Every week, we bring you some of the most interesting stories from around Africa. Here are the five you need to know this week.
In a country obsessed with its premier sport, Egypt's football season opens Saturday to heavy anticipation -- but without any fans in the stands.
French President Francois Hollande arrived in Mali on Saturday, where his nation's troops are battling Islamist militants alongside African forces.
French President Francois Hollande will travel to Mali on Saturday, where his nation's troops are battling Islamist militants alongside African forces.
For 30 years Peggy Bartels was a secretary in the U.S. -- until she was asked to take over from her uncle as king of a Ghanaian village.
The Malian president announced plans to hold elections by July as the nation gains ground in its French-led battle against Islamist militants.
An Islamist party that had supported the Egyptian president met with a prominent opposition group Wednesday to talk about a solution.
In a blow to militants, the French military said Wednesday it has seized the airport in Kidal, the last major town under rebel control in northern Mali.
A Kenyan wildlife reserve is to deploy drones to track poachers who are slaughtering its endangered animals.
The turmoil dividing Egypt could spell the demise of a country that had just recently celebrated hopes of a democratic future, the defense minister said.
Torrential rains sent rivers raging through towns in Mozambique, ripping up homes and killing at least 36 people over the past few days.
French-led troops in Mali now control the city of Timbuktu, the city of Gao and the area in between once held by Islamist militants.
Sexual violence against female protestors at Cairo's Tahrir Square appears to be increasing, an activist group devoted to end such assaults said Tuesday.
A suicide bomber detonated explosives outside the office of Somalian Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon on Tuesday, his spokesman said.
Bilal Bettamer is a 23-year-old student who wants to save Benghazi from those he calls "extremely dangerous people." But his campaign against the criminal and extremist groups that plague the city has put his life at risk, and he says that if he receives more threats, he will have to leave Libya.
Anti-government protesters defied Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy's curfew order in cities along the Suez Canal and clashed with police and troops in restive Port Said, state-run news outlets reported early Tuesday.
French-led troops in Mali have seized control of the airport in Timbuktu from Islamist militants and are fighting their way into the city center.
As the violence escalates in Mali UNESCO has called for the protection of the ancient city of Timbuktu.
The United States is intensifying its involvement in Mali, where local and French forces are battling Islamic militants.
Egypt's security forces regained control Sunday of a vital northeastern port city
What's behind the latest wave of violence in Egypt?
A punishing Egyptian court ruling tied to a soccer riot spurred clashes that left at least 30 people dead Saturday, an official said.
Malian soldiers have carried out summary executions as they seek to drive back Islamist militants in the north, a human rights group claimed Thursday.
Streets in Egypt were again roiled by deadly clashes between police and protesters Friday, with four people reported killed.
Malian security forces made their deepest gains yet into territory controlled by Islamist militants, taking control of Hombori, a military official told CNN.
Here's an in-depth look at the life of Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
While the French-led operation to flush out militants in Mali has dominated coverage, news from across the continent certainly hasn't stopped. Five stories you may have missed this week:
Somewhere in the Sahara, a group of men in camouflage show off their collection of 4x4 vehicles and pickup trucks mounted with machine guns. They are members of the 'Movement of the Sons of the Sahara for Islamic Justice", under the command of Mohamed Lamine Bencheneb.
A threat targeting the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi has allegedly surfaced after last week's bloody hostage crisis in neighboring Algeria.
There's no shortage of harrowing stories of life under Islamist militants in northern Mali. Public floggings for smoking cigarettes. Broken limbs. Broken hearts.
The Pentagon released Friday an hour-by-hour timeline of the September 11 assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
International backing for French forces battling Islamist militants in Mali gathered momentum Tuesday, as U.S. military aircraft flew French troops and supplies.
Algerian special forces troops are holding their fire and hoping for a peaceful resolution -- to the hostage crisis at a remote gas field.
The Algerian military operation to end a deadly hostage crisis at a remote gas plant in Algeria is over, British and Norwegian officials said Saturday.
The hostage crisis in eastern Algeria is over, but the questions remain.
The terrorists who attacked an Algerian gas complex may have trained in jihadist camps across the border in southern Libya, sources say.
After a fiery end to an Algerian hostage standoff that transfixed the world, dramatic tales of escape trickled in, together with casualty numbers.
Just 10 days after he returned to the sprawling complex in In Amenas from a visit home, American Victor Lovelady was taken hostage in Algeria.
Just 10 days after he returned to the sprawling complex in In Amenas from a visit home, American Victor Lovelady was taken hostage in Algeria.
The attack in Algeria raises the alarming prospect that militants could turn parts of Africa into places too dangerous for Westerners.
Riders for Health is a group using motorbikes to deliver medicine to remote communities in rural Africa.
A wave of killings linked to occult rituals has triggered panic in Yaounde, the capital of the West African nation of Cameroon.
The Malian military gained control Monday of the central Mali town of Diabaly, a key advance in the battle against Islamist militants in the north.
The Malian military has gained control of the central town of Diabaly, a key advance in the battle against Islamist militants in the north.
Ugandan teen Phiona Mutesi grew up in one of the poorest spots on earth, but a chance meeting with a chess coach turned her into a rising chess star.
French and Malian forces squaring off with Islamist militants seized a key city from them Friday, a high-ranking French source told CNN.
While the French offensive to flush out Islamists in Mali dominated media coverage this week, news from other African nations hasn't stopped. Our Top 5
Islamists angry over Algeria's support for the French offensive in Mali attacked an Algerian gas field and took hostages, officials said.
Nearly two days after Islamist militants abducted hostages at a gas plant in Algeria, "activity" continues, a British official said.
Up to 5,000 people die each year on Lake Victoria, where sudden thunderstorms and treacherous waves are common.
Events in Mali are being watched with growing anxiety throughout West Africa.
The United States is navigating one tricky quandary in Mali: how does it aid counterterrorism efforts without violating its own policy?
Mali rebels are "well-equipped and well-trained" and still hold a key town, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Tuesday.
The French government has thrown down the gauntlet to the jihadists of Ansar Dine and their fellow travelers in Mali -- and insists its goal is nothing short of eradicating these militant groups.
International leaders are responding to an uprising of militants in Mali, hoping to inject stability in a country once hailed as a model for democracy in Africa.
Islamist militants had been saving one last blow to deal to France after its military conducted a bloody, unsuccessful hostage rescue attempt in Somalia Friday.
The U.S. military could provide logistical and intelligence support in the French effort against Islamist rebels in Mali, Defense Secretary Panetta said Monday.
Train cars full of Egyptian security recruits derailed and crashed in Giza on Tuesday, killing 19 and injuring 107, an official said.
A soldier missing in action since a failed attempt to rescue a French hostage in Somalia is most likely dead, France's defense minister said Monday.
Islamist militants gained ground in one Malian town on Monday even as government troops stepped up their offensive to wrest control from rebels.
Here's a look at the life of Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
A year after Nigeria's fuel protests, its "Occupy" movement could re-emerge at any time to take the country by storm, says Omoyele Sowore.
U.S. troops lent "limited technical support" in France's bloody, failed bid to rescue a hostage in Somalia, President Obama said Sunday.
Kenyan park rangers are hunting for a gang of poachers who they say killed eleven elephants and hacked off their tusks.
Nigeria's military says it has captured a leader of Boko Haram, the Islamic militant group blamed in the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
As a new round of French military strikes targeted Islamist rebels in Mali on Sunday, both sides of the fight said they were determined to win.
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is serving a life sentence for his role in the killings of peaceful protesters during the revolution that eventually deposed him, will get a new trial.
Gunmen targeted the car of the Italian consul general in Benghazi, Libya, on Saturday as he was leaving the consulate.
From the recovery of an ailing iconic leader, to an international military intervention, this big stories will echo in Africa and beyond.
A French pilot was killed in a raid in Mali, France's defense minister said Saturday, as French troops are sent to help combat Islamists.
A military operation to free a French hostage in Somalia failed, and the resulting battle left two French soldiers and 17 Islamists dead.
Here is a look at the life of Nelson Mandela, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of South Africa.
For the second time in four months, the Kenyan president Saturday rejected an attempt by lawmakers to award themselves a retirement bonus of $110,000 each and a series of other perks.
The Sudanese army said it killed more than 50 rebels during clashes in a state bordering neighboring South Sudan.
State military forces say they retook a town in northern Mali after intense fighting that included help from French military forces.
Rebels in the Central African Republic will be part of a unity government under that nation's embattled president, officials said Friday.
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.
A Cameroon appeals court overturned the sentence of two men found guilty of homosexuality because they wore women's clothing and makeup.
Revenge attacks targeting a village in southeast Kenya killed 10 people Thursday, including women and children, the nation's Red Cross said.
A man held by Tunisian authorities in connection with the deadly September attack on a U.S. consulate in Libya has been released, the state news agency reported.
Nigeria's former President Olusegun Obasanjo says more could be done to reach out to the militant Islamist group Boko Haram.
South African troops will head to the Central African Republic, where they'll work alongside that nation's military who are trying to quash a rebellion.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela has completed his recovery from a lung infection and gallstone surgery, a spokesman said Sunday.
The presidents of the two Sudans concluded talks Sunday to addressing outstanding oil and security issues after tensions between the two nearly led to a war.
Rebels attacked two towns Saturday in the Central African Republic even as government officials planned for peace talks next week, authorities said.
Egypt is reshuffling several of its Cabinet ministries with leaders it describes as "technocrats," state media said.
A grenade blast at a cafe in a refugee camp in Kenya killed two people and left five others wounded, the Kenyan Red Cross said Saturday.
Leaders of the two Sudans meet Friday to address economic, oil and security issues after tensions between the two nations nearly led to a return to war.
Bonobos are known for their peace-loving ways, but their very existence is threatened by conflict and deforestation.
Gunmen overran a police headquarters and a government building in northeastern Nigeria early Thursday, killing four, including two civilians, officials said.
Diplomats are meeting Thursday in Gabon for talks on a brewing crisis in the Central African Republic, following rebel advances.
Two U.N. peacekeepers have been freed in the Darfur region of Sudan more than four months after they were abducted while on patrol, the United Nations said.
UK theater producer David Cecil, charged in Uganda for a play he staged about challenges facing gay people, says the case against him has been dropped.
Ivory Coast's president has promised a swift investigation into the New Year's stampede that killed 60 people, mostly women and children.
Solar Sister is a network of women who sell solar lighting to communities that don't have access to electricity.
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