10th edition of the International Festival of African Fashion in Niger

At the campus of the French Fashion Institute, 27 design students from 13 different countries are gearing up to present their year's work before a highly influential audience. The stakes are high: these students are poised to compete with fellow graduates from the prestigious Central Saint Martins school in London.

The country's ruling junta is stepping up cooperation with Moscow, after expelling French troops last year. Also in the programme, at least three people have been killed in a shootout between militiamen and police in the Ethiopian capital. Among the dead are fighters from a rebel militia known as Fano. Plus, the art of remembering: painters in Rwanda are keeping the memory of genocide victims alive by drawing their inspiration from photographs.

Coups, sanctions, and withdrawal of member states; the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) must either reform or decline, observers warn.