Africa

The number of polio cases globally sank to an all-time low in 2012. But outbreaks in Syria and Somalia this year are jeopardizing efforts to eradicate the virus. A recent visit to the Somali-Ethiopian border highlights just how easily polio can regain a foothold in rural, insecure communities.

Kenyans who received money with no strings attached started businesses and bought food for their kids, according to a new study. They didn't spend it on alcohol or cigarettes.

A ship packed with African migrants trying to reach Italy apparently caught fire before sinking. It's thought there were about 500 people on board. The vessel had set off from Libya, authorities say.

The allegations have shaken people in Nairobi, who just a week ago were hailing the soldiers as heroes after Islamic militants stormed an upscale mall and killed dozens. President Uhuru Kenyatta has vowed to set up a commission to look into lapses in intelligence and security, and to investigate the accusations.

Kenyan authorities say they've made another arrest in the deadly attack on an upscale mall that shocked Nairobi last week. But officials are also facing questions over reports of intelligence that may have given warnings about the attack, which ended with at least 67 deaths.

The attack occurred as many students of an agricultural college slept. As many as 50 people may be dead as a result of violence that is being blamed on the group Boko Haram.

Also Friday, there's word from the Kenyan Red Cross that 59 people remain missing. Terrorists killed at least 61 civilians and 6 security officers during the attack on a mall in Nairobi and a four-day siege that followed.

Charles Taylor had been given a 50-year prison term for aiding and abetting atrocities committed by rebels during Sierra Leone's civil war. A judge at The Hague called the sentence "fair in the light of the totality of the crimes committed."

Samantha Lewthwaite, a British woman whose husband was one of those who attacked London in 2005, isn't being hunted for her rumored connection to this week's attack in Nairobi. She's wanted for another alleged plot from 2011. But witnesses have said a "white woman" was involved in the Kenyan attack.

Current information, the department said, indicates al-Qaida and its affiliates are still planning attacks on Americans.