by Michelle Faul

JOHANNESBURG (AP)—Some of the cocoa in that Valentine's Day chocolate probably came from a West African country where the man in power for a decade is still clinging to office. And activists say consumers might also think twice if they knew unpaid 5-year-olds helped produce it.

YOUNG WORKERS—In this June 30, 2005 photo, children living in a cocoa producing village walk back from the fields carrying wood and food stuff on their heads on the outskirts of the town of Oume, Ivory Coast. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam, File)

This year, human rights advocates are harnessing the political crisis in Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer, to add momentum to an ongoing campaign to force the world's chocolate makers to improve their labor practices.

Supporters of the internationally recognized winner of Ivory Coast's election also have pushed for a cocoa ban in an effort to financially strangle incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, who the U.N. says lost the November election.

(NNPA/GIN)-- From a sugar cane workers village in the Dominican Republic, 16 year old Francia Simon was selected from among 80 entries to receive the global KidsRights prize for helping children, including Haitian refugees, obtain necessary ID documents.

“My own situation gave me a reason to work with other children, whose basic rights were violated since birth, without a name or nationality,” said Francia, who is Afro-Dominican and had no birth certificate herself until last year.  “Without a certificate, you are nothing.” she said.

FRANCIA SIMON

by Diaa Hadid
Associated Press Writer

CAIRO (AP)—Two rows of men greet demonstrators at the main entrance to Tahrir Square, clapping as people enter, and chanting in the rhythms of a traditional Egyptian wedding procession.

“We are becoming bigger!” they shout. “God is Great!”

Inside Cairo’s main square, musicians stroll, a man reads poetry to the crowd and vendors hawk potato chips, tea, hot food—even socks.

KEEPING THE CROWD ENGAGED—A group of musicians, one playing the oud, center-right, entertain anti-government protesters with songs against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the continuing demonstration in Tahrir square in downtown Cairo, Egypt Feb. 4. Graffiti in arabic on wall behind reads “Down Mubarak the corrupt.” (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)—Kenya's government spokesman said Nov. 30 that a U.S. characterization of the country as a "swamp" of corruption in reports of leaked diplomatic memos is "malicious" if true. Alfred Mutua also said that the top U.S. diplomat for Africa called Kenya's prime minister to apologize for the leaked memos.

U.S. Embassy spokesman John Haynes said senior State Department officials have called senior Kenyan government officials to inform them and to discuss their concerns. The Obama administration has undertaken a worldwide effort to contain damage done by the release of more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables by online clearinghouse WikiLeaks.

OUTRAGED—Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga speaks at a conference to review reforms Kenya is making, in Nairobi, Kenya, Dec. 2. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi)