NIGER

The recent abductions have likely been carried out by the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Nigerian politicians are funding members of a radical Islamist sect responsible for dozens of shootings and bombings this year in the north and capital of Africa's most populous nation, the state security service (SSS) said on Monday.

Libya's prime minister-designate said on Monday he was ready to name a government to steer the country to its first fully democratic elections but gave no details of a line-up that may involve a delicate power balance in a fragile new state.

Moammar Gadhafi information minister Abdullah al-Senoussi was captured alive by Libyan fighters in the south on the country on Sunday.

Moammar Gadhafi's brother-in-law and spy chief, Abdullah al-Sanussi, was captured Sunday near the city of Sabha in the southern Libya desert after being on the run for around three months, the new government said.

As Libyan's celebrate Saif al-Islam's Friday capture, it brings to mind the question of what happened to all of Gaddafi's children.

Saif al-Islam, the wanted son of deceased Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi, has been detained, along with several of his bodyguards, in the southern desert near Obari, Libya's interim justice minister and other officials confirmed Saturday.

Libya's National Transitional Council is furious that Niger offered amnesty to Moammar Gadhafi's son Saadi Gadhafi.

One of al Qaeda's commanders in the Sahara has said the group profited from the Libyan conflict by securing weapons and he called on Islamists in Libya not to disarm.

A violent Islamist sect responsible for scores of killings in northeast Nigeria is increasingly linking up with global jihadist movements like al Qaeda, a military commander in the area told Reuters on Monday.

Human rights group urges Shell to pay $1 billion for the clean up of two oil spills that date back to 2008. Company says continuing sabotage undermines clean-up efforts.

Fire broke out on Wednesday on the Okordia/Rumuekpe oil pipeline in Nigeria and some production has been shut down, but the blaze has since been put out, a spokesman for operator Royal Dutch Shell said.

Niger's army has clashed with a heavily armed convoy of vehicles that entered its territory from Libya, killing 13 in the convoy and suffering one casualty on its side, military sources in the West African country said on Wednesday.

A Tunisian court ruled on Tuesday that the man who served as prime minister under Libya's former leader Muammar Gaddafi should be extradited to Libya.

The allegations of sexual harassment against Herman Cain, the Republican presidential frontrunner, have taken a 'racist' turn all of a sudden. It doesn't seem to matter that conservatives have always denied any forms of institutional racism to have any influence today.

The International Criminal Court is still receiving information that Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam may try to flee Libya with the help of mercenaries, the court's chief prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Moammar Gadhafi's son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi is thought to hiding in the Sahara Desert, where he could potentially remain undetected for months.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi will not escape justice and should be tried in Libya for murder, corruption and many things before an international court questions him, the country's interim justice minister said on Monday.

A number of Tuareg have reportedly fled Libya for Mali and Niger and other nations since the Libyan rebels deposed Gaddafi.

The International Criminal Court said on Saturday Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was in contact through intermediaries about surrendering for trial, but it also had information mercenaries were trying to spirit him to a friendly African nation.

By Monday, a mother will give birth to the seven billionth human living on Earth, experts predict.