As Burkina Faso's military leader Paul-Henri Damiba was sworn in as president on Wednesday (February 16) local residents of the capital Ouagadougou said they want him to focus on security issues. Resident Simplice Bama said that the security situation had been deteriorating since 2015. "We continue to be attacked so I say to myself that this new president has a lot to do," he told Reuters.

Abdoulaye Bandaogo lost his sight as a teenager, but that didn't stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a sports journalist.

In Burkina Faso, judges have ruled that exiled former president Blaise Compaoré must stand trial for his role in the assassination of Thomas Sankara, whom he overthrew in a coup d'état in 1987. Also, a Tuareg leader in Mali has been shot dead in the capital Bamako. Sidi Brahim Ould Sidati was a key figure in a 2015 peace accord. And in a major step forward for the protection of women and children in Gabon, customary marriages are finally recognised by the state.