Sudan
Sudan’s military in the early hours of this morning toppled a transitional government and placed the prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, under house arrest. The interim government, made up of civilian and military leaders, had been in place since longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir was overthrown by the army following mass protests in 2019. But tensions appeared to grow recently and competing demonstrations erupted last week - one faction calling on the military to overthrow the government and the other supporting Hamdok. Thousands poured into the streets to protest as news of the coup spread and, according to officials, seven demonstrators were shot dead and more than 140 wounded. The death toll is expected to rise.
More from Al Jazeera here. An explainer from BBC here. A piece on the man behind the coup from Middle East Eye here. And a must-follow Twitter account here.
Myanmar
A three-day meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began today with a noticeable absentee: Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power from a democratically-elected government in a coup last February. The ban on Min Aung Hlaing is unprecedented as ASEAN tends to stay out of internal politics. The increasingly volatile situation in Myanmar is expected to top the agenda.
More from AFP via France 24 here.
Nigeria
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, today became the first country on the continent to launch a digital currency. Nigeria is one of the world’s biggest markets for cryptocurrency and becomes the 15th country - most of them emerging economies - to trial its own. The eNaira will be backed and issued by the central bank.
More from TechCrunch here.