A curfew has been imposed in part of the central Nigeria state of Taraba after 39 people were killed in clashes between Christian and Muslim youths. Tensions have been high in the town of Wukari since February when a dispute over a football pitch set off sectarian riots. From Lagos Will Ross reports.
The violence began as a funeral procession was underway for the burial of a traditional ruler. The mourners were from the Jukun ethnic group which is predominantly Christian. When they were passing through a largely Muslim part of the town, some eyewitnesses said they started chanting provocative slogans and young men fought each other. In Wukari, the Jukun and Hausa Fulani communities are in dispute over who are the original inhabitants of the town, and therefore who has the right to own the land.
At least two Malian soldiers have been killed and several people injured in a suicide bombing in northern Mali. A Malian army spokesman said a patrol was targeted near the city of Gao. One report said there as many as five suicide bombers were involved.
Police in Britain have arrested a senior member of the governing conservative party on suspicion of rape and sexual assault. Nigel Evans who is the deputy speaker of the Lower House of parliament is been questioned about alleged attacks on two men in their twenties.
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Officials with the US-led international force in Afghanistan say seven American soldiers have been killed in two separate incidents. Afghan officials say five of them were killed in the south of the country when their armed vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Kandahar Province. Earlier this week, three British troops were killed by a roadside bomb in the neighboring province of Helmand.