Mali opposition leader and presidential hopeful Cisse dies

The longtime leader of Mali's opposition Soumaila Cisse has died at the age of 71, his spokesman said on Friday, two months after being released from lengthy captivity by Islamist insurgents.

Cisse, a former finance minister who finished runner-up in the 2013 and 2018 presidential elections to Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, was considered among the favourites in a vote expected in early 2022 after Keita's overthrow in an August military coup.