内容摘要：Alex Berrios walks into his dialysis session in Louisville, Ky., on Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)

Alex Berrios walks into his dialysis session in Louisville, Ky., on Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)

Following military coups in all three nations in recent years, the ruling juntas severed military ties with longstanding Western partners such as the U.S. and France, and turned to Russia for military support.Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger created their own security partnership, known as the

Following a September 2022 coup, Capt. Ibrahim Traore was named the transitional president of Burkina Faso and promised to bring security and prosperity to the West African nation, capturing the hearts and minds of many young people in his country and around the world.Sekou Ansumariam Dukaly, one of the protester, said he came to Burkina Faso all the way from Liberia.“I came to Ouagadougou today to participate in this demonstration in support of Captain Ibrahim Traore, because he represents hope for Africa, hope for Black people, hope for all freedom fighters around the globe,” he said.

However, since its inception, the juntato end Burkina Faso’s security challenges — the very reason that it said prompted it to take over power in 2022. According to conservative estimates, more than 60% of the country is now outside of government control, more than 2.1 million people have lost their homes and almost 6.5 million need humanitarian aid to survive.

Meanwhile, human rights group say the country’s armed forces and militias

, including unlawful killings of civilians accused of supporting Islamist fighters.In his first years as pope, critics had a living alternative in Pope Benedict XVI, who had resigned and was living on the Vatican grounds. That amplified the right-wing opposition to Francis’ reform agenda. Some called him a heretic after he opened the way in 2016 to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion. In 2018, the Vatican’s retired U.S. ambassador Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano published an accusation that U.S. and Vatican officials for two decades covered up McCarrick’s sexual misconduct and demanded that Francis resign. After Vigano amplified his criticisms and drew a following of his own, the Vatican in 2024 excommunicated him for schism.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Congo’s government and a coalition of insurgents in the country’s east including the M23 rebels have agreed to work toward a truce following peace talks in Qatar, a joint statement said Wednesday.The statement was posted online by spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka of the M23 rebels, and confirmed by government spokesman Patrick Muyaya in comments to local media outlets.

The statement said the parties had agreed to “work towards concluding a truce” and that they were reaffirming their commitment to “an immediate end to hostilities.” Previous commitments to a ceasefire, announced unilaterally, have not held, and Wednesday’s statement was the first such commitment to be announced jointly.Delegations from Congo’s government and the