Into the great wide open: Remembering Tom Petty

East Africa has been ramping up efforts to expose its citizens to Chinese culture - particularly through language. In Kenya Mandarin is offered as a selective language in the national curriculum, while in Uganda it’s now a compulsory subject in some schools. But is this simply an exchange of cultures, or is there more to it?

Since France began its military withdrawal from Mali, many social media posts have been misleading. Reports assert that Mali is negotiating with the Russian private military company Wagner. One photo on Facebook from November 10 claims that a Wagner military instructor is training Malian soldiers. Another photo from November 20 claims that Mali received a delivery of military equipment from Russia. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Germany, the Czech Republic and the UK are the latest countries to confirm cases of the omicron variant. The new strain that was first detected in South Africa has prompted governments around the world to re-introduce travel restrictions.

Since September, the name Evergrande has caused panic on stock exchanges around the world. Paralysed by $300 billion in debt (€260 billion), or the equivalent of 2 percent of Chinese GDP, the country's second-largest real estate developer is now threatening Chinese growth. Evergrande has more than 1,300 construction projects across China, as well as financial products, electric cars, livestock, bottled water and even a football club.

In his seventh collaboration with actress Penélope Cruz, Pedro Almodóvar focuses on two very different experiences of motherhood. Critic Lisa Nesselson tells us why "Parallel Mothers" draws some outstanding performances and how society seems to be catching up with Almodóvar's explorations of the diversity of the human condition.

The EU has called the plan a "road map for investment" in the developing world. It is seen as an eventual alternative to China's "Belt and Road" global infrastructure strategy