Risk firm: Pirates board Chinese-run ship in Gulf of Guinea
April 11, 2023 GMTDAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Pirates boarded a Chinese-run oil tanker in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea, a risk management company operating in the area told The Associated Press on Tuesday. It was the second such incident in a little more than two weeks.
UN: Many African children at risk from lack of clean water
March 22, 2023 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — In Nigeria's teeming city of Lagos, children in the Makoko area swim and play in filthy water surrounded by garbage.
In Ivory Coast's largest city, Abidjan, thousands of families must fetch water from streams for their daily needs.
Soccer player in Ivory Coast dies after collapsing on field
March 6, 2023 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — A soccer player in Ivory Coast has died after collapsing on the field during a league game.
Moustapha Sylla, who was 21, died Sunday as he was being rushed to the hospital, the Ivory Coast soccer federation said.
Guinea, Ivory Coast repatriating citizens from Tunisia
March 2, 2023 GMTCONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — The West African nations of Guinea and Ivory Coast are repatriating citizens who want to leave Tunisia after the country's increasingly authoritarian leader called for a crackdown on migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.
Germany’s Merkel receives UNESCO peace prize in Ivory Coast
February 8, 2023 GMTYAMOUSSOUKRO, Ivory Coast (AP) — Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel received a UNESCO peace prize Wednesday for her decision to welcome more than 1.2 million migrants to Germany despite resistance at home and among European partners.
Haller hat trick for Dortmund after cancer treatment
January 13, 2023 GMTMARBELLA, Spain (AP) — Sébastien Haller scored a hat trick for Borussia Dortmund in a friendly against Basel on Friday in his second game following treatment for testicular cancer.
The Ivory Coast striker converted a penalty in the 81st minute and celebrated with hugs from his teammates.
Freed Ivorian soldiers return home after six months
January 8, 2023 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Forty six Ivorian soldiers returned home to cheers and celebrations after being detained for six months in Mali.
Waving flags, the beaming soldiers saluted Ivorian officials as they descended the military plane in the capital, Abidjan, on Saturday evening.
49 Ivory Coast soldiers pardoned by Mali’s junta leader
January 6, 2023 GMTBAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali's military junta leader on Friday pardoned 49 soldiers from neighboring Ivory Coast who were convicted of undermining Mali's state security and conspiracy against the government, authorities announced.
14 killed as 2 busses crash in Ivory Coast, dozens hurt
January 5, 2023 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — A bus carrying mourners to a funeral collided with another bus on the outskirts of Ivory Coast's capital city Thursday, killing at least 14 people and wounding dozens, emergency responders said.
11 convicted over deadly extremist attack in Ivory Coast
December 28, 2022 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Eleven people were sentenced to life in prison in Ivory Coast on Wednesday after being convicted of carrying out an Islamic extremist attack that killed 19 people and injured dozens more on a tourist beach nearly seven years ago.
Glencore agrees to pay Congo $180 million over bribery case
December 5, 2022 GMTBAAR, Switzerland (AP) — Commodities company Glencore said Monday that it has reached an agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo to pay $180 million over bribery allegations spanning from 2007 to 2018.
4 appear in court over terror attack at Ivory Coast beach
November 30, 2022 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Four of the defendants arrested in connection with a 2016 Islamic extremist attack that killed 19 people on an Ivory Coast tourist beach appeared in court Wednesday to face murder and terrorism charges.
Ble Goude returns to Ivory Coast after 11 years in exile
November 26, 2022 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Former Youth Minister Charles Ble Goude, who was acquitted of crimes at the International Criminal Court, returned home Saturday to Ivory Coast after more than a decade of exile.
Ivory Coast to withdraw peacekeepers from Mali after arrests
November 15, 2022 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast will be gradually withdrawing its military contingent from the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali after failing to secure the release of 46 Ivorian soldiers who have been accused of being mercenaries.
Cocoa farmers fear climate change lowering crop production
November 13, 2022 GMTKOREAGUI, Ivory Coast (AP) — For more than 40 years, Jean Baptiste Saleyo has farmed cocoa on several acres of his family's land in Ivory Coast, a West African nation that produces almost half the world's supply of the raw ingredient used in chocolate bars.
UK orders Glencore to pay millions over African oil bribes
November 3, 2022 GMTLONDON (AP) — A British court on Thursday ordered commodities company Glencore to pay more than 280 million pounds ($313 million) for using bribes to bolster its oil profits in five African countries.
Flights disrupted as French air traffic controllers walk out
September 16, 2022 GMTPARIS (AP) — Many domestic and some international flights were canceled in France Friday as air traffic controllers went on a national strike over pay and recruitment issues.
French civil aviation authority DGAC warned that domestic traffic would be “severely disrupted” with many flights canceled and other experiencing long delays.
Mali releases 3 Ivorian soldiers; 46 others still detained
September 3, 2022 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Three female Ivorian soldiers arrived home late Saturday after being detained for nearly two months in Mali, while 46 others remain jailed in a case that has heightened tensions between the West African neighbors.
Mali charges 49 Ivory Coast soldiers detained since July
August 15, 2022 GMTBAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A Mali prosecutor says the 49 Ivory Coast soldiers held in Mali since July on accusations of being mercenaries have now been charged with undermining state security.
Mali’s prosecutor in the counterterrorism unit gave the update on the soldiers’ situation.
Mali’s government asking UN mission spokesman to leave
July 20, 2022 GMTRABAT, Morocco (AP) — Mali’s government has given the United Nations mission in Mali spokesman 72 hours to leave the country following a standoff between the West African country and Ivory Coast over the detention of 49 soldiers who came to Mali to support a security group contracted by the U.N.
Ivory Coast president meets with ex-leaders
July 14, 2022 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara met with his predecessors on Thursday in a rare meeting of adversaries in an effort to ease the national socio-political climate ahead of elections in 2025.
Ivory Coast calls on Mali to immediately release 49 soldiers
July 12, 2022 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast officials called on Mali to immediately release 49 of its soldiers who were arrested Sunday at the international airport in Bamako, refuting accusations they were mercenaries.
Burkina Faso’s ex-leader Compaore returns for crisis meeting
July 7, 2022 GMTOUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso's former President Blaise Compaore returned to the West African country Thursday, the first time since being ousted in a popular uprising eight years ago.
African Cup put back to 2024, CAF to launch Super League
July 4, 2022 GMTCAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The next African Cup of Nations will again clash with the European season and likely give rise to more club vs. country friction and disgruntlement over the release of players after organizers decided to postpone it until January 2024.
Barcelona strengthens squad by adding Kessie, Christensen
July 4, 2022 GMTBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona boosted its midfield and defense by signing Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen on Monday.
The 25-year-old Kessie, who had been playing for AC Milan since 2017, arrives as a free agent on a contract until June 2026 and a buyout clause of 500 million euros ($522 million).
African Cup put back until early 2024 to avoid washout fears
July 3, 2022 GMTRABAT, Morocco (AP) — The next African Cup tournament will take place in early 2024 to avoid any potential washout during host nation Ivory Coast’s rainy season.
The executive committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) decided to switch the tournament, which was due to be played June-July 2023, to January and February of 2024.
International Criminal Court marks 20th anniversary
July 1, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court marked the 20th anniversary of its establishment Friday as its prosecutors probed war crimes in countries around the world, including what one expert called a “make or break” investigation in Ukraine.
FIFA bans player for 18 months for same substance as Valieva
June 13, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — FIFA banned Ivory Coast goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo for 18 months on Monday in a doping case involving the same substance that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
Sao Tome and Principe thrown out of African Cup qualifying
May 16, 2022 GMTCAIRO (AP) — Sao Tome and Principe was thrown out of the African Cup of Nations qualifying tournament on Monday for breaching COVID-19 protocols in a preliminary tie against Mauritius in March.
Sao Tome and Principe fielded a player in the two-leg tie who hadn't submitted to a compulsory pre-match COVID-19 test or provided proof of a recent test, the Confederation of African Football said.
Climate change to make droughts longer, more common, says UN
May 11, 2022 GMTThe frequency and duration of droughts will continue to increase due to human-caused climate change, with water scarcity already affecting billions of people across the world, the United Nations warned in a report Wednesday.
Salah’s Egypt draws Keita’s Guinea in African Cup qualifying
April 19, 2022 GMTCAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Mohamed Salah is set to face Liverpool teammate Naby Keita in qualifying for next year's African Cup of Nations after Egypt was drawn in the same group as Guinea on Tuesday.
Burkina Faso tribunal sentences ex-leader Compaore to life
April 6, 2022 GMTOUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — A Burkina Faso military tribunal has sentenced ex-President Blaise Compaore to life imprisonment for complicity in the murder of his predecessor Thomas Sankara in 1987 and for undermining state security.
From butcher shop to France team, Clauss’ change of destiny
March 31, 2022 GMTThere couldn't be a better moment for Jonathan Clauss to return to the club which once thought he was not ready for the roughness of the game.
It has been a long road, but the 29-year-old Lens right back ultimately made it to the top level, getting a first taste of international soccer with France’s national team over the past few days.
Saliba gets 1st call to France squad to replace Pavard
March 21, 2022 GMTPARIS (AP) — Marseille defender William Saliba has been called up to France’s national team for upcoming friendly matches as a replacement for Benjamin Pavard, the French soccer federation said Monday.
Clauss, Nkunku receive 1st call-ups for French national team
March 17, 2022 GMTPARIS (AP) — Lens defender Jonathan Clauss and Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku received their first call-ups to France's national team on Thursday.
Clauss and Nkunku were included in France coach Didier Deschamps' 23-man list of players for upcoming friendly matches.
West trains Africa forces as coastal nations fret attacks
February 22, 2022 GMTJACQUEVILLE, Ivory Coast (AP) — While patrolling a mock village to train in fighting extremists, a Ghanaian soldier wondered how he would cope if one day the drill became real. The 24-year-old special forces officer, who has never experienced war, is part of a select group of African soldiers being trained by Western armies to combat surging jihadi violence across the Sahel, a vast expanse below the Sahara desert, that is now spreading south into coastal states.
Burkina Faso junta leader inaugurated as nation’s president
February 16, 2022 GMTJAQUEVILLE, Ivory Coast (AP) — Burkina Faso’s junta leader Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba has been sworn in as president Wednesday, less than a month after mutinous soldiers seized control of the West African country in a coup.
ICC rejects compensation for freed Ivory Coast politician
February 10, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — International Criminal Court judges on Thursday rejected a senior Ivory Coast politician's claim for compensation after he was acquitted of involvement in deadly violence following elections in 2010.
Egypt, Eq. Guinea win shootouts to make African Cup quarters
January 26, 2022 GMTDOUALA, Cameroon (AP) — Mohamed Salah buried the decisive penalty as Egypt beat Ivory Coast 5-4 in a shootout to reach the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations on Wednesday.
Equatorial Guinea followed suit to beat Mali 6-5 on penalties, but in a far more chaotic shootout.
African Cup: Defending champ Algeria out, Comoros advances
January 20, 2022 GMTDOUALA, Cameroon (AP) — Defending champion Algeria was dumped out of the African Cup of Nations in the group stage on Thursday with a 3-1 loss to an Ivory Coast team that was rampant at times and announced itself as a contender for the title in Cameroon.
Further EPL disruption sees Burnley-Watford postponed again
January 17, 2022 GMTLONDON (AP) — Burnley's English Premier League match against Watford has been postponed for a second time, leaving the last-placed team having played five fewer games than some others.
It was a coronavirus outbreak in the Watford squad that led to the game being called off initially in December.
Algeria stunned as African Cup throws up surprises all over
January 16, 2022 GMTDOUALA, Cameroon (AP) — Defending champion Algeria lost 1-0 to Equatorial Guinea on Sunday in one of the biggest-ever upsets at the African Cup of Nations, with a defender who was playing in the fifth tier in Spain last year scoring the goal that beat Riyad Mahrez and his superstar teammates.
Ivory Coast goalkeeper to miss African Cup with doping ban
January 11, 2022 GMTZURICH (AP) — Ivory Coast will be without goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo for the African Cup of Nations after he was provisionally suspended by FIFA for doping.
The governing body of soccer confirmed Gbohouo’s suspension on Tuesday, a day before Ivory Coast plays its opening game of the tournament against Equatorial Guinea.
Former England defender cleared to play for Sierra Leone
December 17, 2021 GMTZURICH (AP) — Former England defender Steven Caulker has switched eligibility to represent Sierra Leone, FIFA said Friday.
Caulker, who has a grandparent from Sierra Leone, can now be selected for the African Cup of Nations.
Algeria, Nigeria, Cameroon in WC playoffs, Ivory Coast out
November 17, 2021 GMTCAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Algeria, Cameroon, Nigeria and Tunisia took their last chances and qualified for the World Cup playoffs in Africa on Tuesday, but Ivory Coast didn’t seize the day and is the continent’s biggest team so far to miss out on next year’s tournament in Qatar.
Nigeria a point from playoffs in World Cup qualifying
November 13, 2021 GMTCAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Nigeria moved a point away from Africa's final World Cup playoffs as a pair of penalties saw off Liberia 2-0 on Saturday, while a crunch game between Ivory Coast and Cameroon will decide which one goes through out of their group.
AP PHOTOS: Sufi religious order finally able to gather again
October 24, 2021 GMTRABAT, Morocco (AP) — Followers of a Sufi religious order convened on a Moroccan village near the city of Nador for the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad in the first such gathering since the pandemic.
Ivory Coast’s ex-leader Gbagbo vows return to political life
October 17, 2021 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo told supporters Sunday that he'll be involved in politics until his dying day, detailing his ambitions publicly for the first time since being acquitted of war crimes charges.
Laurent Gbagbo launches new political party in Ivory Coast
October 16, 2021 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo launched a new political party Saturday, formally breaking ties with those who ran his former party while he spent years facing war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court.
UN told failure to deal with diversity is root cause of wars
October 13, 2021 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — One by one, South Africa’s former president listed African countries Tuesday where the failure to deal with diversity was a root cause of conflict, from the Biafran war in Nigeria in the late 1960s to the current clashes in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
Burkina Faso starts trial on killing of ex-leader Sankara
October 11, 2021 GMTOUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — A military court in Burkina Faso on Monday started the trial of 14 people including former President Blaise Compaore for the killing of influential leftist leader Thomas Sankara, who was ousted as president by Compaore in a 1987 coup.
Algeria, Egypt back to winning in World Cup qualifying
October 8, 2021 GMTCAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Riyad Mahrez scored twice as African champion Algeria romped to a 6-1 win over Niger to return to winning ways in World Cup qualifying on Friday.
Egypt took top spot in its group from Libya by edging their encounter 1-0.
Tunisia tops Ivory Coast 78-75 to repeat as AfroBasket champ
September 5, 2021 GMTKIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Former Dallas Mavericks center Salah Mejri scored 22 points to help Tunisia repeat as African basketball champion in a 78-75 victory over Ivory Coast on Sunday.
The veteran squad included former UCLA star Michael Roll, a naturalized citizen who had 18 points and nine assists as Tunisia won its third AfroBasket tournament in the past 10 years.
Tunisia, Ivory Coast win to advance to AfroBasket final
September 4, 2021 GMTKIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Naturalized citizen Matt Costello had 17 points and 12 rebounds to help Ivory Coast beat Senegal 75-65 to advance to the final of the African basketball championship against defending champion Tunisia on Saturday.
Iheanacho gives Nigeria winning start in WC qualifying
September 3, 2021 GMTCAPE TOWN. South Africa (AP) — Kelechi Iheanacho's two goals gave Nigeria a winning start Friday in its bid to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.
Nigeria beat Liberia 2-0 thanks to Iheanacho's first-half double, and fellow former African champions Tunisia, Cameroon and Ghana also won on a day the heavyweights avoided any major upsets.
Tall task: Cape Verde aims high in AfroBasket semifinals
September 3, 2021 GMTTiny Cape Verde has one big advantage as it tries to become African basketball champion for the first time: 7-foot-3 former NBA draft pick Walter “Edy” Tavares.
The Real Madrid center has led his squad into the AfroBasket semifinals to face defending champion Tunisia on Saturday, when Senegal squares off with Ivory Coast in the other final-four game in host city Kigali, Rwanda.
WHO says new test shows Ivory Coast did not have Ebola case
September 1, 2021 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — New tests show that Ivory Coast did not have its first case of Ebola in more than 25 years after all, the World Health Organization said, reversing course after the reported case last month prompted thousands of vaccines to be deployed.
52 feared dead, 1 survivor, on migrant boat going to Spain
August 20, 2021 GMTLISBON, Portugal (AP) — A woman who was the only person pulled from a sinking dinghy in the Atlantic Ocean told her rescuers that the boat had left Africa a week earlier carrying 53 migrants, Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said Friday.
Ebola case reported in Ivory Coast after Guinea outbreak
August 15, 2021 GMTABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — A patient has tested positive for Ebola in Abidjan, a city of more than 4 million people, marking the first case of the disease in Ivory Coast in more than a quarter century, the World Health Organization said.
International court drops Simone Gbagbo arrest warrant
July 30, 2021 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court has withdrawn its arrest warrant for the wife of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo following her husband's acquittal on charges of involvement in deadly violence that erupted following his country's disputed 2010 presidential election.