Mandela is at home and alert, wants rumors about death to stop, relative says

(CNN) -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela, at home after a long hospital stay, is alert and playing with his grandchildren, his granddaughter Zaziwe Manaway told CNN exclusively Friday.

Mandela, 94, is aware of social media rumors that he's close to death, Manaway said.

Read more: Nelson Mandela discharged from the hospital

"That is absolutely not true. My grandfather is well," she said. "It can be very, very hurtful for us to hear these messages out there in the social media that our grandfather is going to go home to die. It is insensitive."

Mandela is revered in his country, CNN's Robyn Curnow writes, because he reminds South Africans of how far they have come. The former president embodies the South Africa that was promised in the election of 1994, and many South Africans worry that their country no longer reflects the democratic ideals Mandela spent his life advocating.

Death toll from stampede at Angola stadium vigil rises

(CNN) -- The death toll from a New Year's stampede during a church vigil at an Angolan stadium rose to 16 Wednesday, state media said, as details emerged of how the tragedy unfolded.

The deadly crush at the gates of the Cidadela Desportiva stadium, in Angola's capital, Luanda, came Monday evening as tens of thousands of people flocked to an event staged by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.

Three children, aged three and four, were among the 16 people killed, according to state-run newspaper Jornal de Angola.

British producer accused in Uganda over gay play says case is dropped

(CNN) -- A British theater producer who was briefly jailed in Uganda because of his play about the challenges facing gay people in the African nation said Wednesday the case against him had been dropped.

Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda, where most gays and lesbians face physical attacks and are treated as social outcasts.

David Cecil told CNN he was in the Ugandan court when the magistrate dismissed the case.

Speaking by phone from Kampala, he said the magistrate told the court Cecil had complied with the investigation, and was clearly not afraid to face the charges.

However, the magistrate said the prosecution failed to provide evidence to substantiate the charges, Cecil said.

Diplomats seek progress on Central African Republic crisis

(CNN) -- International diplomats are meeting Thursday in Gabon for talks aimed at resolving a brewing crisis in the Central African Republic, where rebels are threatening the capital.

The discussions in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, come a day after the United Nations called on the C.A.R. government and rebels to end violence and turn to dialogue.

Diplomats from the United States and Japan are expected to meet separately with Nassour Guelendouksia Ouaido, secretary general of the Economic Community of Central African States, a spokesman for the regional body said.

Congo Rebel Group Demands President's Resignation

The rebel group starting negotiations with the Congolese government wants the country's president to resign, according to a rebel document.

Jean-Marie Runiga, president of the M23 rebels said to be backed by Rwanda, on Thursday showed The Associated Press a list of demands that he said will be presented to the Congolese government.

The rebels' demand for Congolese President Joseph Kabila to step down comes as a leading advocacy group says the president is "unable to effectively govern the country."

The M23 recently withdrew from Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in eastern Congo, in order to begin negotiations with Congolese President Joseph Kabila's government.

Ghana president re-elected, a result opposition claims was 'manipulated'

(CNN) -- Ghana's election commission announced Sunday night that the West African nation's president won re-election, though the main opposition party says it has "credible evidence" the results were manipulated.

In a statement streamed live on the Internet, Electoral Commission Chairman Kwadwo Afari-Gyan declared "John Dramani Mahama president-elect" after securing 50.7% of the vote. Nana Akufo-Addo, the candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), garnered 47.7% of the vote, according to the commission.

"We must celebrate together as Ghanaians and refrain from anything that will derail the peace and unity we have enjoyed over the years," Mahama told supporters after the result was announced.

Second blast in 3 days hits Somali neighborhood in Kenya

(CNN) -- A blast ripped through a neighborhood in Kenya's capital, killing three people in the second attack in three days targeting the predominantly Somali area.

At least 16 others were injured in the Friday explosion near a mosque in Eastleigh, according to the Kenya Red Cross.
It was the second attack in three days targeting the Nairobi neighborhood.
On Wednesday, another blast left eight people injured -- three critically with severe head wounds, the Kenya Red Cross said in a statement.

Nelson Mandela has lung infection

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- Nelson Mandela's current hospitalization is due to a lung infection, authorities said Tuesday.

Doctors were treating Mandela and he was responding to treatment, a statement from President Jacob Zuma's office said.

Mandela, 94, was hospitalized over the weekend at a Pretoria facility but the exact nature of his ailment had not been released.

Tuesday's statement said he had a recurrence of a previous lung infection.

Mandela battles lung infection

1994: Mandela's inauguration speech

Armed men attack camp in eastern Congo after rebels pullout from captured city

(CNN) -- Armed men attacked a displaced persons camp in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo early Sunday, raping women and looting at a facility where tens of thousands of people have taken refuge, a U.N. official said.

Simplice Kpandji, a spokesman for the United Nations' refugee agency, said it was unclear whether anyone had been killed at the camp, which is about 10 kilometers from Goma, the border city that has been a flashpoint for fighting between government troops and the M23 rebel group.

The Mugunga III camp houses more than 30,000 displaced people, many of whom fled to the camp when rebels advanced on Goma, Kpandji said. The attackers' identity was unknown, he said, and officials were working on gathering more information.

African leaders urge Congo rebels to quit hostilities

(CNN) -- Regional leaders meeting in Uganda on Saturday called on a rebel group in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to withdraw from a city seized by its fighters this week and to "stop all war activities."

The M23 group must also "stop talk of overthrowing an elected government," said a statement issued by the regional leaders at the end of the Great Lakes region summit in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

It states the rebels should withdraw at least 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Goma and that the U.N. mission for DR Congo, MONUSCO, should monitor the buffer zone.

The statement also calls on the Congolese government to listen to and resolve the grievances of the rebels, who took control of the city of Goma on Tuesday after days of fighting with government forces.

Life in Goma amid crisis

At least 11 killed in suicide attacks on church at Nigerian military base

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- Two bombs killed at least 11 people and wounded 30 in a church inside the military barracks in Jaji, Nigeria, on Sunday.

Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Muhammad Dole said a suicide bomber drove a vehicle into the side of St. Andrew Military Protestant Church and exploded a bomb at about noon. A second vehicle exploded just outside the church several minutes later.

The wounded were taken to three hospitals. An investigation is under way, Dole said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the militant Islamist group Boko Haram has frequently carried out suicide bombings in churches in northeastern Nigeria.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden," seeks to impose a strict version of Sharia law in the Muslim-dominated northern part of the country. (alessia a)

Uganda lawmakers to vote on anti-gay law

(CNN) -- Lawmakers in Uganda are preparing to vote on a new anti-homosexuality bill that proposes tough jail sentences for consensual same-sex behavior.

Homosexual acts are already illegal in the east African nation, where most gays and lesbians face physical attacks and are treated as social outcasts, but the new bill proposes harsher penalties.

Uganda's maximum penalty would be life in prison.

Amnesty International said it was "extremely concerned" about the bill and called on the Ugandan parliament not to pass it.

Rebel march continues in Eastern Congo

Sake, Democratic Republic of Congo (CNN) -- Anti-government rebels on Friday continued their march through the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, withstanding an army counterattack to maintain control of the strategically important town of Sake.

The town is on the road to Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, and a group of fighters started to march in its direction, journalist Phil Moore told CNN.

Moore and U.N. spokesman Kieran Dwyer said the M23 fighters held Sake after two days of battling government troops in the town they first entered Wednesday.

The United Nations, which supports the Congolese army, as well as Britain have condemned the rebel campaign intended to overthrow the government.

Read more: Rebel leader in Uganda for Congo crisis talks

On Friday, the Congolese army was near the town of Minova, about 15 miles south of Sake, according to Moore.

Rebel leader in Uganda for Congo crisis talks

(CNN) -- A fight for the control of Sake, a strategically placed town in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, raged Thursday, while regional leaders sought to end the crisis.

The political leader of M23, the rebel group that captured Goma, a key city near Sake, two days earlier, flew to Uganda Thursday for talks with that country's president.

The United Kingdom's minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds, arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, Thursday and immediately issued a statement saying "there can be no attempt to unseat the legitimate government of the Democratic Republic of Congo" while calling on the DRC government to "address the underlying causes of the conflict."

"I call on the M23 to stop its advance and to withdraw from Goma immediately," Simmonds said. "This would benefit the people of the DRC and is the will of the governments of the region and the whole international community."

Oxfam, which is monitoring humanitarian conditions in the area, warned Thursday that the fall of Goma to the rebels poses "a very real risk of complete collapse of state authority and the humanitarian crisis reaching new depths."

Rebels seize control of Goma amid clashes in Democratic Republic of Congo

(CNN) -- Congolese rebels took control of the eastern city of Goma and part of the border with Rwanda on Tuesday after days of heavy clashes, a Congolese reporter there said.

The rebels took control of the government radio station in Goma and were seen walking through town, entering government and police buildings, said the reporter, who could not be named for security reasons.

The rebels are part of the M23 rebel group, which has been engaged in heavy fighting with Congolese army forces in the region since last Thursday.

Though 1,500 United Nations peacekeeping troops are in Goma and have control of the airport there, a U.N. spokesman said the situation is at a "critical stage."

Rebels recruiting in the Congo

Kenya grenade blast kills 7, hurts 24

Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) -- A grenade explosion killed seven people and wounded another 24 on Sunday in a predominantly Somali neighborhood of Nairobi, a Kenya Red Cross official said.

The grenade was tossed onto a minibus, known as a matatu, full of passengers riding through the Eastleigh section, according to local media reports.

No group has claimed responsibility for this attack.

Such attacks have escalated since Kenyan forces invaded neighboring Somalia last year to battle the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, blaming it for kidnappings of foreigners in the nation.

A grenade thrown into a Kenyan church two weeks ago turned a prayer service into carnage, killing one worshipper and wounding 13 others.