Images shows police hammering their way into the prison where rioting left at least 116 inmates dead, some of them decapitated, as rival drug gangs went to war armed with guns and grenades. Police later said they regained control of the prison on Thursday.

The South American country is grappling with a surge in violent crime and deadly prison riots. The government has pointed to drug trafficking and consumption as the underlying problem.

Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso has imposed a state of emergency and called for a concerted fight against the rising violence of drug cartels. But observers suspect other reasons behind the measure.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan dissolves transitional authorities and declares a state of emergency during a statement on Sudan state television. The announcement comes after armed forces detained figures of the government in charge of leading the transition to democracy since the April 2019 ouster of autocratic president Omar al-Bashir.

Military vehicles patrol a street in Khartoum as Sudan's top general declares a state of emergency, dissolves the authorities leading the country's democratic transition, and announces the formation of a new government. Soldiers have also detained civilian leaders in what activists denounce as a "coup".

The government had said it imposed the measure to fight terrorism, while critics said it granted President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi sweeping powers to crush dissent.

Despite a rise in infections, the parties set to form a new government want to end the national state of emergency. But Germany should not yet expect a "freedom day."

The Ethiopian government has declared a national state of emergency amid fears that Tigray insurgents are preparing to march on the capital, Addis Ababa.

New security measures are implemented in the Ethiopian capital as a state of emergency is declared. Also, we speak to Sudanese philanthropist Mo Ibrahim about his hopes for a return to civilian-led rule in Sudan, a week after a military takeover. And we take a look at the role of small-scale farmers in Africa's push to tackle climate change, with Sara Mbago-Bhunu from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Drug trafficking gangs went on a killing spree in the same Ecuadorean prison where 119 people died in September. Ecuador plans to release some prisoners at the overcrowded facility.

Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso deployed police and the military to "take control of all the country's prisons" after scores of inmates were killed in gang clashes.

Nearly five acres of Ecuador's Cayambe-Coca National Park have been polluted after an oil pipeline burst. The government has vowed legal consequences for the company involved in the disaster.