LAGOS (Reuters) - The two main rivals in Nigeria's ruling party have locked horns over the country's dwindling oil savings and the state of its public finances, putting the economy back in the spotlight a week ahead of the primaries.
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt tightened security around churches on Thursday, the eve of Coptic Christmas, after a New Year's Day bombing killed up to 23 and sparked angry protests by Christians demanding more protection from Muslim militants.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Sudan still has not agreed to a U.N. plan to increase its peacekeeping force there by 20 percent, as the African nation heads into a referendum that could split it in two, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said on Thursday.
JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - Ibrahim Akasha sits outside his office in south Sudan's capital Juba -- one of hundreds of northerners who are dismissing fears of reprisals to stay and build on businesses in the region after its expected secession.
TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian police have arrested a rap singer who released a song critical of government policies as protests against President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's rule shook the North African nation, his brother said on Friday.
BAMAKO (Reuters) - At attack this week on France's embassy in Mali was probably the act of an isolated attention-seeker and there was no proof the assailant was linked to Sahara-based Islamist militants, Malian officials said.
SEOUL (Reuters) - The Group of 20 leading economies will discuss ways to tackle soaring food prices that are stoking fears of a repeat of the 2008 food crisis, as some Asian countries sought to reassure nervous consumers on Friday.
WARRI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's ruling party candidate is ahead in a rerun governorship election in the oil-producing Delta state, the electoral commission said on Friday, but his opponent expressed doubts about the conduct of the vote.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - When Meles Zenawi's rebels closed in on Addis Ababa in the early months of 1991, their biggest threat did not come from Mengistu Haile Mariam's army but from a potential breakup of Ethiopia.
ABIDAN/ACCRA (Reuters) - The president of Ghana said on Friday his country would not take sides in neighbouring Ivory Coast's power struggle and that force would not solve the problem, underscoring a rift in the region about how to resolve the crisis.
Maputo — The Mozambican fishing vessel, the "Vega 5", seized by Somali pirates last Friday, has been located in the Mozambique Channel heading north, and thus away from its home port of Beira.
Maputo — Three Mozambicans are among six people arrested in South Africa after the seizure of 312 kilos of cocaine, with an estimated street value of 316 million rands (47.7 million US dollars).
Addis Ababa — An Eritrean rebel group, Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO), has vowed to step up military attacks this year to overthrow the east African nation's government led by president Issayas Afeworki.
Nairobi — Mr Henry Kosgey faces a cumulative total of 120 years in jail if he is convicted on 12 charges of abuse of office filed in a Nairobi court on Tuesday.
Nouakchott — Six anti-slavery activists are in prison in Mauritania in a case rights experts say points to the challenges of ensuring a 2007 law criminalizing slavery is more than just words on paper.
The master minder of Zambia's 1997 attempted coup Captain Stephen Lungu, alias Captain Solo, has met Frederick Chiluba - the man whose government he wanted to overthrow and apologised. Captain Lungu was given a presidential pardon last Wednesday after serving 13 years in jail. He met former president Chiluba in Lusaka and begged for forgiveness.
Embattled Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo has agreed to negotiate a "peaceful end" to the ongoing crisis in his West African country without preconditions, regional leaders say. He has also agreed to lift a blockade around the temporary headquarters of his rival Alassane Ouattara, ECOWAS leaders said.
A delegation of African leaders from the ECOWAS failed to persuade incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast to stand down following disputed polls. The group made up of Presidents Boni Yayi of Benin, Pedro Pires of Cape Verde and Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone went to Ivory Coast on Monday to offer him an amnesty if he left.
A Kenyan Industrialization Minister Henry Kosgey named as one of six suspects accused of organizing the 2007-08 post-election violence by the International Criminal Court has resigned from active duty over corruption allegations.
