Amid anger over an Islamic insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives, Nigerians threw out the incumbent and elected a 72-year-old former military dictator in a historic transfer of power officially announced early Wednesday following the nation’s most hotly contested election ever.

Iraqi forces have retaken the Salaheddin provincial government headquarters in Tikrit from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a significant advance in the battle to recapture the city, officials said March 31. The spokesman for the Badr militia said members of the Popular Mobilisation units — pro-government …

Challenger Muhammadu Buhari won Nigeria’s presidential election by 2.57 million votes, official results showed Wednesday, defeating incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in the first democratic change of power in Africa’s most populous nation. The victory writes a new chapter in the country’s often turbulent history after six military coups since independence in …