Image source, AFP

Chad junta leader Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno has moved up to a higher rank in the military, from a lieutenant general to a general.

On Wednesday, the Chadian leader wore five stars on his uniform and beret as he arrived at a venue outside the presidential palace in a five-star command car.

He previously had four stars, as a lieutenant general.

The presidency’s head of protocol sent a press release on Thursday informing state institutions and the public of the changes.

The junta leader came to power after the death of his father, Idriss Déby Itno, in April. His father had been president since 1990.

Only his father had the rank of a five-star military general before his death.

Image source, AFP

Sudan’s military leader Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has called for the United Nations to support the transitional government.

Gen Burhan on Thursday met the UN special representative to the country, Volker Perthes, who said on Twitter, external that despite welcoming the deal for a return to constitutional order, "other critical steps need to follow”, without elaborating.

Gen Burhan has said he will co-operate with reinstated civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and support the transitional government he forms until elections are held.

A coup led by the military leader in October led to the overthrow of the transitional government and the ousting of Mr Hamdok.

Mr Hamdok was reinstated in November after signing a deal.

But mass protests against the military leaders, which had followed immediately after the coup, have continued.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the African Union Commission chairperson Moussa Faki have urged the public to support the deal for the return to a peaceful democracy.

Mr Guterres said although the situation was not perfect, it was a step towards democracy.

The transitional council has been urged to hold elections within 18 months

Shingai Nyoka
BBC News, Harare

Image source, Getty Images

Zimbabwe has confirmed the presence of the Omicron coronavirus variant in the country.

Speaking on state TV, Vice-President and Health Minister Constantino Chiwenga said that it followed genome sequencing but gave no further details.

New Covid cases rose sharply this week, with 712 new cases being recorded on Wednesday and 399 on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the government reimposed curfews and mandatory testing and quarantine for travellers to prevent a fourth wave.

Zimbabwe is among the southern African countries facing travel bans by western countries including the European Union, the UK and the US.

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At least 26 million people are struggling for food across northern Kenya, Somalia and southern Ethiopia.

A selection of the best photos from the African continent and beyond.

The new Omicron variant has now become dominant, the country's top medical scientists say.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now. We'll be back on Friday morning.

Until then there will be an automated service and you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to our podcast Africa Today.

A reminder of our African proverb of the day:

We leave you with a photo of two women carrying firewood on their heads, in Qumanco village in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa:

Image source, Reuters

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

The United Nations says Botswana has taken a significant step towards eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS described the progress as a huge accomplishment for a country that has one of the most severe HIV epidemics in the world.

In 1999 around 40% of children whose mothers were HIV positive were born with the virus. Last year that figure had dropped to below 2%.

The WHO said thanks to visionary political leadership, the southern African country had demonstrated that an AIDS-free generation was possible.

It said improved ante natal care and the provision of anti retroviral treatment to pregnant mothers had played a key role.

The couple from Cambridge say it has been horrendous trying to get home due to the Omicron variant.

Nigeria international Michelle Alozie says the Super Falcons are fully focused on reaching the Women's Africa Cup of Nations.

Jihadists have attacked a military post in northern Benin, killing two soldiers and wounding several others, AFP news agency has quoted military sources as saying.

Benin's military has not officially commented on the attack, which took place near the border with Burkina Faso - a country that has been battling an Islamist insurgency.

A tour guide was killed and two French tourists were kidnapped in 2019 in a game park along Benin's border with Burkina Faso.

It is the only jihadist attack officially confirmed by Benin's authorities, according to AFP.

The premier of South Africa's Gauteng province has warned that Covid-19 vaccines could become mandatory if people do not take them voluntarily, amid a surge in cases as the new Omicron variant becomes dominant.

"If we end up with more people not vaccinated, mandatory vaccination might be the only option we have for the sake of all of us," David Makhura was quoted by the local News24 website as saying.

Gauteng, which is South Africa's most-populous province, has fully inoculated 33% of its adult population of more than 15 million people, Bloomberg news agency reports.

Mr Makhura said Gauteng was on the "cusp of a fourth wave" and the "principal focus" following the emergence of the Omicron variant.

"The infections are rising rapidly," he added.

Image source, Getty Images

Nichola Mandil
Juba

Image source, Getty Images

South Sudan’s Vice-President Riek Machar has warned against holding elections before a unified army is formed.

Last month, President Salva Kiir announced that elections would take place at the end of the transitional period in 2023.

But addressing members of his party in the capital Juba, Mr Machar said: "If you do not have unified forces, where will you get security for the elections?”

President Kiir and Mr Machar formed a unity government in February last year to end conflict between their rival forces and agreed to form a unified army of 83,000 troops.

Mr Machar listed three other conditions that he wanted fulfilled before elections could be held:

• The return of millions of refugees from neighbouring countries
• A nationwide census and
• A permanent constitution because "we want free, fair and credible elections".

Civil war broke out in 2013 when Mr Kiir and Mr Machar fell out, leading to a conflict that has displaced some 4 million people.

South Sudan achieved its independence in 2011.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Mozambique's authorities have seized what has been described as a "strange" foreign-flagged fishing vessel in the northern coastal district of Pemba, where a multi-billion dollar natural gas extraction platform is to be set up.

Investigations were taking place into whether the crew were fishermen or whether they had other motives. The vessel was flying the flag of Seychelles.

Militant Islamists have carried out a series of attacks in northern Mozambique - including an attack in the town of Palma in March. Thousands of residents then fled by boat to Pemba.

Following the seizure of the vessel, the region's Governor, Valige Tauabo, urged people to be more vigilant to prevent militant attacks, piracy and illegal fishing.

Image source, Getty Images

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Get

A Federal High Court in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, has ordered the security police to ensure that separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu gets “maximum comfort” while in their custody on treason and other charges.

The order followed a complaint by his lawyers, during a pre-trial hearing today, that their client was not allowed to change clothes or even practise his religion.

The emergency hearing followed arguments by his lawyers that the earlier adjournment of the case was against the his right to a speedy trial. Mr Kanu was not brought to court.

He heads the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) group which has been agitating for the secession of south-eastern Nigeria.

The trial has been adjourned to 18 January next year.

Recently, some leaders from south-eastern Nigeria approached President Muhammadu Buhari to request that Mr Kanu be freed.

In response, the president said it was a difficult request but he would give it some consideration.

The last time he was freed, Mr Kanu jumped bail after accusing the Nigerian army of attempting to kill him.

He was re-arrested in June after being repatriated from an undisclosed country.

His lawyers and family members alleged he was detained and mistreated in Kenya before being taken to Nigeria, though Kenya has denied involvement.

Read more:

• Nnamdi Kanu's arrest leaves Nigeria's Ipob separatists in disarray

The UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet has called for an investigations into human rights violations in Burkina Faso.

Ms Bachelet who is visiting the Sahel region left Burkina Faso for Niger on Wednesday.

During her Burkina Faso visit she met President Roch Marc Christian Kabore who she asked to ensure those violating human rights are brought to justice.

She opened a UN rights office in the capital Ouagadougou to monitor the situation.

The country is facing insecurity due to the activities of armed groups.

Security forces have in the past been accused of human rights violations while fighting militants in the country.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed the first cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant have been detected in “three persons with a history of travel to South Africa”. In response, the government has upped efforts in the fight against Covid-19 but health officials fear it may be too little, too late. So far, with a population of more than 200 million people, Nigeria has administered just over 9.8 million vaccine doses, according to the World Health Organization.

Dr Aniekeme Aniefiok Uwah JP, Director of Public Health Services for the Health Ministry in the southern state of Akwa Ibom says: “We don’t have enough vaccines and the few we have they won’t take them so it has become very complicated”.

Picture: A health worker in Nigeria prepares a dose of the Covid vaccine. November 2021. Credit. Reuters

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has said it welcomes regional cooperation to tackle cross-border threats.

Its comments came after the DR Congo and Ugandan armies launched a joint operation to "hunt" for fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) after it was accused of carrying out suicide bombings in Uganda's capital, Kampala, last month.

The two armies are carrying out a ground and air operation against the rebels.

A UN spokesman in DR Congo, Mathias Gillman, told a press conference in Kinshasa on Wednesday that the move was “a legitimate choice and sovereign decision by Congolese authorities”.

“We encourage regional countries to work together to solve a cross-border threat. Congo took that decision to fight the ADF, and we respect it," Mr Gillman added.

The UN has had a huge presence of troops in eastern DR Congo for the past two decades.

But earlier this year, demonstrations shook the towns of Goma and Beni as people called for an end to the UN operation, saying it had proved "ineffective" in efforts to achieve stability.

The UN Security Council is scheduled to decide on 6 December whether to extend the mandate of the mission.

A survey conducted by Ethiopia's Amhara regional government has revealed that the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) carried out massive destruction and looting in five zones of the region, officials say.

The regional planning and development bureau, which co-ordinated the survey, said it had occurred in areas the rebels still held and in areas retaken from them.

The TPLF has not yet commented, but has previously denied similar allegations.

The head of the bureau, Animut Belete, said the total cost of the destruction was estimated to be 280bn Ethiopian birr ($5.8bn, $4.4bn), but the amount was likely to rise as more reports came in.

The survey covered 45 districts in five zones. It did not include the big city of Dessie or the industry hub of Kombolcha.

He said the destruction was severe within the agriculture sector.

"Three agricultural research institutes, vehicles, tractors and crops and irrigation infrastructure have been severely looted and damaged; livestock killed, looted and eaten," Mr Animut told BBC Amharic.

Hospitals, schools, churches, mosques, businesses, roads and tourist sites had also been damaged, he said.

"Students, workers and community members who have been trained in the enterprises have lost their jobs," he added.

Image source, Amhara regional government

In the past few day, Ethiopia's federal government said it had retaken key towns and cities from the TPLF in Amhara and the neighbouring region of Afar. This included Lalibela, a Unesco world heritage site famous for its rock-hewn churches.

The TPLF said it made a "strategic withdrawal".

The federal government previously said that more than 2,000 schools and about 1,500 hospitals and health centres had been damaged and looted by the rebels in Amhara and Afar.

The TPLF launched an offensive in the two regions in an attempt to reach the capital, Addis Ababa, and the border with Djibouti.

It accused the Ethiopian military and allies forces of committing widespread atrocities in its stronghold of Tigray - allegations which they denied.