NEWS ANALYSIS

Miami, United States | AFP |  Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde claimed on Wednesday that Philippe Coutinho is set to stay at Camp Nou despite strong interest in the unsettled Brazilian from the Premier League. The latest status update came after Croatian Ivan Rakitic score a 79th-minute winner to see off Napoli …

Mindouli, Congo | AFP |  “The trains are running again. We have peace,” says Didier, the station master at Mindouli, in the Republic of Congo’s southern region of Pool. But a glance at the weeds growing on the line connecting the capital Brazzaville and the port city of Pointe-Noire shows that …

Toronto, Canada | AFP |  Serena Williams looked solid in her first match since losing the Wimbledon final, defeating 20th-ranked Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday at the WTA Toronto tournament. The 37-year-old American, one crown shy of a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title, advanced in 75 minutes …

Kosice, Slovakia | AFP |  As day breaks through smudged tram windows, Slovak workers heading to the U.S. Steel Kosice plant mull their fate after hearing the company plans to sack a fifth of them. Some stare silently at the morning haze behind the chimneys of the sprawling communist-era factory. With …

Niamey, Niger | AFP |  In the desert landscape of southeastern Niger, a radical Islamist insurgency has claimed hundreds of lives, fractured families and ravaged communities, fearful of the next Boko Haram attack. Strategically located in the Lake Chad basin in the middle of the Sahel, the Diffa region’s borders are …

 London, United Kingdom | AFP | Manchester City have Premier League immortality in their sights as they start their title defence this weekend, but Liverpool’s burning desire to get their hands on the trophy will fuel a heavyweight battle for supremacy. In the blue corner, treble winners City are at the …

Washington, United States | AFP |  There might be life on the Moon after all: thousands of virtually indestructible creatures that can withstand extreme radiation, sizzling heat, the coldest temperatures of the universe, and decades without food. These terrifying-sounding beings aren’t aliens but instead microscopic Earthlings known as tardigrades, who likely …

Maputo, Mozambique | AFP |  Mozambique’s government and the ex-rebel group Renamo completed a long-awaited peace pact on Tuesday, inking a final deal aimed at ending years of conflict. President Filipe Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade embraced after signing the landmark agreement at a ceremony in Maputo’s Peace Square …

Chongqing, China | AFP |  Children run around a small indoor pitch in southwest China, laughing, zigzagging between cones and tossing around a rugby ball — then one kid tears up when another fails to pass to him. “Pass it on, get up and stop crying,” coach Zhang Shuangyi instructs, with …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Veteran Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir ruled the northeast African country for three decades with an iron fist. Now Sudan is turning the page, ushering in a new era of civilian rule. A constitutional declaration, signed on Sunday between the ruling generals and the leaders of an …