The U.N. Security Council is not ready to agree to an African Union request for endorsement of military intervention in Mali, where rebels and Islamist militants have seized control of much of the country, council diplomats said on Friday.

The US is expanding a secret network of air bases across Africa in order to spy on Al-Qaeda and other militant groups.

The surveillance is carried out by small, unmarked turboprop planes with hidden

Burkina Faso soldiers went on the rampage in the Northern city of Kaya, residents said on Monday, making it the fourth to be hit by a spreading mutiny against veteran ruler Blaise Compaore.