Two suicide bombers strike in northern Niger towns- sources

NIAMEY (Reuters) – Two suicide bombers struck on Thursday at a military barracks and a plant run by French nuclear group Areva in northern Niger, according to military and company sources. The bombers killed themselves and wounded at least four people in the attacks in the towns of Agadez and Arlit, the sources said. (Reporting by Aboulaye Massalatchi; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by John Stonestreet)

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M23 rebels announce ceasefire for UN chief's Congo visit

M23 rebel recruits stand at attention during a training session in eastern Democratic Republic of CongoGOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Rebels in eastern Congo announced a ceasefire on Thursday in fighting with government troops hours before a visit to the conflict-plagued zone by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. “We've decided to announce this ceasefire to allow His Excellency Ban Ki-moon to visit Goma as he promised,” Amani Kabasha, political spokesman for the M23 rebel group, told Reuters following several days of clashes in the east near Goma on the Democratic Republic of Congo's border with Rwanda. …

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Barred from election, Rafsanjani lambasts Iranian authorities – report

Iran's former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani attends Iran's Assembly of Experts' biannual meeting in TehranDUBAI (Reuters) – Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani sharply criticized the country's leadership, opposition website Kaleme said on Thursday, two days after he was disqualified from running in next month's presidential election. “I don't think the country could have been run worse, even if it had been planned in advance,” Rafsanjani reportedly told members of his campaign team on Wednesday, the well respected website reported. “I don't want to get stoop to their propaganda and attacks but ignorance is troubling. Don't they understand what they're doing. …

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