Brighton / AFP The world’s tallest moving observation tower, the i360, opens to the public on Thursday, a futuristic landmark that has transformed the historic seafront in the English tourist resort of Brighton. A 162-metre (530-foot) high steel tower is ringed by a doughnut-shaped glass observation pod that gently glides up and down. The design is meant to be …

  Sirte / AFP Libyan pro-government forces battled to retake territory in the IS group stronghold Sirte on Wednesday, but faced fierce resistance from extremist snipers and mines. Fighters allied to Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), supported by US air strikes, are trying to retake the coastal city — hometown of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi — from IS …

  Kano / AFP Boko Haram’s elusive leader Abubakar Shekau broke his silence on Thursday to insist he was “still around” following reports IS had replaced him, but his message fuelled talk of a split within the extremist group. For months, speculation has been rife over the fate of Shekau, who has led the Nigeria-based rebel group since 2009 but …