Africa News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama honored a group of women Monday who have confronted Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and said they had defied a dictator. Full Story »

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The world's first permanent war crimes court opens its second trial on Tuesday when two Congolese warlords face charges they ordered subordinates to attack civilians, rape women and enlist child soldiers. Full Story »

NAIROBI, Kenya - The bullet hit mother and son as they walked through Somalia's capital. She felt a sharp pain in her palm. Then she saw her 8-year-old: The bullet tore through his cheekbones, nose and mouth. Blood gushed down to his waist. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Khartoum's U.N. envoy, rejecting a bleak U.N. assessment of the situation in Sudan's conflict-torn western Darfur region, said on Monday it was time for international peacekeepers to prepare to leave. Full Story »

LIBREVILLE (AFP) - Two French aid workers were kidnapped overnight by a gang of armed men in the northeast of Central African Republic, close to the border with Sudan, a Bangui diplomat in Sudan said Monday. Full Story »

ABUJA (AFP) - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua is due to travel to Saudi Arabia late Monday for a medical check-up, his office said. Full Story »

DUBLIN (AFP) - World champions South Africa on Monday put off naming the team to play Six Nations Grand Slam holders Ireland this Saturday in Dublin because of an injury crisis which forced them to cancel training. Full Story »

BRASILIA (AFP) - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday began a controversial visit to Brazil, the key leg of a tour to sympathetic Latin American and African countries he sees backing Tehran's vision of "a new world order." Full Story »

THE HAGUE (AFP) - Lawyers for two Congolese militiamen accused of seeking to wipe out a village blocking a strategic route in an ethnic war, on Monday welcomed start of their trial in The Hague this week as a step towards "the truth". Full Story »

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A Somali businessman says a ship hijacked by pirates off East Africa two weeks ago has been released. Full Story »

ASABA, Nigeria (AFP) - A judge failed to turn up to preside over a high-profile Nigerian corruption trial on Monday, causing the second postponement in the case in a month. Full Story »

KHARTOUM (AFP) - Sudan's National Electoral Commission said on Sunday it is giving people another week to register to vote in the country's first elections in 24 years, scheduled for April. Full Story »

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan on Sunday announced a six-day delay to long-awaited elections to make up for hold-ups in registering millions of voters in the oil-producing country. Full Story »

ALGIERS (AFP) - An Algiers court on Sunday cleared two men held at Guantanamo Bay for seven years, according to a legal source. Full Story »

BANJUL (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Gambia on Sunday for a 24-hour working visit aimed at fostering relations between the Islamic republic and the West African nation. Full Story »

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Two men who had been held for seven years in the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of belonging to an extremist group were acquitted in an Algerian court on Sunday, state media reported. Full Story »

CENTURION, South Africa (AFP) - Paul Collingwood, making a record 171st one-day appearance for England, hit a century, took two wickets and held a superb catch as England gained a comfortable seven-wicket win over South Africa in the second one-international at SuperSport Park on Sunday. Full Story »

CAIRO (Reuters) - Israel's president said on Sunday expanding Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank was a "marginal" issue blocking resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians. Full Story »