Archbishop Desmond Tutu pulled out of a leadership summit in Johannesburg, South Africa because he refuses to share a platform with Tony Blair. (BBC, 28 Aug 2012)

Two groups that seized northern Mali two months ago agreed to merge and turn their territory into an Islamic state called Azawad. (BBC, 27 May)

Religious authorities in Kano, a strict Muslim state in Nigeria held a mass wedding at Kano Central Mosque for 100 couples as part of government plans to match make 1,000 widows and divorcees. (DailyMail, 16 May 2012)

EU naval forces conducted their first raid on alleged pirate bases on the Somali mainland. They used helicopters in conjunction with two  warships. (BBC, 15 May 2012)

Two bloggers jailed for seven years in Tunisia after posting derogatory cartoons of Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam on the internet. (BBC, 6 April 2012)

Tuareg rebels in the north declared independence of the territory they call Azawad. The rebels seized the area after a military coup two weeks ago. Ansar Dine, an Islamist group, has started to impose Sharia law in some towns in Azawad. (BBC, 7 April 2012)

Red Cross operations were shut down in Al-Shabab areas after nearly 1,000 tons of food given by Red Cross intended for Somalia was found to be spoilt and unfit for human consumption. (VOA, 2 Feb 2012)

Al Shabab fighters, estimated at 9,000, launched an account on the micro-blogging site Twitter: @HSMPress. The feed has attracted hundreds of followers since it was created. (BBC, 8 Dec 2011)

Israel offeres to help Kenya secure its borders as it tackles Somalia's Islamist group, al-Shabab. Israel's PM Netanyahu said that 'Kenya's enemies are Israel's enemies'. (BBC, 14 Nov 2011)

Kenya began an invasion into Somalia with ground troops and air support. Al Shabab, which controls most of Somalia, says that Kenya will go the way of other invaders like USA in 1992 and Ethiopia in 2006. (Al Jazeera, 19 Oct 2011)