AU - Africanews

1. UN chief calls for ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah

   The UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday said the war in the Middle East, involving both Israel and Hezbollah, had caused immense suffering for the Lebanese people.

2. French FM and UN peacekeeping chief discuss CAR peace initiatives

   France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot arrived in Bangui on Thursday for the first high-level French visit to the Central African Republic in seven years, seeking to rebuild ties with the former colony as it increasingly pivots toward Russia.

3. US-Israel war against Iran: the US base in Djibouti, a potential target?

   Djibouti is home to Camp Lemonnier, the only permanent US military base in Africa. On 10 March, the US embassy in Djibouti issued a security alert “due to ongoing regional tensions.”

4. Karam Hassan: from Sudanese refugee to l'Oréal executive

   Karam Hassan was arrested the moment he returned home. Sudan, December 2013: fresh from his studies in India, he was accused of opposing the government, imprisoned, then forced to inform on his own neighbors. "It became unbearable, unlivable," he says. "I decided to flee."

5. France returns 'talking drum' looted in 1916 in Ivory Coast

   France returned a sacred drum that was taken from the Ivory Coast during colonial rule at a ceremony in Abidjan on Friday, marking the first official restitution of a cultural artefact from France to the West African country.