WORLD

A political commission in Senegal has proposed changing the electoral law so that two opposition figures who were struck from the voter roll could run in the February 2024 presidential election as a measure to ease conflict.

Making coffee for a soldier outside a shopping centre in eastern Ukraine, 24-year-old Nina said she gets news on the war with Russia that has rocked her country from social media.

Ukraine is likely to decide early next year whether to try and extend the current freeze on its international bond repayments or begin looking at potentially more complex alternatives, its top debt management chief said.

Kenya's trade minister is at the centre of a firestorm over a series of derogatory remarks against a leading media outlet, including calling its journalists "prostitutes".

After armed men killed nine Chinese nationals at a gold mine in Central African Republic in March, a video circulated on the internet saying France had secretly ordered the attack and planned to discredit Russian mercenary group Wagner in the country.

Ukrainian forces are digging in and attacking on the southern front after having "partial success" in the last day, and are weathering a big Russian assault in the east, a senior defence official said on Wednesday.

The African Union's mission in Somalia said Wednesday it had begun reducing troop numbers in line with plans to eventually hand over security to the troubled country's national army.

Renewed artillery exchanges rocked greater Khartoum early Wednesday as Sudan's warring generals resumed fighting just minutes after the latest US and Saudi-brokered ceasefire expired.

Armed factions in Somalia's semi-autonomous state of Puntland agreed a ceasefire on Wednesday, a local leader said, a day after at least 26 people were killed and 30 injured in clashes over proposed changes to the region's voting system.

Brussels on Tuesday asked EU member states to back a 50-billion-euro ($55 billion) package to support Ukraine over the next four years, as part of a boost to the bloc's budget.

An Indian maker of a paracetamol syrup that Nigerian authorities have found toxic told Reuters on Tuesday that tests by a private Indian laboratory found them of "standard quality", as Indian authorities launch their own investigation.

A Ugandan armed group that killed dozens of school children last week is expanding its operations in Democratic Republic of Congo with funding from Islamic State, a United Nations group of experts said on Tuesday.

More than a week into Ukraine's counter-offensive, Kyiv has reported modest gains, liberating eight settlements in the first cautious steps of a daunting fight back against entrenched Russian positions.

The destruction of the vast Kakhovka hydro-electric dam has caused 1.2 billion euros of damage, Ukraine's environment minister said on Tuesday, warning that mines unearthed by flooding could wash onto other European countries' shores.

At least 36 people died on Tuesday in violence across Somalia that involved heavy fighting in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland and bomb explosions in the country's Lower Shabelle region, witnesses said.

An increasing number of Sudanese civilians fleeing El Geneina, a city in Darfur hit by repeated militia attacks, have been killed or shot at as they tried to escape by foot to Chad since last week, witnesses said.

More than 2.5 million people have been uprooted by Sudan's conflict, the UN said Tuesday, but in the western Darfur region the bodies of those who couldn't escape lie face down in the dirt.

A prison riot in a Honduran women's prison Tuesday has left at least 41 dead in what the government called a gang-led attack in retaliation to its efforts to crack down on corruption in penal facilities.

China hit back on Wednesday after U.S. President Joe Biden referred to President Xi Jinping as a "dictator", saying the remarks were absurd and a provocation, in an unexpected spat immediately following efforts by both sides to lower tensions.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an acceleration of Black Sea grain shipments from Ukrainian ports under a deal allowing safe wartime exports, a U.N.

Leaders and representatives from more than 60 countries are expected in London from Wednesday for a two-day conference to secure funding to help Ukraine recover from the ravages of war.

"Among other things, we called for a de-escalation of fighting and for negotiations to commence with urgency; for the release of prisoners of war and return of children; for greater humanitarian support; and for reconstruction efforts to be prioritized," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recalled.

The UK will back Ukraine's economy to the tune of $3 billion over the next three years while it fights back against Russian forces, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden equated his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping with "dictators" on Tuesday as he addressed a Democratic Party donors reception in the presence of journalists.

The United States on Tuesday pressed its call for military communication channels with China despite that request being rebuffed during Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to Beijing over the weekend.

Tunisians hoping to buy a sheep to slaughter for Islam's Eid al-Adha festival next week are facing much higher prices because of a drought, adding to public anxiety at an economic crisis that looks set to worsen.

The headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics organising committee and those of its infrastructure partner were being searched by police on Tuesday as part of investigations into alleged embezzlement of public funds and favouritism, prosecutors said.

Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin complained on Tuesday that most of his fighters had not yet received medals promised by President Vladimir Putin for their role in the Ukraine war's bloodiest battle, the latest twist in a feud with the top brass.

Chinese imports of Russian oil last month hit their highest level since Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Beijing's customs data showed Tuesday.