A crew of 22 Indian nationals have been freed by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea off Benin in West Africa.

The crew was on board an oil tanker called the Marine Express, which went missing last Thursday and has also been released with its entire cargo of oil.

All crew members are safe, according to Anglo-Eastern Shipping, the Hong Kong firm that appointed them.

A military court in Somalia has sentenced a man to death for his involvement in the country’s deadliest-ever bombing last October.

At least 500 people died when a truck bomb exploded in the capital Mogadishu.

Although no group claimed to have carried out the attack, the government believes al-Shabab jihadi militants were behind it.

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has defied his party and refused to step down, according to media reports.

Zuma and senior members of the African National Congress (ANC) held talks on Sunday but no details of their meeting have been released.

Facing corruption allegations, Mr Zuma was replaced as ANC leader in December.

Party leaders, who may be trying to oust Mr Zuma before his State of the Nation address later this week, will hold an emergency meeting on Monday.

Supporters of Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's opposition leader, are "bracing for the worst", Reuters news agency has been told.

Mr Tsvangirai, 65, has been in South Africa receiving treatment for colon cancer since January.

However, a source close to the politician has told Reuters "the situation is not looking good".

Dr Esmond Bradley-Martin, one of the world's leading ivory trade investigators, was found dead in his house in Nairobi, Kenya, the Star newspaper reports.

It says the 75-year-old American former UN special envoy for rhino conservation, had a stab wound in the neck.

Two Nigerians, a man and a woman were among the six African victims of the lone gunman, who went on shooting spree in the central Italian city of Macerata on Saturday.

Italian newspaper La Stampa, identified the two Nigerians, with their first names, Jennifer and Gideon.

Gideon is 25 years old, while Jennifer is 29. Both are now receiving treatment at a hospital in the city. Hospital officials said Jennifer suffered a fracture to her humerus bone in her arm and is facing an operation Sunday.