Kenya is offering senior citizens aged 75 and above free entry to the national park in the capital.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) also has a similar offer for people with disabilities as well as children living in care homes, allowing them access to facilities in the park including an animal orphanage.

The offer will last a month – during which the Nairobi National Park commemorates 75 years since it was established.

The KWS will also be exhibiting a photo gallery showcasing the park since its establishment in 1946.

Tourism Minister Najib Balala said the country was proud to have a wildlife habit "a few kilometres from [Nairobi’s] central business district".

"Obviously, it is no mean achievement to maintain and sustain such a critical facility located in a vibrant capital city and regional hub with so many competing land uses and economic interests," said Mr Balala.

The minister tweeted about the offer:

Morocco will from Friday midnight suspend flights to and from France because of rising coronavirus cases.

The government said the decision was arrived at so as to preserve the country's achievements in managing the pandemic.

France has been recording increased virus cases, with 33,464 reported on Thursday.

The French government announced new measures to curb the fifth wave that include giving booster vaccine doses.

The flight ban is likely to affect business between the two nations that share close ties.

Brighton midfielder Enock Mwepu says his first-ever Premier League goal was inspired by his 'African idol' Yaya Toure.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The World Health Organization (WHO) is due to hold a special meeting on Friday to consider the significance of a rapidly spreading new coronavirus variant in South Africa.

Experts in Geneva will decide whether it should be designated a variant of concern.

A senior WHO official said it could take weeks to establish whether the high number of mutations had implications for the effectiveness of existing vaccines.

It comes as Britain imposes a temporary ban on all flights from South Africa and five neighbouring countries later on Friday.

No cases have been discovered in the UK.

South African experts say the variant has spread rapidly among students in Pretoria.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The UN has confirmed that several days of inter-communal fighting in the Sudanese region of Darfur have left at least 43 people dead and thousands displaced.

The conflict broke out last week between Arab nomadic herders and farmers from the Misseriya Jebel tribe in Jebel Moon in West Darfur.

The UN says more than 40 villages were burned and looted in the clashes.

Several people are reportedly missing including children.

There have been frequent outbreaks of violence in Darfur since the signing of a peace deal late last year that led to the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers.

A Kenyan university is under fire over a poster linking rape to indecent dressing.

The advert placed at the Co-operative University of Kenya's main gate illustrates the acceptable dress code - with examples of women wearing such outfits.

One message on the poster says that "indecent dressing leads to sexual harassment and rape".

Some Kenyans on Twitter have lashed out at the institution:

BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

Britain is halting all flights from South Africa and five other countries in the region in response to the discovery of a highly transmissible new coronavirus variant.

From midday GMT on Friday, direct flights from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Eswatini will be suspended until further notice.

Announcing the restrictions, the British health secretary, Sajid Javid, said it was possible that current vaccines might be less effective against the heavily mutated variant.

No cases have been discovered in the UK.

South African experts say it had spread rapidly among students in Pretoria.

It's not clear whether the variant is more deadly than previous mutations.

Experts from the World Health Organization are due to meet South African officials on Friday.

Our African proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

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

As new travel restrictions come in, Sajid Javid says it's right to "remain cautious" about Covid-19.

The ancient walkway, connecting two of the Egyptian city's greatest temples, took decades to excavate.

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

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:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with more pictures from Thursday's protests in Sudan against the deal struck by the military:

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Shingai Nyoka
BBC News, Harare

Image source, EPA

Zimbabwe’s economy is expected to rebound from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and grow by over 7% next year, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has announced.

The growth will be spurred by a strong agricultural season and higher global commodity prices, the minister said while presenting the annual budget.

Next year the government will focus on financing agriculture as well as improving relations with Western nations.

Mr Ncube described the budget as a people’s budget, one that lowers taxes and increases spending on social services.

Spending on health services will take up 14% of government expenditure including a pledge to revamp dilapidated public hospitals.

Overall spending will amount to $9bn (£6.8bn), twice as much as last year, partly financed by raising so-called sin taxes on cigarettes and alcohol.

BBC World Service

Image source, EPA

After more than 70 years of stop-start attempts to excavate a 3km-long ancient walkway in southern Egypt, the 3,000 year-old Avenue of Sphinxes in Luxor will today be opened to the public.

The walkway, which will be lined with hundreds of sphinxes, connects the city’s two greatest temples of Karnak and Luxor.

The opening ceremony will incorporate elements of an ancient festival which travelled down the walkway each year.

This will include musical compositions inspired by stories written on the walls of the temples in hieroglyphics.

It’s hoped the event will boost Egypt’s ailing tourism sector, battered by political turmoil and a crippling pandemic.

Image source, Reuters

Grace Kuria
BBC News

One in two women report that they or someone they know have experienced violence since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a study commissioned by UN Women, external.

It says that violence against women has become what it terms a "shadow pandemic".

Women have also reported feeling less safe at home as conflicts between adults living together has increased.

Furthermore, the research suggests that three in five women think that sexual harassment in public spaces has worsened since the pandemic, which has limited their access to employment, essential services and recreational activities.

Out of the 13 countries surveyed, Kenya recorded the largest proportion of women - 80% - who said that they or a woman they know had been the victims of violence since the outbreak of the pandemic.

For Morocco the figure was 69% and for Nigeria it was 48%

The UN Women's report was released at the start of what's known as the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

Thomas Naadi
BBC News

Those who bear the greatest responsibility for the crimes committed during the presidency of Yahya Jammeh in The Gambia should be prosecuted, according to head of a commission that has been looking into the events that took place during his 22-year rule.

He stepped down from the presidency in 2017.

Lamin Sise has just handed over a 17-volume report to President Adama Barrow. This was the result of months of hearings at the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).

Mr Sise did not name those who should face justice but in a statement the commission said: "To forgive and forget with impunity the violations and abuses... would not only undermine reconciliation but would also constitute a massive and egregious cover-up of the crimes committed".

The findings have not yet been made public and the presidency now has six months to respond.

Some 250 Gambians and foreign nationals died because of human rights violations under Mr Jammeh’s rule.

During the TRRC hearings, nearly 400 witnesses gave chilling accounts of alleged state-sponsored torture, rape, and enforced disappearances.

The handing over of the report comes just days before the country goes to the polls in its first post-Jammeh presidential election.

WATCH - Some of the victims speaking about what happened to them:

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, EPA

Thousands of people in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and other cities have held protests to keep up the pressure on the country's military leaders.

In the capital's twin city of Omdurman, security forces fired tear gas at demonstrators opposed to last month's coup.

They had rallied to pay tribute to dozens of colleagues killed by Sudanese security forces in recent weeks.

They also denounced a recent deal with the military that saw Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok reinstated to his post.

Prominent political parties and Sudan's powerful protest movement have opposed Mr Hamdok's decision to sign the accord with the military.

Some have called it a betrayal or said it provided political cover for the coup.

Image source, EPA

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, AFP

Women’s rights activists in Rwanda are demanding that a concert featuring Congolese music star Koffi Olomide should be cancelled over the rape and sexual assault charges he is facing in a French court.

A court in Paris is due to rule next month on his appeal against being found guilty of assaulting four of his dancers.

Juliette Karitanyi, an activist in Kigali, has said that allowing Olomide to perform in Rwanda would be “disrespectful to sexual violence victims”.

“It hurts me further that we are allowing him to perform here while today Rwanda has launched the 16 days of activism to stop gender-based violence,” she told the BBC.

The concert organisers did not want to make a comment when contacted by the BBC.

But some commenters on social media have said that there is no legal basis to stop the 4 December performance going ahead.

Results and scorecards from the Netherlands' limited-overs tour of South Africa, originally featuring three ODIs at Centurion - but postponed after one game.

Dorcas Wangira
Africa health correspondent

Image source, AFP

A Kenyan lawyer has filed a petition challenging the health minister's directive to bar unvaccinated Kenyans from accessing basic services from 21 December.

It comes amid record turnout for vaccination in different parts of the country since the directive was made earlier this week.

People will have to be fully vaccinated to use public transport - including buses and domestic flights - or to enter hotels, bars, restaurants and game reserves, according to the directive.

But in the urgent case, Winfred Otieno Ochieng wants the implementation of the directive stopped temporarily until the matter is heard.

High court judge Anthony Mrima ordered that the petition be served by close of business on Thursday and further directions be given on Friday.

The health ministry is aiming to vaccinate 100,000 people every day in a bid to rapidly boost the vaccination rates.

On Tuesday, 103,506 Kenyans were vaccinated, the highest number in a single day since Kenya’s vaccination drive began. A total of 102,537 were vaccinated on Wednesday.