As the heavily armed Nigerian soldiers slipped closer to a suspected militant camp in the country's oil-rich southern delta, they were ready for a fight after suffering casualties only days earlier.

A gray-haired woman, her eyes sunken and unfocused from dehydration, stumbles up a dirt path slumped on the shoulder of a young man, heading to a rural clinic so overcrowded that plastic tarps have been strung up outside to shade dozens who can't fit inside.

Panicked Nigerians formed long lines at gas stations to stock up on fuel and diesel Tuesday as the second day of a seven-day strike by Nigeria's gas tanker drivers union took hold in Africa's top oil-producing country.

Mawethu Mguli and hundreds of other workers at the gold mine in Orkney have gone months without pay at a time when gold is going for around $1,400 an ounce.

Tut Gatyiel didn't have a choice when he fled his home in Southern Sudan as a boy because of civil war.

Haiti's election ended in discord Sunday, with nearly all the major presidential candidates calling for the vote to be voided over fraud and U.N. peacekeepers lamenting "numerous incidents that marred the elections."

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is buying a controlling stake in South Africa's Massmart in a 17 billion rand (approximately $2 billion) deal. The investment gives the world's biggest retailer a foothold in the country as it looks to accelerate growth beyond its U.S. business.

Pope Benedict XVI sought to "kick-start a debate" when he said some condom use may be justified, Vatican insiders say, raising hopes the church may be starting to back away from a complete ban that would allow condoms to play a role in the battle against AIDS.

Haitians angry over the cholera epidemic ignored exhortations from health workers to stop violence that is disrupting treatment efforts, and authorities feared more unrest in the capital Friday.

Anti-U.N. rioting fueled by cholera fears scaled down in northern Haiti on Wednesday, but a third demostrator was killed in clashes and small-scale demonstrations took to the streets of the capital.