World

  President Patrice Talon’s camp won the majority of seats in parliament, the country’s Constitutional Court said on Thursday, after a vote marking the return of the opposition after a four-year absence. Sunday’s election, which took place peacefully, served as a key test for this small West African country, chaired …

Observers and members of Benin’s electoral commission check the number of votes cast at a polling station in Cotonou. By Yanick Folly (AFP) Benin’s electoral officials were tallying ballots Tuesday from a parliamentary vote seen as a key test of democracy in the West African state. Final results from Sunday’s …

Forty-six Ivorian soldiers detained in Mali since July arrived home late Saturday, according to an AFP reporter at the airport, a day after they were pardoned by the neighbouring country’s junta. The troop, whose detention triggered a bitter diplomatic row between the countries, were arrested on July 10, 2022, after arriving …

  Six journalists have been detained in South Sudan over the leaked video of President Salva Kiir that went viral, the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) has said. Joval Tombe, Cherbek Ruben, Victor Lado, Joseph Oliver, Jacob Benjamin, and Mustafa Osman – all working for the state-run broadcaster …

The authorities in Burkina Faso have launched an investigation into the circumstances of the deaths of 28 people whose bodies were found in the north-western town of Nouna. In a statement, the government said the killings were discovered on the night of 30 December and condemned the “unacceptable violence”. The …

The Taliban have banned women from universities in Afghanistan, sparking international condemnation and despair among young people in the country. The higher education minister announced the regression on Tuesday, saying it would take immediate effect. The ban further restricts women’s education – girls have already been excluded from secondary schools …

Reacting to the severe flooding and landslides in Kinshasa, which claimed 120 lives on 12 and 13 December and left thousands homeless, Flavia Mwangovya, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns in East Africa, Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes regions said: “Amnesty International sends its condolences to all …

  New Zealand will phase in a near-total tobacco ban from next year. Legislation passed by parliament on Tuesday means that anyone born after 2008 will never be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products. It will mean the number of people able to buy tobacco will shrink each year. …

Guinea’s former dictator, Moussa Dadis Camara, denied responsibility when he took the stand on Monday at a trial of officials implicated in a 2009 massacre. Camara and 10 other former military and government officials are accused of the killing of 156 people and the rape of at least 109 women …

    The gunmen who rode in Trundra operational vehicles shot indiscriminately forcing people to scamper for safety.   Gunmen purportedly enforcing a botched sit-at-home order on Friday afternoon attacked parts of Owerri, Mbaitoli and environs in Imo State.   The gunmen struck at different locations and killed a policeman, …