But from the messages of condolences now pouring out for her – she is perhaps getting the recognition she had always deserved

Heavy snow has trapped around 1,000 motorists in northwestern Tunisia, the prime minister's office said Monday. 

Drifts blocked roads including a major highway in the province of Jendouba on Sunday evening, Youssef Chahed's office said.

The government opened 10 emergency shelters in schools and sports centres, warning the public not to travel unless absolutely necessary, AFP reported. 

Authorities distributed food and blankets to people trapped in a "monster traffic jam", private radio station Mosaique FM said. 

Jendouba Governor Akram Sebri said "considerable quantities of food and liquid gas" had been stockpiled "as a precaution". 

Winter snowfall is not unusual in the North African country's highlands, but Tunisia has been hit by particularly heavy blizzards from Europe in the last week. 

Temperatures have plummeted to -5 degrees. The blizzards hit some of Tunisia's poorest regions including the mountainous western province of Kasserine. 

Authorities say children and frail people were evacuated to areas closer to hospitals. 

A nine-year-old girl died in early January in Jendouba because of the cold, Tunisian media reported. 

Forecasters say cold temperatures, high winds and heavy snowfall are set to continue at least until the middle of the week. 

Rwanda's last king, who ruled for less than a year before going into exile, has been buried in Nyanza to the southwest of the capital Kigali. Nyanza was the capital under the monarchy.

King Kigeli died last October, aged 80, in the United States, where he had been living since 1992.

Most of the attendees were members of his family. The government presence was low-key, with only the sports and culture minister in attendance, BBC Great Lakes reported.

Rwanda is a republic and the current government does not recognise the royal family and also does not want to give them prominence, correspondents say.

When he was alive, King Kigeli reportedly held out hope he could return to Rwanda as the head of a constitutional monarchy, but the government was only willing to allow him to return as a private citizen.

The former monarch had reportedly not wanted to be buried in Rwanda as long as the current government was in power.

However, a US court ruled in favour of relatives in Rwanda who wanted his body returned there to be laid to rest.

There is also some disagreement within the family over who should succeed King Kigeli.

Some relatives have rejected a move by King Kigeli's chief courtier to hand his crown to the monarch's nephew, Emmanuel Bushayija, who lives in the UK city of Manchester.

Image source, AP

A court in Egypt has rejected a government plan to transfer two uninhabited islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia. 

The government had agreed to cede control of Tiran and Sanafir in a maritime deal. 

It had won an appeal last month but lost the final appeal. 

People who gathered outside the court to celebrated the decision, chanted freedom slogans and waved the Egyptian flag. 

The two human rights lawyers who led the appeal, Khaled Ali and Malek Adly, were carried out of the courtroom by jubilant supporters. 

"This verdict is a victory for Egypt," Mr Adly said. 

There was no immediate response from the government, the report says.

Saudi and Egyptian officials had argued that the islands belonged to Saudi Arabia and were only under Egyptian control because Riyadh asked Cairo in 1950 to protect them. 

Lawyers who opposed the accord said Egypt's sovereignty over the islands dated back to a treaty in 1906, before Saudi Arabia was founded.    

Saudi Arabia has been a benefactor to Egypt, giving the country aid, but it has suspended petroleum supplies amid growing differences, AP reports. 

Image source, Getty Images

The Ivorian international striker Didier Drogba, 38, is in advanced talks for a move to the Brazilian club of Corinthians Paulista, Jeune Afrique reports, external. 

Drogba has not been affiliated to a club since December when he left Canadian side Impact de Montreal. Now, he could be donning a Corinthians Paulista's jersey for the 2017 season. 

The Ivorian had preferred a return to Olympique de Marseille where he rose to stardom during the 2003-2004 season, but coach Rudi Garcia did not welcome the prospect, the newspaper says. 

Jeune Afrique quotes a close connection of Drogba as saying: 

Didier Drogba announced his retirement from international football two years ago. 

The former Chelsea striker scored 65 goals in 104 appearances for Ivory Coast over a 12-year period. 

He played in three World Cups.

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has filed an injunction to the Supreme Court to hear his suit against the Election Commission before he considers leaving office.

Aziz Bensouda, is the general secretary of The Gambia's Bar Association. He was asked by the BBC World Service if he thought Mr Jammeh's injunction could stop the inauguration of election winner Adama Barrow?

The trial of the first-ever commander of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group to appear before the International Criminal Court has resumed. 

Dominic Ongwen is facing 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and enslavement.

He appeared before the court on 6 December and pleaded not guilty. 

The ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the court that the evidence shows him as a  "murderer and a rapist".

He is the first former child soldier to be charged by the court in The Hague.  

Mr Ongwen was a boy when he was abducted and conscripted by the LRA. 

Analysis - Anna Holligan, BBC News in The Hague 

Ongwen's story encapsulates many of the complexities of the conflict which has claimed more than 100,000 lives - he was a child groomed in the image of his oppressors.

He is accused of leading attacks on four camps for internally displaced people in northern Uganda - murdering and torturing civilians, plus forcing women into marriage and children to take part in the fighting.

He's facing more charges than any other ICC suspect.

But his past is expected to present some ethical and legal dilemmas for court - his lawyers are likely to use his traumatized youth as a plea for leniency.

Read more: Dominic Ongwen and the quest for justice

The world's eight richest individuals have as much wealth as the 3.6bn people who make up the poorest half of the world, according to Oxfam.

The charity said its figures, which critics have queried, came from improved data, and the gap between rich and poor was "far greater than feared".

Oxfam's report coincides with the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Some have criticised the report, saying poverty eradication is made possible by economic growth.

Read the full story here

The world's eight richest billionaires

1. Bill Gates (US): co-founder of Microsoft (net worth $75bn)

2. Amancio Ortega (Spain): founder of Zara owner Inditex (net worth $67bn)

3. Warren Buffett (US): largest shareholder in Berkshire Hathaway (net worth $60.8bn)

4. Carlos Slim Helu (Mexico): owner of Grupo Carso (net worth $50bn)

5. Jeff Bezos (US): founder and chief executive of Amazon (net worth $45.2bn)

6. Mark Zuckerberg (US): co-founder and chief executive of Facebook (net worth $44.6bn)

7. Larry Ellison (US): co-founder and chief executive of Oracle (net worth $43.6bn)

8. Michael Bloomberg (US): owner of Bloomberg LP (net worth $40bn)

Source: Forbes billionaires' list, March 2016

Image source, Getty Images

Gambians who are fearful of a flare-up of violence with the approaching date for the handover of power to Adama Barrow, the official winner of 1 December presidential election, are fleeing their country, BBC Afrique reports. 

At the main pier in Banjul, where a ferry links The Gambia to the northern part of Senegal, hundreds of people pressed to get aboard the boat to escape. 

They are mainly women, some with children they are holding by the hand. BBC Afrique quotes a fleeing mother as saying: 

Another lady, who is on the move is quoted as saying she is not leaving the country, but trying to run away from the capital:

Those leaving the country are heading to Senegal, Guinea and Sierra Leone, BBC Afrique says.   

Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC Africa, Kampala

Image source, AFP

Uganda’s government has confirmed the presence of a strain of bird flu in some areas on the shores of Lake Victoria.

The virus has only been detected in migratory birds and in domestic ducks and chickens.

Authorities are raising awareness in local communities to make sure the disease does not spread to humans too. 

The first reports of dead wild birds came in at the start of the New Year. Local communities said they saw many dead bodies of migratory birds, which move to Uganda during winter in the northern hemisphere. 

Subsequent tests confirmed they died from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza or bird flu, as it’s commonly known. Samples from ducks and a chicken in one district were positive too.

There have been no reported cases of the disease spreading to humans and the government says it is advising local communities on how to avoid any transmissions. Emergency teams have also been dispatched to collect dead birds.

This is the first outbreak of bird flu in Uganda but the authorities have become adept at dealing with health emergencies following its management of diseases such as Ebola.

Image source, PR Nigeria

At least three people have been killed in an early morning bomb attack at Nigeria's University of Maiduguri, in the northeastern state of Borno. 

Witnesses said two explosions went off at the facility: one at the mosque where university lecturers had gathered for morning prayers and another near an entrance gate. 

The area police chief Damian Chukwu said a university professor was among those killed. Fifteen people were wounded and have been evacuated to hospitals, AP reported. 

An eyewitness told the BBC that it was a suicide bomb attack and three people apart from the suicide bomber lost their lives. 

It is the first time the university has been attacked by suspected Boko Haram militants.

Northern Nigeria has been dealing with an insurgency by Islamist militant group Boko Haram. 

The attack comes weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari announced that the military had defeated the militants.