Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) yesterday announced that it would pay €15 million to farmers in three Niger Delta communities as compensation for damages to their farms from pipeline leaks between 2004 and 2007.

The Burkinabe military government did not provide a reason for its decision. It comes after the government expelled two French nationals and accused them of espionage.

Burkinabé authourities say they're looking into a massacre committed over the weekend. At least 28 bodies were found in the region of Nouna. In Rutshuru DR Congolese families have been fleeing clashes between M23 rebels and soldiers. And a grammy award winning Kenyan musician has created a one stop shop for artists to make it easier to get exposure and track and make money.

The bodies of 28 people who were shot dead have been discovered in Burkina Faso's north-western town of Nouna, the government has said. A civil society group blamed the killings on armed civilians claiming to be members of a government-backed volunteer force fighting jihadists.

The UN commissioner has called for a swift and transparent investigation into the killing of 28 people in northern Burkina Faso. A rights group said the victims belonged to a traditional hunting community.

The women were picking fruit near a town blockaded by the militants for years, causing food shortages. The incident is considered the first mass abduction of women in the country.

Some 50 women were abducted by jihadis in northern Burkina Faso, as they ventured out to find food for their families amid shortages due to militant blockades. The Burkinabe government announced the kidnappings in the Northern province of Soum on Monday.

Sixty-six women and children kidnapped by armed assailants in northern Burkina Faso last week have been freed, national broadcaster Radiodiffusion Television du Burkina (RTB) said on Friday

Relations between the two nations soured after the army took control, for a second time, in Burkina Faso in September last year. France also pulled out of neighboring Mali last year.

Germany is restructuring its agriculture to make one-third of all farms organic by 2030. But as inflation rises, farmers are demanding more government support. They are set to flock to Berlin to make their voices heard.

Burkina Faso has said it aims to defend itself after the government announced it had decided to end a military accord that allowed French troops to fight insurgents on its territory.

France has received a request from the Burkinabe military junta to withdraw its troops from the Sahel country and will do so within a month. The success of the counterterrorism operation has been limited, experts say.