Benin was voting for a new president on Sunday, with Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni a shoo-in after overseeing a decade of economic growth in the West African country despite jihadist attacks in the north. Nearly eight million voters are eligible to cast ballots to choose a successor to Patrice Talon, who is stepping down after two five-year terms and has endorsed Wadagni as his successor. Turnout will be a crucial factor after a lacklustre campaign hit by voter apathy. “We must vote to ensure...

No Ethiopian, Pakistani, Indian, Brazilian or other serious policymaker believes artificial intelligence will solve corruption or improve governance overnight. National policies such as Digital Ethiopia 2030, Pakistan’s National AI Policy 2025 or other initiatives in Chile, Argentina and Colombia consider AI as a means to enhance service delivery in healthcare, education, agriculture, taxation and disaster management, rather than as institutional reform. These are practical applications....

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that there would be an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight in the White House grounds to mark his 80th birthday on June 14. Trump, a UFC fan, made the announcement on social media. This year marks the 250th anniversary of US independence and the initial plans were for the fight to take place on July 4, US Independence Day. On Saturday, Trump was attending a UFC fight in Miami with several family members and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, when...

In his strongest words yet, Pope Leo on Saturday denounced the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fuelling the US-Israel war on Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace. Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St Peter’s Basilica on the same day the US and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan and as a fragile ceasefire held. History’s first US-born pope did not mention the United States or President Donald Trump in his prayer, which was planned before the...

Still marvelling over their moon mission, the Artemis II astronauts received a thunderous welcome home on Saturday from hundreds who took part in Nasa’s lunar comeback that set a record for deep space travel. The crew of four arrived at Ellington Field near Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre and Mission Control, flying in from San Diego where they splashed down just offshore the evening before. After a quick reunion with their spouses and children, the astronauts took the hangar stage, surrounded by...

The Manhattan ⁠district attorney’s office confirmed ⁠on Saturday that it ⁠is investigating sexual assault allegations against US congressman Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat and a leading candidate for governor of the state. The San Francisco Chronicle on Friday reported ‌that a woman who previously worked in Swalwell’s district office accused him of two nonconsensual sexual encounters, one while she was employed by him in 2019 and another in 2024 after she had left his staff. She told CNN...

A nine-year-old boy has been rescued after living locked in his father’s utility van in eastern France since 2024, according to the local prosecutor. The child has been hospitalised, and his father detained. Police were alerted by a neighbour to the “sounds of a child” coming from a van on Monday in the village of Hagenbach, near the borders with Switzerland and Germany, according to a statement on Saturday from prosecutor Nicolas Heitz. After forcing the van open, officers found the child...