Concerns grow as Israel strikes new areas of Lebanon

ARAMOUN, Lebanon

The rescue workers had just left when we arrived at the scene of an Israeli air strike on a building in Aramoun, south-west of Lebanon’s capital Beirut.

It was supposed to have been cleared. They had found eight bodies - including three children and three women - and taken the many injured to hospitals; some were in a critical condition.

Then several men on a balcony in a building opposite started shouting: “A hand, a hand. We can see a hand.”

They were pointing at a balcony on the second floor, which was completely destroyed and had crumbled on to the collapsed floor below.

A young man climbed on to the mound of rubble. He reached the spot, moved some of the rubble, then held something up that could not be identified from distance.

Later, I asked him if he did find a hand. He replied: “No. It wasn’t a hand. It was a piece of bone from a head.”

The multi-storey building that was hit is located in a residential area.

We were told that most of the people there were internally displaced, mainly from the south of the country or the southern suburbs of Beirut.

They are areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence and which have been frequently targeted by Israel during its war with the Iran-backed political and military group.

Aramoun is a religiously mixed area and until Wednesday it was deemed safe because it had not been hit before.

The dawn strike came without warning.

“It was around 4 o’clock in the morning. We were asleep. We woke up because of a very strong thud. We couldn’t see anything in the beginning because of the smoke that was everywhere,” said a mother of two who lived in the building opposite.

She had sought refuge in her uncle’s house in Aramoun after Israel started bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs.

“Israel is striking everywhere. There is nowhere that is safe anymore,” she added.

Another woman in her 80s was being rushed to a car.

She had moved to Aramoun a month ago, also from Beirut’s southern suburbs.

After the strike, she left with everyone else in the building and spent two or three hours in their car on the street.

When we saw her, she was collecting some of her possessions. She told us she was very scared and was moving once more.

This time, she said, she was going to her son’s place. He is displaced as well.

When asked about any prospects of an end of hostilities soon, she replied: “The more they talk about a ceasefire, the more Israel intensifies its strikes.”

The Israeli military has not yet said who or what it targeted in Aramoun.

But the strike bore similarities to several in other parts of the country: launched without warning on residential buildings or houses hosting displaced people. The Israeli military has said many of those strikes have targeted Hezbollah infrastructure.

The attacks are causing increasing social unease within host communities, with residents voicing concern over the possibility of Israel targeting displaced people living among them or others visiting, often to deliver financial assistance.

“We all love the resistance [Hezbollah], but if someone has a son and isn’t even sure he is in Hezbollah, or someone is coming to give aid to displaced people and they are being targeted, we are paying the price,” said one man who owns house in the area that was struck and lives there with his wife and child.

He added: “The displaced came as guests and we welcome them. But if there is someone stranger here, whoever he is - it might be my own child and I’m not aware of him being in Hezbollah - and they target him, and children and women get killed, isn’t that pitiful?”

Such comments have become more common following the recent series of Israeli strikes in various parts of the country which are outside the known areas of hostilities.

But at the same time there are increasing calls in Lebanon for national unity as well as warnings that such strikes from Israel could be purposely designed to create that social unease.

Russia sends military instructors to Equatorial Guinea - reports

MALABO, Equatorial Guinea

Russia has reportedly sent up to 200 troops to Equatorial Guinea to protect the presidency, as it continues to expand its presence in Africa.

Media reports say that the Russians are training elite guards in the country’s two main cities – the capital Malabo and Bata.

Reports of Russian troops deployed in the country first surfaced in August.

Russia, which has been seeking to gain more influence in Africa, has in recent years sent thousands of mercenaries to West and Central Africa to protect military regimes and help them fight insurgents.

The Reuters news agency quoted sources saying that between 100 and 200 Russians were estimated to have arrived in the past two months.

It said some were likely to be part of the Corps Africa, a paramilitary force previously known as Wagner before being renamed and officially coming under Russian military control.

There have been other reports of sightings of the mercenaries in both Malabo and Bata, also indicating that they were there to protect the president and his family.

The tiny country with a population of 1.7 million is led by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the world’s longest-serving president who has been in power since 1979.

His son, Teodoro Obiang Mangue, who is known for his lavish lifestyle, is the country’s vice-president.

He has been at the centre of scandals around the world, and has been the subject of criminal charges and sanctions.

The Equatorial Guinean administration has faced criticism for its human rights record, including arbitrary killings and torture, according to a US government report.

The country has been trying to broker military deals as well as gas and mineral exploration agreements with Russia and Belarus. It has had similar deals with China in the past.

Both the Equatorial Guinea president and the vice-president have made several visits to Russia in the recent past.

In September, President Obiang thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for sending instructors to strengthen Equatorial Guinea's defence, according to state news agency TASS.

On Wednesday, Tutu Alicante, a US-based human rights activist from Equatorial Guinea, told US state broadcaster VOA that the alleged military presence in the country could undermine US geopolitical interests.

He said that the Russia was "definitely flexing its military and economic muscles on the ground" through the physical presence of troops in the country.

The US has in the past had investments including in the country’s energy sector but the interest has waned.

Some countries in West Africa that have had coups in recent years have moved away from traditional Western allies like France, accusing them of not doing enough to quash jihadist insurgencies, while seeking closer ties with Russia.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 14/11/2024

 

U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman resigns

NAIROBI,  Kenya 

United States Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman has announced her resignation. 

Whitman, who has served in the envoy role since 2022, conveyed her decision in a statement on Wednesday, stating that she had submitted her resignation to President Joe Biden.

Her announcement comes just days after Donald Trump's victory in the recently held US elections.

"Today, I announced to my team at the U.S. embassy that I submitted my resignation to President Biden. It has been an honour and privilege to serve the American people through strengthening our partnership with Kenya," she said.

Furthermore, Whitman expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve as Ambassador and reflected on the significant strides made during her tenure in strengthening U.S.-Kenya relations.

"I am proud of leading a people-centred agenda that saves lives, increases security, and creates economic opportunities for Kenyans and Americans. From delivering emergency funding to alleviate catastrophic flooding in 2023 to the ongoing fight against malaria, HIV, and MPOX, the U.S government prioritizes the health and welfare of our friends in Kenya."

Whitman also underscored the close collaboration between the two nations in fostering economic development.

"When I arrived in 2022, I focused on expanding these ties with my “Why Africa, Why Kenya?” presentation to American companies and entrepreneurs. Trade, jobs, and U.S. investment in Kenya are at historic highs because of our efforts," she said.  

"We also responded to the skyrocketing demand for our consular services, reducing wait times for non-immigrant visa appointments from more than two years to about two months, among other enhancements. Like all U.S. ambassadors, I serve at the request of the President."

She further acknowledged the ongoing efforts of U.S. embassy staff and expressed confidence in the future of Nairobi and Washington's bilateral relationship.

"I have no doubt that our 60 years of partnership will continue to strengthen and serve Americans and Kenyans as we aim to build more prosperous, healthy, secure, and democratic nations," she said.

"Our relations are stronger than ever, and I am confident this trajectory will continue. I will depart Kenya full of gratitude for the team that has worked tirelessly on my behalf, for the opportunity to serve my country, and for the friendship offered by the government and the people of the beautiful Republic of Kenya." 

Abuse survivors call for further Church of England resignations

LONDON, England

Survivors are calling for further resignations after the Archbishop of Canterbury announced he will step down from his role following a damning report into a prolific child abuser associated with the church.

Justin Welby is quitting after a review found he "could and should" have reported John Smyth's abuse of boys and young men to police in 2013.

There are now increasing calls for more senior members of the Church to face questions about what they knew about abuse.

The Church's deputy lead bishop for safeguarding Julie Conalty said "very possibly other people should go" and said, in some ways, the church was "not a safe institution".

An independent review published last week found Mr Welby - the most senior bishop within the Church of England - and other church officers should have formally reported Smyth in 2013 to police in the UK and authorities in South Africa.

Smyth was accused of attacking dozens of boys, including those he met at Christian camps, in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s.

The report found inaction from the Church was a "missed opportunity" to bring Smyth to justice before his 2018 death.

Mrs Conalty, the Bishop for Birkenhead, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that she could not guarantee there is no abuse still going on in the Church, adding no institution "can ever be totally safe".

"We still have this institutional problem where we are not putting victims and survivors at the centre," she said.

Meanwhile, Bishop of Newcastle Dr Helen-Ann Hartley said progress in changing the safeguarding culture of the Church was "being undermined by the arrogance of a few".

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, the second most senior figure in the Church of England after Mr Welby, said: "We now know that some people pretty systematically covered this up, and those people need to be brought to account."

Asked on Today about further resignations he said those who "actively covered this up" should go but said those were not bishops.

He also said Mr Welby had "relied too much on others" when he did not formally alert authorities about Smyth.

On Tuesday, Mr Welby said that "it is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility" for his response after he was first told about the abuse.

Survivors of Church abuse have called for other senior members of the Church to face questions over the handling of the Smyth allegations.

Mark Stibbe, a former vicar and author, told Channel 4 News he thought Mr Welby had "done the right thing" and that he and fellow survivors had been calling for his resignation for years.

"I applaud Justin Welby for resigning but what I think the survivor group would like is more resignations because that means more accountability, people taking responsibility for having been silent when they should have spoken," he said.

"If there are senior clergy who have broken the law then they need to be called to account," he added.

Another survivor, Richard Gittins, told Sky News bishops "who kept the stories to themselves" should now be the focus of questioning.

Other bishops are named in the report into Smyth's abuse including the serving Bishop of Lincoln Stephen Conway.

One of Smyth's victims said Bishop Conway did not do enough when he was informed of the abuse while serving as the Bishop of Ely.

The report said he was in a "potentially powerful position" to ensure allegations of serious abuse were being pursued - but the allegations were "not properly investigated" despite his diocese knowing of them from early 2013.

In a statement, Bishop Conway said he was told about details of Smyth's abuse in 2013 and made a detailed disclosure to Lambeth Palace, as well as contacting the diocese in South Africa to which Smyth had fled.

The Archbishop of York defended Bishop Conway, telling Today he "was the first person to do something about this".

He said those who "actively covered this up" should resign but added this was not bishops and said that Mr Welby had taken responsibility for "institutional failings".

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said "it was absolutely the right decision" for Mr Welby to go and that church leaders should not "think that just one head rolling solves the problem".

"There are deep and fundamental issues of not just practice but culture on safeguarding," he told Today.

"The culture of cover-up has been part of the problem on serious abuse for far too long," he added.

South Africa FA president Danny Jordaan arrested over fraud

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa

South African Football Association (SAFA) president Danny Jordaan has been arrested and charged with fraud after allegedly spending R1.3 million of the association's money for his personal benefit.

Jordaan and his two co-accused, SAFA chief financial officer Gronie Hluyo and journalist-turned-businessman Trevor Neethling, are set to appear in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Palm Ridge on Wednesday.

Earlier, the Hawks confirmed that two executives and a businessman were expected to hand themselves over after arrest warrants were issued.

In March this year, the Hawks raided SAFA's offices in Nasrec, Johannesburg.

Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said it is alleged that, between 2014 and 2018, Jordaan used the organisation's resources for personal gain, including hiring a private security company for personal protection and a public relations company without the board's authorisation.

"The president is also reported to have violated SAFA statutes, thus prejudicing SAFA an actual loss of R1.3 million," Mogale said at the time.

During the five-hour raid, the Hawks seized a laptop, external hard drives, a USB, and documents.

Blinken in Brussels as Trump win raises alarm over Ukraine

BRUSSELS, Belgium

United States top diplomat Antony Blinken will meet with NATO and EU officials Wednesday to urgently discuss ramping up support for Ukraine before Donald Trump reclaims the White House — potentially jeopardizing future aid.

After landing in Brussels late Tuesday, the secretary of state’s one-day visit will see him meet NATO chief Mark Rutte, European Union diplomacy boss Josep Borrell, his successor Kaja Kallas and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga.

The emergency trip comes as Trump’s election victory, coupled with a political crisis in Germany, heightens fears about the future of assistance for Ukraine at a key point in the fight against Russia’s invasion.

Trump has in the past voiced admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and scoffed at the $175 billion the United States committed for Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022.

The 78-year-old tycoon, who will be inaugurated on January 20, spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after winning re-election following a first stint as president between 2017 and 2021.

He has boasted he can end the war in a day, likely by forcing concessions from Ukraine, although his newly named national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said Trump may also pressure Putin.

The Washington Post reported the Republican leader also held a phone call with Putin and discouraged an escalation by Russia. The Kremlin denied the report.

The US election came as Ukraine was already bracing for the impact of thousands of North Korean troops whom US intelligence agencies say have been sent to fight for Russia — a potentially major escalation in the conflict.

US media reported Trump might pick Republican Senator Marco Rubio to replace Blinken as secretary of state.

Rubio is seen as more supportive of Kyiv but has also said Washington should show “pragmatism” rather than sending billions of dollars more in weapons as the war hit a “stalemate.”

The Biden administration has made clear it plans in its remaining weeks to push through the more than $9 billion of remaining funding appropriated by Congress for weapons and other security assistance to Ukraine.

Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, expected the United States to focus in particular on sending vehicles, medical supplies and small-arms ammunition, which Ukraine needs and the United States can provide.

“Between now and the end of the administration, they’re going to try to ship everything they can that’s available,” Cancian said.

Despite Kyiv’s pleas it seems unlikely, however, that Washington will lift its veto on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory.

Both Ukraine and Moscow have seen a spike in drone attacks. The New York Times reported that Russia has amassed 50,000 troops, including North Koreans, to attempt to dislodge Ukrainian forces who seized parts of Russia’s Kursk region several months ago.

“The situation on the battlefield is difficult. And that’s why we must keep working every day,” Kallas, who is to take over as the EU’s top diplomat next month subject to parliament’s green light, told lawmakers on Tuesday.

“Today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes and with as much military, financial and humanitarian help as needed.”

Trump in his first term aggressively pushed Europe to step up defense spending and questioned the fairness of the NATO transatlantic alliance — robustly defended by Biden.

“Whatever approach the US leadership takes toward Ukraine, Europe will have to step up, and we will have to take the lead in supporting Ukraine’s defense efforts and macro financial stability,” said Olena Prokopenko of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

“Unfortunately, Donald Trump’s win comes at arguably the worst possible time in terms of Europe’s political and economic shape and its ability to promptly coordinate.”

US bans flights to Haiti after three jetliners hit by gunfire

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti

The United States on Tuesday banned all civilian flights to Haiti for a month, a day after three jetliners approaching or departing from its gang-ridden capital Port-au-Prince were hit by gunfire.

The shootings provided a vivid glimpse of the violent chaos gripping Haiti as a new prime minister took the reins of a nation ravaged by poverty, chronic political instability and other woes.

The US Federal Aviation Administration's move came after a Spirit Airlines jetliner arriving from Florida in Port-au-Prince was hit by gunfire and had to reroute to the Dominican Republic.

A flight attendant suffered minor injuries, and images posted online appeared to show several bullet holes inside the plane.

Two planes that left the Haitian capital Monday were also hit, with single bullet holes detected in post-flight inspections in each case, the airlines said.

Both planes landed safely. They were a JetBlue flight to JFK Airport in New York and an American Airlines flight to Miami.

Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime was sworn in Monday, replacing outgoing premier Garry Conille, who was appointed in May but became embroiled in a power struggle with the country's unelected transitional council.

Haiti remained cut off from the rest of the world, with its main airport closed and bursts of gunfire ringing out in several neighborhoods of the capital.

Many stores and schools were shuttered as people feared more attacks by the powerful and well-armed gangs that control some 80 percent of the city, even though a Kenyan-led international force has been deployed to help the outgunned Haitian police restore order.

Violent crime in the capital city remains high, with gang members routinely targeting civilians and robberies, rapes and kidnappings are rampant.

The transitional council, aiming to put Haiti on a path to voting in 2026, had been tasked with stabilizing a country that has no president or parliament and last held elections in 2016.

The United States on Tuesday called on Haiti's leaders to put personal interests aside and concentrate on getting the country back on its feet.

"The acute and immediate needs of the Haitian people mandate that the transitional government prioritize governance over the competing personal interests of political actors," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

The Caribbean nation has long struggled with political instability, poverty, natural disasters and gang violence.

But conditions sharply worsened at the end of February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in the capital, saying they wanted to overthrow then-prime minister Ariel Henry.

Despite the arrival of the Kenyan-led support mission in June, violence has continued to soar.

A recent United Nations report said more than 1,200 people were killed in Haiti from July through September, with persistent kidnappings and sexual violence against women and girls.

The report said the gangs were digging trenches, using drones and stockpiling weapons as they change tactics to confront the Kenyan-led police force.

Gang leaders have strengthened defenses for the zones they control and placed gas cylinders and Molotov cocktail bombs ready to use against police operations.

Israeli strikes in Mount Lebanon villages kill 23, ministry says

BEIRUT, Lebanon

At least 23 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes on two houses in central Lebanon where displaced families were reportedly living, the Lebanese health ministry says.

Fifteen people, mostly women and children, were killed in Joun and eight others were killed near Baalchmay. Both villages are in the Mount Lebanon region and outside areas where the armed group Hezbollah has a strong presence.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the strikes, which came after it hit what it said were a number of Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Meanwhile, two people were killed by Hezbollah rocket fire in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya.

It came a day after Israel’s defence minister ruled out a ceasefire with Hezbollah until its war goals were met.

The Israeli military went on the offensive against Hezbollah - which it proscribes as a terrorist organisation - after almost a year of cross-border fighting sparked by the war in Gaza.

Israel says it wants to ensure the safe return of tens of thousands of northern Israeli border area residents displaced by rocket attacks, which Hezbollah launched in support of Palestinians the day after its ally Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

More than 3,200 people have been killed in Lebanon since then, including 2,600 in the seven weeks since Israel launched an intense air campaign followed by a ground invasion in the south, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Another 1.2 million people have been displaced.

On Tuesday morning, the Israeli military carried out at least 10 strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahieh, after issuing evacuation orders for 11 locations.

Lebanese media reported that several buildings were levelled, including a medical centre in the Bir al-Abed area, but there were no reports of casualties.

The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah targets, including command centres and weapons production sites.

In the evening, the Israeli military declared that it had “dismantled a majority of Hezbollah’s weapons storage and missile manufacturing facilities” that had been “systematically concealed beneath civilian buildings” in Dahieh.

Most residents of Dahieh - one of the areas where Hezbollah has a significant presence, along with southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley - have fled because their neighbourhoods have been targeted repeatedly since September.

On Tuesday night, the Lebanese health ministry said 15 people were killed, including eight women and four children, in an Israeli strike on a house in Joun, in the Chouf mountains near the southern coastal city of Sidon.

The state-run National News Agency reported that displaced families had been staying there.

Residents and a security official said another house where displaced families had taken refuge was hit in Baalchmay, 30km (20 miles) to the north-east, killing eight people and injuring five.

Wael Murtada told the Associated Press that the home had belonged to his uncle and that those inside had fled from Dahieh about 40 days ago. He said at least three children were among the dead.

The targets of the two strikes were unclear.

Elsewhere in Lebanon, five people were killed in a strike in the southern village of Teffahta, according to the health ministry.

In the northern town of Ain Yaaqou, Lebanon’s Civil Defence agency said its first responders had recovered the bodies of 16 people, including four Syrian refugees, from the rubble of a residential building that was destroyed by an air strike on Monday night.

The Israeli military said its forces had targeted a “military structure with a terrorist inside”.

It also said Israeli soldiers were continuing ground operations in southern Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure, including rocket launchers.

About 55 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel on Tuesday, according to the Israeli military.

One rocket hit a warehouse in Nahariya, killing two Israeli men in their 50s.

"There was a lot of destruction and an active fire," paramedic Dor Vakinin told AFP news agency.

"We performed medical examinations on two men who were lying unconscious...Unfortunately, their injuries were too severe and after the examinations we had to determine the death of both of them."

Hezbollah said its fighters had fired a barrage of rockets at an Israeli military base north of the town of Acre, and that it had also targeted troops stationed in several Israeli border communities.

A Hezbollah drone also hit the playground of a kindergarten in a suburb of the Israeli city of Haifa, but no-one was hurt.

On Monday, new Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X that he had told a forum of Israel generals that “there will be no ceasefire” until Hezbollah could no longer carry out such attacks.

“We will continue to hit Hezbollah with full force until the goals of the war are achieved. Israel will not agree to any arrangement that does not guarantee Israel’s right to enforce and prevent terrorism on its own,” he added.

Katz said the goals were “disarming Hezbollah and its withdrawal beyond the Litani river”, which runs about 30km north of the border with Israel, as well as “returning the residents of the north safely to their homes”.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had said there was “a certain progress” after being asked by journalists in Jerusalem about a possible ceasefire.

Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif told a news conference in Beirut: “We hear a lot of talk, but so far, according to my information, nothing official has reached Lebanon or us in this regard.”

Lebanon’s government has called for a ceasefire based on the full implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

The resolution called for Lebanese territory south of the Litani to be free of any armed personnel or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state and a UN peacekeeping force.

Israel has long complained that the resolution failed to prevent Hezbollah from building a formidable military presence in south and firing rockets over the border.

Uganda university students protesting against EACOP project remanded

KAMPALA, Uganda

14 students of Kyambogo University and one from Makerere University Business School (Mubs) have been remanded by Buganda Road Chief Magistrate's court over their protest against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project.

Simon Peter Wafula, Gary Wettaka, Martin Sserwambala, Erick Ssekandi, Arafat Mawanda, Akram Katende, Dedo Sean Kevin, Noah Katiti, Oscar Nuwagaba, Oundo Hamphrance, Bernard Mutenyo, Nicholas Pele, Shadiah Nabukenya, Shafiq Kalyango, and Mark Makoba from Mubs, were remanded by grade one magistrate Sanula Nambozo.

The prosecution stated that on November 11, 2024, the accused gathered at Parliamentary Avenue, causing disruption and inconvenience by holding an unauthorized demonstration on the road while displaying placards and banners opposing the oil pipeline.

The protest caused a standstill in traffic and disrupted work in the area. Police officer Gonzaga Ssemanda, the complainant, testified that he heard the protesters chanting slogans against crude oil exploitation at around 9:30 am and commanded officers, including Sergeant Kasowole, to arrest them.

In court, the students denied the common nuisance charges. They appeared with some of them shirtless, having lost access to their belongings, including dismantled phones.

The magistrate advised them to apply for bail but set their remand until November 26 as none of them had sureties present.

One student pleaded for a shorter remand period, citing imminent university exams, but the magistrate maintained the date. State Attorney Allan Mucunguzi mentioned that investigations were ongoing.

This case is part of ongoing protests against the $3.5 billion EACOP project, which will transport crude oil from Uganda’s Albertine region to Tanzania’s Tanga seaport.

The project has faced criticism over delayed compensations for affected persons and secretive agreements. Despite a European Union resolution against the pipeline, President Yoweri Museveni has insisted it will proceed as planned.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 13/11/2024

 

Who needs what to qualify for Afcon 2025?

By Our Correspondent,  NAIROBI  Kenya 

By this time next week we will know the 24 teams who will contest the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, with the final two rounds of qualifiers set to throw up a number of winner-takes-all matches.

Ghana are the biggest name in danger of missing out on the tournament in Morocco, with the Black Stars needing to pick up maximum points and hope Sudan suffer two defeats.

The top two in each of the 12 qualifying groups progress, with former champions Algeria, Cameroon, DR Congo, Egypt and Senegal already assured of their places alongside Angola, Burkina Faso and the hosts.

Central African Republic are the only side still in contention who are yet to make their Nations Cup debut, while Botswana and Rwanda are bidding to make just a second appearance.

Group A is the tightest to call, with all four nations still in with a shout.

Leaders Tunisia are a point ahead of Comoros and two in front of The Gambia, with outsiders Madagascar further back.

The Carthage Eagles, who are chasing a record-extending 17th successive appearance at the finals, have placed Kais Yaacoubi in interim charge after sacking veteran boss Faouzi Benzarti.

Madagascar must beat the North Africans on Thursday to keep their faint hopes alive, while The Gambia face a crunch ‘home’ clash against Comoros a day later in Berkane.

Depending on those results, the final round of matches, when Tunisia welcome the Scorpions and Comoros entertain Madagascar, could be nerve-shredding for fans of all four countries.

Group B looks more straightforward, with Morocco having already guaranteed top spot and Gabon favourites to clinch second.

The Panthers host Morocco on Friday and will be through if they match Central African Republic’s result against Lesotho.

Otherwise, Gabon’s visit to CAR on Monday will be another must-watch decider.