Burkina Faso rights defender abducted as concerns grow over alleged clampdown on dissent

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A prominent human rights defender in Burkina Faso has been abducted by unknown individuals, rights groups have announced, in what activists say could be the latest attempt by the military government to target dissidents using a controversial law. Daouda...

Police charge director of Miss Nicaragua pageant with running 'beauty queen coup' plot

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaraguan police said Friday they want to arrest the director of the Miss Nicaragua pageant, accusing her of intentionally rigging contests so that anti-government beauty queens would win the pageants as part of a plot to overthrow the government. The charges...

US expels an ex-Chilean army officer accused of a folk singer's torture and murder

MIAMI (AP) — The U.S. has expelled a former Chilean Army officer accused of torturing and killing folk singer Victor Jara during the country's bloody 1973 coup. Pedro Barrientos had emigrated to Florida in 1990, the same year the bloody dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet came to...

Gunfire erupts in Guinea-Bissau's capital during reported clashes between security forces

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau (AP) — Gunfire erupted in Guinea-Bissau’s capital city late Thursday night and continued through Friday morning during what local media reported as clashes between security forces after two senior government officials were improperly released from custody. ...

Madagascar's top court ratifies president's reelection in vote boycotted by opposition

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Madagascar's top court on Friday ratified the victory of incumbent President Andry Rajoelina in last month's election, giving him a third term as leader following a boycott of the vote by opposition candidates. The High Constitutional Court said...

Coup leader Guy Philippe repatriated to Haiti as many question his next role in country in upheaval

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Notorious coup leader Guy Philippe returned to Haiti on Thursday after the U.S. government repatriated him, sparking concerns that his presence could unleash further upheaval in a country already reeling from gang violence and political instability. It...

Mali's government will probe Tuareg rebel leaders as crucial 2015 peace deal appears to crumble

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali's military government has announced an investigation into the Tuareg rebel leaders who signed a peace agreement in 2015 and now accuse the government of failing to comply with it, as experts worry that the deal crucial to establishing a measure of stability in the...

Burkina Faso's state media says hundreds of rebels have been killed trying to seize vulnerable town

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Hundreds of rebels were killed as they tried to seize a town in northern Burkina Faso on Sunday, the state broadcaster reported, in one of the largest clashes in recent years in the West African nation under threat from fighters linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State. ...

13 Sierra Leone military officers are under arrest for trying to stage a coup, a minister says

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Attacks on Sierra Leone’s main military barracks and prisons were a failed coup attempt and have resulted in the arrest of 13 military officers, the government’s spokesman said Tuesday. The attackers attempted to “overthrow the elected government of...

Sunday's attacks on Sierra Leone barracks and prisons were failed coup, official says, as 13 military officers arrested