AU - Africanews

1. Mali urged to pay 'enormous' outstanding debt for regional hydroelectric dam

   The $94 million funding gap has raised the spectre of more electricity outages for the country.

2. Over 100 vultures dead after eating poisoned elephant in South Africa

   Officials say the elephant had been poisoned with agricultural pesticides by poachers.

3. US to cut $50 million health aid to Zambia because of medicine theft

   It said this was due to the government's failure to address the "systematic theft" of donated drugs and medical supplies.

4. Catholics in Ivory Coast happy with election of new Pope Leo XIV

   As Catholicism declines in Europe, it is expanding in the developing world, with the number of faithful growing faster in Africa than anywhere else.

5. United States: with diversity initiatives under threat, Black students stage their own graduation

   At the University of Kentucky, Black students organised their own graduation event after the establishment recently called off celebrations for minority graduates, citing federal and state policy changes.