A security official in northeast Nigeria says soldiers have shelled suspected camps of armed groups in the region, killing at least 21 people. The official said on Friday that the fighting happened

The ailing 94-year-old, who served as South Africa’s first black president, was making a steady improvement and doctors were happy with his progress, President Jacob Zuma’s office said in a statement on

Australia has become the latest nation to warn its citizens against staying in the Libyan city of Benghazi in response to a “specific, imminent threat to Westerners”, linked to French action in

As protests continue in Pakistan, a government minister has offered a $100,000 bounty for the death of the maker of the anti-Islam film produced in the US that has sparked violent protests

Mali’s civil leaders are set to meet West African leaders in Burkina Faso amid moves to create a government of national unity to tackle a crisis in the country’s north, where Islamist

Chinese police have arrested 802 people on suspicion of child trafficking and rescued 181 children in a major operation spanning 15 provinces, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has said. The recent

With less than 24 hours before polls open for Libya

Some 2,000 people have joined a sit-in protest at Bamako’s Independence Square monument, calling for army intervention in the north where Islamists have enforced strict sharia law, destroyed ancient shrines and trapped

Officials in northern Nigeria’s Kaduna state have imposed a ban on movements following fresh rioting in two cities after a weekend of violence left at least 70 people dead. The unrest broke

Explosions have hit two churches in the northern Nigerian city of Zaria in the latest apparent attacks targeting Christian worshippers in the region, emergency services and residents said. It was not immediately

Libya’s government has sent troops to put an end to six days of clashes between rival armed groups in the west of the country. The fighting, which left least 16 people killed

A military court in Tunisia have sentenced toppled president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali to 20 years imprisonment in absentia on various charges including incitement to murder. Ben Ali, who is exiled

Two of the men accused of masterminding post-election violence in Kenya in 2007 will likely stand trial next March at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, prosecutors and lawyers have

The opposition All Basotho Convention (ABC) has taken an early lead in Lesotho’s fiercely fought general elections, winning the first eight constituencies that have been announced. All the constituencies were in urban

Mali’s embattled transitional government has rejected the declaration by an alliance of northern rebels of an independent Islamic Tuareg state. “The government of Mali categorically rejects the idea of the creation of

Tunisia will extradite former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s prime minister to Libya and the handover could take place in “days or weeks”, Tunisia’s Justice Minister Noureddine Bouheiri has said. A Tunisian court

Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president found guilty of perpetrating war crimes in neighbouring Sierra Leone, has accused prosecutors of paying and intimidating witnesses as a UN court heard arguments before his

Nigerian soldiers have arrested a suspected leading Boko Haram fighter in a raid in the northern state of Kano, a military spokesman and security sources said. Suleiman Mohammed was arrested on Friday

At least 41 people have been injured in clashes in Guinea between police and opposition protesters demanding long-delayed parliamentary elections. A total of 24 protesters were hurt in Thursday’s riots, including one

Malawi has devalued its currency, kwacha, by a third, and it will no longer be pegged to the US dollar. With Tuesday’s decision, the African nation has met an important demand of

Former Libyan revolutionaries demanding unpaid stipends have attacked and surrounded the headquarters of the interim government, witnesses say. The attack took place on Tuesday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Judges from the International Criminal Court will decide where Saif al-Islam, the son of the slain Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, will face trial, the court’s prosecutor has said. Luis Moreno-Ocampo said on

Leaders of Guinea-Bissau’s military coup have set conditions for the formation of a “unity government”, a day after seizing control of the country’s capital amid international condemnation. The coup’s leaders announced on

South Sudan says its soldiers have retained control of a key town in the oil-producing border region of Heglig despite clashes with Sudanese forces. Philip Aguer, a spokesman for South Sudan’s military,

Ahmed Ben Bella, Algeria’s first president and one of the leading figures in its independence struggle against France, has died at the age of 95. Ben Bella, whose death comes just weeks

Sudan has withdrawn from African Union-mediated talks with South Sudan, according to state radio,

Bingu wa Mutharika, the president of Malawi, has been hospitalised and is in critical condition, a minister and officials have said. The Reuters news agency reported chaotic scenes as the 78-year-old leader’s