Burkina Faso’s junta says its intelligence and security services have foiled a coup attempt

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Burkina Faso’s military government said Wednesday its intelligence and security services had thwarted a coup attempt and were actively pursuing others believed involved in what it called a bid to “throw our country into chaos.” A junta statement said the...

France's withdrawal from Niger could jeopardize counterterrorism operations in the Sahel

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The French troops withdrawing from Niger were seen as a key line of defense for about a decade in Western efforts against jihadi violence in Africa's Sahel region, the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert. As the U.S. keeps pushing for a diplomatic...

US suspends aid to Gabon after military takeover

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Tuesday suspended most non-humanitarian aid to Gabon after a military takeover in the country last month that was at least the second this year in an African nation. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a “pause in certain...

Mali's military government postpones a presidential election intended to restore civilian rule

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s military government has postponed a presidential election that was expected to return the West African nation to democracy following a 2020 coup, a government spokesperson said Monday. The presidential election scheduled for February 2024 is being...

President Macron says France will end its military presence in Niger, pull its ambassador after coup

PARIS (AP) — President Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday that France will end its military presence in Niger and pull its ambassador out of the country as a result of the coup that removed the democratically elected president. Niger's junta said in response that the announcement...

President Emmanuel Macron says France will end military presence in Niger and pull ambassador from country after coup

At UN, African leaders say enough is enough: They must be partnered with, not sidelined

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — If you listen to the African leaders addressing the U.N. General Assembly this year, the message is emphatic and unanimous: The continent is done being a victim of a post-World War II order. It is a global power in itself and must be partnered with — not sidelined. ...

Niger's junta accuses United Nations chief of blocking its participation at General Assembly

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The military government that seized power in Niger has accused United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of “obstructing” the West African nation's full participation at the U.N.'s annual meeting of world leaders in order to appease France, Niger's former...

Mali’s junta struggles to fight growing violence in a northern region as UN peacekeepers withdraw

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Attacks in northern Mali have more than doubled since U.N. peacekeepers completed the first phase of their withdrawal last month after a decade of fighting Islamic extremists, resulting in more than 150 deaths. In one brazen attack, militants targeted a...

Want a place on the UN stage? Leaders of divided nations must first get past this gatekeeper

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — It's one of the United Nations' more obscure bodies, with no space to call its own within the riverside headquarters. And there is scant insight into how it decides a question of far-reaching impact: Who gets let through the door? With an anodyne name, the...