AU MOVES CLOSER TOWARD UNITED STATES OF AFRICA

African Union (AU) members have agreed a plan to give its executive arm enhanced powers to co-ordinate common-interest policies, officials say.
But the African Authority will not be able to act internationally unless it has a mandate from heads of state.
The compromise on the draft came after hours of heated debate in a closed [...]

AU MAY STRENGHTEN FORCE OVER CONTINEOUS FIGHTING IN SOMALIA

Heavy fighting in the Somali capital killed at least 20 people on Thursday, the second day of fierce clashes as government forces tried to drive hardline Islamists out of their Mogadishu bases. Al Qaeda-linked fighters in Somalia’s al Shabaab rebel group are battling to oust President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, himself a former Islamist insurgent who [...]

NIGER CRISIS THREATENS COUNTRIES STABILITY

The United Nations added its voice on Thursday to growing international criticism of actions taken by Niger’s President Mamadou Tandja to extend his rule in the uranium mining West African country. “The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the ongoing political and constitutional crisis in Niger, which threatens to destabilize the country and undermine the progress [...]

SUDANESE MINISTER LOOKS UP TO OBAMA FOR A NEW BEGINNING

U.S. President Barack Obama is turning the page in the West’s troubled relations with Sudan by taking a more constructive approach, a senior Sudanese official said on Thursday. The International Criminal Court has indicted the Sudanese president for war crimes in the Darfur region and European officials say Khartoum is jeopardising a peace deal that [...]

YEMENI PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR BACK IN FRANCE

The only known survivor of the Yemenia flight which crashed into the Indian Ocean has arrived back in Paris on a French government plane. The 12-year-old girl, Baya Bakari, was found clinging to wreckage in the sea, hours after the crash. The plane, going to the Comoros from Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, came down in bad [...]

IMF REJECTS NEW AID FOR ZIMBABWE

The International Monetary Fund has told Zimbabwe that it will not provide the country with more funds until its existing $1bn debts are settled. Zimbabwe’s government estimates it will need $10bn (£6bn) of foreign aid to help rebuild its battered economy.
But the IMF said that Zimbabwe would need to clear its debts and show a [...]

AFRICAN LEADERS ENHANCE UNION EXECUTIVE ROLE

African Union (AU) members have agreed a plan to give its executive arm enhanced powers to co-ordinate common-interest policies, officials say. But the African Authority will not be able to act internationally unless it has a mandate from heads of state. The compromise on the draft came after hours of heated debate in a closed [...]