Realpolitik wins elections in the DR Congo

In northern Kenya, the ribs of dead sheep and donkeys stretch towards the blazing sun as parched herders trudge past, a day's march from water. The value of their skinny goats is falling as fast as the prices scrawled on the sacks in the market are shooting up. "Goats are unsellable, cows are even worse to sell and our children are starving," Moses Loloju, an Isiolo herder who volunteered to help distribute food donations from the county government. More than 465,000 children under five and over 93,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are malnourished in the northern region, the U.N. says.

As the world marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we examine the rising rates of breast cancer in Nigeria, Uganda and Malawi. Lifesaving information is often scarce and many patients lack access to adequate treatment.

Pro-military protesters in Sudan want the civilian government gone and military leaders to take over. But critics of the rallies say they are far from organic and have been orchestrated by security forces and backers of the former regime. Meanwhile in Ethiopia, state media confirms that the military launched air strikes on Tigray's capital Mekele after almost a year of deadly conflict.

According to the World Health Organization, access to healthcare in Chad is still at an embryonic stage. The country has limited data on cancer and no department dedicated to its care, meaning those who are diagnosed are often referred to hospitals abroad. But Jean-Bosco Ndihokubwayo, the WHO's representative to Chad, is optimistic about the country's political will to fight cancer, as authorities plans to build a national treatment centre.

Three-year-old Saba died from malnutrition in Ethiopia's Amhara last month. Conflict in neighboring Amhara has spread to the region, forcing thousands to flee their homes - carrying with them stories of hunger and brutality.

In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo discusses why he set up a new political movement after his old party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), "lost its identity". Despite previously saying that he wanted to step back from politics, Gbagbo told FRANCE 24 that he hasn't ruled out running in the country's 2025 presidential elections and is firmly against a proposal that would disqualify presidential candidates who are more than 75 years old.

Libya has not managed to emerge from the conflict that preceded dictator Moammar al-Gadhafi's death on October 20, 2011. Parliamentary elections scheduled for December have been postponed.

Separatists accused the government of killing civilians in the strike that Adis Ababa said was targeting arms depots. Amid the turmoil, the UN announced withdrawing half of its staff from the country.

While his neighbors were busy clearing their land, John Ole Saeni decided to maintain part of the natural forest on his rural property. The retired teacher's efforts have created a little oasis for three zebras who would usually migrate to greener pastures.

Emergency crews in Eswatini help people who were injured during pro-democracy protests, in which at least one person died and 80 others were injured. Eswatini security forces used live ammunition to break up a pro-democracy protest by nurses, shooting at least 30 of them, their union says.

Hundreds of school children stormed the Democratic Republic of Congo's parliament on Thursday (October 21) amid a strike by school teachers over unresolved issues related to the roll-out of government's free primary education program. Teachers went on strike at the start of the school year on Oct. 4 over several issues including salaries, bonus pay and retirement age, according to the Congo Teachers Union.

In Perspective, FRANCE 24 looks at the past and present of one pocket of Southern Africa: the country of Angola. Paula Cristina Roque, who spent much of her Covid-19 lockdown penning a new book on Angola called "Governing In The Shadows", joins us from Lisbon to talk about her work.