Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- African Union (AU) Commission chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare called Thursday for an immediate end to bombing raids being carried out on the restive Sudanese region of Darfur by government forces. Full text...

Addis-Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The African Union, which closed its third summit here Thursday, has urged members to back the candidacy of Senegalese Jacques Diouf for a third mandate as Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Full text...

Addis-Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The third African Union summit closed here Thursday with the decision to meet henceforth twice a year, the approbation of the Executive Council recommendations, the adoption of 18 more decisions and two declarations, but failed to endorse the "solidarity budget" proposed by the Commission chairperson. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The African Union (AU) will henceforth hold its ordinary summits biannually (one per semester), a reliable source told PANA. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria stated here Thursday that the projects contained in the AU Commission's 2004-2007 plan of action could be implemented if each of the 53 AU member states contributed 0. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The African Union Summit, which has been meeting here since 6 July, closed its session Thursday with a decision mandating the African Union (AU) Commission to collaborate with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in working with FIFA and host South Africa to develop programmes to stage a successful World Cup in 2010. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- France Thursday welcomed Tuesday's mini-summit on the Ivorian crisis held on the sidelines of the African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The African Union (AU) has expressed concern over the recurring mercenary acts and their consequences on the security and stability of the continent. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The African Union (AU) at the end of its third summit in the Ethiopian capital Thursday urged members to back the candidacy of Japan's Koichiro Matsuura for a second mandate as Director General of the Paris-based UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has welcomed the African Union's decision to locate the seat of the Pan African Parliament in South Africa. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Apart from being among thousands who cursed their hearts out on Monday evening as they walked long distances from their work places to their homes, Addis Ababa hotelier Simon Tesfaye feels he has other issues to pick with the organisers of the just ended African Union (AU) Summit, held here 6-8 July. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Africa's tourism Industry could be on a booming track following the endorsement of the continent's Tourism Action Plan by the annual Summit of Heads of State and Government, which ended here Thursday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Concerned at the sharp decline and fluctuation of commodity prices, leaders attending the third ordinary assembly of the African Union here called on their European Union partners to ensure that reforms of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) do not affect the vital interests of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Apart from being among the thousands who cursed their hearts out Monday night as they walked long distances from their work places to their homes, Addis Ababa hotelier Simon Tesfaye feels he has other issues to pick with the organisers of the three-day African Union (AU) summit which ended Thursday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Encouraged by the declaration of African Union leaders on gender equality, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has announced its willingness to keep on supporting initiatives for the advancement of women on the continent. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's Parliament on Thursday welcomed the decision by the African Union (AU) to make it the permanent seat of the Pan African Parliament. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- UNICEF has welcomed the adoption by the AU Summit of the Action Plan on the Family underlining the fact that the family is a child's first line of protection. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The African Union (AU) headquarters will remain in Ethiopia and South Africa will host the Pan-African Parliament, the organisation's third summit decided in Addis Ababa, Wednesday. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has called for an Arab-African summit to examine co-operation between the two regions, officials said in Tunis Wednesday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Leaders attending the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa have agreed to hold consultations on an AU Commission "solidarity budget," pending suggestions from a special session to be organised by the Executive Council on the issue within the next three months, informed sources said Wednesday. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- Faouzi Hamza, Head of the Africa Department of the Libyan Foreign Ministry said in Tripoli Wednesday the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has no right to give instructions against the change of Constitutions in African countries. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- The European Union (EU) has congratulated the African Union (AU) on the "considerable progress made in attaining its objectives and by implementing its programmes and activities," an official source in the Belgian capital has said. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The Sudan government has said it recognises the Darfur crisis as a big problem which it must address using all the resources at its disposal, and that Africans must learn to solve their own problems before inviting outsiders. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo promised here Tuesday to ensure that parliament adopts all the bills envisaged under the Linas-Marcoussis agreement by 31 July if possible, a diplomatic source told PANA here Wednesday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Outgoing African Union (AU) chairman Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique on Tuesday made history by partly using Kiswahili to address the continental body's third annual summit in Addis Ababa. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- UN secretary general Kofi Annan has convened a new meeting on the Ivorian crisis to be held in Accra 29 July, informed sources said in Addis Ababa. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- President Abdelaziz Bouteflika disclosed here Tuesday that new provisions would soon be introduced into the Algerian family code to "balance out the rights and obligations of both spouses". Full text...

Addis-Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The new 15-strong bureau of the African Union chaired by President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria was appointed by consensus Tuesday in compliance with geographical representation as provided for by the rules of the continental organisation. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- French Deputy Minister for Cooperation Xavier Darcos is attending the third African Union (AU) summit that kicked off Tuesday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Foreign ministry spokesperson Herve Ladsous announced here. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- After equal representation within the commission, which was gained at the Durban summit in July 2002, African women were the very first beneficiaries of the AU summit here with the decision soon after the opening session Tuesday to create a "special fund for the development of the African woman". Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- By asking African countries to ignore debts owed western creditors, American economics professor Jeffrey Sachs is reinforcing a position that may sound unpopular to the creditors, but which deserves closer attention given the failure of all efforts so far to get the debtors to pay. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The report submitted to the executive council of the African Union (AU) last Sunday by AU Commission chairperson Alpha Konare reflected a clear vision of the transition from the old structures of the defunct OAU to the new dispensation ushered in by the AU. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- On the sidelines of the AU summit afoot here, Presidents Laurent Gbagbo (Cote d'Ivoire), Amadou Toumani Toure (Mali), Blaise Compaore (Burkina Faso), Omar Bongo Ondimba (Gabon), Joaquim Chissano (Mozambique), Mathieu Kerekou (Benin), Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria) and Abdoulaye Wade (Senegal) met Tuesday to discuss the Ivorian crisis. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Eight African leaders Tuesday held a mini-summit in Addis Ababa devoted to the Ivorian crisis on the sidelines of the 2004 annual assembly of the African Union (AU). Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has deplored the continued use of sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon of war in African conflicts. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- African Union (AU) chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare Tuesday in Addis Ababa urged African leaders to change their strategy of dealing with the ills that have bedevilled the continent for several decades. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Amnesty International (AI) Tuesday urged the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to ensure the establishment of an effective and functioning African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Court). Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- Zimbabwe said Tuesday it had escaped scrutiny of its human rights record at the African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia after a draft report compiled by a commission of the continental body was thrown out on grounds it was drafted irregularly. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The fifth ordinary session of the African Union's Executive Council, which ended here on Monday, expressed concerns about the risk of regional destabilisation likely to be prompted by the crisis in the Sudanese region of Darfur. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Africa's opportunity to realise peace has become distinct because the African Union is actively engaged in more peace-related programmes than ever before, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said in a message to the third ordinary summit of the AU. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria Tuesday took over as head of the African Union (AU) from his Mozambican counterpart Joaquim Chissano, who bade his peers farewell in his last AU summit as president. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The 5th ordinary session of the African Union's Executive Council, which ended here Monday, called on the international community to financially support programmes related to disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration (DDR), humanitarian operations and reconstruction in Liberia. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The African Union has the opportunity now to set the stage for sustainable development, peace and security for the people of Africa into the future, Britain's Minister for Africa, Chris Mullin has said. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Acceleration of the ongoing restructuring exercise in the African Union (AU) Commission is the priority task that the Union's new chair has set for himself. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The British-backed Commission for Africa could provide the impetus needed to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger from the continent, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Tuesday in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. Full text...

Bissau- Guinea Bissau (PANA) -- Guinea Bissau Member of Parliament Liuna Nandiba of the opposition Party for Social Revival (PRS) is demanding the resignation of President Henrique Perreira Rosa, claiming that he has double nationality. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- It does not suffice for African leaders to claim this century as the century of Africa without committing themselves in the implementation of development programmes of the continent, Mozambican President Joaquim Alberto Chissano stated here Tuesday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The Executive Council of the African Union (AU) has warned all factional leaders and parties in Somalia to observe the 31 July deadline for the formation of a government of national unity or face sanctions from the international community upon failure to comply. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The fifth ordinary session of African Union's executive council has reiterated in Addis Ababa its support for the national unity government of the DR Congo, in addition to expressing "deep concern" over the political situation prevailing in the country. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's main opposition the Democratic Alliance has called on African leaders attending the AU summit in Addis Ababa to convene a special meeting aimed at planning and adopting a road map on Zimbabwe that would resolve the crisis in that country. Full text...