WORLD

Britain had issued a warning to its former defence staff not to train Chinese People's Liberation Army pilots at a South African flying academy where Duggan had also worked.

Beijing seeks to depict itself as a neutral party to the conflict, neither condemning nor explicitly supporting the Russian offensive.

A large crowd gathered around the open sides of the makeshift courtroom in the eastern Congolese village of Kamanyola in early March to watch the culmination of a trial of 15 military officers for the rape of minors.

"We have had the opportunity to take stock of the state of our bilateral cooperation and to identify new areas of cooperation," President Ramaphosa said.

"For us, the text in the agreement is clear and it calls for a 120-day rollover," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told Reuters when asked about remarks by Turkey.

At her weekly press briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Moscow regularly heard accusations like these.

Russia, in turn, told Washington to keep well away from its air space and said the encounter showed that the U.S. was directly participating in the Ukraine war, something the West has taken pains to avoid.

Ousmane Sonko is being tried for allegedly defaming a minister, a case that could determine whether he will be eligible to run in presidential elections in February next year.

The special forces aim to defend the nearby village of Grygorivka in the Donetsk region, about 10 kilometres (six miles) northwest of Bakhmut, which is coming under heavy Russian shelling.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $150 million in new humanitarian aid for Africa's Sahel region during a visit on Thursday to Niger, a country Washington views as an important ally in the fight against Islamist insurgencies.

"We believe this next generation of AI will unlock a new wave of productivity growth," Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chief executive, said in an online presentation.

Rescuers were unearthing more bodies as the chances of finding survivors faded after the cyclone followed a highly unusual course by returning to lash southern Africa's mainland a second time.

Ousmane Sonko is being tried for allegedly defaming a minister, a case that could determine whether he will be eligible to run in presidential elections next February.

He is expected to announce more US support to Niger, one of the world's poorest countries, which returned to stability in 2011 after a history of coups.

China refused to take any position in the Russian-Ukraine war but noted that the territorial integrity of all countries should be upheld.

The West African troops silently pulled their small boats up to a rust-stained ferry and swarmed up its sides on grappling hooks to disarm the mock kidnappers onboard.

France and Russia have long been wrestling for influence in CAR, a country wracked by poverty and plagued by a nearly decade-long civil conflict.

One state in particular is set to stand out: Lagos, the buzzing coastal home of some 20 million people and economic nerve centre of the country and region.

The US on Tuesday accused Russia of forcing down one of its Reaper surveillance drones over the Black Sea through a collision with a Russian Sukhoi-27 war plane.

Washington's top general said the crash of a U.S. surveillance drone after being intercepted by Russian jets showed Moscow's increasingly aggressive behaviour, while Russia warned Washington that flying drones near Crimea risked escalation.

The report said they were members of the Boko Haram jihadist group, who were fleeing their hideout in Sambisa forest in northeast Nigeria.

Weather conditions were expected to improve as the storm dissipated over land after days of torrential rains, but flood levels remained high in some areas hampering emergency efforts.

Blinken said he hoped to restore cooperation "with the goal of strengthening the relationship" with Ethiopia, home of the African Union, amid a push by President Joe Biden to deepen relations with Africa.

He will then head to the West African nation of Niger on Thursday, which has been confronting a growing Islamist insurgency.

Relations between Russia and the U.S. have become more hostile since Moscow invaded Ukraine over a year ago, and Washington and its allies oppose Russian influence in West Africa.

The district around the commercial hub of Blantyre was among the hardest-hit. Severe flooding and rain damaged roads and bridges, hampering relief operations.

The demonstrations are the latest expression of growing tensions in Senegal in the run-up to a 2024 election that could see President Macky Sall vie for a controversial third term, which the opposition says is unconstitutional.

Blinken's trip to Africa's second most populous nation comes as part of a push by President Joe Biden's administration to step up engagement with Africa, where China and Russia have been stepping up influence.

Russia, a key arms exporter to Africa, is also making forays into the continent including through mining projects granted to the Wagner private paramilitary group, he said.