Politics

Soldiers in Gabon seized power days after a presidential election returned the incumbent, Ali Bongo, to office in a ballot that was widely deemed fraudulent as usual. Mr Bongo’s father had ruled from 1967 until his death in 2009, when his son inherited the post. It is the eighth coup in west and central Africa since 2020, following one in Niger in July. Others include Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea and Mali. France is watching nervously, since it has a military base in Libreville, Gabon’s capital, and has seen coup-led regimes expel its forces from Burkina Faso and Mali.