Latest West Africa News

A thermal camera monitor shows the body temperature of passengers arriving from overseas at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020. Heightened precautions were being taken in China and elsewhere Tuesday as governments strove to control the outbreak of a novel coronavirus that threatens to grow during the Lunar New Year travel rush. (Suh Myung-geon/Yonhap via AP)

Countries around world gear up response to new coronavirus

Jan. 21, 2020 8:13 AM EST

BEIJING (AP) — Countries in Asia and elsewhere have begun body temperature checks at airports, railway stations and along highways in hopes of catching people carrying a new coronavirus that is believed to have spread from Wuhan in central China and sickened more than 290 people in that country. The recent...

Suicide bombing in western Chad kills at least 9

Jan. 20, 2020 4:03 PM EST

N'DJAMENA, Chad (AP) — A suicide bombing has killed at least nine people in western Chad, a local official and a resident said Monday. A woman set off explosives in a crowd in Kaiga-Kindjiria, a town that has been attacked by Boko Haram insurgents in the past, according to Dimoya Souapelbe, the prefect...

Britain's Prince Harry and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, at the UK Africa Investment Summit in London, Monday Jan. 20, 2020. Boris Johnson is hosting 54 African heads of state or government in London. The move comes as the U.K. prepares for post-Brexit dealings with the world. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP)

UK looks to fast-growing Africa for trade ties after Brexit

Jan. 20, 2020 10:39 AM EST

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince Harry touted the U.K. as an ideal business partner for Africa on Monday as their country prepares for post-Brexit dealings with the world. But Britain faces tough challenges as it seeks to assert itself on a continent with several of the...

In this Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019 photo, newly constructed buildings stand on Bhasan Char, or floating island, in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. The island in Bangladesh that was regularly submerged during monsoon seasons is ready to house 100,000 Rohingya refugees, but no date has been announced to begin relocating people from crowded and squalid camps on the country's border with Myanmar, officials said Thursday. The island is built to accommodate 100,000 people, just a fraction of the million Rohingya Muslims who have fled waves of violent persecution in their native Myanmar. (AP Photo/Saleh Noman) “Bhasan Char is ready for habitation. Everything has been put in place,” Bangladesh refugee, relief and repatriation commissioner Mahbub Alam Talukder told The Associated Press.

Bangladesh says once-submerged island ready for Rohingya

Jan. 17, 2020 12:06 AM EST

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A Bangladeshi island regularly submerged by monsoon rains is ready to house 100,000 Rohingya refugees, but no date has been announced to relocate people from the crowded and squalid camps where they've lived for years, officials said Thursday. Flood protection embankments, houses,...

UN: Global economic growth in 2019 was lowest of the decade

Jan. 16, 2020 7:37 PM EST

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The global economy recorded its lowest growth of the decade in 2019, falling to 2.3% as a result of protracted trade disputes and a slowdown in domestic investment, the United Nations said Thursday. The U.N.'s annual report, the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2020, forecast a...

US charges Malian in al-Qaida hotel attack in Burkina Faso

Jan. 16, 2020 4:25 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors announced murder charges Thursday against a Malian man accused of playing a central role in two 2016 terror attacks in West Africa, including an al-Qaida shooting in Burkina Faso that killed an American missionary and 29 other people. Mimi Baba scouted attack locations...

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019, residents of the Malawi village of Tomali wait to have their young children become test subjects for the world's first vaccine against malaria. Babies in three African nations are getting the first and only vaccine for malaria in a pilot program. World health officials want to see how well the vaccine works in Malawi, Ghana and Kenya before recommending its wider use.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

1st malaria vaccine tried out in babies in 3 African nations

Jan. 16, 2020 10:02 AM EST

TOMALI, Malawi (AP) — A pinch in the leg, a squeal and a trickle of tears. One baby after another in Malawi is getting the first and only vaccine against malaria, one of history's deadliest and most stubborn of diseases. The southern African nation is rolling out the shots in an unusual pilot program along...

US calls for smaller UN force in Mali, Russia says no change

Jan. 15, 2020 10:49 PM EST

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States called Wednesday for a reduction in the more than 16,000-strong peacekeeping force in Mali and a new focus on protecting civilians because parties to a 2015 peace deal have made little progress in implementing it, but Russia said it doesn’t want any changes...

In this Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020 photo, driver Giniel De Villers, of South Africa, and co-driver Alex Haro, of Spain, race their Toyota during stage seven of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Wadi Al Dawasir, Saudi Arabia. Formerly known as the Paris-Dakar Rally, the race was created by Thierry Sabine after he got lost in the Libyan desert in 1977. Until 2008, the rallies raced across Africa, but threats in Mauritania led organizers to cancel that year's event and move it to South America. It has now shifted to Saudi Arabia. The race started on Jan. 5 with 560 drivers and co-drivers, some on motorbikes, others in cars or in trucks. Only 41 are taking part in the Original category. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

AP Photos: Navigating the desert in the Dakar Rally

Jan. 15, 2020 11:02 AM EST

Spanish motorcyclist Sara Garcia searches for a tool inside a red metallic box during one of the world's toughest races, gazing at pictures and support messages from family and friends. Garcia and her Yamaha are taking part in the Dakar Rally, an annual event being covered by The Associated Press. "I'm tired,"...

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2019, file photo, Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi waits to address judges of the International Court of Justice on the second day of three days of hearings in The Hague, Netherlands. There was a time when Suu Kyi was the hero of the human rights set, whose nonviolent struggle against her country's military dictatorship was admired by people around the world and won her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Now she is seen by many of her admirers as an apologist for war crimes against its Muslim Rohingya minority. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

UN court to rule next week in Rohingya genocide case

Jan. 15, 2020 10:17 AM EST

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations' top court announced Wednesday that it will issue a decision next week on a request to order Myanmar to halt what has been cast as a genocidal campaign against the southeast Asian country's Rohingya Muslim minority. The West African nation of Gambia, on...

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