Image source, AFP

South Africa is donating around two million Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 jabs to other African countries, it says.

The government wants to show solidarity with other countries on the continent, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement. , external

"The only way in which we can prevent Covid-19 transmission and protect economies and societies on our continent, is to successfully immunise a critical mass of the African population with safe and effective vaccines," he continued.

The value of the donation is $18m (£13m), according to the statement, and will be made available to other countries starting from 2022 through the African Medical Suppliers Platform (AMSP), which was launched by the African Union (AU).

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The United Nations Human Rights Council has ordered an international investigation into abuses carried out during the conflict in Ethiopia.

The European Union had called for a special sitting of the council in Geneva after rights groups said violations committed during more than a year of conflict might amount to war crimes.

Ethiopia has dismissed the move as politically motivated. The UN rights council again warned that all sides in the civil war were committing severe violations.

It said there was a risk to the entire region and called on all parties to pull back.

Jonathan Paye-Layleh
BBC News, Monrovia

A court in Liberia has charged a mother with human trafficking after she allegedly sold her six-month-old baby to an unknown woman for just $60 (£45).

She denied ever exchanging the baby for money, according to Liberia's online paper The News. , external

She allegedly resorted to the exchange because she had been struggling to care for the child as a single mother, according to Front Page Africa Online., external

There are no sustainable social welfare programmes for abandoned children in the country.

She has been taken to Monrovia Central Prison, Front Page Africa Online says.

Image source, AFP

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa is making good progress in his recovery from mild Covid-19 symptoms and is still continuing treatment, according to a statement.

The 69-year-old tested positive for the infection on 12 December - the same day he started self-isolation in Cape Town.

He is being monitored and treated by military doctors.

The president is in good spirits and is calling on people to be cautious during the Christmas period, the statement continued.

Former England defender Steven Caulker is set to play for Sierra Leone at the Africa Cup of Nations after receiving Fifa clearance.

Image source, AFP

There was a heavy police presence in part of the Tunisian capital on Friday morning as hundreds took to the streets to mark the 11th anniversary of the start of the revolution which saw the downfall of former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the Arab spring.

Opposition parties had called for mass protests on Friday, in a stand against recent measures announced by President Kais Saied, according to local media.

Some of the president's supporters were also present, according to the AFP news agency.

They held a banner which read: "We are with you to the end in the fight against corruption," along with a photo of the head of state, AFP reports.

Mr Saied was elected in a landslide in 2019 promising to stand up against corruption, but has since caused controversy after he suspended parliament.

In a televised national address on Monday, Mr Saied said that parliament would remain suspended until fresh elections in a year's time.

Earlier this month Mr Saied switched the official anniversary of the revolution from 14 January to 17 December - the day in 2010 when a Tunisian street vendor set himself on fire.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The United Nations (UN) has again warned that all sides in Ethiopia's civil war are committing severe human rights violations.

There was a risk to the entire region and all parties must pull back, the UN said at a meeting of its Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Instigated by the European Union, the session will decide whether to appoint an international team to investigate violations that rights groups say may amount to war crimes.

Ethiopia has dismissed the move as politically motivated. The meeting would embolden the Tigrayan rebels, its ambassador in Geneva said.

Mass arrests by the government continue, and 5-7,000 people are detained, including UN staff, the international body says.

The two men are accused of planning to assassinate President Andry Rajoelina.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

A journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo has died from bullet wounds sustained when police clashed with bandits, local media report.

Jean-Marie Luzingu was in the Kinshasa communes of Bandalungwa and Bumbu when the clashes happened.

He was hit by a bullet fired by the local police, eyewitnesses told Mishapi Voice radio.

His fellow Congolese journalists have been mourning his death on Twitter, with one describing it as "painful" and "sad". , external

A search is underway to trace the perpetrator who is on the run, Mishapi Voice reports.

The media professionals' guild has demanded justice, it says.

In the few weeks since Omicron was first identified in South Africa, close attention has been paid to the country to see what the impact of this latest Covid variant has been on its population and hospital system.

What was apparent from the start is that it is highly transmissible and much quicker to spread than previous variants - but a number of South African doctors are now saying they think it's generally more mild than others. They say it can still be deadly for some people - but that's not the general experience.

The head of South Africa’s Medical Association, Dr Angelique Coetzee, says that even for people who have low immunity because of HIV or TB or who are unvaccinated, the disease is proving far less severe.

"We haven't seen so far in the community long Covid symptoms. We haven't seen people after 7-12 days, as we see with Delta, getting severely ill. And if you look at our hospital stats, there are not a lot of people in ICU, and that's why yesterday our Minister of Health announced that there will not be any further lockdown restrictions. What is in place is going to stay in place due to the fact that our hospitals are not overrun."

(Photo: A man is vaccinated as part of a vaccination drive in Manenberg, Cape Town. Credit: AFP)

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Fewer people infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus appear to die or require hospital treatment than in earlier waves of the disease, South African health officials have said.

The data did not mean that Omicron was less virulent, but rather that vaccines were preventing serious illness, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said.

South Africa has recorded record levels of infections this week, mainly as a result of the spread of the new variant.

Health ministers from the G7 countries have called for international cooperation in the face of Omicron, saying it is the "biggest current threat to global public health".

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, AFP

Suspected Islamist militants have decapitated a church pastor in the Macomia district of the gas-rich northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, according to local reports.

Last Wednesday, a resident of Nova Zambézia village went to the district police command, carrying a bag that contained a human head belonging to her husband, military sources say.

The suspected Islamic State-linked insurgents intercepted the pastor in a field, decapitated him and then handed over his head to his wife and ordered her to inform the authorities, she told the police.

This is the latest attack suspected to be carried about by jihadists who have been targeting districts in Cabo Delgado since October 2017.

The insurgents have recently migrated to Niassa province, following missions against them by Mozambican, Rwandan and Southern African Development Community (Sadc) forces.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

Detained former Malian Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga has been admitted to a hospital in Bamako after his health deteriorated.

According to his family, “a potentially serious infection was detected on the ex-minister last week”.

Mali's supreme court this week rejected Mr Maïga’s lawyers' request for his provisional release.

The lawyers had cited health reasons and his conditions of detention to justify their request for his provisional release.

Mr Maïga was arrested at the end of August over a case involving the purchase of military equipment and an aircraft of former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

No date has been set for his trial.

Noel Ebrin Brou
BBC News

Image source, Get

The government in Ivory Coast has resumed talks with opposition parties in a bid to boost unity and democracy.

The political dialogue had stopped after the sudden death of Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko in March last year.

On Thursday, about 21 major political parties joined in the dialogue.

Prime Minister Patrick Achi, who was leading the talks, said this was a sign of the strength of Ivorian democracy.

He insisted that different political party leaders should understand the benefits of peace and encouraged them to work for national cohesion and the stability of the country.

Pascal Affi N’guessan, the head of the opposition Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), said his party was welcoming the dialogue with hope.

The local elections scheduled for 2023, as well as a reform of the national electoral commission, are some of the major points to be discussed in the forum.

The civil society will also be taking a major role in the dialogue.

Born with fibular hemimelia, South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu has overcome several challenges to become a Paralympic star.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

A court in Paris has found a French-Rwandan man, Claude Muhayimana, guilty of complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity during the massacres of Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994.

It sentenced him to 14 years in jail.

Claude Muhayimana worked as a driver at a hotel in western Rwanda and was accused of transporting Interahamwe Hutu militia to various locations where Tutsis were killed.

He denied the charges.

He was married to a Tutsi woman at the time and investigators also said he had hidden some Tutsis at risk of death and helped some flee.

Emery Makumeno
BBC News

Image source, AFP

The latest Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been declared over.

Health Minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani made the declaration after 42 days without any new infections,

Six people died out of the 11 people who were infected in this latest outbreak.

The World Health Organization's regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, says that targeted vaccination and rapid response have made Ebola control more effective.

Only five days after the detection of the first case in Beni region, a vaccination campaign was launched and more than 1,800 were jabbed.

It was also the first time the Everbo Ebola vaccine was used in the country, the WHO said.

Stronger disease surveillance and community involvement are key in preventing future outbreak, according to experts.

The country has seen 13 Ebola outbreaks since 1976 when the disease first appeared in Yambuku, a village in the north-west.

Imogen Foulkes
BBC News, Geneva

Image source, Getty Images

The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold an urgent session on Ethiopia, amid reports of further atrocities in the Tigray region.

The Friday session, which was requested by the European Union, will decide whether to appoint an international team to investigate violations that human rights groups say may amount to war crimes.

The conflict in Tigray broke out in November last year, when the Ethiopian government sent troops into the region to put down the Tigray People’s Liberation Front - after its fighters captured federal military bases there.

Just last month the UN produced a 100-page report detailing major violations in Tigray, including the shelling of towns, killing of civilians, and widespread sexual violence.

This week Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch detailed further atrocities: mass detention, torture, and the forced displacement of large sections of the Tigrayan population.

UN aid agencies have limited access – many communities are reportedly on the verge of starvation.

The European Union says the UN Human Rights Council has a moral obligation to prevent further violations, and ensure justice for victims – member states want the council to appoint international investigators.

Ethiopia has dismissed the move as politically motivated.

Image source, Getty Images

A leopard has been captured by wildlife officials in Kenya after it strayed into a home in south-eastern Kenya.

A video of wildlife rangers carrying the leopard, whose head had been covered, was shared by the Daily Nation newspaper:

The leopard is believed to have strayed from the Tsavo National Park into neighbouring Voi town where it was found, local media reported.

During the capture, members of the public surrounded the home while filming with their phones.

Cases of wild animals straying into built-up areas are not uncommon in Kenya.

The Kenya Wildlife Service has in the past urged the public to be vigilant and report any stray animals through a toll-free number.

In July, officials captured a stray lion that was found in a residential area near the capital Nairobi.

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