20120519 AFP Somali fisherman pleaded Friday for international navies protecting shipping to halt air strikes on coastal villages, after the EU Naval Force struck a pirate base for the first time.

20120519 AFP South African exports to Europe and other developed countries remain below their 2008 peaks while trade with emerging economies has boomed, trade minister Rob Davies said Friday.

20120519 AFP Sierra Leone's transport minister said Friday that relatives of 19 Togolese football fans who died in a helicopter crash in 2007, including Togo's sports minister, would receive compensation.

20120519 AP ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Rights groups are asking President Barack Obama to re-evaluate the U.S.-Ethiopia relationship over allegations the leader of the East African nation is becoming increasingly repressive.

20120519 AFP A portrait of President Jacob Zuma posing as Lenin with his genitals hanging out has sparked outrage in South Africa, but the gallery on Friday refused demands from the ruling ANC to take it down.

20120518 AFP Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood organised on Thursday a kilometres-long rally to support its candidate in next week's presidential election, displaying the potent network of activists it counts on to win.

20120518 AP YIDA, South Sudan (AP) — An unexploded bomb sticks out of the earth. Foxholes have been dug by aid workers fearing more airstrikes from Sudan. Streams of hungry refugees are pouring in.

20120518 AFP Morocco on Thursday said it had lost confidence in the United Nations' envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, claiming his work in the disputed region was "unbalanced and biased".

20120518 AFP Egyptian director Yousry Nasrallah, in Cannes with an Arab Spring drama, defiantly vowed Thursday that the Islamists jockeying for power back home would never succeed in stifling art.

20120518 AFP Bone-white sand squeaks beneath your feet, the curved beach framed by lush forested hills, empty but for a handful of expats and intrepid tourists who have got wind of Sierra Leone's raw beauty.