The father of Sylvester Oromoni, 12, believes he was attacked for refusing to join a “cult group”.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now. We'll be back on Tuesday morning. Until then you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to our podcast Africa Today.

Our African proverb of the day:

We leave you with a photo from Sudan's capital, Khartoum, of a man dressed as Spiderman during a protest against the military:

Image source, Getty Images

Algeria has agreed to give a grant of $100m (£75m) to the Palestinian Authority. The announcement was made by Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, after meeting the visiting Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas.

Mr Tebboune also said Algeria would be hosting a meeting of Palestinian factions in the near future.

The Palestinian Authority has major financial problems, which leaves it struggling to pay public sector employees.

Algeria has increased its activity over the Palestinian issue recently, just as its neighbour Morocco has been building new ties with Israel after signing a normalisation deal last year.

Image source, Algerian Presidency

Scientists are closely watching a new variant - but there are few clear answers.

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Officials in Sudan say nearly 50 people have been killed in ethnic clashes in the western region of Darfur.

They said the trouble in the town of Kreinik started with an argument about a mobile phone which spiralled into violence.

Fighting between Arab and non-Arab communities in Darfur has escalated in recent months.

The United Nations says 30% of Sudan's population will need humanitarian aid next year - the highest rate in a decade.

Sudan faces multiple challenges including ethnic violence, a refugee population of 1.2 million and political turmoil following a coup in October.

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The government of Ethiopia says it has retaken the strategic towns of Dessie and Kombolcha seized last month by Tigrayan fighters.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has not yet commented and there is no independent confirmation of the government's statement.

The federal authorities claim they've made significant advances against the Tigrayans in recent days.

It's believed that the use of drones has been key.

The leader of the TPLF says his forces have withdrawn from parts of the Afar and Amhara regions.

Debretsion Gebremichael said he didn't want to give details of why they had pulled back at a time when they were closing in on the capital Addis Ababa.

BBC Focus on Africa radio

"It's not an African disease," Nigeria's high commissioner to London has said in response to the UK's decision to impose a travel ban on his country following the emergence of Omicron, a new Covid variant.

"Travel ban won't solve the problem," Sarafa Tunji Isola added.

You can listen to his full interview with BBC Focus on Africa radio's Veronique Edwards here:

India's tour of South Africa will go ahead this month with a revised schedule of three Test matches and three one-day internationals.

Professor Willem Hanekom says that the Omicron variant "is spreading extraordinarily fast in South Africa".

Image source, AFP

Western powers have called on the Ethiopian government to stop detaining people based on their ethnicity.

The US, UK and others cited reports by human rights groups that many Tigrayans were being rounded up, including priests, the elderly and mothers with their children.

They said people were being held without charge in inhumane conditions.

The government denies it is targeting any ethnic group.

Individuals who are suspected of supporting the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and its ally the Oromo Liberation Army have been arrested, it says.

The year-long war between Tigrayan forces and the Ethiopian government and its allies has displaced millions of people.

The government says it has made significant gains against Tigrayan forces in recent days.

Read more:Mass arrests and ethnic profiling haunt Addis Ababa

Nigeria - which was added to the red list on Monday - describes the restrictions as "selective".

The World Health Organization(WHO) says there was surge in malaria last year as the Covid pandemic disrupted health services.

In its annual malaria report, external, the WHO said there were 14 million more cases in 2020, and that two-thirds of the 69,000 additional deaths were attributable to the disruption to treatment and prevention.

The WHO had feared the number of malaria deaths in Africa could double last year, but quick action by many countries prevented that.

Overall, the programme to eradicate malaria has stalled since 2017, leading the WHO to urge greater efforts to eliminate the age-old scourge.

You can watch WHO official Pedro Alonso discuss the report in the video below:

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Mozambique has received more than two million Johnson & Johnson vaccines from the US under the global sharing scheme known as Covax, the US embassy in Maputo has said.

This is the largest consignment that Mozambique has received so far from the US, bringing to nearly 3.5 million the number of vaccines it has donated to the southern Africa state.

“The United States remains committed to sharing vaccines equitably around the world,” its ambassador, Dennis W Hearne, said.

The latest vaccines come at a time when Mozambique is on high alert following the detection of the Omicron variant in neighbouring South Africa.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, El-Hadj Dalhat Sa’idu Abdullahi

Police in Nigeria say they are investigating the death of eight children - boys and girls - found dead in an abandoned car in the country's biggest city, Lagos.

Police said the bodies of the children, aged between four and six years, had been taken to a mortuary and an autopsy would be carried out to establish the cause of their deaths.

The parents of the children are said to be Niger nationals who live in Lagos.

The chairman of an association representing Nigeriens in Lagos, Saidu Abdullahi, told the BBC that the children were from two families.

He called on the authorities to carry out a thorough investigation.

The children were found locked in the abandoned car on Saturday.

Azeezat Olaoluwa
BBC News, Lagos

Image source, Twitter/ Perrie

More than 180,000 people have signed petitions asking for the prosecution of those allegedly responsible for the torture and death of a 12-year-old pupil, Sylvester Oromoni, at a boarding school in Nigeria's main city Lagos.

His family has accused senior students at Dowen College of torturing him after he refused to join a cult group.

The school insists he died from injuries sustained while playing football.

#JusticeForSylvester has been trending on social media in Nigeria since last week, and a WhatsApp group has also been formed to demand justice.

As police investigations continue, Sylvester’s father said he wanted Dowen College to hand over the students accused of beating his son.

“All I want is justice,” he told BBC News.

The Lagos State government has closed the secondary school indefinitely. Many want it to remain closed, accusing it of negligence.

In a statement last week, the school said its “preliminary investigation showed there was no fighting, bullying or any form of attack on the boy”.

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

The leader of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in Ethiopia says Tigrayan forces have withdrawn from parts of the Afar and Amhara regions.

Debretsion Gebremichael said he did not want to give details of why the Tigrayan forces had pulled back at a time when they were closing in on the capital Addis Ababa.

The federal government last week announced it had seized key territory from the TPLF, including the historic town of Lalibela.

The African Union is trying to broker a ceasefire, but has made little progress so far.

Ghanaian champions Hearts of Oak are knocked out of the Confederation Cup as they lose heavily in north Africa once again.

BBC World Service

South Africa's president says the country is preparing for more hospital admissions, as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread to become a fourth wave of infections.

In his weekly newsletter, President Cyril Ramaphosa says the number of daily infections has increased five- fold over the last week.

He urges South Africans to get vaccinated, calling it an "urgent priority" that will also help economic recovery.

Mr Ramaphosa also encourages the use of face masks, social distancing and avoiding crowds to reduce the spread of the virus.

Mario Marinica will lead Malawi at the Africa Cup of Nations after the country's football association re-organised its technical set-up.

The Gambia's President Adama Barrow has easily won re-election, authorities there said, in the first vote for decades held without long-term leader Yahya Jammeh.

President Barrow received around 53% of Saturday's vote, with nearest rival Ousainou Darboe on 28%.

Mr Darboe and other candidates earlier said they could not accept the results of the poll.

In a victory speech, President Barrow called for people to set aside their differences and promised to do his best. Omar Wally is a journalist in the capital, Banjul.

Picture: Newly elected President of Gambia, Adama Barrow waves to his supporters after winning the presidential elections in Banjul on November 5, 2021. Adama Barrow was on December 5, 2021 declared the victor of The Gambia's presidential election by the electoral commission, winning a second term in office in the tiny West African nation. Credit: John Wessels / AFP.