Africa Cup of Nations runners-up Burkina Faso won away for the second time in seven days Saturday to keep alive hopes of a first World Cup appearance. A 38th-minute goal from Aristide Bance gave the 'Stallions' a 1-0 triumph in Pointe Noire over Congo Brazzaville, who have seen a six-point Group E lead at the start of June shrink to just a single point.

Police in Niger said Wednesday they repelled an attack by armed men against a paramilitary barracks in the capital Niamey and suffered no casualties. "Everything is fine. We repelled them, there are no wounded and no deaths," a police officer told AFP at the scene of Tuesday night's violence. Another security source said the attackers managed to flee. Residents of the Koira-Tegui neighbourhood, which adjoins the sprawling camp in the north of the capital, said around an hour of sustained fire could be heard in the area Tuesday night.

Gunfire broke out at a paramilitary barracks in the Niger capital Niamey late Tuesday, residents said, with the source of the shooting unclear. "The shooting began around 21:30 (2030 GMT). It scared everyone," one local resident told AFP, in a comment confirmed by others. Sporadic gunfire could be heard an hour later, and then the sounds of shooting stopped. Military and government officials could not be reached for comment and it was not immediately possible to say whether the gunfire was linked to a spate of recent Islamist attacks in the country.

Togo's long-delayed legislative polls will be held on July 21, the government announced Friday, as the deadline for registering candidates was pushed back following signs that the opposition is planning a boycott. The small west African nation has been ruled by the same family for more than four decades and has in recent months seen waves of protests by an opposition and civil society coalition demanding sweeping political reforms. Officials had previously indicated that the vote would be held in July, but a specific date had not been fixed.