MONIKA PRONCZUK

Ballots for presidential candidates are placed on a table inside a polling station, in Liberville, Gabon, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Betines Makosso)
Majority of polls close in Gabon’s first presidential election since a military coup in 2023
Most polls have closed in the oil-rich Gabon following a presidential election that the country’s military rulers hoped would legitimize their grip on power.
 
Women and children eat Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025 in a Goma, eastern Congo school where they found shelter after their soldier husbands and fathers were sent to Rumangabo for mixing and integration into the M23 rebel forces. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)
Thousands of children have been raped and sexually abused in eastern Congo, UNICEF says
Thousands of children have been subjected to rape and sexual violence in the conflict-battered eastern Congo over the course of two months, the U.N. children’s agency said Friday, warning that existing funding gaps meant that hundreds of thousands were deprived of protection.
 
Former members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and police officers who allegedly surrendered to M23 rebels arrive in Goma, Congo, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, file)
Rwanda-backed rebels push into a mineral-rich town in Congo despite ceasefire calls
Rwanda-backed rebels battling Congo’s army have pushed into a strategic, mineral-rich town in the east, ignoring calls for a ceasefire this week by the Congolese and Rwandan presidents as the M23 rebel group expands its footprint in the conflict-torn African country.
 
Aminata Doumbia, president of the women's group, sits next to a pit on farmland that was leased with help from USAID but has not yet been cultivated because the funding has ceased in Kimbirila-Nord, Ivory Coast, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Ivory Coast is losing US aid as al-Qaida and other extremist groups are approaching
The Trump administration’s sweeping cuts in foreign aid have impacted programs in northern Ivory Coast to counter the spread of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The U.S. had committed $20 million to programs in dozens of villages.
 
Burkina Faso junta leader Ibrahim Traore participates in a ceremony in Ouagadougou, Oct. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Kilaye Bationo, File)
Video of Burkina Faso massacre appears to implicate government-allied militia, watchdog says
Human Rights Watch says video footage circulating on social networks of a recent civilian massacre in Burkina Faso appears to implicate government-allied militia.
 
M23 rebels enter the centre of east Congo's second-largest city, Bukavu, and take control of the South Kivu province administrative office, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Janvier Barhahiga, file)
Congo and M23 rebel group will hold peace talks on Tuesday, mediator Angola says
Angola says the government of Congo and the M23 rebel group will participate in peace talks next week.
 
Somali internally-displaced persons (IDP) children look out from family's makeshift homes in Maslah camp on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
USAID cuts are already hitting countries around the world. Here are 20 projects that have closed
Countries around the world already are feeling the impact of the Trump administration’s decision to eliminate more than 90% of foreign aid contracts and cut some $60 billion in funding.
 
In this video frame grab, people assist victims after two explosions hit a meeting of M23 rebel group leaders and residents in Bukavu, eastern Congo, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Janvier Barhahiga)
At least 11 dead and scores injured in Congo after blasts at M23 rebel leaders’ rally, rebels say
At least 11 people have been killed and scores injured in the eastern Congo city of Bukavu where explosions struck a rally held by leaders of the M23 rebel group that took control of the city earlier this month.
 
Zawadi Sifa, right, 35, mother of seven, who has been fleeing fighting from camp to camp, carries water in her latest displaced camp in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2025.(AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
A family fleeing violence in eastern Congo sees little hope as rebels grab more land
Thousands of families have been displaced by violence in eastern Congo, where Rwanda-backed rebels last month seized the key city of Goma in a blitz offensive in the mineral-rich region.
 
At least 10 soldiers in Niger are killed in an ambush, the army says
Niger’s ruling junta says that armed assailants in western Niger killed at least 10 soldiers in an ambush on a military unit that had been sent to hunt cattle rustlers in a border region near Burkina Faso.
 
Medics treat a man wounded during fighting between Congolese government troops and M23 rebel forces in Goma's Kyeshero hospital Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Rwanda-backed rebels have seized another town in eastern Congo
Officials and residents say Rwanda-backed rebels have gained ground in eastern Congo despite the unilateral ceasefire they declared earlier this week, taking control of a town 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the provincial capital of Bukavu.
 
Residents walk by charred vehicles in Goma, Democratic republic of the Congo, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Congo says 773 dead in weeklong fighting as military tries to repel Rwanda-backed rebels
Authorities say at least 773 people were killed in the eastern Congo’s largest city of Goma city and its vicinity this week amid fighting with Rwanda-backed rebels.
 
FILE- French journalist Olivier Dubois arrives at the VIP lounge at the airport in Niamey, Niger, on March 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Judith Besnard, File)
A French journalist recounts 711 days of captivity as a hostage of Islamic extremists in Mali
Olivier Dubois, a French journalist, was kidnapped by JNIM, a branch of al-Qaida in Africa’s Sahel region, while on his way to interview one of the group’s leaders in northern Mali.
 
Government soldiers and police officers who surrendered to M23 rebels, center, run to board trucks to an undisclosed location in Goma, Democratic republic of the Congo, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Rwanda’s evolving stature ensures muted global pressure as M23 advances in eastern Congo
In 2012, when M23 rebels appeared poised to seize control of a major city in eastern Congo, western countries suspended aid to put pressure on Rwanda to withdraw its support.
 
People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
‘No safe place to go to from Goma’ for millions as humanitarian crisis looms in eastern Congo city
Bodies are lying on the streets. Medical staff in overwhelmed hospitals are treating hundreds of wounded civilians against the backdrop of gunfire and mortar fire.
 
People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels claim major Congolese city, which Congo calls a ‘declaration of war’
Rwanda-backed rebels claim they have captured eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, as the United Nations describe a “mass panic” among its 2 million people and Congo’s government say the rebel advance was a “declaration of war.”
 
People protest in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, against the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels' advances into eastern Congos capital Goma.(AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)
What is happening in eastern Congo, where rebels captured a key city?
Rwanda-backed rebels have captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped.
 
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his speech to French ambassadors posted around the world, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, Pool)
Senegal and Chad say ousting of French troops was their sovereign decision
Senegalese and Chadian leaders say the ousting of French troops from their territories was their sovereign decision, rejecting remarks from French President Emmanuel Macron that suggested otherwise.
 
Internally displaced people wait for aid in Djibo, Burkina Faso, May 26, 2022, when violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group began surging and spreading across the West African nation. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
They fled from extremists. Now the government in Burkina Faso tries to hide their existence
Their loved ones were slaughtered by extremists or government-affiliated fighters. Their villages were attacked, their homes destroyed. Exhausted and traumatized, they fled in search of safety, food and shelter.
 
French soldiers secure the area where a suicide bomber attacked, at the entrance of Gao, northern Mali, Feb.10, 2013. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
France’s military is being ousted from more African countries. Here’s why
It’s been a tumultuous month for France and its relationship with former colonies in Africa, as its influence on the continent faces the biggest challenge in decades.
 
A view of the Panzi general Hospital, in southwestern Congo, Thursday, Nov 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lucien Lufutu, File)
Congo man dies with hemorrhagic fever, indicating mystery outbreak could be more than just malaria
A man in western Congo has died with hemorrhagic fever symptoms. Health authorities say that has led them to suspect that a still-unidentified virus may be involved alongside malaria in a mysterious outbreak that has killed dozens of people.
 
Supporters of opposition candidate and former President John Dramani Mahama celebrate his victory after his opponent conceded in Accra, Ghana, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Ghana’s ex-leader is declared the presidential election winner and pledges ‘reset’ in a bad economy
Ghana’s former leader John Dramani Mahama has been declared the winner of the presidential election.
 
Election officials count the ballots after polls closed in the general elections in Accra, Ghana, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Polls close in Ghana’s general election in the shadow of the worst economic crisis in a generation
Voting has officially closed in most polling centres throughout Ghana, bringing to an end the presidential and legislative elections poised to be a litmus test for democracy in a region shaken by extremist violence and coups.
 
A supporter of presidential candidate and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia waves a flag during the final rally of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), in Accra, Ghana, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, ahead of the presidential election. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Ghanaians go to the polls with the backdrop of the worst economic crisis in a generation
Voters in the west African nation of Ghana willl cast their ballots in a general election poised to be a litmus test for democracy in a region shaken by extremist violence and coups.
 
Congo's Health Minister Roger Kamba speaks, during a press conference, in Congo, Kinshasa, Thursday, Nov 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)
Congo government says it’s ‘on alert’ over mystery flu-like disease that killed dozens
Congo’s health minister says the government is on alert over a mystery flu-like disease that in recent weeks killed dozens of people.
 
Jeweller Moussa Diop works on a bronze hippopotamus in his workshop, as part of the rebondir exhibition at the Dakar 2024 biennial Off in Dakar, Senegal, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui)
Senegalese artisans in the spotlight as they exhibit for the first time at a prestigious art event
For the artistic and cultural elites of the West African nation of Senegal, the monthlong Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Arts is a celebratory moment.
 
FILE -France's President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Secretary General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie Louise Mushikiwabo, center, welcome Chad's President General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno for the 19th Francophonie summit in Villers-Cotterets, France, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
Chad ends a defense cooperation agreement with France, its former colonial ruler
Chad’s government says it is ending a defense cooperation agreement with France, its former colonial ruler, to redefine the nation’s sovereignty.
 
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a statement as part of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu's two-day state visit to France, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP)
For the first time, France’s Macron calls 1944 killings of West African troops by French a massacre
France’s President Emmanuel Macron has for the first time recognized the killing of West African soldiers by the French Army in 1944 as a massacre. The recognition came Thursday in a letter addressed to Senegalese authorities.
 
A man collects voting cards, that are set on a table, before casting his vote for legislative elections at a polling station in Dakar, Senegal Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)
Senegal’s ruling party secures majority in parliament, paving the way for ambitious reforms
Senegal’s ruling party has secured a resounding victory in the country’s legislative elections, winning 130 of 165 seats, according to provisional results announced Thursday by the national vote counting commission.
 
CORRECTS SURNAME TO YALIKE-NGONZO - Whistleblower Ephrem Yalike-Ngonzo, who was recruited by Kremlin-backed Wagner forces to spread Russian propaganda in Central African Republic, sorts through CAR newspapers during a visit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nov. 2, 2022. (Forbidden Stories via AP)
A former staffer exposes how Russia’s disinformation machine worked in Central African Republic
When Ephrem Yalike-Ngonzo was first approached in 2019 by a Russian who suggested he help promote the activities of the Central African Republic’s army and Russian forces in the country, the journalist believed that he was doing the right thing.
 
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