In Niger’s capital, environmental activist Abdel Aziz Mounkaila wants to see Niamey put on a "green" path which would include getting more trees planted and using more sustainable construction methods.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.

Relations between India and China took a nosedive after deadly border clashes in June 2020. The Chinese foreign minister's visit marks the first high-level trip by a Chinese official in nearly two years.

After Shanghai recently reported a new daily record for asymptomatic coronavirus infections, the city is locking down in two stages. It's the biggest step taken in the Chinese metropolis since the Covid-19 pandemic began more than two years ago. But some residents are complaining that the cost of China's strict aggressive zero-Covid strategy has become too great. We take a closer look.

Armed men kidnapped the MSF employees on Feb. 24 from the group's base in Cameroon's Far North region in Fotokol, which is near Nigeria and Chad. Those kidnapped and subsequently released include a Senegalese, Chadian and Franco-Ivorian along with their two Cameroon security guards.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said urgent action is needed to combat hunger amid rising food prices and the devastating impact of climate change in Niger and other areas of the troubled Sahel region.

Beating expectations, Chinese economy grows 4.8% in first quarter of 2022. Over the first three months of the year, China's economy expanded at an annual rate of nearly 5 percent when compared to the same stretch last year. But as Covid-19 lockdowns roll on, the country's annual growth target looks hard to reach.

Lawmakers in Niger have given the green light to a bill that will pave the way for more foreign troops to deploy on its territory to help fight jihadist insurgents.

Mining companies in South Africa have resorted to trucking coal to ports to meet a surge in European demand since the war in Ukraine started, bypassing the deteriorating rail infrastructure they blame for billions of dollars in lost revenue.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, on trial for corruption, says the pontiff gave his blessing for payment to a UK security firm to facilitate the release of a Colombian nun being held by an al-Qaeda affiliate in Mali.

Germany is set to draw down its EU deployment in Mali and increase its UN deployment. France is withdrawing from Mali amid friction with the military junta there.

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that a Chinese intelligence ship was not in Australia's territorial waters but its presence off the northwestern coast was "concerning."