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Suspected Islamists have been blamed for the deaths of at least 23 people in separate attacks in north-eastern Nigeria.

France's military aim in Mali is its "total reconquest", French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said.

Mali's army has recaptured Konna after Islamist rebels fled, the military and residents in the strategically important central town have said.

Zimbabwe's rival political leaders say they have reached a deal over a new constitution, removing a key obstacle to holding elections.

About 650 hostages have been freed from militants at a gas facility in Algeria, state media report, but about 60 foreigners are still being held.

Liberia's jailed ex-President and war criminal Charles Taylor appears to have written to MPs demanding an annual state pension of $25,000 (£15,600).

Ivory Coast's firebrand former youth minister and ally of former President Laurent Gbagbo, Charles Ble Goude, has been arrested in Ghana, officials say.

Mali's army has recaptured Konna after Islamist rebels fled, the military and residents in the strategically important central town have said.

A 24-year-old woman was seriously injured by a rhino moments after posing for a photograph with it, South Africa's Beeld newspaper reports.

South Africa's police are being investigated after a man died during the on-going farm workers' strike in the wine-producing Western Cape region.

The US is to officially recognise Somalia's government in Mogadishu after more than 20 years, says a US official.

At least five people have been killed and four wounded in a shooting at a restaurant in the town of Garissa in eastern Kenya, local police say.

Close to 200 Nigerian troops are due to arrive in Mali to help fight Islamist insurgents in the country's north.

A military train carrying army recruits has derailed south of Egypt's capital, Cairo, killing 19 people and injuring more than 100, officials say.

Troops from a regional West African force will be in Mali within days to help a French intervention against Islamist rebels, Nigeria says.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is serving a life sentence for his role in the killings of peaceful protesters during the revolution that eventually deposed him, will get a new trial.

A French soldier has been killed in Somalia during a failed operation to free a hostage who is also believed to have died, the defence minister said.

French forces have continued to launch air strikes against Islamist militants in Mali and sent troops to protect the capital, Bamako.