Military, Coup | featured news

In his first address to the nation since returning from his two-month-long exile, Mali's interim president on Sunday said that he "fully trusts" the army to assure his security, and outlined plans for the transitional government he hopes to lead until new elections can be held.

Perhaps most of all, it was like a bucket of ice water over the heads of Mali's 15.4 million people, who saw two decades of democracy collapse in just a few hours into what is rapidly becoming an ungovernable hole and a haven for al-Qaida-linked terrorists.

Leaders of Niger's military coup promise a "return to constitutional order", three days after overthrowing the president.