France has ordered the closure of a mosque in the north of the country because of the radical nature of its imam’s preaching.
The mosque in Beauvais will remain shut for six months, according to the prefecture of the Oise region where Beauvais is located.
It says the sermons there incite hatred, violence and “defend jihad”.
Local authorities were legally bound to launch a 10-day period of information-gathering before taking action but told AFP that the mosque would now be shut within two days.

Hundreds of thousands more people were confined to their homes in northern China Tuesday as the country battled its worst Covid surge in 21 months and locked-down residents took to social media to complain about food shortages.
China has followed a zero-Covid strategy of tight border restrictions, lengthy quarantines and targeted lockdowns as Beijing prepares to welcome thousands of overseas visitors to February’s Winter Olympics.
The surge has prompted authorities to impose what they have called the strictest possible curbs in the northern city of Xi’an, whose 13 million residents are entering the sixth day of home confinement.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed the Egyptian state's firm tendency to give political priority to advancing and developing relations with African countries, in light of historical ties, common strategic interests, mutual respect and joint benefit.
The top diplomat called for coordinating and boosting national efforts to continue the active movement in the African arena and promote bilateral relations with the various countries and continental regions in areas of common priority.
He also stressed Egypt's commitment to continuing training and capacity-building courses offered to African cadres in the various fields within the framework of solidarity and desired integration.

Data from the revenue service showed that South Africa’s trade surplus widened to 35.83 billion rands in November from a revised surplus of 27.68 billion rands in October.
The South African Revenue Service says exports rose 4.5% on a month-on-month basis to 162.79 billion rands, while imports fell 0.9% to 126.96 billion rands.

A South African court has halted oil giant Shell's seismic testing for oil and gas along the country's eastern coastline, pending a final ruling.
Shell says it had paused operations while it reviewed the judgement.
South Africa's Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe had condemned the project's critics, saying they wanted to deprive Africa of energy resources.
High Court Judge Gerald Bloem says that Shell's right to explore the waters near the Wild Coast was awarded on the basis of a substantially flawed consultation process.

President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the 2022 Appropriation Bill on Friday.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, says the 2022 budget has been transmitted by the National Assembly and the President will sign the bill into law by 10am.
This comes barely a week after lawmakers in the House of Representatives and Senate chambers of the National Assembly passed a budget of N17.126 trillion, increasing the benchmark price of crude from $57 to $62 per barrel.

Figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria shows that the currency in circulation rose from N2.97tn at the end of October to N3.15tn in November.
The CBN data showed that the currency in circulation increased to N2.84tn in September from N2.78tn in August.
The Currency Operations Department of the CBN says in its 2020 annual report that it sustained banknotes disposal operations in 2020 to ensure the circulation of clean banknotes.
The apex bank says in furtherance of this objective, it deployed 11 banknote destruction systems and three currency disintegrating systems for currency disposal activities in the period under review.

Telecom consumers under the aegis of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers have kicked against the plan by the Federal Government to introduce a suite of digital tokens to enhance the verification of the National Identity Number, effective January next year
The federal government says the digital tokens consisting of 16 alphabets and numbers will be accepted for third-party verification, instead of the 11-digit NIN.
The President, NATS, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, however, says the move was currently uncalled for, and shouldn’t be implemented without proper consultation with stakeholders.

Polish President Andrzej Duda has vetoed a controversial media ownership law that critics said was intended to silence a US-owned TV station critical of the government.
The law would have prevented companies from outside the European Economic Area from controlling Polish media outlets.
The ruling Law and JusticeParty said foreign corporations hold too much power over Polish media and rushed the bill through parliament earlier this month.
Critics said the move was intended to attack TVN24, Poland's most watched news channel and a network whose reporters have often been critical of the conservative government.
President Duda says he appreciated the government's attempt to protect the country from potentially hostile actors such as Russia, but noted that the bill raised significant concerns over property rights.

France has announced tighter Covid restrictions amid concerns over the Omicron variant.
From 3 January, remote working will become compulsory for those who can and public gatherings will be limited to 2,000 people for indoor events.
The news comes as France recorded more than 100,000 new infections on Saturday - the highest number reported in the country since the pandemic began.
France's prime minister however did not bring in a New Year's Eve curfew.