NIGER

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by the conflict in Mali, and it's only getting worse.

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal accused a Canadian citizen Monday of coordinating last week's raid on a desert gas plant. At least 37 hostages were killed in the battle.

Child soldiers can be bought for as little as £375 (about $600) in Islamist-controlled northern Mali.

At its height during the 1920s and 1930s, France’s global empire spread out across 4.9-million square miles.

French fighter jets bombed an Islamist rebel stronghold deep in northern Mali Sunday as France poured more troops into the capital Bamako.

French President Francois Hollande tightened home security Saturday as French forces continued to target Islamist militants in northern Mali to force al-Qaeda-linked groups out of their strongholds.

Just one day after announcing the iPhone 5 in 54 new countries, Apple released the iTunes Store in 56 countries around the world on Tuesday, including Russia, India and South Africa.

The European Union may send troops to Mali to train solders ahead of an African-led military offensive against insurgents.

Three children of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi have reportedly fled their safe haven in Algeria.

ECOWAS has agreed on a plan to send troops into northern Mali; it will now be reviewed by the UN Security Council.

Hundreds of girls below the age of 10 each year are forced into marriage in Iran, and the trend is experiencing a dramatic increase. This alarming statistics was accompanied by an official statement from the Iranian parliament's legal affairs committee that Iran will push to legalize marriage for girls of merely 9 years old.

Pirates attacked an oil tanker off the coast of Togo, taking control of its bridge and kidnapping 24 sailors before escaping amidst gunfire with a naval patrol boat on Tuesday.

The Nigerian government has announced 'back-channel' talks with terrorist group Boko Haram, but whether this will actually accomplish anything remains to be seen.

A global hike in food prices last month due to unfavorable weather conditions, compounded by exporting nations placing restrictions and importing nations stockpiling due to concerns over the grain price rally, could lead to a food crisis along the lines of the one that happened in 2007-08, the U.N.'s food agency warned Thursday.

Considering her South African roots and the many serious challenges facing the African Union today, Dlamini-Zuma will be under intense scrutiny in the coming weeks.

Tanzania is one of the poorest nations on earth, with one of the weakest health care systems.

Nigeria is one of the world's top oil producers, but the industry is controlled by the state and corruption at both the local and national level have halted most economic and social development.

According to the Economic and Social Research Institute's latest Perinatal Statistics Report, Ireland's birth rate increased nearly 30 percent over the past ten years, equating to about 17,000 more births in 2010 than ten years prior.

Arab racism against black people is deeply-rooted and stretches back centuries.

French President Francois Hollande said he would support a U.N. intervention in Mali over concerns that political instability in the country will turn it into a hotbed for terrorist activity.

Nigerian forces shot and killed at least 16 suspected Boko Haram militants during a firefight in the northern city of Maiduguri on Tuesday.