Nigerian capital city attacks claim 77 lives

Bauchi - At least 77 people died in attacks by suspected Islamic extremists who struck two northeast Nigerian state capitals, health workers said on Tuesday.

The deaths from Monday's attacks bring the toll to at least 247 people reported killed in a week of increasing violence from an Islamic uprising in the northeast of Africa's biggest oil producer.

Egypt court sentences 188 people to death

Cairo - An Egyptian criminal court has sentenced 188 people to death pending approval from the country's top religious official.

They are accused of involvement in a "massacre" of eleven policemen last August in the town of Kerdasa, west of Cairo, in one of the country's grisliest assaults on security forces.

Precious World

Two explosions rip

Explosions, gunfire in Nigeria's Damaturu city

Kano - Explosions and gunfire rocked the north Nigerian city of Damaturu on Monday, in a suspected Boko Haram attack that targeted police, residents told AFP.

The sound of blasts and heavy weapons being fired woke locals in the Gujba Road area of the Yobe state capital at about 04:45, said Umar Sada, who lives in the area.

2 blasts at market in Nigeria's Maiduguri

Maiduguri - Two explosions ripped through a market in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Monday, witnesses said, nearly a week after two female suicide bombers attacked the same area, killing more than 45 people.

"A middle-aged woman approached the site where chicken sellers attend to customers but vigilantes who stood nearby insisted on checking the luggage she was carrying," said witness Ahmad Sanusi.

"The woman refused, arguing that what she held were her wares. While the argument ensued, some people gathered at the scene and that was when she detonated the explosive," he told AFP.