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A New York jury on Friday found that French banking giant BNP Paribas’ work in Sudan helped to prop up the regime of former ruler Omar al-Bashir, making it liable for atrocities that took place under the regime. The eight-member jury sided with three plaintiffs originally from Sudan, awarding a total of $20.75 million in damages, after hearing testimony describing horrors committed by Sudanese soldiers and the Janjaweed militia. Story by Florent Marchais.

In Gabes, in the South of Tunisia, residents have been suffering from deadly pollution for decades, caused by the byproducts of the Tunisian Chemical Group’s local factory. Protests took place on October 11 and 12, 2025 following the serious poisoning of 69 more people, who choked on sulfur and ammonium fumes coming from the nearby factory. There were already nearly 100 similar poisoning cases in September 2025. Locals and environmental activists are expecting strong government action.

Kenyan President William Ruto has announced seven days of national mourning and a state funeral for opposition leader Raila Odinga, who died Wednesday following a cardiac arrest while receiving medical treatment abroad. Odinga had been at the centre of Kenyan politics for decades, making alliances with rivals and inspiring loyalty from his base.

🇲🇬 An elite Madagascar military unit, CAPSAT, said Tuesday it had taken power of the Indian Ocean nation after the national assembly voted to impeach President Andry Rajoelina following weeks of anti-government protests.

🪖 CAPSAT commander Colonel Michael Randrianirina read out a statement at the presidential palace suspending the constitution and saying the unit would set up a governing committee composed of officers from the army, gendarmerie and national police.

🎉 After the announcement, officers from the unit rolled through the capital as crowds lined the pavements, cheering and waving as they passed. Some followed the convoy in their own cars, honking their horns in a victory lap through a city still on edge.

Colonel Michael Randrianirina, a senior officer in Madagascar’s elite CAPSAT military unit, took control of the African island nation on Tuesday after President Andry Rajoelina fled following weeks of youth-led protests. The officer, once jailed for mutiny, has suspended key state institutions and said it could take up to two years to hold elections.

Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a key figure in African politics, has died of a heart attack in India, the Devamatha Hospital in India’s Kerala State confirmed on October 15, 2025. He was 80. FRANCE 24’s Emily Boyle looks back on the life of a man whose activism helped steer Kenya away from single-party rule and towards a multiparty democracy.

Madagascar is experiencing its fifth political crisis since the island gained independence from France in 1960. President Andry Rajoelina fled the country on Monday after weeks of protest led by social media group Gen Z Madagascar, creating a power vacuum that has allowed the military to claim power – a situation that feels like déjà vu.

Can we really draw a link between Nepal and Madagascar? Bangladesh and Peru? Indonesia and Morocco? Why are waves of defiance sweeping nations that are oceans apart? That defiance now bears a name: Gen Z protests. The generation born after 1997 has had its fill of corrupt elders clinging to power – and their offspring flaunting excess on social media. There too, new hashtags have taken root: nepo babies and nepo kids. The contempt of the ruling classes is as old as French queens quipping, “let them eat cake”. So what is it about the digital age that seems to rub it particularly hard in young people’s faces – or rather, on their screens?

To commemorate International Day of the Girl Child, Erin Ogunkeye welcomes South Sudanese activists Oyella and Agnès Comfort, whose commitment and work with the displaced and survivors of gender-based violence has been crucial. As war, early marriage, and education barriers devastate communities, these activists share with us the harrowing plight of girls in war torn South Sudan and their commitment to the country’s youth. Their call to action is clear: global solidarity must not retreat. Their voices, grounded in persistence, demand that we listen and act.

A long-awaited report on the World War II-era Thiaroye massacre will be submitted to the Senegalese presidency on Thursday, aiming to shed light on the colonial killing of dozens of African troops protesting over pay delays. French officials at the time said 35 people were killed – but historians say the real death toll could be as high as 400.