West Africa

Nearly 20 million people are starving in West Africa and the Sahel region as the vast area is torn apart by conflict and the coronavirus pandemic, experts warned on Thursday. The situation could worsen between June and August, with as many as 27 million people needing immediate food aid, or almost one in ten people in 14 countries, experts say. In Nigeria alone, 12.8 million people could face a food crisis "or worse" this summer, according to the Food Crisis Prevention Network, which includes…

The Ivory Coast's ruling party and the main opposition both claimed victory on Sunday in the West African nation's legislative elections, with the official results yet to be announced. "We have achieved our goal of securing about 60 percent of the seats," said Adama Bictogo, number two in the ruling RHDP party. Early trends from local election commissions "clearly show that our party will win by a comfortable majority," he added. Earlier on Sunday, the center-right of the opposition party, the Ivory…