Image copyrightAFPImage captionPresident Jammeh's ban on FGM is effective immediately
The Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh has banned female genital mutilation (FGM) saying it is not required in Islam.
The announcement at a rally was met with a huge applause, AFP reports.
Three-quarters of women in the mostly Muslim country have had the procedure,according to Unicef.
In the procedure's most severe form, after removing the sensitive clitoris, the genitals are cut and stitched closed so that the woman cannot have or enjoy sex.
FGM, also known as female circumcision, can be extremely painful, lead to tetanus, gangrene, HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C and effective sterilisation.
Image copyrightReutersImage captionFrench troops helped end the Islamist siege at a Bamako hotel
Germany will send up to 650 soldiers to Mali to support France in its fight against Islamist militants, the country's defence minister has said.
Ursula von der Leyen made the announcement as Chancellor Angela Merkel prepared to meet President Francois Hollande in Paris.
The leaders will discuss support in the wake of the deadly attacks by Islamic State in the French capital.
Around 1,500 French troops are deployed in Mali to fight against militants.
"We will and must stand firmly by France's side," Ms von der Leyen said.
The deployment comes after France invoked a previously unused EU treaty clause in the wake of the Paris attacks, which killed 130 people.
The clause obliges other member states to provide it with "aid and assistance by all means in their power".
Germany's move also follows an attack last week by al-Qaeda linked militants on a hotel in Mali's capital Bamako, killing 22 people.
Image copyrightReutersImage captionFrance has about 1,500 troops in Mali
French forces have been present in Mali after they intervened to push back an advance by al-Qaeda linked groups that seized control of the country's north in 2012.
However, large parts of the country remain beyond the control of government and foreign forces.
Ms von der Leyen said the German soldiers would focus on logistics and reconnaissance as part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (Minusma).
France would "no longer be so tightly bound to this part of the world" if the international mission can boost stability, she added.
Germany currently has nine soldiers in Minusma and 200 involved in an EU training mission in the quieter south of the country.
The country has also increased the number of its troops training Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage captionGermany has also stepped up its training of Kurdish forces in Iraq
Image copyrightEPAImage captionTunisia has been plagued by Islamist violence
The Islamic State (IS) militant group said it was behind a deadly attack on a bus carrying presidential guards in the Tunisian capital Tunis.
In a message on social media it said a suicide bomber carried out the attack, which killed 13 people.
A backpack or belt containing 10kg of military explosives was used, Tunisia's interior ministry said.
IS has already claimed two high-profile attacks on the country's tourism industry this year.
The White House has condemned the latest attack "in the strongest terms".
The explosion took place at a bus stop where the presidential guard picks up and drops off its staff, near the former headquarters of the party of deposed president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
In response, the authorities imposed a nationwide state of emergency and a nightly curfew in the capital.
Tunisia has also closed its border with Libya for 15 days.
The IS claim was largely expected, says the BBC's Rana Jawad in Tunis, but the nature of the attack - a suicide bombing - raises questions that will be difficult for the Tunisian authorities to answer.
It is still not clear whether the bomber boarded the bus reserved for the presidential guard, or simply got close enough to cause the deadly impact, the correspondent says.
Image copyrightReutersImage captionThe blast happened near former president Ben Ali's party's headquartersImage copyrightReutersImage captionTunisians have protested against this and other attacks
The North African state's secular government is battling a wave of Islamist violence.
IS says it was behind an attack by a gunman on the beach resort of Sousse in June, killing 38 people.
And in March, IS gunmen attacked the famous Bardo Museum in Tunis, killing more than 20 people.
However, the group has not yet declared an official branch in the country.
Tunisia is also believed to provide the biggest contingent of jihadists overseas, with the authorities saying at least 3,000 of its nationals are fighting in Iraq and Syria.
Tunisians are also fighting alongside extremists in neighbouring Libya.
Kenya's government has said that up to 10,000 police officers may be deployed during the visit.
Militant Islamists have carried out a spate of attacks in Kenya - including the 2013 siege at Nairobi's Westgate shopping centre, which left at least 67 dead, and the killing of about 150 people during an assault on the Garissa National University College in April this year.
Welcomed in Latin
Image copyrightAFPImage captionPope Francis is the fourth pontiff to visit AfricaImage copyrightAFPImage captionAbout 30% of Kenyans are CatholicImage copyrightAFPImage captionThousands came out to welcome the pope
"All men and women of goodwill are called to work for reconciliation and peace, forgiveness and healing," Pope Francis said at a function hosted by President Kenyatta in State House.
Pope Francis also warned of the "grave environmental crisis" facing the world, and said leaders needed to promote "responsible models of economic development".
He made a veiled reference to corruption by calling on leaders to work with integrity and transparency, says the BBC's Joseph Odhiambo in Nairobi.
Christian population is 517 million (63% of total)
Protestants make up more than half the number
Catholics make up about a third
Muslim population is 248 million (about 30% of total)
1.1 billion Christians expected by 2050
670 million Muslims expected by 2050
Source: US-based Pew Research Center 2011 survey
About 30% of Kenyans - including President Kenyatta - are baptised Catholics, and there is huge excitement around the visit, our correspondent says.
Crowds lined the streets of Nairobi to catch a glimpse of the pope as he was driven in a grey Honda saloon to Mr Kenyatta's office for his official engagement.
One of Kenya's main newspapers, The Standard, welcomed him with headlinesin Latin, Grata Franciscus Pontifex, and the regional Swahili language, Karibu Papa Francis.
Image copyrightThe Standard
The Pope is expected to tackle corruption, poverty and religious conflict during his five-day visit.
'Consoling poor'
Abdalla Kwamana, the vice-chairman of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, said he would attend an inter-faith meeting the pontiff is hosting on Thursday.
He described the visit as highly significant, and welcomed the Pope's decision to include a shantytown in his itinerary.
"It is often said that Kenya is owned by the rich and powerful. The people in the slums are never recognised," Mr Kwamana told the BBC's Newsday programme.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionThe pope called on Kenya's leaders to govern with integrityImage copyrightAFPImage captionChildren painted their faces in the national colours as they lined the streetsImage copyrightAPImage captionSecurity has been tightened to ensure there are no attacks by militant Islamists
"When he goes to see them and console them, they'll feel they are people of substance," he added.
Pope Francis is due to hold a mass on Thursday at the University of Nairobi sports ground, where a crowd of more than one million is expected, Kenya's private Daily Nation newspaper reports.
The tiny Atheists in Kenya group said the decision to declare Thursday a public holiday and a day of prayer was unconstitutional.
"The constitution clearly states that there shall be no state religion. We cannot have the government acting religiously," its leader Harrison Mumia said, Nation FM radio station reports.
One in six of the world's Catholics are in Africa.
AFP
