Early visitors to the Main Press Centre at the Beijing Winter Olympics have been delighted to discover that ice cream is served to them by robots. To buy the ice cream, one must go to the cashier to pay first and get a receipt with a QR code, which you then scan on the machine and the robot will automatically kick into action.

The Pharaohs played a goalless draw with the Elephants of Ivory Coast in Douala but went on to win after a penalty shoot-out. The seven-time champions are still on course to stretch their record.

FRANCE 24 spoke to Ramy Shaath, an Egytian-Palestinian activist who spent two and half years in jail in Egypt on accusations of aiding a terrorist group. He was a member of several secular political groups and a co-founder of the pro-Palestinian BDS movement. Shaath, who was never formally charged, described the conditions of his arrest, detention and finally his release from jail on January 8. He claimed "arbitrary detentions and arrests" increasingly account for "the majority" of inmates in Egyptian jails under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. He also said he understood that he was expected to keep silent following his release and had already received threats.

Egypt came back from a Sofiane Boufal penalty to claim a 2-1 victory over Morocco in their quarter final match on Sunday. Mohamed Salah equalised for the Pharao's before setting up Trézéguet in extra time to knock out the Atlas Lions. In the other game, Senegal's Sadio Mané returned to set up Famara Diedhiou for their opener only for Equatorial Guinea to respond through Jannick Buyla. But Cheikhou Kouyaté & Ismaïla Sarr made sure of the 3-1 win for the Lions of Teranga.

The Olympic torch relay began its second day on Thursday (February 3) atop the Great Wall, with Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan and Chinese Olympic medallists among those taking turns carrying the flame along a route shortened to three days because of COVID-19. The relay for the torch that will open the Feb. 4-20 Winter Games is much more modest than the globe-spanning relay for Beijing's 2008 Summer Games, a tour that was disrupted by protests.

ECOWAS leaders hold an emergency summit in Ghana after a series of coups on the continent. Also, Mali's cotton sector is hit hard by ECOWAS measures after its military coup. In Nigeria, an explosion on an oil vessel off the coast sparks fears of environmental damage; the fate of 10 crew members is also still unclear. And Egypt beat Cameroon on penalties to reach the Africa Cup of Nations final.

Egypt will be aiming to win a record-extending eighth Cup of Nations title when they face Senegal in Sunday's final.

China's decision to have a Uyghur athlete light the Olympic cauldron has drawn criticism from human rights groups, who saw it as cheap propaganda ploy to whitewash the oppression of the country's ethnic Uyghur minority.

Sadio Mane scored the winning spot-kick as Senegal claimed a first ever Africa Cup of Nations title with a 4-2 penalty shootout victory over seven-time winners Egypt following a 0-0 draw in the decider in Yaounde on Sunday.

The Lions of Teranga reign supreme! Senegal have put a new name on the AFCON trophy after beating Egypt 4-2 on penalties. It was a final of the goalkeepers as Senegal's Edouard Mendy and Egypt's Mohamed Abou Gabal, aka Gabaski, made some stunning saves to keep out the opposition. Gabal in particular thwarted a 5th minute Sadio Mané penalty. But after no team could be separated after 120 minutes, Mané made amends from the penalty spot to send his team into delirium. Jean-Emile Jammine is joined by Sports Editor Simon Harding, Sports Reporter James Vasina and Eurosport's Ruben Slagter for this special edition.

South Koreans expressed frustration on Wednesday (February 9) after seeing their traditional costume used in last week's Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing, but the Chinese Embassy in South Korea defended the use. A woman wearing what appeared to be a Korean hanbok dress was among those representing China's different ethnic groups during the ceremony. Some South Koreans have complained about recent Chinese assertions that various aspects of Korean culture are of Chinese origin.

Jamaica has a four-man bobsled team in the Olympics for the first time since 1998. Too young to witness the famous 1988 team but big fans of "Cool Runnings," this year's team wants to add to Jamaica's bobsled legacy.