In Guinea, trade unions have suspended their nationwide strike after union leader Sékou Jamal Pendessa was released from prison Wednesday. The strike had gripped the West African nation since it started earlier this week. Two young protesters were killed Monday after clashes with police. The labor-led protests came after Guinea’s military, which overthrew President Alpha Condé in a 2021 coup, unexpectedly dissolved the transitional government that had been in place since 2022. Unions accuse leaders of cracking down on dissent and censoring the media.

Abdoulaye Cissé: “Alpha Condé had problems with the press. But what junta leader Mamady Doumbouya has done today is worse, because Doumbouya even went as far as to cut off the internet in Guinea for more than a month. Alpha Condé never did that.”