Burundi

Ivory Coast shares a 550-kilometer (340-mile) border with Burkina Faso, where jihadist violence has claimed nearly 1,000 lives.

The UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi is doubting that promises of reform made by Burundi’s newly-elected president will result in hoped-for improvements in the country’s human rights situation. The commission has submitted its report on prevailing conditions in the country to the UN Human Rights Council.

Leaders from Ivory Coast’s ruling party agreed at a closed-door meeting late Wednesday to press President Alassane Ouattara to seek a third term in October’s election following the sudden death of Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, two sources said. Ouattara announced in March that he would not stand for re-election after 10 years in office … .

Leaders from Ivory Coast’s ruling party agreed at a closed-door meeting late Wednesday to press President Alassane Ouattara to seek a third term in October’s election following the sudden death of Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, two sources said. Ouattara announced in March that he would not stand for re-election after 10 years in office … .

[…] The 61-year-old had been chosen as the ruling party's candidate for October's presidential election, after Alassane Ouattara said he would not seek a third term in office. … Mr Gon Coulibaly was among the favourites to win the presidential election.

New Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye unveiled a 15-member cabinet including two ministers who are under U.S. or European sanctions over their alleged role in violently crushing street protests.

Burundi's national assembly on Tuesday approved the nomination of Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni, a hardliner under U.S. sanctions for his alleged role in political repression, as the country’s prime minister. Bunyoni, who will fill the new position of head of government created in the 2018 constitution, was backed by an overwhelming majority in a session boycotted by the opposition.

Burundi’s new president, Evariste Ndayishimiye, promised on Thursday to unite a country that has been cut off by aid donors due to rampant human rights abuses, after he was sworn in early following the sudden death of his predecessor.

Nkurunziza's death comes just weeks before he was due to officially step down following Evariste Ndayishimiye's electoral victory last month. A former army general, Ndayishimiye became the president-elect after winning the candidacy for Nkurunziza's ruling party, the Hutu nationalist CNDD-FDD.