Africa News

KHARTOUM (AFP) - The former rebels of south Sudan on Saturday threw their weight behind the creation of "hybrid courts" for Darfur as proposed by the African Union despite reservations from Khartoum. Full Story »

KHARTOUM (AFP) - Fifteen gunmen accused of involvement in the assassination of an MP in the western Sudanese region of Darfur were killed in clashes with security forces on Saturday, a local police chief told AFP. Full Story »

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Gibraltar's Kaiane Aldorino claimed the title of Miss World 2009 on Saturday, defeating 111 other hopefuls at a glittering ceremony in South Africa. Full Story »

LAGOS (AFP) - Nigeria's opposition party Action Congress (AC) on Saturday held a congress to elect party officials and debate strategy ahead of general elections in 2011. Full Story »

TRIPOLI (AFP) - Libya is making some progress on freedom of speech but a climate of repression remains in the country, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Saturday. Full Story »

LAGOS (AFP) - Some 5,000 Nigerian volunteers on Saturday turned out armed with paint brushes to give a facelift to Mushin, a notorious slum in the centre of the country's commercial capital Lagos. Full Story »

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya is jailing people for their political views, years after committing to reform, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Saturday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has raised US concern over a hunger-striking Western Sahara independence activist with Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi-Fihri, a US spokesman said Friday. Full Story »

TORONTO - The Canadian government said Friday that it has approved a request from Egyptian-backed telecom Globalive Wireless Management Corp. to launch its mobile phone service in Canada. Full Story »

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Samoa survived a late New Zealand surge to triumph 24-22 Friday after the first major clash in the South Africa leg of the IRB Sevens World Series. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Morocco's foreign minister Friday accused the Algerian-backed Polisario independence movement of manipulating Sahrawi hunger striker Aminatou Haidar to thwart a resumption of stalled talks on the Western Sahara's future. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States, the EU and other Western powers blasted the U.N. General Assembly on Friday for ignoring Zimbabwe's reported failure to comply with international efforts to curb trade in "blood diamonds." Full Story »

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - Ethiopian Prime Minister and African Union climate negotiator Meles Zenawi downplayed Friday the chances of a deal to tackle global warming being struck at UN talks in Copenhagen. Full Story »