DOUENTZA/GAO, Mali – French-backed Malian troops searched house-to-house in Gao and Timbuktu on Tuesday uncovering arms and explosives abandoned by Islamist fighters, and France said it would look to hand over longer-term security operations in Mali to an African force.
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BEIRUT – At least 65 people were found shot dead with their hands bound in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday in a “new massacre” in the near two-year revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, activists said.
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CAIRO, Egypt – Egypt’s army chief said political unrest was pushing the state to the brink of collapse – a stark warning from the institution that ran the country until last year as Cairo’s first freely elected leader struggles to curb bloody street violence.
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SANAA – Hundreds of al Qaeda-linked militants arrived in southern Yemen on Tuesday to reinforce Islamist fighters facing a major government offensive following the breakdown of talks to free three Western hostages, an official and residents said.
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ISTANBUL – Kurdish militants will halt hostilities with Turkey in February according to the timetable of a fledgling peace process aimed at ending 28 years of insurgency, a report in a mainstream newspaper said on Tuesday.
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Kerry received enough Senate votes on Tuesday to be confirmed as President Barack Obama’s new secretary of state, succeeding Hillary Clinton.
WASHINGTON – The National Rifle Association will argue that greater restrictions are not the answer to gun violence at a Senate hearing on Wednesday, which is likely to stoke skepticism that legislation to tighten controls will advance very far this year.
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SANTA MARIA, Brazil – Cities across Brazil are beginning to crack down on nightclubs to ensure they comply with fire regulations following a weekend blaze that killed 234 people at a club in the southern university town of Santa Maria.
