French special forces and local troops raided an army base Friday in northern Niger, ending a hostage seizure by Islamist fighters who had staged twin suicide bombings that killed at least 20 people. The dawn raid came after Signatories in Blood, a jihadist group that claimed Thursday's blasts, threatened to  more...

Almost three years after an uprising fuelled by the old regime's venality, Egypt's cash-strapped Islamist government is making amends with businessmen who offer to pay their way back into the fold. The presidency, strapped to a free falling economy, has said it encourages reconciliation with the businessmen.  more...

The government of Burkina Faso has authorized the expansion of the Mana gold mine run in the "Boucle du Mouhoun" region, located some 250km west of Ouagadougou, the Ministry of Mines announced here on Friday.The Council of ministers on Wednesday adopted a decree on the expansion of the geographical area of  more...

The Pakistan government Friday repeated its view that US drone strikes in its territory were illegal, after President Barack Obama laid out new guidelines for their use. The US president mounted a firm defence of his covert drone war as legal and just in a major speech on counterterrorism policy on Thursday  more...

Hackers cracked into the website of South Africa's police and downloaded information that could leave whistleblowers vulnerable, police and a government data agency said Wednesday. State Information Technology Agency (Sita), which hosts all of the government's websites, said that last week the hackers  more...