BBC News with David Austin
Algeria says its special forces have stormed a large gas plant in the Sahara, ending a crisis which began when Islamist militants seized it and took hundreds of hostages on Wednesday. The Algerian army says its forces killed 11 Islamist militants who remained at the plant. It says the kidnappers have begun killing seven foreign hostages they were still holding and had mined the facility. Algeria now says that 23 hostages and 32 militants have been killed overall. The American Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said those responsible for all such attacks would be pursued.
"Just as we cannot accept terrorism attacks against our cities, we cannot accept attacks against our citizens and our interests abroad. Neither can we accept an al-Qaeda safe haven anywhere in the world."
West African leaders meeting to discuss the crisis in Mali have urged more international support for what they called a war against terrorism. The President of Ivory Coast where the meeting took place said more countries should show solidarity with France and Africa in the fight against militants. Andrew Harding is in Segou in central Mali.
Some 2,000 French troops are now on the ground. There’re armed cars and trucks racing along the dusty roads close to the huge Niger River. The aim for now it seems is to hold a line across the narrow center of Mali to wait for a coalition of West African troops to arrive. Then and only then will they try to retake northern Mali from the Islamists who still control a vast arid region bigger than France itself.
Gunmen in northern Nigeria have attacked a convoy of the prominent religious leader the Emir of Kano. From Lagos, Will Ross reports.
Men on motorbikes and in a car opened fire on the Emir of Kano’s convoy as he was returning from a ceremony at a mosque. Officials say the highly respected Emir al-Haji Ado Bayero who is in his 80s survived the attack and he is safe in his palace. His driver as well as two guards were [was] killed. The attackers are as yet unknown but there will be suspicion that the Islamist militant group known as Boko Haram did it.
A day of anti-racism events has been held in Greece in response to the rise of the neo-fascist party Golden Dawn. Nearly 3,000 people joined the demonstration in Athens. The coffin of a Pakistani immigrant murdered last week was also paraded. Golden Dawn exploiting public anger over the financial crisis won seats in parliament last June.
Two brothers accused of burglary in northeastern Guatemala had been killed by a crowd. Residents said they caught them as they broke into a house in the village of Patsun. The men tried to flee but were surrounded by a group of about 300 villagers who beat one of them to death and set the other alight.
World News from the BBC
Four climbers have died in an avalanche at Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands. They were descending from a peak at the south side of the valley when the slope they were on broke away. Five members of the party were swept down the mountain and engulfed in ice and snow. One woman is in hospital with serious injuries.
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The aid agency Oxfam says the world’s richest 100 people earned enough money last year to end extreme poverty for the world’s poorest people four times over. Oxfam urged action from the leaders of the world richest countries and biggest businesses who are meeting in Davos next week. Here is Tom Esslemont.
Oxfam says the world can no longer afford to concentrate assets in the hands of a few and leave the many to struggle over what’s left. It says the richest 1% of the world’s population has increased its income by 60% in the last 20 years. The organization says the disparity is hampering economic activity and it urges political leaders to reverse the trend. It advises close tax havens, stop what it calls regressive forms of taxation and increase investment in free public services.
Police in Bulgaria have arrested a man after he jumped on stage and put a gun to the head of the leader of the country’s ethnic Turkish Party Ahmed Dogan as he was making a speech in Sofia. The man was wrestled to the ground by security guards and activists who then kicked and punched him. Police said the suspect was an ethnic Turk from the Black Sea town of Burgas.
One of the world’s biggest football tournaments, the Africa Cup of Nations has kicked off without a single goal in the first two games. Within the first few minutes the match between Angola and Morocco has ended in Johannesburg. Earlier the hosts South Africa played out an uninspiring 0-0 draw against Cape Verde. The games followed a more colorful opening ceremony at the soccer city stadium which featured traditional African dances.
That’s the BBC News