Africa highlights: Gambia's Barrow welcomes mediation, Congo sanctions an 'imperial throwback'

Liberian-born US model Deddeh Howard was tired of what she saw as the marginalisation of black models.

She says she found it hard to get work because she was black and that everywhere she walked in her hometown of Los Angeles, all she saw was white faces staring back from the billboards.

So she launched a project called "Black Mirror", in which she recreated major advertising campaigns, to show what the ads would look like if they featured a black woman instead of a white one: 

The campaign has been getting lots of attention online and Deddeh has been telling BBC World News more about it: 

Quote Message: I would go to agencies and they would tell me.... we already have someone who looks exactly like you.... we have one or two black models. That was so disturbing to me that you could have one or two black models to represent us all.

I would go to agencies and they would tell me.... we already have someone who looks exactly like you.... we have one or two black models. That was so disturbing to me that you could have one or two black models to represent us all.

Quote Message: I was really tired of just being called 'black' all the time instead of just being given a job. All I needed was an opportunity."

I was really tired of just being called 'black' all the time instead of just being given a job. All I needed was an opportunity."

When asked how agencies would reacted to her concerns about discrimination, she says they would tell her:

Quote Message: This is what sells. Black doesn't sell. The white race sells."

This is what sells. Black doesn't sell. The white race sells."

Riyad Mahrez is "very proud and very happy" to be named BBC African Footballer of the Year 2016. 

The Algerian midfielder said the award was "a great honour".

Listen to the interview with him here: 

BBCCopyright: BBC

Algeria and Leicester midfielder Riyad Mahrez has been crowned the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2016. 

He was voted as the year's best by fans ahead of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon, Senegal's Sadio Mane, Ghana's Dede Ayew and last year's winner, Yaya Toure.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's government has condemned the decision of the European Union (EU) to impose sanctions on seven senior security officials as an "illegal" throw-back to the imperial era, AFP news agency reports. 

The EU imposed a ban on the seven over their alleged role in the deaths of at least 50 people during protests against President Joseph Kabila's rule. 

AFP reports that among the seven are:

• Head of the president's Republican Guard Ilunga Kampete
• Army commander Major General Gabriel Amisi Kumba 
• Anti-riot squad commander Ferdinand Ilunga Luyoyo and
• Police chief Celestin Kanyama

They face travel bans and asset freezes under the measures.

Mr Kabila had been due to step down when his term ended on 19 December, but will now stay in office because elections have been postponed. 

The opposition has vowed to step up protests to force him to quit. 

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Zimbabwe's Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has pressed ahead with holding the first ever public interviews for the post of chief justice, despite a legal attempt to halt the process, Reuters news agency reports.

A University of Zimbabwe law student last week asked the High Court to stop the interviews, arguing the process was not transparent since the candidates were colleagues of the interviewing panel. 

On Sunday, the High Court ruled in the student's favour, Reuters reports. 

However, the JSC decided to appeal against the ruling and went ahead with the interviews, which were broadcast live on state television, the agency adds.

The candidates interviewed were Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba, Paddington Garwe, a Supreme Court and Constitutional Court judge Paddington Garwe, and Electoral Commission chairwoman, Rita Makarau, who is also secretary of the JSC. 

The successful candidate will replace Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, who will retire next year. 

See earlier post for more details 

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

European Union (EU) election observers have said there were "clear anomalies" in the results of August's presidential poll in Gabon, as they published their final report in the capital Libreville. 

President Ali Bongo won the election by less than 6,000 votes and his opponent Jean Ping alleged fraud, pointing to officials results in the president's home province, which said he received 95% of the vote on a turnout of 99.9%. 

Mr Ping still insists he won the poll and refers to himself as the president-elect, despite losing his bid at the constitutional court to have the result overturned. 

The government denies allegations of fraud and said European observers had "overstepped their mission" when they raised similar concerns in the aftermath of the election.

How to spot signs of possible election rigging

BBCCopyright: BBC

And then there were two....

We now know that Algeria's Riyad Mahrez or Senegal's Sadio Mane will be crowned BBC African Footballer of the Year 2016 in just over an hour. 

The original five-man shortlist has been cut down in the course of today, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Andre Ayew and Yaya Toure all eliminated.

The winner will be revealed in a live broadcast on BBC Focus on Africa TV, radio and online from 17:45 GMT.

If you can't wait until then, there's a live page here with reaction and video profiles of the contenders.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Senegal's foreign ministry has confirmed that four regional leaders will travel to neighbouring Gambia tomorrow in a bid to diffuse the crisis over President Jahya Jammeh's refusal to accept that he lost the 1 December election to opposition coalition candidate Adama Barrow. 

The four-member delegation will include Liberian leader Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari, Sierra Leone's Ernest Bai Koroma and Ghana's John Mahama, who has said he will step down as president next month after losing elections to opposition leader Nana Akufu-Addo on Friday. 

See earlier posts for more details

SABCCopyright: SABC

That's the main headline on the website of South Africa's national broadcaster, SABC, after the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) won a court bid to annul the appointment of senior executive Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

The court ruled that Mr Mosoeneng should not hold any post at the SABC, pending a new disciplinary hearing. 

The broadcaster quotes DA leader Mmusi Maimane as saying Mr Motsoeneng should be removed from his office if he arrived for work.

The court ruled that he should face a disciplinary inquiry over alleged abuse of power, unauthorised salary increments and dishonesty about his qualifications, the private News24 site reports.

EPACopyright: EPA

Zimbabwe's government is proposing an amendment to the constitution to give the president the sole power to appoint the chief justice. 

The opposition has opposed the move, saying it will undermine the judiciary's independence. 

This is the first amendment to be proposed since Zimbabwe adopted a new constitution in  2013, which whittled down the powers of the president.

The constitution was adopted following intense talks between the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the ruling Zanu-PF party. 

Currently the Judicial Services Commission, made up mostly of senior judges and lawyers, conducts public interviews of potential candidates for the post of chief justice. It then submits names to the president who then makes a selection.

President Robert Mugabe, 92, has been in power since 1980. 

Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is also the Justice Minister, has proposed the amendment. 

He is seen as a potential successor to Mr Mugabe. 

BBCCopyright: BBC

The South African presidency has confirmed that cases have been opened against police officers involved in what's known as the Marikana massacre, and that some of the victims' families are to get compensation. 

Police shot dead 34 miners at the Lonmin platinum mine in 2012, claiming they were acting in self-defence.

The shooting was the most deadly police incident since the end of apartheid in 1994, and shocked the nation.

An independent police investigation has recommended charges of murder, attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice. 

The cases follow a commission of inquiry, allegations of unnecessary delays and a cover-up. 

Ten other miners were killed in the days beforehand, and an inquiry found that 17 others also lost their lives in alleged police reprisal attacks. 

In the next few hours, we'll find out who is going to be crowned BBC African Footballer of the Year. 

Just to whet your appetite, here's a quick promo put together by the #BBCAfoty team, featuring clips of the previous winners. 

We'll update you here as soon as the winner is announced at 17:45 GMT, but if you want to follow full coverage before then, head to the BBC African Football website.   

A civil society group in Mali has criticised a deal signed by the government and the European Union to reduce migration to Europe. 

Under the terms of the new agreement, the EU will provide funds to Mali to help it create jobs and strengthen border management.

In return, Mali is expected to help fight people smugglers, and accept deportees from Europe. 

The group, Collectif Bi-Ton, says a massive return of Malian migrants would be bad for the country, in particular because they currently send back large amounts of money every year in remittances. 

Delphine Traore Maidou from Burkina Faso is the head of insurance giant Allianz in Africa and she wants to see more people who "look like her" in the top jobs.

In her work she tries to mentor others so she doesn't end up "sitting alone in the C-suite as a woman and as a black person".

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The European Union has imposed sanctions against seven top security officers in the Democratic Republic of Congo for their alleged role in deadly clashes with protesters demanding that President Joseph Kabila step down, AFP news agency reports. 

"Foreign ministers took the decision today to impose restrictive measures on seven individuals who occupy positions of responsibility in the security forces and who used disproportionate force," the agency quotes an EU statement as saying. 

DR Congo's election commission postponed polls due last month, opening the way for Mr Kabila to remain in power.

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has attended a state funeral for victims of an attack at Cairo's Coptic Christian cathedral, naming the suicide bomber he said was responsible.

Mr Sisi, who has declared three days of national mourning, named Shafik Mahmoud Mohamed Mostafa, 22, as the attacker.

The bombing killed 24 people, many of them women and children.

Mr Sisi said that three men and a woman had been arrested in connection with the bombing.

EPACopyright: EPA

See earlier post for more details 

AFPCopyright: AFP

The Gambia's President-elect Adama Barrow has welcomed plans by a high-level African and UN delegation to visit the West African state tomorrow to put pressure on long-serving ruler Yahya Jammeh to accept defeat in the 1 December election. 

Mr Barrow is quoted by AFP news agency as saying: 

Quote Message: It's giving us confidence and it will give confidence to every Gambian that the world is concerned about Gambia."

It's giving us confidence and it will give confidence to every Gambian that the world is concerned about Gambia."

AFPCopyright: AFP

AFP reports that apart from Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, the delegation is likely to include Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in her capacity as head of the West African regional bloc Ecowas and UN West Africa envoy Mohamed Ibn Chambas. 

Ghana's President John Mahama is also expected to attend. 

Mr Mahama has accepted his defeat in Ghana's election, and has promised a smooth transfer of power to incoming President Nana Akufo-Addo. 

Mr Barrow rejected Mr Jammeh's decision to challenge the result in the Supreme Court, saying: 

Quote Message: We don't have time to fight again. The Supreme Court wasn't existing for the last one year. There are a pile of cases that are waiting... but he doesn't care about it."

We don't have time to fight again. The Supreme Court wasn't existing for the last one year. There are a pile of cases that are waiting... but he doesn't care about it."

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari and other West African leaders will travel to The Gambia tomorrow in a bid to end the political crisis in the tiny West African nation, following authoritarian ruler Yahya Jammeh's refusal to accept defeat at the hands of former estate agent Adama Barrow, a senior government official has told me on condition of anonymity. 

I understand that the leaders will meet Mr Jammeh to try to convince him to honour his initial pledge to give up power.  

They will also meet Mr Barrow who has said he is concerned about his safety and has called on the international community to put pressure on Mr Jammeh to step down immediately. 

According to the electoral commission's latest count, as a result of the vote on 1 December:

• Mr Barrow won 222,708 votes (43.3%)

• Mr Jammeh took 208,487 (39.6%)

• A third-party candidate, Mama Kandeh, won 89,768 (17.1%).

AFPCopyright: AFP

AFPCopyright: AFP

The Gambia's President-elect Adama Barrow has urged authoritarian ruler Yahya Jammeh to accept that his 22-year rule has ended and that he was defeated in elections on 1 December.

AFP news agency quotes him as saying: 

Quote Message: I think he should step down now. He has lost the election, we don't want to waste time, we want this country to start moving."

I think he should step down now. He has lost the election, we don't want to waste time, we want this country to start moving."

Read: From estate agent to president