BBC World Service

The European Club Association of leading football teams is reported to have written to the world governing body, Fifa, threatening not to release players for next year's Africa Cup of Nations unless effective coronavirus protocols are drawn up to prevent infections.

Many of the top African stars play their club football in Europe, and the competition would be greatly diminished if they were not allowed to travel to Cameroon, the host nation.

Officials from the Confederation of African Football say they have been liaising with the health authorities in Cameroon.

BBC World Service

A law on drugs in the workplace has taken effect in Egypt, meaning that government employees can be dismissed if proven to be drug users.

The legislation is being enforced six months after it was passed by parliament - in order, to allow those with a drug problem to seek treatment, authorities said.

The new law will involve random drug tests. If an employee refuses, they will be considered to have tested positive.

Jacob Zuma was granted medical parole after being sentenced to serve 15 months in jail.

The UK government has removed restrictions on travel from eleven countries in Africa.

Flights to the UK from Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe were restricted or put on a ‘Red List' in late November as a precaution after the emergence of the Omicron variant.

UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the highly infectious new variant had spread so widely the rules no longer had much purpose. For reaction we turned to Rosemary Anderson, of the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa who told us how hard she had lobbied to get the travel ban lifted.

“We’re thrilled. We are so keen to welcome back UK tourists to our wonderful sunny South Africa. Our red listing definitely made our exchange rate take a bit of a battering.”

(Pic: Traveller at Heathrow airport, London; Credit: Getty Images)

One Moroccan tennis player is banned for life as six men in total are suspended after being found guilty of match-fixing charges.

Image source, Getty Images

A Kenyan-born academic has become the youngest black professor at the UK's prestigious Oxford University, the educational institution says., external

Patricia Kingori is also one of the youngest women to ever be awarded a full professorship in Oxford’s 925-year history.

Professor Kingori, a sociologist who specialises in the experiences of frontline health workers, expressed gratitude about the appointment.

"To have my body of work recognised in this way is a great honour, and I am deeply grateful to the many people who have inspired and supported me so far," she said.

She has also advised several global organisations including the WHO, Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières.

Ms Kingori, who was raised on the Caribbean island of St Kitts according to a local news source, external, has been described as a "trailblazer" and a "woman of firsts" by the university's Somerville College.

As of January of 2021, only 155 out of more than 23,000 university professors in the UK were black, according to official figures.

Five women share their hopes and concerns for Libya's first direct presidential polls.

Chioma Obianinwa
BBC Igbo, Lagos

Simon Odo, popularly known as "King of Satan", has died at the age of 74, according to his son Uchenna Odo.

Mr Odo said his father died in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after a brief illness.

"He is dead," Mr Odo told BBC Igbo in a telephone call on Wednesday. "We are preparing to bury him," he continued.

Simon Odo is from Aji village in Nigeria's south-eastern Enugu state, where he is a popular chief priest.

During an interview with BBC Igbo in 2020, he said he had 57 wives and had lost count of the number of children and grandchildren he had.

He said he had inherited satanism, or worshipping satan, from his parents and grandparents but he insisted that he did not help anyone looking for ways to harm their fellow human beings.

Mr Odo told the BBC that he had perfected his herbalist skills in the town of Ijebu Ode in Ogun state, where he had gone to seek a cure from a strange long-term ailment.

Kenya has recorded cases of the new Omicron variant among travellers, the health minister said.

Mutahi Kagwe did not disclose the number of cases detected so far.

The announcement comes hours after he had said there were no new variant cases in the country despite rising coronavirus cases.

People have also been reporting an increase in flu cases in the country.

The positivity rate in Kenya has doubled with 331 new covid cases reported on Tuesday alone, the highest number recorded in a day in recent months.

The total number of cases stands at 256,815 including 5,349 deaths.

The government is calling on more people to get vaccinated.

A Kenyan court on Tuesday suspended a government directive to bar unvaccinated people from accessing services from 21 December.

The Africa Cup of Nations final will be shown as one of 10 matches in the competition on the BBC, with all 52 games in the tournament available to watch on Sky.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

The Gambia’s opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) has filed a petition at the country’s supreme court to challenge President Adama Barrow’s victory in the 4 December poll.

UDP, whose leader Ousainou Darboe came second in the election with 28% of the vote, accuses President Barrow’s National People’s Party (NPP) of voter bribery, manipulation of the voters’ register and other irregularities.

The party earlier denied a report that it had challenged the poll result.

The petition has been joined by the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) party, which says it has gathered “some evidence of alleged electoral fraud”.

President Barrow was re-elected with 53% of the vote in a poll described by observers as free and fair.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, AFP

Mozambican President Filipe Myusi, has urged people to comply with measures to control the spread of the new coronavirus variant.

He told everyone to get vaccinated against Covid-19, while threatening to introduce restrictions of services to unvaccinated people.

"Please come forward for the vaccines because at any time we may limit unvaccinated people,” he said.

He said he would speak again on the issue in a few days.

It comes amid a rise in recent days of the number of daily infections.

On Tuesday, the country registered more than 700 cases, a situation that has been worsening every day this month amid an emergence of the new Omicron variant.

The country has already confirmed 17 cases of the Omicron variant.

Last month saw a steep decline in the number of daily infections, with the coronavirus figures being in the single digits, before they started to rise this month.

“The situation is not good. The day before yesterday I was told of a situation where, in a set of 200 people, out of 133 tested, more than 60 people are infected in a small place, which means that the situation needs our care,” President Nyusi said on Tuesday.

Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is delighting a continent after his impressive feats with Premier League club Chelsea.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Image source, OCHA

The UN has said access to flooded areas in South Sudan has become a challenge in the quest to offer help to those affected.

The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says funding constraints have also affected humanitarian aid.

The agency says more than 835,000 people across the country have been affected by the flooding since May.

People in Jonglei and the two oil-producing states of Unity and Upper Nile in the northern part of the country are reported to be the worst affected.

Last week, Nicholas Haysom, the head of UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan who visited Bentiu described the situation as “dire”.

He said flood waters were not receding and hundreds of thousands of people remained displaced and in desperate need of assistance.

He said the consequences could be disastrous in terms of food insecurity, lack of healthcare, education and the risk of water-borne diseases.

Image source, Getty Images

Zimbabwe has tightened restrictions in the country for another two weeks amid rising coronavirus cases.

Under the new measures government activities are to be scaled down to 30% except for essential services.

Hotels and lodges have been asked to provide room service to prevent guests from congregating in restaurants.

Businesses that close down during the festive season have been urged to do it earlier - on 22 December.

Zimbabwe is experiencing a fourth wave of infections after it detected the presence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country.

The variant has been spreading fast in the country, with the health ministry announcing record daily cases and the highest test positivity rate.

The country recorded 5,678 new cases on Tuesday bringing the total to 177,690 confirmed cases, including 130,279 recoveries and 4,745 deaths.

Rwanda has confirmed six cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

It said the cases were detected in samples collected from travellers and their contacts, according to a statement from the health ministry.

It emphasised the need for all people aged 12 and above to get fully vaccinated and those aged 18 and above to consider getting a booster vaccine.

The announcement was shared on Twitter:

Rwanda has fully vaccinated about 40% of its population and recently started issuing booster shots.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Sudan’s armed forces have deployed more troops along the disputed border with Ethiopia, announcing that they have complete control of the region amid tensions with Addis Ababa.

The army sent a message of reassurance to the citizens, telling them to "sleep soundly".

Sudan announced on 1 December that its troops had dismantled an Ethiopian settlement and taken control of it after exchanging artillery fire with the neighbouring country's forces in the disputed al-Fashaga area.

It followed reports that 21 Sudanese soldiers had been killed and 30 others wounded in clashes with Ethiopian forces in Birkat Nourain in the disputed area four days earlier.

The renewed clashes prompted Sudan's military ruler, Lt Gen Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, to vow that his country will not "cede an inch" of territory to Ethiopia.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

French military forces have left Timbuktu, nine years after they helped Malian troops recapture the city from Islamist insurgents.

The withdrawal had high symbolic value as it was here that former French President François Hollande formalised the start of French military intervention in 2013.

On Tuesday, a French general handed over a symbolic wooden key to a Malian officer before his troops pulled out of their base.

France is gradually reducing its counter-insurgency operation in northern Mali, despite a continuing threat from jihadists.

Relations with Mali's government have soured since a military coup last year.

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Abiy Ahmed has thwarted a rebel advance on the capital a year into a brutal civil war.