Under the glare of the Saharan sun, a U.S. special forces trainer corrects the aim of a Chadian soldier as he takes cover behind a Toyota pick-up and fires at a target with his AK47 -- a drill that could soon save his life.
Abderrahmane Sissako, the director of Mauritania's Oscar-nominated film "Timbuktu," says in a matter-of-fact tone reminiscent of his sober drama that his task was simply an exercise in humanizing harsh life under radical Islam.
Ninety-year-old Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, one of Africa's most divisive figures, ascended to the rotating chairmanship of the African Union (AU) on Friday, casting a shadow over the continental body's relations with the West.
The militant Islamic State group, which holds territory in Iraq and Syria, issued a video online on Tuesday purporting to show two Japanese captives and demanding $200 million from the Japanese government to save their lives.
