Barka! Ga abubuwan da ya kamata ka sani
NIGERIA/SHELL: Shell says it takes very seriously a new United Nations report on oil spill pollution that has devastated Nigeria's Ogoniland region.
WEST AFRICA/REFUGEE ASSIST: Bigger refugee camps are going up along Liberia's eastern border for more than 150,000 people who fled Ivory Coast's political crisis earlier this year. But many Ivorians want to stay in local villages with Liberians who were once refugees themselves.
LIBYA: The Libyan government is accusing NATO forces of killing dozens of civilians in a village near the western town of Zlitan.
BENIN/PIRACY: The shipping insurance industry has added Benin to a list of areas deemed “high risk” because of increasing piracy. Pirates recently hijacked several vessels in the Gulf of Guinea off Benin, including at least two oil tankers.
HORN OF AFRICA DROUGHT: The World Food Program says it is accelerating aid to the Horn of Africa, where it is trying to help 11.5 million people dealing with drought and famine in the region.
SOMALIA/AL-SHABAB: The Somali government has offered a general amnesty to insurgents in the capital, Mogadishu, following the withdrawal of the Islamist group al-Shabab.
COMOROS/BOAT ACCIDENT: Officials in Comoros say at least 30 people died when their boat sank off the Indian Ocean archipelago.
FAO FAMINE: The Food and Agriculture Organization says it is very concerned about the large numbers of people in drought-stricken Somalia who are moving away from their farms and going to refugee camps and other areas in search of food and other assistance. An official says FAO is looking for way sto keep these people from leaving their farms and migrating elsewhere.
OBAMA/DROUGHT: U.S. President Barack Obama has approved $105 million in new drought and famine aid to East Africa. The White House says the United States will continue to help those who desperately need food, shelter, water and medicine.
ZAMBIA/BANDA: A Zambian activist says it is unlikely the main opposition Patriotic Front (PF) party will succeed in its legal challenge seeking to prevent President Rupiah Banda from seeking re-election in September.
