UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will not take part in crunch talks next week between Russian and US officials on a long-delayed Syria peace conference, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday congratulated Mali’s new leader Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on his election victory and vowed to work with him as the country emerges from months of conflict.

Religious parties in Egypt like that of ousted President Mohamed Morsy’s party may face dissolution while the ban on deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak’s party could be revoked under a proposed new constitution that seeks to overhaul the country’s political system.