AU - Africanews

1. Polls open in Benin presidential election, finance minister a favourite

   Benin will vote for a new president on Sunday, with Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni a shoo-in after overseeing a decade of economic growth in the west African country despite jihadist attacks in the north.

2. US-Iran talks in Pakistan end without breakthrough

   Marathon negotiations between the United States and Iran in the Pakistani capital ended early Sunday without a breakthrough, with both sides failing to bridge deep differences over nuclear issues, the Strait of Hormuz, and sanctions relief, officials said.

3. Libya to have first unified state budget in 13 years

   Libya's rival eastern and western legislative bodies have signed a US-mediated agreement to unify public spending across the divided country for the first time in over a decade, the central bank said Saturday.

4. 300 convictions: Nigeria sees mass trial for terrorism suspects

   A court in the Nigerian capital of Abuja on Friday convicted more than 300 terrorism suspects in a mass trial that spanned four days.

5. In Ethiopia, fuel prices overshadow this year's Easter celebrations

   As millions of Ethiopians marked Good Friday in the capital, Addis Ababa on Friday, many were continuing to suffer the impacts of the Middle East crisis, which has sparked chronic fuel shortages and rising costs of basic commodities.