September 18, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

Heavily armed troops crush protests in Burkina Faso after a military coup.

Veteran politician Carlos Correia is appointed as Guinea-Bissau’s new Prime Minister.

And, the Department of Labour released its latest strike reports pattern for 2014.

Heavily armed troops crushed protests in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou after a former spy chief seized power in a military coup on Thursday. This derailed a democratic transition that had inspired many in Africa.

At least three people were killed and more than 60 injured when members of the presidential guard fired warning shots to disperse crowds. They also used batons to beat back stone-throwing demonstrators.

The coup leaders' authority did not appear to extend beyond the capital and soldiers stood aside as youths demonstrated in several other cities and towns.

The protesters were demanding the release of the interim president and members of his government detained by the presidential guard on Wednesday. They were also calling for the organisation of elections as scheduled for October 11.

 
Veteran politician Carlos Correia was sworn in as Guinea-Bissau's new prime minister on Thursday. It’s hoped that his appointment might diffuse a weeks-long political crisis in the coup-prone West African state.

The tiny cashew exporter descended into political turmoil after President Jose Mario Vaz dismissed popular prime minister Domingoes Simoes Pereira and his government on August 13.

Guinea-Bissau is notoriously unstable even by the standards of a region known for military takeovers and civil wars. No elected president has served a complete term since independence from Portugal in 1974, and there have been nine coups or attempted coups since 1980.

The South African Department of Labour’s latest strike report revealed that despite fewer strikes in 2014, labour action lasted for longer periods.

The report released showed that South Africa saw 88 strike activities in 2014 compared with 114 strikes in 2013.

However, due to longer periods of strike action the number of working hours lost skyrocketed by 608.6% compared with 2013.

Wages, bonus and other compensation disputes remained the main reason for work stoppages in 2014 at 98.4% of working days lost.

Also making headlines:

Robben Island’s renewables makeover is part of a bigger “going-green strategy” by the Department of Tourism.

The parole review board will decide today on Oscar Pistorius’s fate.

SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng will challenge the Public Protector's powers in a matter to be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal.

And, fighting has erupted between the rival armed groups near Mali's desert border with Algeria in a fresh violation of a United Nations-backed peace deal.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.