The UN rights office welcomed Friday the release of six opposition members detained since last month's coup in Guinea-Bissau but insisted all arbitrary detentions in the west African country must end.

Democratic Republic of Congo coach Sébastian Desabre vowed that his palyers would not hide from the challenge of taking on Senegal in Saturday's Group D clash at the Africa Cup of Nations.

French police on Friday arrested a man suspected of stabbing three women in the Paris metro as the capital's end-of-year festivities were in full swing, prosecutors told AFP.

Nigeria head coach Eric Chelle and his Tunisia counterpart, Sami Trabelsi, played down Nigeria's failure to reach next year's World Cup as a potentially decisive factor in the Africa Cup of Nations clash between the sides on Saturday night in Fez.

Many young Africans who have studied in Europe are turning the dream of returning home to build a career or start a business into a reality. RFI spoke to Pierre Djemis, who organises forums in Abidjan and Paris to connect these repatriates with new opportunities, and with each other.

Following the reelection of President Alassane Ouattara on 25 October, Côte d'Ivoire is heading back to the polls – this time to elect the 255 members of the National Assembly.

Somalia and the African Union reacted angrily Friday after Israel became the first country to formally recognise the northern region of Somaliland as an independent state.

It's starting to get slapstick in the exchanges between the Nigeria boss Eric Chelle and the country's hacks. He's trying to escape the past. And they really won't let him.

Montpellier football club led the tributes on Friday to their former player and coach Jean-Louis Gasset who died on Friday. He was 72.

The exhibition "Textile Matters" at the Mobilier National arts and crafts institution in Paris tells the story of how the textile histories of India and France are interwoven. This 400-year cultural exchange has influenced fashion, interiors and weaving traditions in both countries. RFI spoke to Mayank Mansingh Kaul, a textile designer based in Delhi and co-curator of the exhibition alongside designer Christian Louboutin.

Several families in Senegal say that a number of young people from the north of the country have been held captive in Ghana for several weeks. Lured by the prospect of work visas for Canada, they allegedly fell into the hands of a criminal network. RFI spoke to one of them.

Presidential candidates in Guinea, including military ruler General Mamady Doumbouya, have held their final political rallies ahead of Sunday's elections. Key opposition challengers have been barred.

Forcibly recruited into a rebel militia affiliated with the Islamic State group, two boys revealed the "torment" of living in its camps as members committed massacres in the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeast.

Morocco coach Walid Regragui urged his players to step up their game during Friday night's Group A clash against Mali at the Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat.

The United States has carried out "powerful and deadly" strikes against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria's government, President Donald Trump and the US military said, claiming the group had been targeting Christians in the region.

Russia says it has made a proposal to France regarding Laurent Vinatier, a French researcher jailed for violating Russia’s foreign agent laws and who faces charges of espionage that carry a possible 20-year prison sentence.

During his first Christmas Mass, in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn, spiritual service, Pope Leo focused on the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza and more generally on the devastation caused by war across the globe.

France has called Algeria’s adoption of a law declaring French colonisation a “state crime” a “hostile act", warning that it undermines efforts to restore dialogue amid an ongoing diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

Belgium has become the latest country to join a case brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice that accuses Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

More than 10,000 security personnel have been deployed in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, ahead of Thursday's local elections – the first direct polls in nearly 60 years.

Cheers went around the stadium in Rabat every time the image of Zinedine Zidane flashed up on the big screen. And why not? Zidane, whose parents went to France from Algeria, is an international treasure. And he was watching his boy play football. Nice touch.

Cote d'Ivoire beat Mozambique 1-0 on Wednesday night in Marrakesh to launch the defence of their Africa Cup of Nations title.

Algeria's parliament is set to vote on Wednesday on a law declaring France's colonisation of the country a 'state crime' and demanding an apology and reparations.

Cote d'Ivoire head coach Emerse Faé urged his players to maintain their focus as they begin the defence of their Africa Cup of Nations title on Wednesday night against Mozambique.

France has condemned Washington's decision to bar a former European Commissioner and four other prominent tech monitors from entering the United States as part of an escalating dispute over EU efforts to regulate social media platforms. The US accuses them of working to censor Americans online.