Nigeria’s total public debt increases by N6 trillion in 1 year, Pope receives vaccination and more

China has sharply rejected statements made by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in the United States about Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

At least 17 Japanese nationals have been accused of spying under sweeping "espionage" regulations introduced by Beijing in July, leaving companies reluctant to send their staff to China and imperiling local production.

Syrian President Bashar Assad is due to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. China has long provided diplomatic support to Assad's regime, and could play a role in reconstructing war-battered Syria.

Brazil's Supreme Court has struck down an attempt to restrict Indigenous people's access to land. The ruling has been celebrated as a major win for Indigenous rights, setting precedent nationwide.

The foreign minister of Mali told the UN General Assembly that any military intervention in Niger would threaten Mali's security. The juntas in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso signed a mutual defense pact last week.

European governments have a duty to rescue asylum seekers who cross the sea to escape conflict, Pope Francis said in Marseille. He called it "a duty of humanity" to save people in difficulty.

Starting on Saturday September 23, China is hosting the Asian Games, a major multi-sport event held every four years between the Olympics. The 19th edition, postponed from last year, brings together some 12,000 athletes from across the continent, competing in 40 sports over two weeks in the eastern city of Hangzhou. For the first time, e-sports are featured as an official medal sport event, with seven golds on offer. But a lot of attention is also focused on what's happening outside the tracks and arenas. FRANCE 24's Oliver Farry tell us more about the geopolitical aspect of the event.

The UN chief has called it an epidemic of coups. In Africa, since 2020, military officers have seized power, or attempted to do so, in numerous sub-Saharan countries. Just in the last two and a half months, soldiers in Gabon announced a takeover of power, while in Niger, members of the presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum and announced that they were seizing power.

During a speech in France, the Catholic leader urged a humane pan-European response to migration. French President Emmanuel Macron attended the address as his government deliberates a harsher response to asylum-seekers.

In Nigeria, the first West African comic art exhibition is opening eyes, hearts and minds to a new way of looking at heroes.

The French president said military cooperation with the West African nation would end and France's soldiers stationed there would return home by the end of the year.

This week in Across Africa, Georja Calvin-Smith speaks to Namibian President Hage Geingob ahead of his arrival in New York for the UN General Assembly. He shares his perspective on governance, the impact of Africa's first climate change summit and the role of the African Union in responding to regional upheaval.