Campaigning for Liberia’s presidential and legislative elections kicked off on Saturday, with incumbent George Weah seeking a second six-year term in a country engulfed by huge economic challenges.High hopes greeted the 2017 election of former football star Weah in the West African nation, which was recovering from an Ebola epidemic and left scarred by civil …

Liberia election campaign begins as Weah seeks re-electionSat, 05 Aug 2023 13:23:32 GMT Read More »

Pato looks at the picture on his phone. It shows him with his wife and daughter, all carefree smiles. “That’s the last time we were happy,” he says, completely traumatised.A few months after the photograph was taken, his life was shattered.A friend showed Pato, a migrant from Cameroon, a picture from the internet of two …

Lost in the Tunisia-Libya desert: one migrant’s storySat, 05 Aug 2023 12:16:19 GMT Read More »

West Africa’s regional bloc said Friday its military chiefs have agreed a plan for a possible intervention in Niger, after the junta failed to restore civilian rule there following last week’s coup.The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Sunday gave the junta that toppled elected president Mohamed Bazoum in a July 26 coup …

W. Africa military chiefs agree plan for possible Niger interventionSat, 05 Aug 2023 00:41:05 GMT Read More »

The United States is suspending some aid programs to the Niger government, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday, more than one week after the country’s president was toppled in a coup.”The US government is pausing certain foreign assistance programs benefiting the government of Niger,” the top diplomat said in a statement, without providing details …

US ‘pausing’ some assistance programs to Niger government: BlinkenFri, 04 Aug 2023 23:52:22 GMT Read More »

West African regional bloc ECOWAS said on Friday its military chiefs had agreed a plan for a possible intervention in Niger, after it failed to secure a return to civilian rule there following last week’s coup.”All the elements that will go into any eventual intervention have been worked out, including the resources needed, and including …

ECOWAS military chiefs agree plan for possible Niger interventionFri, 04 Aug 2023 19:23:06 GMT Read More »

Ethiopia’s federal government on Friday declared a six-month “state of emergency” as violent clashes escalate between the national army and local fighters from the northern region of Amhara.The fresh unrest in Africa’s second-most populous country comes just nine months after the end of a devastating two-year war in the neighbouring region of Tigray which also …

Ethiopia declares ‘state of emergency’ over Amhara violenceFri, 04 Aug 2023 19:05:24 GMT Read More »

Niger’s new military rulers have pulled out of several military agreements with France, raising questions about where we go from here.Q: Which agreements is the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) renouncing?R: Five accords, which Paris had already suspended pending the return of the democratically elected Mohamed Bazoum. They cover “different aspects …

The France-Niger accords: what happens now Niamey has pulled out?Fri, 04 Aug 2023 16:33:36 GMT Read More »

A West African delegation failed to secure the return to power of Niger’s elected government on Friday despite proposals to resolve the crisis as the junta curtailed military cooperation with former colonial power France.The ECOWAS regional bloc’s team arrived Thursday in the capital Niamey “but did not spend the night” as scheduled, nor meet with …

Niger junta breaks off military cooperation with FranceFri, 04 Aug 2023 15:31:29 GMT Read More »

A West African delegation has failed to secure the return to power of Niger’s elected government as the junta moved to break military cooperation with former colonial power France.The ECOWAS regional bloc’s team had arrived Thursday in the capital Naimey “but did not spend the night” as scheduled, nor meet with coup leader Abdourahamane Tiani …

W. African delegation fails to resolve Niger crisisFri, 04 Aug 2023 08:31:46 GMT Read More »

Niger’s junta threatened an immediate response to “any aggression” as a deadline given by its neighbours to reverse last week’s coup neared, while the country’s ousted leader called for international help to “restore our constitutional order”.The putschists also made diplomatic swipes against international condemnation of the coup, scrapping military pacts with France and pulling ambassadors …

Ousted Niger leader calls for help as junta warns against interventionFri, 04 Aug 2023 05:10:27 GMT Read More »