JOHANNESBURG (AP) —The U.S. giant retailer Wal-Mart is offering to buy 51 percent of South Africa’s Massmart stores, the two companies said in a joint statement Monday.

MOVING INTO SOUTH AFRICA—The Wal-Mart logo is seen on a delivery truck in Springfield, Ill. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

Wal-Mart is offering 148 rand (about $20) per share to Massmart stockholders in a 17 billion rand (about $2 billion) deal that has sparked concern among South African unions. It would be Wal-Mart’s first African foothold. Massmart shares were trading at 143.75 rand Monday morning, up 1.45 percent from Friday’s close. Massmart shares have been buoyed since Wal-Mart’s interest first became public in September.

Massmart will continue to be listed on the Johannesburg exchange, addressing a concern of some major Massmart stockholders that led Wal-Mart to revise an earlier bid to buy all of Massmart.

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP)—He’s 65, he’s been president for more than two decades, and he’s Uganda’s newest rap star.

Facing a February election, President Yoweri Museveni has released a rap song and video that’s become a sensation in this East African nation, played at dance clubs, on the radio and as a mobile phone ringtone.

Enthusiastic supporters at a rally in northern Uganda last week called for Museveni to perform “U Want Another Rap.”

by Lovasa Rabary-Rakotondravony

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP)—An attempted coup on this troubled Indian Ocean island has been defused without bloodshed, the Madagascar regime’s prime minister said.

COUP ATTEMPT FOILED—A government military officer holds a rocket propelled grenade and launcher outside the air-force base near the airport in Antananarivo, Madagascar Nov. 20. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Camille Vital told reporters late Saturday that 16 officers surrendered, ending an impasse that began Wednesday when a faction of officers declared they were taking over from Andry Rajoelina. Rajoelina, a former mayor and disc jockey, himself had the military’s support when he toppled an elected president last year after months of violent protest.

Earlier Saturday, reporters had seen hundreds of soldiers loyal to Rajoelina converge on a base near the capital’s airport where the mutineers were holed up. Officials had said talks were planned, but shots could be heard inside the base.

by Frank Jordans

GENEVA (AP) — The U.S. stood accused Nov. 5 of human rights violations ranging from racial discrimination to prison overcrowding and abuses by its troops, as friends and foes lined up to chide Washington in a U.N. forum the U.S. has pledged to be an equal member of rather than shun, as the past administration did.

LISTENING—United States’ Michael Posner, right, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy Human Rights and Labor, and United States’ Esther Brimmer, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations Affairs, listen to question during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 5. (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi)

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Esther Brimmer said Washington was proud of its record but prepared to engage critics during the country’s first comprehensive review before the U.N. Human Rights Council.