Election offers new start for Mali, but no magic wand
BAMAKO (Reuters) – When Mali imploded last year – its president ousted by mutinous soldiers and its north seized by separatist and Islamist rebels – many called for an overhaul of the West African state’s flawed democracy, once held up as a model of st…
Kidnapped Lebanese manager released in Nigeria
ONITSHA, Nigeria (Reuters) – Kidnappers released a Lebanese construction company manager on Thursday, two weeks after he was abducted from the firm’s premises by armed men in southern Nigeria, the military said.
African Union urges South Sudan to quickly form new government after cabinet dismissal
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The African Union urged South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Thursday to quickly form a new government and respect the country’s diversity in doing so after Kiir sacked his cabinet amid talk of a succession struggle.
Libel suit over Magnitsky allegations challenged in London court
LONDON (Reuters) – British investment fund manager Bill Browder has asked a London court to throw out a libel suit brought against him by a Russian former police officer who denies allegations that he played a part in the death of the lawyer Sergei Mag…
Tunisia union calls general strike after killing
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia’s largest labor organization, the UGTT, said it would hold a general strike on Friday to protest against the assassination of opposition figure Mohamed Brahmi, officials said
Opposition hopes to clip wings of ruling family in Togo vote
LOME (Reuters) – Voters in Togo went to the polls on Thursday in a delayed parliamentary election the opposition hopes will hand it a majority needed to push through reforms aimed at limiting the power of one of Africa’s oldest political dynasties.
Algeria puts army in charge of fighting drug trafficking
ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algeria has identified drug trafficking as a top national security threat linked to militancy in the region and put its powerful army in charge of fighting it, interior minister Daho Ould Kablia said.
Death toll at Spain train disaster rises to 80: official
MADRID (Reuters) – The derailment of a train in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia has killed 80 people and 94 are still injured, the deputy head of the regional government said on Thursday.
Arrested prelate denies stealing, laundering in letter to pope
ROME (Reuters) – A Catholic prelate at the center of a suspected money-smuggling operation denied stealing and laundering cash in a letter he sent to Pope Francis from his jail cell which his lawyers released on Thursday.
Insight: ‘Crude for blood’ – return of sectarian war hits Iraq’s oil exports
BAGHDAD/MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraq’s Sunni insurgents are targeting its main northern oil pipeline, undoing plans for a massive increase in exports as violence reaches levels unseen since the darkest days of civil war.
