Haitian electoral officials on Thursday dropped a government-backed candidate from the upcoming presidential runoff, ending a standoff with the U.S. and other international supporters over the results of a first-round of voting that was marred by fraud and disorganization.

Heavy automatic weapons fire pounded the anti-government protest camp in Cairo's Tahrir Square before dawn on Thursday in a dramatic escalation of what appeared to be a well-orchestrated series of assaults on the demonstrators. At least three protesters were killed by gunfire, according to one of the activists.

A coalition of opposition groups called for a million people to take to Cairo's streets Tuesday to demand the removal of President Hosni Mubarak, the clearest sign yet that a unified leadership was trying to emerge for Egypt's powerful but disparate protest movement.

Soldiers in a central Nigerian city opened fire Saturday on university students protesting continuing violence between Christians and Muslims, witnesses said, with at least nine people killed in the ensuing violence.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela was in the hospital Thursday for what his office said were routine tests, as the 92-year-old anti-apartheid icon's overnight stay drew extraordinary media attention.

The cholera epidemic that has raged across this country is claiming fewer victims, with a sharp drop in new cases everywhere from the shimmering rice fields of the Artibonite Valley to the crowded urban slums.

Former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier ended his silence, telling Haitians he returned after 25 years in exile because he wanted to participate in the reconstruction of the earthquake-shattered country.

Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, a once feared and reviled dictator who was ousted in a popular uprising nearly 25 years ago, made a surprise return to Haiti as the country wrestles with a political crisis, cholera outbreak and the stalled reconstruction from last year's devastating earthquake.

The man's body lay face down, his white dress shirt shining like wax in the sun, as he was unearthed in the ruins of a Port-au-Prince restaurant a year after the earthquake.

Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng (LOO'-ul dehng) arrived to a hero's welcome at a polling place in Chicago where southern Sudanese are voting on their country's future.