Alessandra Prentice

The worsening conflict in eastern Congo has led to a surge in human rights violations including summary executions, the bombing of displacement camps, reports of gang rape and other sexual violence, the U.N. rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday.

Democratic Republic of Congo authorities are investigating 12 possible cases of the deadly Ebola virus in its northwest, Africa's main health body said on Thursday, though first tests had come up negative.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who in late January captured Goma, the biggest city in eastern Congo, have since been advancing around one of Africa's great lakes, Lake Kivu, towards the second-biggest city in the area, Bukavu.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has replaced the chief of staff of the armed forces and dozens of other senior military figures in one of the biggest shake-ups of its kind in recent years, state television said on Thursday.

Global warming made the seasonal downpours this year about 5-20% more intense.

Burkina Faso plans to withdraw mining permits from some foreign companies and will seek to produce more of its own gold, junta leader Ibrahim Traore said on Saturday, without specifying which permits could be cancelled.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. state development fund, has extended a $480-million five-year grant to Sierra Leone to provide reliable and affordable electricity to 4.6 million people, the fund said.

Unidentified armed men killed two police officers on patrol in northeastern Benin near the border with Niger on Sunday, a local official said on Monday.

Africa faces an increasingly heavy toll from climate change with many countries having to spend up to 9% of their budgets battling climate extremes, a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report said on Monday.

Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe has retained Victoire Sidemeho Tomegah-Dogbe as prime minister and a government will be formed in the coming days in line with a new constitution, the presidency said on Thursday.