BBC news with Neil Nunes.
Greece's left-wing anti-austerity party Syriza has won the country's general election. The outgoing conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has called the Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras to congratulate him. But it's unclear whether Syriza will gain enough seats in parliament to govern the country alone. Syriza has promised to re-negotiate Greece's huge international bailout and end austerity. Our Europe correspondent Chris Morris is with jubilant Syriza's supporters in Athens.
“This is the first victory by a party from a radical left-wing in western Europe for decades so it really is a turning point, a turning point to the Eurozone crisis, but potentially a turning point in European politics in general. There were always question marks here, bitterness here about the strength of austerity, and about what austerity was doing to ordinary people. Three years ago when the election end, I think warnings that Syriza would lead the country towards catastrophe put off enough people could prevent Syriza's coming to power. But this time, even more people felt that they had nothing to lose that was the time to give Syriza a chance.”
A curfew is in place in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri after an offensive by Islamist fighters from Boko Haram that is believed to have left dozens of people dead. The army said it had launched a coordinated ground and air operation in pursuit of, what it called, retreating terrorists forces. Our Nigeria correspondent Will Ross reports.
“People in Maiduguri woke up to the sound of explosions and heavy gunfire as Boko Haram launched a predawn attack on this strategic city. Ground troops, air strikes and local vigilantes managed to stop the Jihadists from penetrating the city. Much of the fighting was around the barracks. In a separate attack, the town of Monguno was captured, the latest to be seized by the group. With the insurgents gaining more and more territory, Maiduguri is increasingly vulnerable. It's home to tens of thousands of people who have fled their homes because of the conflict.”
The Egyptian authorities say 14 people have been killed during a comparatively small protest across the country marking the 4th anniversary of their uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. Most of the casualties were in the eastern neighborhood of Cairo, a stronghold of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
An Argentine journalist who first reported the mysterious death of a special prosecutor Alberto Nisman a week ago says he has fled to Israel fearing for his life. Damian Pachter told reporters that he felt he had to escape as quickly as possible.
“I leave because the Argentine government pursue me because of my news report regarded the death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who died in an unresolved way last week. So I was the first who report that. Now, I cannot suffer the consequences.”
World news from the BBC.
The Venezuelan government has turned down a request by the former president of Chile and Colombia to visit an opposition leader in jail. Sebastian Pinera and Andres Pastrana say they are in Venezuela to support the opposition. They called for the release of Leopoldo Lopez who was arrested nearly a year ago accused of inciting violent anti-government protests.
The World Health Organization has agreed to take immediate action to reform itself after widespread criticism of its response to the Ebola virus in West Africa. At a meeting in Geneva, the head of the WHO Margaret Chan described the outbreak as a tragedy which had taught the world many lessons.
“The Ebola outbreak points to the need for urgent change in three main areas, to rebuild and strengthen national and international emergency preparedness and response, to address the way new medical products are brought to market, and to strengthen the way that we told operates during emergencies.” The reform plan includes creating a contingency fund and setting up health emergency work force which could be dispatched within hours off an outbreak been reported.
Parliament in the Democratic Republic of Congo has given final approval to an amended election law following days of protests. The Lower house followed the senate in dropping part of the bill which could suppress president Joseph Kabila feared could have extended his term in office. The new law no longer requires a national census to be held before the presidential election scheduled for next year.
Congo Brazzaville has qualified for the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations football tournament with a 2:1 victory over Burkina Faso. They’re joined in the last day by the host Equatorial Guinea, the lowest ranked team in the tournament who beats neighboring Gabon.