AFCON 2017: Best photos from 21 January

Born in Ghana, Gerald Asamoah came to Germany as a child and went on to play in the Bundesliga and for Germany. Asamoah spoke to DW about the Africa Cup of Nations and why African players are in such high demand.

The competition kicks off in Egypt this week, with 24 teams in the running. Several changes and alterations mean that this year's Africa Cup of Nations has several surprises in store, not to mention some quality squads.

Who will win Africa's biggest football championship? We asked some experts to give their predictions on the AFCON, and here is what they had to say.

Africa Cup of Nations kicks off.

After an unhappy season with English second tier Stoke City, Saido Berahino is set to make history with Burundi on Saturday as he captains the team known as the Swallows in War on their Africa Cup of Nations debut.

Senegal became the first side to book their place in the Africa Cup of Nations 2019 semifinals courtesy of a 1-0 win over Benin, while Nigeria overcame South Africa thanks to a last-gasp winner.

Nigeria take third place in Africa Cup of Nations by beating Tunisia 1 - 0

A large fire burns near an entrance to a besieged Hong Kong campus after protesters threw Molotov cocktails to fend off a police advance on the university, according to AFP reporters at the scene.

Cameroon, which will host the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, says the soccer tournament will move back to its traditional slot of January and February - a move that could anger some European clubs. David Doyle reports.

Leo Ramirez, Hector Retamal and Sebastien Ricci, reporters with Agence France Presse, are among the few journalists who covered the new Coronavirus outbreak from the epicentre of the disease in Wuhan, China, before being repatriated to France and quarantined at the Carry-le-Rouet centre.

Hundreds of mourners attend the funeral of Nabil Hasan al-Quaety, a Yemeni journalist who contributed to AFP, two days after he was killed in the southern city of Aden. Raising his portraits and describing him as a "martyr", angry crowds shouted slogans against groups that are hostile to freedom of expression in Yemen, praising the talents of the young photographer and videojournalist who died aged 34, leaving behind young children and a pregnant widow.

In an exclusive interview with AFP in Rome, Italian Prime minister Giuseppe Conte remembers the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic and addresses the Black Lives Matter movement saying 'internal policies' need to be put in place to stop racism and discrimination from occurring, while also commenting on the M5S fundings allegations and the future of the EU as he sees it. President of the Council since June 2018, at the head of a coalition first with the far-right, and today with the centre-left, Giuseppe Conte, 55, a law professor still unknown two years ago, has emerged stronger from the coronavirus pandemic.