Algerian helicopters and special forces stormed a gas plant in the stony plains of the Sahara on Thursday to wipe out Islamist militants and free hostages from at least 10 countries. Bloody chaos ensued, leaving the fate of the fighters and many of the captives uncertain.
The Belfast family of Stephen McFaul says it cannot believe he's escaped from the Algerian hostage crisis - and never wants him to work in the oil fields there again.
Islamic militants have told a Mauritanian news outlet that that 35 hostages were killed but seven are still alive after Algerian military helicopters strafed a gas complex deep in the Sahara.
A Canadian man in his 70s was severely dehydrated after being pinned for several days under debris in his home that had piled up almost to the ceiling.
A senior U.S. diplomat has played down concerns among Central Asian governments that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan could foment regional instability.
PARIS (AP) - An official at France's Defense Ministry says the country will "gradually deploy" a total of 2,500 troops to Mali, and the French president says the military operation will last until security has been restored and African forces are ready to take charge.
The world's largest platinum producer says it will close some South African mines and sell another, cutting 14,000 jobs only months after South Africa suffered massive labor unrest in the mining sector.
BADRASHEEN, Egypt (AP) - Egypt's president has visited survivors of Egypt's latest train wreck, which killed 19 soldiers and injured more than 100 others.
BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) - Rebels from Central African Republic and the country's political opposition have agreed on a candidate for prime minister.
A court has found a former Austrian interior minister and EU lawmaker guilty of corruption after he fell for a sting operation by two British journalists and sentenced him to four years in prison.
German police say burglars dug a 30-meter (100-foot) tunnel into the safe deposit room of a Berlin bank and escaped with their haul, setting a fire as they left to cover their tracks.
Despite intensive aerial bombardments by French warplanes, Islamist insurgents grabbed more territory in Mali on Monday, including a strategic military camp, bringing them much closer to the capital, French and Malian military officials said.
A Somali intelligence official says that the French intelligence agent held hostage for more than three years by Islamic militants in Somalia was likely killed by his captors during the failed rescue attempt by French commandos.
France's foreign minister says the United States is providing communications and transport help for an international military intervention aimed at wresting Mali's north out of the hands of Islamist extremists.
Witnesses say a dozen masked attackers fired birdshot at protesters who have camped outside Egypt's presidential palace in Cairo for the past month, wounding a number of people.
Syrian troops have made advances in a strategic suburb of Damascus and been bombarding other areas around the capital today in a push to secure President Bashar Assad's seat of power as rebels make gains in the north.
The French president says the country will raise its domestic terror threat level after military action in Mali and Somalia, promising to increase protection at public buildings and transportation networks.
A French commando raid in Somalia to free a captive intelligence agent has ended in the deaths of 17 Islamists, a French soldier and apparently the hostage as well.
Venezuelan opposition politicians say they're preparing to present a case before a regional human rights court to challenge a Supreme Court decision that permits the indefinite postponement of President Hugo Chavez's inauguration.
