A new leader in Nairobi could be bad news for the UK. Kim Sengupta reports

John Kerry’s decision to make London the first destination for an official visit as the new US Secretary of State was seen as a matter of kudos by the British government. And today, on arrival, the former presidential candidate spoke of his determination to reaffirm the “special relationship”.

French special forces have arrived in Cameroon in a bid to track down four children and three adults from the same family who have been kidnapped by Islamist militants. The four children, who were seized on Tuesday, have been separated from their parents according to the Cameroon government.

Seven members of a French family, three of them children, have been abducted in Cameroon three days after seven other foreigners were taken away at gunpoint in neighbouring Nigeria, raising fears that Islamist militants have started a campaign of capturing Western hostages in the region.

Continuing sales to regime leave UK isolated over its strategy for Syria

The home of Dramane Maulvi Haidara is down a dusty alleyway of pot-holes with an open drain alongside. There, behind a heavy wooden door studded with metal in a dark, windowless room, lay a rich treasure trove that has been guarded with utmost care from a determined enemy.

Kim Sengupta follows a student’s hunt for his loved one from Bamako to Timbuktu

... but it's not yet mission accomplished for the French President

After the retreat of the Islamists, scenes in Timbuktu have been very different
in the past week

Aminata Jallo had rushed out of her home in preparation for taking her children to a place of safety when the missile exploded near her. She was killed instantly, but her one-year-old son, Saida, whom she was carrying in a cradle on her back, was thrown clear.