Rwandan beat Canadian in la Francophonie contest

Rwanda's Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo defeated the Canadian Michaëlle Jean in the race to become the head of a la Francophonie, a group of French-speaking nations similar to the Commonwealth.

Ms Jean was seeking a second term after having led the organisation from November 2014, but she lost support of her home country just hours before the group's summit opened on Thursday in the Armenian city of Erevan.

Ms Mushikiwabo was a strong favourite for months. Her candidacy was backed by France and the Africa Union.

However, international human rights groups have criticised the choice due to what they call the repressive nature of President Paul Kagame's government in Rwanda.