20120523
AP
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African President Jacob Zuma and his African National Congress sought a court order Tuesday to have a painting depicting the president's genitals removed from an art gallery but two men took matters into their own hands by defacing the portrait with gobs of paint.

20120523
AFP
On the road to Egypt's Djoser step pyramid at Saqqara there's not a trace of a tourist anywhere, and a handful of trinket and souvenir salesmen sit on a metal railing hoping for a lucky break.

20120523
AP
PORT LOUIS, Mauritius (AP) — Court officials in Mauritius say the trial of two men charged with murdering a honeymooning Irish woman is set to begin Tuesday.

20120523
AFP
Egypt's premier Kamal al-Ganzuri on Tuesday urged for calm during the country's first presidential election since a popular uprising, calling on political forces to accept the results of the historic vote.

20120522
AP
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A man tried to smuggle grenades and rifle ammunition into Nigeria's Information Ministry where ministers were attending a news conference Monday, witnesses and authorities said.

20120522
AFP
A Nigerian man said Monday that he helped carry out deadly attacks on April 29 at a university church service and admitted belonging to Islamist group Boko Haram in his confession to police.

20120522
AP
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Demonstrators forced their way into the office of Mali's interim president on Monday and attacked the elderly leader, who was later brought to a local hospital unconscious, a witness and an associate of the president said.

20120522
AFP
Sudan and South Sudan will this week set a date to restart face-to-face peace talks after bitter border conflict and the missing of a UN deadline, African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki said Monday.

20120522
AFP
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, the only person convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing which killed 270 people, was buried on Monday after he died of cancer protesting his innocence to the end.

20120522
AFP
A Mauritanian court has charged Moamer Kadhafi's ex-spy chief, arrested two months ago and the subject of several handover demands, with illegally entering the country, an official said Monday.

20120522
AP
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Demonstrators forced their way into the office of Mali's interim president on Monday and attacked the elderly leader, who was later brought to a local hospital unconscious, a witness and one of the president's collaborators said.

20120522
AFP
Zimbabwe's justice minister said Monday that reports of torture and violence against political activists were "lies", during a visit by UN rights chief Navi Pillay.

20120522
AFP
Classrooms have been burnt, reduced to piles of broken glass and shards of cement, but children and teachers remain, squeezing into the part of the building still standing for lessons.

20120522
AFP
Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi leads the race for Egypt's presidency among overseas voters, thanks to massive support from the expatriate community in Saudi Arabia, initial figures showed on Monday.

20120522
AFP
Four Kenyan soldiers were wounded Monday when a landmine exploded beneath their vehicle in the northeastern Mandera region bordering war-torn Somalia, police said.

20120522
AP
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's most famous township, Soweto, is getting its first state-of-the-art theater that could spark a theater revival in the area known for its apartheid-era works that exposed the horrors of racist rule.

20120522
AFP
They came out in droves united in their desire to overthrow Hosni Mubarak, but on the eve of Egypt's landmark presidential election, the youth that spearheaded that revolt are divided over how to keep it alive.

20120522
AFP
The leader of putschists who ousted Mali's president in March will retain the title of former head of state and all privileges coming with it, interim authorities and the West African ECOWAS bloc said.

20120521
AFP
Liberia has made considerable progress in the years since back-to-back civil wars devastated the nation and killed about 250,000 people, a UN Security Council delegation said Sunday.