Africa

At least 19 people were killed and another 22 were wounded in clashes between the army and Tuareg separatists, who since Wednesday have been trying to gain control of the city of Lere in the northwest of the country, a defence ministry statement said on Thursday.

The Cairo Criminal Court will issue its verdict on former President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons over embezzlement charges on May 9, it announced at the trial’s second session on Wednesday. In May 2014, a Cairo court sentenced Mubarak to three years in prison for seizing over 125 million …

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday met with European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini to discuss a number of conflict zones and security threats to Europe with a focus on Libya and the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has phoned on Tuesday Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s President Joseph Kabila on bilateral relations. Presidential Spokesman Alaa Youssef said the President posted his African counterpart on the Egyptian side’s interest in increasing investments in the DRC.

The Security Council today extended for another year the mandate of the United Nations mission tasked with monitoring the ceasefire in Western Sahara, known by the acronym MINURSO. In today’s resolution, the 15-member Council extended MINURSO until 30 April 2016. The Mission has been in effect since 1991.

The Niger government said on Tuesday it had lost 46 soldiers and 28 civilians in a Boko Haram attack on a Lake Chad island at the weekend, the country’s heaviest losses yet since it joined a regional offensive against the militants. Interior Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou said “156 terrorists” were also …

Northern Tuareg rebels shot at United Nations peacekeepers in Mali outside the town of Timbuktu on Tuesday amid growing tensions that threaten a fragile peace process, the country’s UN mission said. “They fired at us and they then called us to tell us that they thought we were [Malian government …

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday recent attacks on the UN mission in Mali highlighted the urgent need for a political settlement with rebels in the country’s north. Seven UN peacekeepers were wounded Thursday in the most recent attack about 100km southwest of the northern city of Kidal.

Greece will launch consultations with Egypt and Greek Cyprus to establish maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on April 29. Tsipras, who was visiting Greek Cyprus, said those boundaries – which are normally a precursor to a state licensing for offshore oil and gas exploration …

Rebels from northern Mali have told mediators they will initial a long-delayed United Nations-brokered peace proposal on the future of Mali’s north next month, a spokesman for the lead separatist group said late on Sunday. The government, based in the capital Bamako in the country’s south, and another coalition of …