• NH jury chosen in Rwanda genocide case (AP)
    AP - The trial of a New Hampshire woman charged with lying about her role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide is expected to transport jurors back almost 18 years to a roadblock outside a family owned hotel in Butare where prosecutors say the defendant decided who would live and who would die.
  • Witness: Explosions rock northern Nigeria city (AP)

    Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, center, arrives at the airport in Dakar, Senegal Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012. Obasanjo arrived in Senegal on Tuesday to try to mediate a solution to the country's political impasse, less than a week before a contentious presidential election takes place. In the hour before his arrival, police once again fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators as they took to the streets and set fire to tires in a show of anger over the candidacy of the country's 85-year-old leader Abdoulaye Wade.(AP Photo/Tanya Bindra)AP - Multiple explosions rocked a highway checkpoint in Nigeria's second-largest city, witnesses said Wednesday, just over a month after a radical Islamist sect claimed an attack there that left at least 185 people dead.


  • British man gets probation in KBR bribery scheme (AP)
    AP - A British man has been sentenced to probation for helping a former Halliburton Co. subsidiary steer massive bribes to Nigerian officials to win more than $6 billion in construction contracts.
  • Judge to rule on Mubarak case on June 2 (Reuters)
    Reuters - The verdict in the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, charged with ordering the killing of protesters in the uprising that swept him from power, will be delivered on June 2, the judge said on Wednesday.
  • UN votes to increase African force in Somalia (AP)

    A team from the guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey approach two Yemeni dhows intercepted during routine maritime security operations in the Gulf of Aden February 21, 2012, in this handout supplied by the U.S. Navy February 22, 2012. Halsey is the flagship for Combined Task Force 151, a multinational, mission-based task force working under Combined Maritime Forces, to conduct counter-piracy operations in the Southern Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Somali Basin, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. REUTERS/MCS 1st class Krishna Jackson/U.S. Navy/Handout (GULF OF ADEN - Tags: MILITARY CIVIL UNREST) NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTSAP - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to authorize an increase in the African Union force in Somalia from 12,000 to about 17,700 and expand its areas of operation in an effort to intensify pressure on al-Shabab militants who recently joined al-Qaida.


  • Witness describes attempt on exiled Rwandan (AP)
    AP - Days before an exiled Rwandan army general was shot and wounded in South Africa, two of the men charged in the shooting were plotting another attempt on his life, a witness testified Wednesday.
  • US troops now in 4 African countries to fight LRA (AP)
    AP - U.S. troops helping in the fight against a brutal rebel group called the Lord's Resistance Army are now deployed in four Central African countries, the top U.S. special operations commander for Africa said Wednesday.
  • Leaders meet in UK over fragile Somalia's future (AP)

    Seen through the ruins of a building damaged during a previous conflict, Kenyan army soldiers patrol in Tabda, inside Somalia, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012. Kenya's military crossed the border into Somalia in an offensive against Somali militant group al-Shabab in October after Somali gunmen carried out several kidnappings in Kenya, and al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri announced a merger between al-Shabab with al-Qaida in early February. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)AP - Somalia's fragile leadership, its neighbors and international allies are meeting in London in the hope of speeding the troubled east African nation's progress toward a stable government and containing the threat from Islamic militants who some fear could export terrorism to Europe and the United States.


  • Libya court orders civil trial for Gaddafi "loyalists" (Reuters)
    Reuters - A Libyan military court ruled on Wednesday that 50 people accused of fighting for Muammar Gaddafi and helping a mass jail break by alleged supporters of the deposed leader should be freed and tried instead in a civilian court.
  • Fire at Egypt oil refinery kills 4 workers (AP)
    AP - The director of an oil refinery says four of his Egyptian workers died as they tried to put out a huge fire that erupted at the plant's complex in the port city of Suez.
  • Gunshots, explosions heard in Nigeria's Kano (Reuters)
    Reuters - Gunshots and explosions rang out early Wednesday in Nigeria's biggest northern city Kano, local residents said, in a region beset by violence by Islamist sect Boko Haram.
  • UN: W. Africa cocaine trade generates $900M a year (AP)
    AP - The U.N. agency that fights drugs and crime estimated that cocaine trafficking is generating some $900 million annually in West and Central Africa as South American cartels use the shortest route to transport drugs to Europe.
  • Shell: Nigeria can produce 4M barrels of oil a day (AP)
    AP - Nigeria could produce as much as 4 million barrels of oil a day, but production remains held back by chronic problems with the nation's government and the rampant theft of crude from pipelines, a top official with Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Tuesday.
  • Exclusive: Algeria to allow foreign NGOs to monitor vote (Reuters)
    Reuters - Election observers from U.S. non-governmental organizations the Carter Center and the National Democratic Institute will for the first time be able to monitor a parliamentary election in Algeria later this year, the interior minister said on Tuesday.
  • Ex-Nigerian leader in Senegal to mediate (AP)

    Anti-government protesters and bystanders flee as riot police chase them down a main boulevard in central Dakar, Senegal, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in Senegal Tuesday to mediate the country's political standoff, while police once again fired tear gas to disperse rock-throwing protesters in the capital. Demonstrators are calling for the departure of 85-year-old President Abdoulaye Wade, who has defied calls to step down and is instead running for a third term in this weekend's election.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)AP - Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in Senegal on Tuesday to try to mediate a solution to the country's political impasse less than a week before a contentious presidential election takes place.


  • Greece says Libyan embassy hands over arms cache (AP)
    AP - Greek police say Libyan embassy officials in Athens have handed over a large weapons and explosives cache, following instructions from the Libyan government.
  • Zimbabwe's Mugabe turns 88, vowing to cling to power (Reuters)
    Reuters - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe turned 88 on Tuesday, vowing to stay in power despite grumbling inside his party that he should hand over to a younger leader, and international condemnation of his economic and human rights record.
  • Zimbabwe's president says mediator can be fired (AP)
    AP - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said Monday that he reserves the right to disregard efforts by South African President Jacob Zuma to mediate disputes in the nation's troubled coalition government.
  • Libyans queue for first vote in battle-hit Misrata (Reuters)
    Reuters - People from Libya's battle-scarred city of Misrata queued up to vote in their first free election Monday, hoping to set a standard for the rest of the country as it prepares for national polls in June after the war that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi.
  • Libyans cheer return of international matches (Reuters)
    Reuters - Libyan soccer fans of all ages came out to cheer the first international matches played in the North African country since the conflict that ousted Muammar Gaddafi amid hope Monday's games would be the start of many more to come.