A man entered a public washroom and found this

Rwandan architect Christian Benimana wants Africans to have a bigger say in how the continent’s cities and buildings take shape, starting from local conditions instead of what outsiders expect. He made the point around the first Pan-African Biennale of Architecture, which ran in Nairobi from 7 to 11 September 2026. Architects from across Africa met there to talk about taking back authorship of the built environment. Benimana says African architecture should answer to its own communities, climate, materials and needs, and not be squeezed into one imported idea of what “African architecture” is supposed to look like.

The United States has sent The Gambia about $2.5 million raised from the sale of a mansion in Maryland tied to former president Yahya Jammeh. The money is meant to compensate people harmed during his 22 years in power, under The Gambia’s 2023 Victims Reparations Act. US officials seized the house and sold it after inquiries into corruption and money laundering. Jammeh, who ran the country from 1994 to 2017, is accused of widespread abuse. The returned sum is being held up as an example of countries working together to deal with that kind of corruption.

A 2,000-year-old Egyptian mummy has been found with its natural hair still in place.

President Donald Trump greeted Chinese president Xi Jinping in Washington with a formal red-carpet welcome. The two countries agreed to keep their trade-war pause going. Xi stressed partnership rather than rivalry and said Chinese and American national aims could help the rest of the world. The United States has also put 12.5 percent tariffs on goods from major African exporters, citing worries about forced labour.

Tanzanian singer Nandy has been fined TSh 3 million, about $1,100, for an outfit she wore while performing at the Miss Universe Tanzania 2026 final in Dar es Salaam. The National Arts Council, BASATA, said the costume was indecent and broke rules meant to protect the dignity of the audience. BASATA said Nandy accepted that she had broken the rules, took the performance video off her social media and paid the penalty. She can keep working as a musician and artist, but will stay under the council’s watch. The organisers of Miss Universe Tanzania were also fined TSh 3 million over the same episode.

North Korea seems to have tested an improved hypersonic weapon that can fly extremely fast and change course, which would make it far harder for missile defences to follow and shoot down. Analysts told AFP the system is meant to hit important military sites on the Korean Peninsula in a very short time. One expert said that if it were put into service it would be “extremely difficult to defend against.” South Korea picked up two missiles in the test, covering about 450 and 600 kilometres. This weapon is thought to be short-range, but nuclear-armed North Korea also has much longer-range missiles built to strike far beyond the peninsula. Leader Kim Jong Un said the new technology would give his enemies an “incurable headache.”

A 68-year-old retired mechanic from Savannah, Georgia, says he bought a $40 drill set on AliExpress and was sent a printed picture of the drill instead. He also said a pressure washer order turned up as a single screw. The odd deliveries spread online. People were struck by how far they were from what he had paid for. The man, Franklin, said he had asked AliExpress for his money back but had not had a refund when the story appeared. It is also a prompt to look closely at seller scores, reviews, product details and buyer-protection rules before buying things that seem unusually cheap on the internet.

Speaking at the 81st UN General Assembly in New York, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asked for changes to the Security Council, repeating that “the world is bigger than five.” He said it was neither fair nor enough to build global trust if the choices of more than 190 countries rest on five permanent members.

Cuban and Iranian teams left the hall while US president Donald Trump was speaking at the 81st UN General Assembly in New York. Trump defended American military action against Iran and said it should be cut off economically. He also called Cuba “an absolutely failed state,” after which the Cuban delegation walked out.

French president Emmanuel Macron used what he presented as his last speech as France’s leader at the UN General Assembly to ask countries to back the United Nations against what he described as a returning “law of the jungle.” He also called for a pause in attacks on civilian and energy sites in Ukraine, for open-source artificial intelligence, and for steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Uganda’s chief of defence forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has said he should now be known as Muhoozi Kainerugaba Museveni. It is still not clear whether the new name has been officially recorded. He has also said he will run for president in 2031, hoping to follow his father, President Yoweri Museveni.

President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party has taken more than 58 percent of the vote in Russia’s parliamentary elections, enough to be on track for more than three quarters of the seats in the State Duma. The three-day poll was widely criticised for shutting out real opposition, reports said.

Sudan’s army has gained ground in Blue Nile state after fighting the Rapid Support Forces and their ally, the SPLM-N. Local officials said troops took several places in Kurmuk locality and captured military vehicles and an ammunition store.

The United States lifted sanctions on Eritrea on 18 September 2026, dropping measures brought in over the Tigray war. Watchers say the decision may be tied to Eritrea’s position on the Red Sea, as Washington looks for more influence while fighting and security problems in the Middle East drag on.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has written back to students from 10 American universities who travelled to China on youth exchanges. He said he was glad they had a good visit and welcomed their interest in Chinese culture and their backing for closer friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Chinese president Xi Jinping will make a state visit to the United States from 23 to 25 September at the invitation of US president Donald Trump, China’s foreign ministry said on Monday.

Mali is under growing strain over security and supplies. A fuel blockade has shown how fragile the routes into Bamako are. Armed and separatist groups have stepped up attacks in the north. On 10 September JNIM hit an army camp in Dioura, in central Mali, underlining the pressure on government troops.