A group with alleged ties to the "Islamic State" has "enslaved and sexually abused" hundreds of women and girls in Mozambique over the past three years, Human Rights Watch said.

Dubbed the "miracle coach," disabled Moroccan soccer coach, Abdelkhalek El-Ouardi trains other players to excel on the playing field.

Low COVID-19 vaccination rates in Africa Cup of Nations host Cameroon and a fourth wave of the coronavirus across much of the continent could make for sparsely-attended matches when the soccer finals kick off on Sunday. Cameroon announced last month that it would require spectators at Africa's premiere soccer competition to be fully vaccinated and show a negative test result before entering stadiums.

Soccer fever sweeps Cameroon as the Africa Cup of Nations prepares for kick off on Sunday. The tournament's first match takes place in the capital Yaounde between Burkina Faso and host country Cameroon, which is hosting the tournament for the first time.

After a long wait, the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations has finally kicked off in Cameroon after COVID-19 forced the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to postpone the tournament.

Ivory Coast soccer fans watching the African Cup of Nations are being greeted with rapid tests, masks and COVID-19 vaccines at dedicated fan zones, an initiative of the health ministry to spur vaccination. Officials say dozens of young people have been vaccinated at the Cup of Nations villages.

Brazilian soccer great Pele has returned to hospital for new chemotherapy sessions, sports website ESPN reported on Thursday. The former soccer star will undergo new exams to find other possible cancer spots, ESPN said. It said Pele was in stable condition and could leave hospital on Thursday.

The Taliban has said they want to allow girls to continue attending school. That does not mean, however, an education in the Western sense of the word.

In an interview with DW, Oscar-winning Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy spoke about her new animated film, "Sitara: Let Girls Dream," on the issue of child marriage. She says that some 12 million girls in the world are not able to reach their potential due to early marriages.

Abdoulaye Bandaogo lost his sight as a teenager, but that didn't stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a sports journalist.

At a sharp whistle from Rwandan soccer coach Egidie Kayitesi, her players change their practice drills: the team splits into pairs, some kicking the ball and others throwing it. Kayitesi, 49, coaches AS Kigali, one of Rwanda's top women's soccer teams.

Six months after the Taliban retook Afghanistan, FRANCE 24 spoke to former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who remains in the country. Karzai strongly criticised the Biden administration's recent decision to unfreeze Afghan assets but divide the funds between aid to Afghanistan and victims of the 9/11 attacks, saying the funds "belong to the Afghan people". He also said he believed the Taliban would eventually allow girls to return to school, since doing so is "absolutely necessary for the well-being" of Afghanistan.