Coup

The Malian soldiers who led a coup ousting President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta on Tuesday have promised to hold new elections and a transition to civil political rule. And, the European Union stepped up pressure on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday by announcing support for the ongoing protests in the country. Also, prosecutors in Germany are investigating a series of crashes on the Berlin autobahn as a possible terrorist attack.

Soldiers who ousted Mali’s president and government in a military coup promised on Wednesday to oversee elections within a “reasonable” time, as calls from abroad grew for a peaceful resolution to an acute political crisis.

Turkey detained 42 staff of two Istanbul universities including a prominent academic as part of an investigation into the group blamed for last year’s failed coup, state media reported Monday.

Four grenades were hurled at the high court from a helicopter and bullets were fired at the Interior Ministry on Tuesday, leader Nicolas Maduro said, in a potentially dramatic escalation of the violence gripping the oil-rich South American country.

Burkina Faso is temporarily in the hands of its military after longtime president Blaise Compaoré was forced to resign last week. Citizens are demanding that civilians retake control of the country soon, but the current leader, Lt. Col. Isaac Zida, is a man familiar to the US military.