Business

West African leaders are holding a crucial summit in Nigeria's capital Abuja, focusing on the morale-sapping departure of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger from their 15-member bloc Ecowas.

Few think the military rulers of the three dissident states can be persuaded to pause or reverse their decision.

While faced with this blow to regional unity, West Africa is also poised to start work on a 1,028km (689 miles) highway from Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan - through Ghana, Togo and Benin - to Nigeria's biggest city Lagos.

A lawyer for rapper Jay-Z has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him, along with Sean "Diddy" Combs, of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000, after inconsistencies emerged in her allegation.

An Alabama woman, named in the legal action by the pseudonym Jane Doe, has accused the musicians of drugging and attacking her at a house party following the MTV Video Music Awards.

ABC News has agreed to pay $15m (£12m) to US President-elect Donald Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit after its star anchor falsely said he had been found "liable for rape".

George Stephanopoulos made the statements repeatedly during an interview on 10 March this year while challenging a congresswoman about her support for Trump.

A jury in a civil case last year determined Trump was liable for "sexual abuse", which has a specific definition under New York law.

At least four people were injured after a tornado struck northern California on Saturday afternoon, according to local authorities.

The twister flipped over several cars and brought down power lines in Scotts Valley, located around 55 miles (89km) south of San Francisco, police said.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said the tornado was categorised as an EF1, one of the weakest classifications, and that it lasted around five minutes.

Five people have died in shootings in northern France, including near a migrant camp, and a 22-year-old man has turned himself in to police, according to French media.

Four people - including two security guards and two men staying in the camp - were fatally shot in Loon-Plage, a stretch of coastline near Dunkirk, the city's chief prosecutor Charlotte Huet said in a statement, as reported by French media.

The gunman also confessed to an earlier shooting in the nearby town of Wormhout, the prosecutor added.

Warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual abuse

It was November 2011, and Gisèle Pelicot was sleeping too much.

She spent most of her weekends in a slumber. She was annoyed, because during the week she worked hard as a supply chain manager, and her time off was precious.

Yet she could not seem to stay awake, often drifting off without even realising it and waking hours later with no memory of having gone to bed.