Senegal and Burkina Faso prepare for Cup of Nations semi

Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba was sworn in three weeks after leading a coup that toppled the government. Observers and neighbors have remained concerned but reserved about the developments.

Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Senegalese counterpart Macky Sall discussed military and scientific partnerships in a region racked by terrorism and a wave of military coups.

Around 60 people have died and dozens more have been injured after a blast at an informal gold mine in southwestern Burkina Faso.

With more than 700 kilometres of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, Senegal is one of the top fish producers in West Africa. This is one of the richest oceans in the world and that has attracted industrial fishing vessels from China. Aside from their fishing methods having massive repercussions on the environment, local fishermen say their own catch has dramatically dropped.

Following a military coup a month ago, Burkina Faso's junta has approved a charter allowing a military-led transition. Under the plan, the West African nation is to hold elections in three years.

Heetch, a French ride-hailing app, has launched in Senegal - one of two such apps to arrive in recent months to test a largely untapped market.

Forced marriage is illegal in Burkina Faso, but remains common and often involves girls under 18. A shelter in the city of Kaya offers an escape for girls keen to continue their education

Burkina Faso's former president Blaise Compaore was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for complicity in the 1987 murder of his predecessor Thomas Sankara in a coup, a military tribunal ruled on Wednesday, April 6.

More than 34 years after Thomas Sankara's assassination, a trial to establish the facts has taken place. For some, justice that has been delayed for deceades is finally being served.

The price of staple foods like rice, onions and oil is rising in Senegal - leaving Muslim families who are celebrating Ramadan relying on charity.

Thousands of West African soldiers fought for France against the Nazis during World War II. But on December 1, 1944, scores of them were gunned down in unclear circumstances by the very French forces they fought alongside. What really happened on that fateful day at the Thiaroye military camp near the Senegalese capital Dakar? Eighty years on, the documentary "Thiaroye 44" takes a closer look at this dark page of French history.

Hope is all but lost that eight miners trapped in a flooded mine in Burkina Faso for a month may have survived. Also, suspects are arrested in Mali after authorities say they foiled a coup attempt earlier this month. And advocates calling for tax reform on the continent say that lawmakers should be on the sharp end of pushing for changes that will tackle an unequal system.