Seychelles is set for a presidential election run-off after no candidate secured an outright majority. Opposition leader Patrick Herminie won 48.8% of the vote, while incumbent President Wavel Ramkalawan received 46.4%, the electoral commission announced. According to the electoral rules, a candidate must obtain more than 50% of the vote to be declared the winner, […]

Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina dissolved his government on Monday following days of deadly unrest which the United Nations says left at least 22 people dead. “I have decided to terminate the functions of the Prime Minister and the government,” Rajoelina said in a televised national address. He said that Prime Minister Christian Ntsay and other […]

British pharmaceutical giant GSK on Monday said longtime chief executive Emma Walmsley will be replaced by its chief commercial officer in January, as the company navigates US tariffs on the sector. Luke Miels will take over on January 1 from Walmsley, who will have been at the helm for almost nine years, GSK said in […]

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a case related to millions of euros of illicit funds from the late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi. The Paris criminal court acquitted him of charges of passive corruption and illegal campaign financing. The […]

The Japan International Cooperation Agency has cancelled its ‘JICA Africa Hometown’ initiative, citing “misunderstandings and confusion” over the programme. JICA announced the withdrawal in a statement on its website on Thursday, weeks after reports claimed Japan would create a special visa category for Nigerians who wished to relocate to Kisarazu, a city designated as “hometown” […]

Systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent in criminal justice systems around the world is pervasive and deeply entrenched, a group of UN experts said Wednesday. The UN International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement published a new report that identifies 12 key elements needed for criminal […]

Paris has suspended counter-terrorism cooperation with Mali and ordered two Malian diplomats to leave after the arrest of a French envoy in Bamako, a French diplomatic source told AFP on Friday. Authorities in the West African nation said last month that a French national had been arrested on suspicion of working for Paris’s intelligence services, […]

French protesters were on Thursday staging a day of nationwide protests and strikes in a show of anger over President Emmanuel Macron’s austerity policies, causing widespread disruption. Public transport stalled, schools closed down and tens of thousands of people took to the streets for demonstrations marked by sporadic clashes with the police. Prime Minister Sebastien […]

Britain on Thursday returned the first migrant to France under a new “one-in, one-out” deal, both governments confirmed, as London bids to curb highly contentious cross-Channel small boat arrivals. “A man who arrived in the UK by small boat in August was removed on a commercial flight this morning,” the UK interior ministry said. The […]