Africa

World News

Olympic Athlete Charged With Girlfriend's Murder

3:05am February 15, 2013

Oscar Pistorius has been charged with murder after his girlfriend was shot dead Thursday at his home in South Africa. Pistorius is the sprinter and double-amputee known as "Blade Runner."

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Pistorius In Custody After Girlfriend's Death

3:05am February 15, 2013

A woman was shot and killed Thursday at the home of South African Olympic and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius. Police tell South African news outlets that Pistorius is the only suspect.

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A typical Nigerian film market in Lagos. Though physical distribution of Nollywood films is booming, the digital market has also grown, thanks to a plugged-in African diaspora.

Hooray For Nollywood: Nigerian Distributor Casts Wide Net Online

5:56pm February 14, 2013

by Wills Glasspiegel

Although access to the Web is still limited in many parts of Africa, "Nollywood" films — movies produced in Nigeria — are booming on the Internet. Startup iROKOtv is a part of that boom, and their audience is a global one.

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Tunisian soldiers stand guard as a woman holds up a poster featuring opposition leader Chokri Belaid during his funeral procession in a suburb of Tunis on Feb. 8. Belaid's assassination has laid bare the political rifts in post-revolutionary Tunisia.

World News

A Murder Deepens Tunisia's Political Crisis

6:24am February 13, 2013

by Eleanor Beardsley

The killing of Chokri Belaid, a prominent politician and human rights activist, is pitting Tunisians against each other. Just two years after overthrowing a dictator, Tunisians are increasingly divided over their government and the country's future.

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African Forces Succeed Against Islamists In Somalia

3:07pm February 07, 2013

French forces helped Mali push Islamist militants from that West African nation's north, and now they want to leave and hand over peacekeeping duties to an African force. Somalia, on the continent's east, has been guarded by an East African force since 2007, and is now experiencing a period of calm unprecedented in the past two decades.

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World News

Tunisian Opposition Leader's Slaying Prompts Protests

10:51am February 06, 2013

Thousands of Tunisians are protesting in the streets after the assassination of opposition leader Chokri Belaid, a critic of the moderate Islamist group that dominates the country's government. Steve Inskeep talks with Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Institution's Doha Center.

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U.S. May Build Base For Drones In Northwest Africa

2:29pm February 04, 2013

The United States is looking to base surveillance drones in the African nation of Niger. The base there will allow the U.S. unmanned vehicles to conduct operations in northern Africa, including in Mali, where France has intervened to fight Islamist militants. Tom Bowman talks to Melissa Block about the latest on the increasing U.S. military role in Africa.

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An Egyptian man delivering bread rides through Cairo's Tahrir Square last year. Couriers are taking great risks as they work around Egypt's capital.

World News

Dodging Clashes, Cairo's Deliverymen Take Big Risks

10:14pm February 02, 2013

by Merrit Kennedy

In Cairo you can get just about anything delivered at almost any hour of the night. Have the flu? You can order vitamin C and meds from the pharmacy at 2 a.m. One deliveryman has been dodging tear gas and clashes to get Lebanese takeout to people's doors.

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Tunisia's Salafis: 'A Danger' Or Preachers Of God's Law?

8:36am January 29, 2013

by Leila Fadel

Critics call the country's Salafis a threat to the ideals of economic prosperity, civil liberties and gender equality. The Salafis insist that only their rigid interpretation of Islamic law can govern Muslims. Their stand puts Tunisia's moderate Islamist leaders in a difficult position.

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Timbuktu Freed From Islamist Fighters

8:36am January 29, 2013

by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

In the West African nation of Mali, residents of Timbuktu were cheering in the streets Monday, after the city was liberated by French and Malian forces after months under the harsh rule of Islamist fighters. In a final act of cultural warfare before fleeing Timbuktu, the rebels are reported to have set fire to libraries housing priceless manuscripts.

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