Congo ruling party greenlights Sassou Nguesso presidential run

Congo Republic's ruling party on Monday officially designated incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso as its candidate for a March election, bringing the veteran leader one step closer to extending his decades-long rule. Sassou Nguesso has ruled the oil-rich Congo for 31 of the past 36 years in two separate stretches. The decision to back his candidacy, generally viewed as little more than a formality, was taken by members of the central committee of Sassou Nguesso's Congolese Party of Labour (