Rebels in the Central African Republic -- who took over numerous towns and threatened to overrun the capital -- will be part of a unity government under that nation's embattled president, a government spokesman said Friday.

French troops, on the ground and in the air in dusty and dangerous Mali, are taking the fight to radical Islamists there, French President Francois Hollande said Friday.

The retirement of the pirate leader Mohamed Abdi Hassan, also known as "Afweyne," has generated much media coverage, but the real significance of his announcement is the indication it gives of how Somalia's pirates currently view their business model. It appears that hijacking vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden is no longer seen as a relatively risk-free affair.

Kenyan legislators voted to give themselves send-off bonuses of $110,000 each despite the president's veto of their earlier attempt at another hefty payoff.

When artist Nadia Jelassi exhibited work in Tunis last year, she hoped the piece would prove a talking point.

London has become at top shopping destination for Nigerians, who are now among the city's biggest-spending shoppers.