WASHINGTON (AP) — In a reversal of the usual worries about political influence on electoral map-making, the Supreme Court is being asked to let raw politics play an even bigger role in the drawing of congressional district boundaries.

By Ahmed Tolba and Shadi Bushra CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's main election committee said on Sunday it was working on a new timetable for a long-awaited parliamentary poll after a court ruled that an article in a law defining voting districts was unconstitutional. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi directed his government to amend the article within one month. Setting a new timetable is a move that looks set to delay the vote, which was due to start on March 22 and is the final step in a political roadmap the army announced in July 2013. Egypt has been without a parliament since June 2012 when a court dissolved the democratically elected main chamber, reversing a major accomplishment of the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

By Patrick Markey ALGIERS (Reuters) - Mali's government signed a preliminary peace deal on Sunday meant to end fighting with northern separatists, but the Tuareg-led rebels asked for more time for consultations before agreeing to the accord. The United Nations-brokered deal seeks to tackle decades of uprisings and instability in northern Mali, where Western and regional powers worry Islamist militants could return two years after French military intervention drove them out. "It is nevertheless a decisive step towards peace and reconciliation." Tuareg and Arab rebel groups, including the main groups, the MNLA and MAA, were at the signing ceremony in Algiers and said they would continue with dialogue and talk with their supporters in Mali. Rebels had said the agreement, which is due to be formally signed in Mali later this month, did not fully address their political demands for the region they call Azawad.