Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Monday for the deployment of a 4,000-strong “protection force” to bolster the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. “There is absolutely no question that we need to move forward with the deployment of the regional protection force …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Ten years after an international oil-trader dumped 500 tonnes of toxic waste in Ivory Coast, killing 17 people and harming 100,000, the stench remains, though the compensation is unpaid. A decade on, Ivorians “still complain of the smell from the waste when it rains …

  Miami, United States | AFP | Soaring temperatures worldwide made July the Earth’s hottest month in modern times, setting a new high mark for global heat in 137 years of record-keeping, US government scientists said Wednesday. The report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration came just two days …

Montreal, Canada | AFP |  US R&B star Usher and Canadian indie rock groups Metric and Half Moon Run will headline a free concert in Montreal next month aimed at ending AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Advocacy group Global Citizen, the concert sponsor, said the September 17 show would be held …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Boko Haram’s list of victims — dead, displaced or abducted — grows longer by the day. The jihadist group has claimed more than 20,000 deaths, displaced 2.6 million people from their homes, and kidnapped thousands of children since it started fighting in 2009 for an …

Lusaka, Zambia | AFP |    Zambia’s incumbent President Edgar Lungu was on Monday declared the winner of a closely-fought election in the southern African country that the opposition claimed was rigged. Election commission chief Esau Chulu announced that Lungu was “duly elected” after releasing the final results from Thursday’s …

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana smashed one of the longest-held records in athletics here Friday to win the 10,000m and claim the first gold of the Olympic track and field competition. The 24-year-old pulled away from the field midway through the race and never let …

Kampala, Uganda | AFP |  Uganda announced Friday it would not contribute troops to a regional brigade designed to bolster the UN mission in South Sudan, hours before a Security Council vote authorising the deployment. A key ally of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, Uganda’s government said it did not …

  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Michael Phelps swept to a jaw-dropping 22nd Olympic gold Thursday to become one of only three athletes to have won titles in the same individual event at four straight Games. There was a stunning upset in the women’s competition as Australian world …

Kampala, Uganda | AFP |  Ugandan officials raided a prestigious private school Thursday to seize copies of British children’s author Jacqueline Wilson’s “Love Lessons”, as a minister who has led several similar crackdowns threatened to close the establishment. Minister for ethics and integrity Simon Lokodo said the book exposed children …