World in Brief

Ecowas will send troops to Mali

Senegal: West Africa's regional bloc Ecowas announced yesterday that it will send troops to coup-stricken Mali.

The country's ruling junta - which put down a counter-coup this week - has already rejected the plan.

Ecowas president Kadre Desire Ouedraogo said the group intended to send forces immediately but still needed to consult with its partners about financing the deployment.

The announcement came after hours of meetings in Dakar aiming to resolve the political impasses in Mali and Guinea-Bissau following recent coups.

13 killed in Caucus suicide attack

Russia: Suicide bombers drove their explosives-laden cars into a police station in the Dagestan town of Makhachkala last night, killing at least 13 people and wounding scores.

More than 130 people were taken to hospital, 16 of them in critical condition, said Kazanfar Kurbanov, the Emergency Ministry chief physician in Dagestan.

The attacks come just three days before Vladimir Putin is to be sworn in as president.