Africa (except North Africa)

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Mutinous soldiers who staged a coup in Niger declared their leader the new head of state on Friday, hours after the general asked for national and international support despite rising concerns that the political crisis could hinder the nation’s fight against jihadists and boost Russia’s influence in West Africa.

Spokesman Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane said on state television that the constitution was suspended and Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani was in charge.

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — The African Union has issued a 15-day ultimatum to the junta in Niger to reinstall the country’s democratically elected government just as the coup leaders met with senior civil servants to discuss how they would run the country and as the U.S. and the European Union threatened sanctions against the regime.

NIAMEY, July 28 (Xinhua) -- General Abdourahamane Tchiani, leader of Niger's presidential guard, has been named "president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland" following a military takeover, state television reported Friday.

Soldiers in Niger have overthrown President Mohamed Bazoum, the country's Defense and Security Forces (FDS) said in a press release broadcast on state television late on Wednesday, hours after the president was allegedly held hostage.

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — The general who led a coup in Niger took to state television Friday to ask for support for the takeover, two days after members of the military detained the democratically elected president and set off political chaos that could set back the nation’s fight against jihadists and increase Russia’s influence in West Africa.

As Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani spoke, Niger state television identified him as the leader of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country, the group of soldiers who said they staged the coup.

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Mutinous soldiers claimed to have overthrown Niger’s democratically elected president, announcing on state television late Wednesday that they have put an end to the government over the African country’s deteriorating security.

The soldiers said all institutions had been suspended and security forces were managing the situation. The mutineers urged external partners not to interfere.

ACCRA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's parliament late Tuesday voted to amend the country's criminal offenses act to abolish the death penalty.

After a third reading of the proposed bill, House Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin declared the Criminal Offences Amendment Act 2022 duly passed.

"The death penalty is too final and irreversible, and parliament has made Ghana proud by abolishing the death penalty. It is good for the country," Francis Xavier Sosu, a member of parliament, told the media.

NIAMEY, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Niger's presidential guard imposed a blockade on the presidency since 10 p.m., local time, Tuesday, a presidency staff told Xinhua Wednesday.

"Since yesterday, no one has left; no one has returned to the presidency. At the moment, nobody knows where President Mohamed Bazoum is," said the same source, who was not identified.

An official of Niger's security department told Xinhua in a telephone interview that Bazoum has spoken to other members of his party, saying that "freedom will be restored soon."

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — At least 17 people were found dead after a boat capsized in Senegal’s capital, local officials said Monday.

The bodies were discovered by the navy early in the morning and are believed to be migrants because of the type of boat they were in, said Ndeye Top Gueye, the deputy mayor of the Ouakam neighborhood of Dakar where the bodies were found.

“Because of the size and shape, we know that it’s a pirogue (a long wooden boat),” she said.

HERMANUS, SOUTH AFRICA, July 24. /TASS/: Russia has proposed creating a dedicated specialized module for the Russian Orbital Station (ROS) to allow BRICS countries to conduct scientific research, Yury Borisov, CEO of Russian state space corporation Roscosmos, said on Monday.

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — More than 100 people who died in Nigeria in 2020 during protests against police brutality will soon be buried, authorities said, prompting allegations by activists on Monday of a cover-up and calls for a new investigation.

At least 103 bodies were gathered from across the state after the protests and other clashes related to it, the top official at Lagos State’s ministry of health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, said in a statement after local media reported a leaked memo about the planned burial.