South Sudan leaders agree on unified army

President Salva Kiir and former vice president turned rebel-leader Riek Machar have announced that the sticking points preventing the formation of a government of national unity have been resolved. Should South Sudanese people be hopeful? We ask Senior Analyst of International Crisis Group, Alan Boswell.

Former president of the Central African Republic François Bozizé has reportedly returned to the country to run as a candidate in the upcoming elections. This is despite existing UN sanctions and a travel ban against him. But in a nation where competing factions are still fighting for power, will the presence of the former president reignite ongoing conflict? Focus on Africa asks Louisa Lombard, professor of political anthropology at Yale University in the US.

Apple, Google, Tesla and Microsoft are among firms named in a lawsuit seeking damages over deaths and injuries of child miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The International Rights Advocates have filed the case on behalf of 14 Congolese families.

(Photo: South Sudanese President Salva Kiir (L), South Sudan's opposition leader Riek Machar (R) and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (C)"Hemeti", Sudan's deputy head of the Transitional Military Council, hold hands together as they speak to media after their peace talk at the State House in Juba, South Sudan. Credit: MAJAK KUANY/AFP via Getty Images)