Thousands of Nigerians are fleeing the north-eastern city of Maiduguri following a spate of recent attacks, which have killed at least 40 people.

Some of those leaving are students after the university was closed.

The first new distribution of aid has begun in Mogadishu since Somali Islamist group al-Shabab lifted its ban on aid workers last week.Two decades of conflict mean Somalia is the country worst affected by the Horn of Africa drought.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) gave out dried food such as maize to some of the thousands of people who have fled to the capital recently.

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir has said the disputed border region of Abyei is a source of potential conflict with newly independent South Sudan.

Abyei remains part of Sudan and the protocols governing it must be respected, Mr Bashir told the BBC a day after South Sudan's independence.

Japan is to conduct safety tests on all its nuclear reactors in the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima plant following the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.

Trade Minister Banri Kaieda said Japan's 54 reactors would undergo "stress tests" to determine how well they can withstand major disasters.

About 200 people drowned in the Red Sea when a boat carrying migrants to Saudi Arabia sank off Sudan's coast after catching fire, Sudanese media say.

Only three people have been rescued, according to the Sudanese Media Centre, a state-linked news agency.

Rival Sudanese forces have agreed to withdraw from the north-south border, ahead of the south's independence next week.

The deal agreed in Ethiopia comes after fighting in two border areas, Abyei and South Kordofan, which has forced some 170,000 people from their homes.

African Union Commission chief Jean Ping says France's decision to air-drop weapons to Libyan rebels is dangerous and puts the whole region at risk.

He told the BBC the action risked creating problems similar to those in war-torn Somalia.

Protests have broken out in the Senegalese capital Dakar and in the southern city of Mbour over continuing power shortages.

In Dakar, several government buildings were set on fire including the offices of the state electricity firm, Senelec.Security forces in Mbour fired tear gas to disperse thousands of demonstrators.

A medical crisis is looming in eastern Libya with hospitals in Benghazi running short of supplies, the rebels' health minister says.

Stocks of drugs and other items such as surgical gloves are said to be running out.Dr Nagi Barakat told the BBC that most emergency aid donated from abroad went straight to the front line.

Rebel forces in Libya have clashed with troops loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi about 80km (50 miles) south-west of the capital, Tripoli.

A rebel spokesman in the Nafusa mountains said there had been heavy fighting on the outskirts of the strategic town of Bir al-Ghanam.

A former Rwandan women's minister has been sentenced to life in prison for her role in the genocide and the rape of Tutsi women and girls.

Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, 65, is the first woman convicted by the UN-backed tribunal for the Rwanda genocide.

The Libyan rebels in the east are in close contact with an underground network of opponents of Col Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli, the BBC has learnt.

A member of the rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC) in Benghazi revealed they were holding secret talks to prepare for the regime's fall.

Police investigating allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World have arrested a woman in Yorkshire.

Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has accused Nato states of murder, two days after members of the family of a close aide were killed in an air strike.

In an audio message broadcast on state TV late on Wednesday, he described those who carried out the bombardment as "criminals" and "barbarians".

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has called on Nato to suspend hostilities in Libya to allow humanitarian aid to be brought to the war-torn country.

Mr Frattini warned Nato's credibility is at risk because of recent civilian casualties from its bombing campaign.

A Tunisian court has sentenced former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his wife Leila to 35 years in jail for embezzlement and misusing public funds.

The couple, who fled to Saudi Arabia in January after a popular uprising, were also fined $66m (£41m).

The trial in absentia of ousted Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has begun, a day after the former leader denied all charges against him.

Mr Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on 14 January following a popular rising.

The Islamist group, Boko Haram, says it carried out Thursday's bombing of Nigeria's police headquarters which left at least two people dead.

The attack comes days after Nigeria's police chief visited the north-eastern town of Maiduguri, where Boko Haram is based and vowed to defeat the group.

Uganda's former Vice-President Gilbert Bukenya has been charged with fraud.

He denies that he benefited from a $3.9m (£2.4m) deal to supply cars to the 2007 Commonwealth summit in Kampala.

US President Barack Obama has called for a ceasefire in Sudan, following an upsurge in fighting in the South Kordofan region.He urged both the north and south to "live up to their responsibilities" to prevent a return to civil war.

Thousands of people have been displaced in recent days of violence, which comes only weeks before South Sudan becomes independent.