Algeria hostage death toll rises to 37

CAIRO — Islamic militants who seized hundreds of hostages were "wild with their demands," forcing the Algerian military to act quickly...

In video, Al Qaeda agent takes responsibility for Algeria attack

CAIRO — An Al Qaeda operative known as the "Uncatchable" has claimed responsibility for the attack on an Algerian gas complex that led...

After 'final assault' in Algeria, details are slow to emerge

CAIRO — It was a bloody ordeal with tick-tock drama and a watching world.

At least one American dead in Algeria chaos

CAIRO — One American was dead and dozens of foreign hostages were unaccounted for Friday after a military raid in the Sahara desert to...

Mali conflict exposes White House-Pentagon split

WASHINGTON — The widening war in Mali has opened divisions between the White House and the Pentagon over the danger posed by a mix...

Mali moves to keep militants out of another town; EU mission OKd

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Malian government forces Thursday reportedly pressed to keep Al Qaeda-linked militants out of the village...

Algeria raid puts a lawless region in the spotlight

CAIRO — The offensive by Algerian soldiers to free hostages at a natural gas complex has refocused world attention on the dangers of a...

Americans among hostages after militants seize Algerian gas field

CAIRO — Islamist militants seized a Western-run gas field in Algeria on Wednesday, reportedly taking as many as 41 hostages, including...

France boosts military presence in Mali

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — France boosted its troops in Mali on Tuesday as armored vehicles arrived in the capital, Bamako, as...

U.S. moves to bolster French military campaign in Mali

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is preparing to ferry hundreds of additional French troops to the North African country of Mali,...

Hosni Mubarak granted new trial in Egypt

CAIRO — Former President Hosni Mubarak was granted a new murder trial by an Egyptian appeals court Sunday, a ruling that threatens...

France airstrikes in Mali repel Al Qaeda-linked militants

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — French airstrikes in Mali turned back Al Qaeda-linked militants who recently began moving south after...

Egypt Cabinet reshuffled as economic concerns mount

CAIRO — President Mohamed Morsi replaced Egypt's finance and interior ministers Sunday in a Cabinet reshuffle aimed at calming growing...

South Africa dangerous roads claim life of Olympic mountain biker

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Like fatalities in a savage little war, the casualties on South Africa's roads during the December-...

Education experts lament South Africa test results

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — They were the first "born free" generation, children whose births in 1994 marked the year that South...

Israel completes most of Egypt border fence

JERUSALEM — Two years after construction began, Israel has finished the bulk of the work on a fence along its border with Egypt.

In Egypt, young revolutionaries feeling despair

CAIRO — Many of Egypt's twentysomething generation, hungry for a just society and economic opportunities, say they see themselves as...

Bicyclists hard to come by in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — When Mickey Mampe needs to charge her cellphone, she jumps on her bicycle and rides 25 miles in the dry,...

Young Ugandan orphan treated at L.A. burn center

Adolf Baguma's caretakers at the orphanage call him their Christmas gift, because it was on Christmas two years ago when they found the 9-...

Egypt opposition accuses Islamists of fraud in referendum

CAIRO — Egypt's opposition on Sunday charged that fraud was committed during a referendum on the nation's Islamist-backed...

U.N. force in Congo, MONUSCO, criticized as ineffective

GOMA, Congo — These days, the U.N. force deployed to protect the city's population from rampant militias is not particularly popular.

Egypt voters appear to approve new constitution

CAIRO — President Mohamed Morsi apparently secured a victory at the polls Saturday for a new Egyptian constitution, locking the...

GOP lawmakers challenge plan to correct diplomatic security flaws

WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans on Thursday challenged the Obama administration's plan for correcting flaws exposed by the...

U.S. under pressure over Rwanda involvement in Congo fighting

GOMA, Congo — It was not the bullet lodged in the officer's gut, or the botched operation he'd had in a field hospital, that made...

4 State Department officials quit after report on Benghazi attack

WASHINGTON — Four senior State Department officials resigned under pressure Wednesday after an independent review board determined...

South African President Jacob Zuma retains ANC leadership

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa — President Jacob Zuma, who has come under criticism as an ineffective leader of South Africa, was...

U.S. panel delivers report assessing blame for Benghazi attack

WASHINGTON — A high-level State Department investigative panel turned over a secret report Monday assessing blame for the deadly...

Egypt's new prosecutor resigns amid judicial feud with president

CAIRO — Egypt's public prosecutor, appointed by President Mohamed Morsi last month, resigned from his post Monday amid ongoing tension...

Egypt voters appear to approve draft constitution in 1st round

CAIRO –- Approval of Egypt's controversial draft constitution in an initial round of voting revealed the grass-roots power of...

South Africa's president defends his record

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa — Defending his government's record and calling for an end to corruption, South African President Jacob...

Ugandan chess star tells her story to youths in Valencia

Phiona Mutesi's journey from a Ugandan slum to the world stage as champion chess player was inspired by hunger.

Egypt votes in divisive referendum on constitution

CAIRO — Egyptians began voting Saturday on a constitution that sharpens divisions between Islamists and secularists and intensifies...

Susan Rice withdraws name from running for secretary of State

WASHINGTON — President Obama dropped embattled United Nations envoy Susan Rice from consideration as his next secretary of State,...

Egypt opposition group urges 'no' vote on draft constitution

CAIRO — Egypt's leading opposition group urged its followers Wednesday to vote against an Islamist-inspired draft constitution, ending...

Tobacco companies see Africa as fertile ground

DIEPSLOOT, South Africa — On the sunny side of a dusty township street, next to the metal gates of a school, Lucas Moyana's little...

Egypt's proposed constitution spurs competing protests

CAIRO — Egypt's volatile political fault lines were shaken Tuesday as rival protests echoed across the capital over the fate of a...

South Africa President Zuma to face leadership challenge

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- South Africa President Jacob Zuma, the controversial leader facing intense criticism for a $30-million...

In Egypt, Tahrir Square awash again in revolutionary fervor

CAIRO — Knots of men argue politics, barefoot boys grip stones, graffiti blooms, banners unfurl and wind whistles through the tents of...

Egypt opposition groups reject Morsi's overture

CAIRO — Egypt's main opposition groups rejected President Mohamed Morsi's weekend move to ease political tensions as the country...

Eastern Congo rebels thrive on fear, chaos

Los Angeles Times

Morsi refuses to cancel Egypt's vote on constitution

CAIRO — With tanks guarding his palace and officials defecting from his government, besieged Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on...

Egypt protesters demand that Mohamed Morsi step down

CAIRO — Tens of thousands of Egyptians broke through barbed wire and marched to the presidential palace Friday demanding that...

Plan for military intervention in Mali stalls

WASHINGTON — Plans for an international military intervention in the West African nation of Mali, where Islamists loyal to Al Qaeda...

Egyptians take protest to palace gates

CAIRO — Tens of thousands of protesters angered by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's expanded powers and a much-criticized proposed...

In Egypt, Islamists and opposition clash in street battles

CAIRO — Anger between Egypt's rival political camps erupted into street battles Wednesday after Islamist supporters of President...

Egypt's Supreme Judicial Council to oversee vote on draft charter

CAIRO — Egypt's Supreme Judicial Council agreed Monday to oversee a national referendum on the country's draft constitution, a move...

Egypt court postpones ruling as protesters mass at chambers

CAIRO — Egypt's highest court Sunday postponed ruling on the legitimacy of the constitutional assembly after judges accused Islamist...

Congo M23 rebels withdraw from strategic city of Goma

GOMA, Congo — The rebels' truck rounded the corner at breakneck speed and skidded onto the  wrong side of a pitted bush road,...

Power struggle paralyzes South Africa's ruling ANC party

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Political analyst Mark Gevisser described South African President Jacob Zuma's term in one word:...

Los Angeles Children's Chorus' voices reach 'round the world

GEORGE, South Africa — It's 5 p.m., and the Los Angeles Children's Chorus has only just arrived here. They're late, delayed by a...

At consulate in Libya, a model diplomat is lost

WASHINGTON — J. Christopher Stevens was in many ways the model American diplomat, committed, idealistic, willing to take risks and...

Egypt's Morsi reverses most of decree that expanded his powers

CAIRO — In a political reversal to calm weeks of unrest, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi early Sunday rescinded much of last month&...

John Atta Mills dies at 68; president of Ghana

JOHANNESBURG — Ghanaian President John Atta Mills, who vowed that the nation's oil reserves would be used for the good of the people,...

South Africa teens often become moms

MAVELA, South Africa — Her grandmother was an alcoholic and her mother was a prostitute, strangled by a client. The child of another...