APRNEWS - Malians will head to the polls on Sunday to vote in a presidential election that observers say will test the stability of the country.

As ethnic tensions and clashes continue across the country, especially in the North, there are doubts the elections will be held in some parts, but the West African country has a long history of relatively peaceful elections.

APRNEWS - Considering that the opposition in DR Congo has agreed in principle to field a joint candidate, former vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba said he believed he would be the best candidate in December’s presidential election but that he was open to supporting another candidate.

APRNEWS - Syrian relief workers and the United Nations began distributing humanitarian assistance provided by France to the battered region of Eastern Ghouta on Thursday, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent announced.

APRNEWS - International oil company, Total of France, Tuesday announced a partnership agreement with Indian based Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) aimed at improving its refinery performance, by building an innovative center in the country.

APRNEWS - In Côte d’Ivoire, the local subsidiary of French group Société Générale, launches a new Price Fluctuation Coverage Product designed for cocoa producers.

APRNEWS - Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have agreed to continue their “useful contacts” and may meet by year’s end, a Kremlin aide said Tuesday, as tensions rise in Washington over the direction of the US leader’s Russia policy.

APRNEWS - DR Congo on Tuesday officially declared the end of an outbreak of Ebola, bringing the curtain down on a 10-week re-emergence of the disease which claimed 33 lives.

APRNEWS - Suspected Boko Haram militants killed 18 farmers and kidnapped nine women in western Chad, authorities said, part of a wave of violence that has spread from neighbouring Nigeria across the region.

Gov. Mahamat Saleh told Reuters that the attackers came into the village of Mayerom in Lake Chad region after dark on Thursday and slit the farmers’ throats.

APRNEWS - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki have been awarded medals by the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates.

According to Mohamed Bin Zayed, the Order of Zayed – UAE’s highest award, was conferred on both leaders “in recognition of their work for peace between the two nations.”

APRNEWS - A total of fifteen lawmakers on the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have officially defected to the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The move which comes ahead of general elections in 2019 means that the APC is currently the minority in the Senate – the country’s upper chamber of parliament.