Haiti’s former president Michel Martelly is running for office again. He presented his candidacy on Friday for the December 13 elections – the country’s first in 10 years. Earlier this month, Haiti’s electoral council overturned a ban on candidates sanctioned by foreign countries.

An injectable HIV drug could save huge numbers of people from getting infected in Uganda.
But shortages of lenacapavir mean that those who need it the most often can’t get treated with a dose.

Two ‘unauthorised’ supertankers hit naval mines near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy. On Thursday, a ship transiting the strait was hit by an unknown projectile, the UK reported.

A clinical trial for a new Ebola vaccine is getting underway in DR Congo’s Ituri province. The TUMAini trial will evaluate candidate vaccines against the Bundibugyo strain of the virus.

Almost 159 million Brazilians are eligible to vote Sunday in a closely contested presidential runoff between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

In Central African Republic, three hostages released this week after 10 months in captivity arrived in Bangui aboard a special UN flight. A local government official and two members of the National Election Authority, they were kidnapped in Bambouti in December, on the day of the general election.

A high-rise building in Kenya’s capital Nairobi was reduced to rubble on Friday after collapsing while under construction.

Seventy years after Hungary’s 1956 uprising against Soviet rule, Prime Minister Péter Magyar paid tribute to its victims as Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the importance of freedom and democracy.

A sea of purple briefs takes over Johannesburg. Men hit the streets on Friday for the Hollard Daredevil Run, raising awareness about prostate cancer, now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in South Africa.

A new beginning for Julie, Portugal’s last circus elephant, as she settles into life at a wildlife sanctuary in Alentejo, southern Portugal.

Benin has been nominated in four categories at the 2026 Africa Tourism Awards, putting the West African nation in the spotlight for its cultural heritage and tourism appeal.

Experts say deforestation is causing lower water levels on the river, making it muddier and reducing its oxygen content, which makes it more difficult for fish to breed.

Commerce between the two countries reached almost $15 billion from May through to August, representing a nearly 24 per cent year-on-year increase.

Outside the wealthy neighbourhoods, anger at lack of services like water or electricity has led many to say they won’t be voting.

A multi-storey building under construction has collapsed in Nairobi, leaving a vast pile of rubble. Red Cross workers have arrived at the scene, where excavators are being used among the debris.

One person was killed and four others were seriously wounded when gunshots were fired from a vehicle in a Parisian suburb on Friday, French authorities said.

Pix of the Day, 23rd October, 2026 – Across the world

Some 70,000 law enforcement officers will be deployed across France on Saturday while the Louvre and several other major Paris museums will be closed as authorities seek to prevent renewed violence during planned protests.

Huge waves, uprooted trees and damaged boats mark Storm Austen’s arrival in France and the UK. Gusts of up to 160 km/h have battered Brittany, while fallen branches have blocked roads in southern England.

Talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States are planned to resume in November in the United Arab Emirates, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

Several people are feared trapped after a multi-storey building under construction collapsed in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, on Friday, October 23.

Wooden boards are going up across France as shopkeepers brace for possible unrest. With a National Rally congress in Orléans and protests approaching in Lyon, businesses fear damage and disruption.

Coral Hart – a pseudonym she uses to protect her real name – has published more than 370 books in just 20 months using AI.

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton welcomed Formula 1’s plan to return to Africa, saying he’ll extend his career until he can race on the continent.

Footage captures the moment an Israeli strike hits a building in Gaza’s Nuseirat camp. No deaths were reported, but images show a wounded person.

Passengers arriving at Lagos airport queue for temperature checks as Nigeria steps up health screening protocols for international arrivals. The country confirmed its first case of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola earlier this week in a woman returning from Uganda.

It says amid strengthening El Niño conditions, familes already struggling with repeated displacement, have little left to fall back on.

Hundreds of Ethiopians crossed into Kenya on Thursday as gunfire and chaotic scenes were reported in the border town of Moyale, police said.

Muhammad Ali Pate urged the public to ‘remain calm’ described the case as a single contained infection.

Heated exchanges and chaotic scenes gripped Albania’s parliament in Tirana on Thursday as rival MPs clashed inside, while student demonstrators continued their protests outside for a tenth day.

Towering waves crashed against Taiwan’s coastline as Typhoon Champi swept past the island on Friday, leaving one person dead, 94 injured and hundreds of flights cancelled.

A court in Abidjan has postponed a hearing on the election of Tidjane Thiam as president of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast.

The leader of Ethiopia’s rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front says the northern state is still at war. In a message aired on Tigrayan television on Wednesday, Debretsion Gebremichael said the TPLF is continuing to fight federal forces in the region and will “remain a graveyard for its enemies.”

The World Health Organization’s Africa chief warned that the continent is facing a “complex” Ebola outbreak, after the first case of the virus was reported in Nigeria.

A powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Baqen County in Nagqu, in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, at 10.33 pm on Thursday 22 October, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

They are among six refugee athletes taking part in Youth Olympic Games which get underway in Dakar on 31 October.

It said the weather system was a ‘wrecking ball’ that would bring havoc to Latin America, eastern and southern Africa, Asia, and the Pacific.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Thursday said all options must be explored to find a political solution between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

The two were kidnapped in separate incidents in Niger, where they were involved in education and development initiatives, more than a year and a half ago.

Tourists flocked to the Abu Simbel temple in Egypt on Thursday to witness a rare astronomical ceremony that has been taking place for thousands of years.