Burundi

The 2016 World Botanical EXPO, one of the largest horticultural shows in the world, opened its doors with an official ceremony on April 22 in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya.

President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu and cabinet ministers attended this year's opening ceremony, along with a number of ministers from more than 10 countries. 

Turkcell has renewed an offer to establish a joint fiber infrastructure company with other operators due to the high cost of acting separately, according to Chief Technology Officer ?lker Kuruöz.

Burundi's government said on Dec. 20 it would not agree to the deployment of African Union (AU) peacekeepers, warning that they would be seen as "an invasion force."

The announcement came a day after the 54-member bloc said it would send a 5,000-strong forced to halt spiraling violence in the tiny central African country as fears grow it is rapidly sliding towards civil war. 

Tree by tree, more than a dozen African governments pledged to restore the continent's natural forests at the United Nations climate talks on Dec. 5.

The 2015 Prosperity Index is out again, ranking 142 countries across 89 variables and eight sub-indexes: the economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom and social capital.

UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic face allegations of sexual abuse in 13 cases, including nine that involve underage victims as young as 11, an official said on Aug. 20.

"Nature is our first medicine," says a student  visiting Turkey's first garden for medicinal plants -- just one among an army of  researchers and experts who come here to see hundreds of potentially life-saving  species.

US President Barack Obama on July 25 called for gay rights in Africa during his landmark visit to Kenya, comparing homophobia to racial discrimination he had encountered in the United States.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on July 20 pressed Burundian authorities to pull out all the stops to see that elections are carried out peacefully.

At least six people including a policeman were killed on July 1 in the latest violence in Burundi, as it awaits results from elections boycotted by the opposition and condemned internationally.