hello from the bbc sport centre. hello i m chetan pathak with your latest sports news we start at afcon the 34th edition of the africa cup of nations has reached the semi final stage with both matches on wednesday. the hosts ivory coast play the democratic republic of congo but before that it s the other heavyweights nigeria. who play south africa. and they ve been given a massive boost with striker victor osimhen declared fit to play who had been a doubt with an abdominal problem. it s a rematch of the 2000 afcon semi final which nigeria won and was the last time south africa reached the last four. this time their coach is hoping they can go one step further: i think for many people it was unexpected. but we did it, and that means that south africa became a good team. it s also more than 20 years ago that south africa played the semifinal, even more that we play the final. that means that we ve got a lot of motivation. meanwhile, ivory coast have never won the competit
it s understood mr ali has also been suspended from labour pending a party investigation. let s get more now from our political correspondent ben wright. this is all slightly convoluted. just talk us through it. it this is all slightly convoluted. just talk us through it.- this is all slightly convoluted. just talk us through it. it is, and it s a bit of just talk us through it. it is, and it s a bit of a just talk us through it. it is, and it s a bit of a shambles - just talk us through it. it is, and | it s a bit of a shambles frankly. i think from the first moment that mr ali s, is herfirst reported in the mail on sunday, i think they risk damaging sir keir starmer s claim to have changed his party. back in the jeremy corbyn days, there were so many allegations of anti semitism and it was one of the key tenets for keir starmer to show the party had changed. but it is a binderfor the party as though they may have wanted to disavow it mr ali 2a or 48 hours to disavow it m
the safety of the population. president biden has become the latest leader to voice his concern about israel s proposal to invade the city. rafah, on the border with egypt, has become the last refuge for palestinians fleeing the bombardment elsewhere in gaza, which has been going on since the hamas attacks of october 7th last year. hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by the uk. prime minister benjamin netanyahu has insisted an evacuation plan for the city is being prepared. with the latest, here s the bbc s international editorjeremy bowen. at the southern end of gaza, this is the heavily guarded border fence with egypt. for palestinian refugees, there is no further to go. laila abu mustafa fled here with her two handicapped daughters. getting on for 1.5 million palestinian civilians have been forced into southern gaza, living in dreadful conditions. now, israel says it will attack this area, claiming it will find a safe haven for civilians in one of the most dangero