Africa | featured news

Months after rebels brought down the extravagant dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi, the disarray in Libya's state finances at the end of last year was so bad the new leadership did not know the size of state assets, how their money was being spent, or what had happened to more than $2 billion transferred from the sovereign wealth fund.

At a dusty intersection just north of Bentiu, three young South Sudanese soldiers were waiting for a lift to the frontlines. "We are in a process leading to war," said 24-year-old Moses Akon, thoughtfully. Trucks and pick-ups crammed with troop reinforcements, weapons, and a surprising amount of beer - crates of Red Horse beer to be precise - raced past.

A Southland woman and the Zambian boy she sponsored kept in touch for eight years. When the charity group that matched them moved on, their communication was severed — but their bond was not. Laurie Tragen-Boykoff rocks on her feet, holding on to a large sign, her hands trembling. The international arrivals ramp at LAX is empty, but that only fuels her anticipation.

Gunmen killed at least 15 people and wounded many more in an attack on a university theater being used by Christian worshippers in Nigeria's northern city of Kano on Sunday, a witness said.

The president of Sudan declared a state of emergency Sunday for cities along the hotly contested border with South Sudan, where Sudanese fighter jets launched at least one attack against their neighbor's ground forces.

A war crimes court's verdict sends a message to other warlords, but it also could hinder peace negotiations, analysts say. The litany of abuses was chilling: mass murder, rape, sexual slavery. Forcing children to fight.

Egypt's election commission has released a final list of 13 candidates eligible to run in next month's presidential elections.

An Internet campaign that's gone viral aims to capture notorious rebel leader Joseph Kony, but Ugandan foot soldiers who have spent years searching for the man are starting to ask a question their top commanders prefer to ignore: Is it possible he is dead?

South Sudan President Salva Kiir said Tuesday that Sudan had declared war on his newly-independent country, following weeks of border fighting between the two countries.