Free Republic

Got chocolate? : A man stands next to a giant Easter egg made by Belgian chocolate-maker Guylian in a bid to establish a new world record in Sint-Niklaas. (AFP/BELGA/Lieven Van Assche)

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) - Deadly violence in Ivory Coast has shut down cocoa exports in the world's largest producer, closing ports that ship more than 40 per cent of the world's raw material for chocolate, cocoa traders said Tuesday. Clashes that have pitted Ivory Coast's government and supporters against French forces come at the peak of Ivory Coast's harvest, last year at a record of 1.4 million tons. Violence has closed the country's two main ports, in Abidjan and San Pedro, since Saturday afternoon, traders and other officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Cocoa buyers are not venturing out...