The eurozone will give Cyprus a $13 billion bailout, but is forcing depositors in Cyprus' banks to forfeit some money so the country can avoid bankruptcy, Reuters reported March 16.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will visit Cameroon and Nigeria from March 15 to March 16, according to a French news release and the Africa Review.

Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been elected as the new pope, CBS News reported.

Gazprom head Alexei Miller is holding talks in Athens on March 12 with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras over a potential bid for DEPA, Greece's national natural gas company, the Capital.gr website reported.

Tens of thousands of people marched across dozens of Spanish cities to protest high unemployment March 10, blaming the government's corruption and inefficient handling of the economy, AP reported.

The British warplanes recently spotted in the Nigerian capital of Abuja were helping to move soldiers participating in the French intervention in Mali, rather than trying to rescue hostages as Nigerian-based Islamist group Ansaru claimed, the British military said March 10, AP reported.

Nigeria-based Islamist group Ansaru killed seven foreign hostages March 9, SITE Monitoring Service said, Reuters reported.

Islamists in northern Mali killed four residents of the city of Tonka, which is southwest of Timbuktu, during an apparent carjacking, Tonka Mayor Mamady Konipo, IOL News reported March 8.