Ivory Coast army protests sow fears of return to unrest

Abidjan - Protests by disgruntled soldiers in Ivory Coast have exposed the government's failure to reform its mutiny-plagued armed forces and its rapid capitulation sets a dangerous precedent in a country with bright economic prospects.

Ivory Coast - French-speaking West Africa's largest economy - is emerging from a decade of crisis that ended in a brief civil war in 2011. Its rapid revival and vast potential have made it the new darling of frontier investors in Africa.

Lawyer: Mubarak could get early release

Cairo - Egypt's jailed ex-president Hosni Mubarak could be released early after having served two-thirds of a corruption sentence and seeing murder charges dropped, his lawyer said on Sunday.

An Egyptian court on Saturday dismissed the murder charge against Mubarak over the deaths of protesters during the country's 2011 uprising.

Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades until being driven from office, was also acquitted of a corruption charge but was expected to stay in jail on a three-year sentence in a separate graft case.

Anti-balaka militia to become political party

Dakar - The 'anti-balaka' militia in Central African Republic, formed in response to abuses by mostly Muslim rebels who seized power last year, said it would lay down its weapons and become a political movement.

Representatives for the mostly Christian militia movement decided at a general assembly in the capital Bangui late on Saturday that their movement would be renamed the Centralafrican Party for Unity and Development (PCUD).

Zambia's splintered ruling party in dispute over new leader

Lusaka - A faction in Zambia's ruling Patriotic Front (PF) elected Defence Minister Edgar Lungu as the party's president on Sunday, in a disputed vote highlighting a bitter power struggle ahead of a January presidential election.

The ruling party has been embroiled in a factional feud since the party's president and Zambia's leader, Michael Sata, died in October in a London hospital.

Jordin Sparks hits out at Jason Derulo in her new song!

Los Angeles - Jordin Sparks has taken a swipe at her ex-boyfriend Jason Derulo in a song.

The 24-year-old beauty appears to take aim at her former lover, with whom she had a three-year relationship that ended in September, in her latest remix of Drake's song, How About Now.