Reuters

By Mahamat Ramadane and Idrissa Sangare

N'DJAMENA/BAMAKO (Reuters) - In Chad's scorching capital N'Djamena, housewife Sylvie Belrangar turned the handle of a tap but nothing trickled out as water shortages and extreme temperatures sweep parts of West and North-Central Africa's Sahel region.    "The president promised water and electricity. But since then, we've seen nothing," she said last week, surrounded by withered plants in her parched... (continue reading...)

By Mahamat Ramadane and Portia Crowe

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad will hold presidential elections on Monday, making it the first in a string of coup-hit states across Central and West Africa to use the ballot box to try to emerge from years of military rule.

Opposition groups have already cried foul. The candidate widely expected to win is Mahamat Idriss Deby - the man who seized power the day rebels shot and killed his long-ruling... (continue reading...)

DAKAR (Reuters) - Chad will on Monday become the first of West and Central Africa's junta-ruled countries to hold a vote since a wave of coups swept over the region.

Opposition groups have raised objections and called for boycotts, saying the first-round presidential poll will be rigged. The interim government has said the ballot will return the country to constitutional rule.

Below are details of the three main candidates.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is "most likely" to cut interest rates just three times this year as stronger-than-expected economic growth supports inflation, ECB policymaker Yannis Stournaras said in an interview with a Greek media outlet.

The ECB has all but promised to start lowering borrowing costs from their current, record highs in June but the path further ahead has become more uncertain in recent weeks.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Leaders of a militia in Ethiopia's Amhara region accused the administration in neighbouring Tigray of "beating a war drum" over plans to return hundreds of thousands of Tigrayans to territories Amhara fighters captured during a civil war.

The future of the disputed territories in northern Ethiopia has remained a flashpoint between Tigray and Amhara since the end of a 2020-2022 civil war, in which Amhara militiamen fought alongside... (continue reading...)