Former Barca president Bartomeu arrested after club offices raided – media

By imposing new restrictions on the media and female actors, the Taliban have once again reaffirmed their misogynistic ideology, rights advocates have said.

Argentina's Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world for a record-stretching seventh time on Monday (November 29), beating Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho to lift soccer's most prestigious trophy yet again. The forward added to his 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019 trophies after winning the Copa America for the first time with his country last July. Messi, who joined Paris St Germain on a free transfer from Barcelona during the close season after finishing as La Liga's top scorer with the Spanish club, collected 613 points, with Bayern Munich's Lewandowski, named best striker on Monday, getting 580.

Opposition leader and former president Mikheil Saakashvili says charges against him for his role in suppressing a 2007 protest are "trumped up." Amnesty International called his arrest "political revenge."

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday hosted his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, in the Presidential Villa Abuja.⁣ ⁣The South African President who is accompanied by a delegation of ministers and business leaders is on a state visit expected to reinforce South Africa’s bilateral relations with Nigeria as well as strengthen partnerships directed at African development and cooperation in multilateral forums.⁣

Gambian President Adama Barrow has comfortably won re-election, the electoral commission said on Sunday, though he may face a legal challenge from opposition candidates who rejected the results because of unspecified irregularities. Barrow received around 53% of Saturday's vote, far outstripping his nearest rival, political veteran Ousainou Darboe, who won about 28 percent.

Chinese private investment in Uganda is growing while Westerners are losing appetite to put money to work in the country, President Yoweri Museveni told Reuters, pledging to step up efforts to tackle corruption which has made slow progress. Museveni, in power since 1986 and one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, said Uganda was working to sign a number of deals with Chinese private sector lenders in sectors from agro- and fertilizer-processing, minerals processing or textiles.

"Islamic State" propaganda lured hundreds of Indonesians to fight for an extremist cause in Syria. One such Indonesian says the IS Islamic caliphate dream was flawed and that he wants to turn over a new leaf. He has joined a social media campaign to counter extremist narratives.

Will Jacob Zuma return to prison? South Africa's highest court orders the former president to be re-incarcerated after setting aside an earlier decision to release him on medical parole. Meanwhile, the country records close to 27,000 new Covid-19 cases, an all-time record. Plus, European football clubs say they may not release their African players to take part in the Africa Cup of Nations, amid fears surrounding the tournament's Covid-19 health protocol.

Ahead of Chile's presidential run-off on Sunday, FRANCE 24's Cole Stangler takes a closer look at the country's economy and the contrasting visions of far-right candidate José Antonio Kast and left-wing contender Gabriel Boric.

A video has been widely shared in pro-Bolsonaro circles on Brazilian social media. It claims to show Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva being insulted by Parisian students during a Batucada performance, while on the French leg of his European tour. We explore how the performance was hijacked and twisted by rival political supporters.

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami was berated by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) over plans to deduct about $418 million from the federal account to pay private contractors and firms allegedly owed by the 36 states and local governments over the Paris Club refund.⁣