Couple stoned to death

* An unmarried couple was stoned to death in public in north-east Mali by ‘Islamists’, the first such incident since jihadist groups were driven out of the region. Jihadists seized key northern cities in Mali in March 2012, and though they were driven out by a French-led military intervention in 2013, Islamist groups continue to make their presence felt with frequent attacks on domestic and foreign forces. ‘The Islamists dug two holes where they put the man and the woman who lived maritally without being married,’ said a local official. ‘They were stoned to death.’