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Algeria’s decision to expel 12 French consular staff members appears to have put paid to hopes of any imminent rapprochement between the two countries. The order was in response to charges filed in France on Friday against an Algerian consular official, accused with two other Algerians of taking part in the kidnap of an opposition […]

China’s President Xi Jinping has called on Vietnam to oppose “unilateral bullying” to upkeep a global system of free trade – though he stopped short of naming the US. It comes as Xi is on a so called “charm offensive” trip across South East Asia, which will also see him visit Malaysia and Cambodia. Though […]

Several prisons in France have been hit by a wave of overnight attacks, according to the country’s authorities. Vehicles were set on fire in prison car parks, and one prison entrance was targeted with gunfire from an automatic weapon. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said prisons had faced “intimidation attempts” and linked the attacks to the […]

At a workshop in Kabul where carpets are made, hundreds of women and girls work in a cramped space, the air thick and stifling. Among them is 19-year-old Salehe Hassani. “We girls no longer have the chance to study,” she says with a faltering smile. “The circumstances have taken that from us, so we turned […]

“She left no last words. She was dead when she was carried away,” says Hafiza quietly, as she describes how her mother was killed in a city under siege in Darfur, during Sudan’s civil war, which began exactly two years ago. The 21-year-old recorded how her family’s life was turned upside down by her mother’s […]

The Trump administration has said it is freezing more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in federal funds for Harvard University, hours after the elite college rejected a list of demands from the White House. The White House sent a list of demands to Harvard last week which it said were designed to fight antisemitism on campus. They […]

The governor of Nigeria’s Borno state has warned that jihadist group Boko Haram is making a comeback after its fighters staged a series of attacks and seized control of some parts of the north-eastern state. Babagana Zulum called for more military assistance for soldiers fighting the insurgency. The Nigerian government has downplayed the governor’s fears, […]

Little more than 19 months after the bloodless coup that brought an end to more than five decades of rule by the Bongo family, the people of Gabon are about to head to the polls to choose a new head of state – bucking a trend that has seen military leaders elsewhere in Africa cling […]

Nigerian police have withdrawn a summons issued to one of the country’s most respected traditional leaders after it was widely condemned. The emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, is engaged in a tussle for the crown with his cousin Aminu Ado Bayero, who is said to enjoy the support of the national government. Prior to the […]

Torrential rains and floods have killed at least 33 people in Kinshasa – the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo – according to officials. “The republic will not abandon you,” President Félix Tshisekedi promised victims on Monday, saying he had called a government crisis meeting. Desperate residents are trying to flee the floodwaters by […]