Paris / AFP Written off as finished on more than one occasion, Republicans party presidential candidate Alain Juppe is living proof that in French politics death is often temporary. Juppe, 71, who faced Francois Fillon in Sunday’s rightwing primary runoff, has rebounded from what seemed like hopeless lows to have a shot at the presidency. The first major difficulties came …

  Butig / AFP Troops on Sunday fired artillery at positions held by an extremist faction in the southern Philippines as more soldiers deployed against the group, which staged a deadly bombing in President Rodrigo Duterte’s home city. Troops used 105 mm artillery to blast the positions of the Maute group in the nearly deserted town of Butig in the …

  Banjul / AFP As The Gambia sees a surge in support for the opposition ahead of presidential polls days away, a spate of arrests in the run-up has shown the cost of dissent. President Yahya Jammeh seized power in a 1994 coup and has targeted opponents and several of his own ministers, while surviving multiple attempts to remove him from …