US presidential inauguration: What Joe Biden presidency means for Africa

A new deal paves the way for the development of the first African-owned Covid-19 vaccines. Cape Town-based Afrigen is working with a Belgian biotech company to develop mRNA shots. Also, Kenya has no reproductive health legislation but the public is going to give its input on a regional bill that could make a big difference to sexual health services. Finally, in football news, Senegal's Sadio Mané is moving from Liverpool to Bayern Munich.

One fast-vanishing aspect of African society is tribal markings. Whilst some people have them done for spiritual reasons, others do it for identity purposes. Whilst cultural enthusiasts want the practice to stay, modern day Ghanaians are abandoning the practice.

Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia have criticized the slow progress on their EU membership bids. With Ukraine on the fast track, Western Balkan leaders are meeting with their EU counterparts — but hold out little hope.

Violence in western Sudan this month alone has displaced more than 84,000 people, doubling the number of those driven from their homes so far this year, according to UN reports. The numbers are the highest since January 2021. Last year, at least 440,500 were displaced, five times more than in 2020, according to United Nations data.

EU leaders are in Brussels to discuss the membership bids of Ukraine and Moldova. Meanwhile, the European Parliament has voted heavily in favor of the two countries' getting candidate status.

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In a major expansion of gun legislation, the Supreme Court has overturned a law in New York that restricted the carrying of concealed weapons in public. Hours later, senators passed a modest gun control bill.

German pharmaceutical company BioNTech has begun construction of an COVID-19 vaccine plant in Rwanda. When completed, it will be the first mRNA vaccine plant in Africa.

Relatives of murdered Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba attend a sombre ceremony in Brussels as Belgium returns his tooth. It's all that remains of him after his assassination in 1961. Also, Kenya has no reproductive health legislation but the public is going to have its say on a regional bill that could make a big difference to national sexual health services. And the refugee status of hundreds of thousands of Ivorians who fled post-electoral violence in the country in 2011 is coming to an end.

The European Union should change the way it does business with Africa to redress imbalances left over in part from the colonial era, EU lawmakers have said.

Ugandan musician and politician Bobi Wine says culture can flourish with freedom. He was part of a group of African artists invited to a DW panel to discuss opportunities for Africa's creative scene.

A new judicial report claims Jacob Zuma is "a critical player" in a massive theft from state enterprises in South Africa. But the ex-president pledged to challenge the findings.