Violence flares in Guinea as voters cast ballots in contentious referendum

Voters in the West African state of Guinea began casting their ballots on Sunday in a bitterly-disputed referendum that critics say is a ploy by President Alpha Conde to stay in power, and that was almost immediately marred by sporadic violence. Conde, who became the West African country's first democratically elected president in 2010, is proposing a change to the constitution to codify gender equality and introduce other social reforms. But his opponents fear the real motive is to reset presidential term limits, allowing Conde, 82, to run for a third spell in office later this year -- a scenario that his government has not discounted. Shortly after voting began at 0800 GMT, young...