Pretoria- South Africa (PANA) -- Hundreds of South African women Thursday appealed to Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo to exercise his prerogative of pardon to save the life of Nigerian woman, Amina Lawal who was sentenced to death under Islamic law, or Sharia. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has demanded that all women's groups and NGOs be allowed to attend Tuesday's hearings on Sexual Offences Bill. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Many Zambian men believe condoms decrease a man's sexual pleasure while some 41 percent of them maintain that condoms are inconvenient to use, according to a health survey just concluded by the Central Statistical Office (CSO). Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- More than 1,000 women in Benin have expressed opposition to the use of condoms as a means of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries risk failing to meet the 30 percent target in the representation of women in decision-making structures, unless they adapt their electoral systems to the Proportional Representation (PR) model, an expert warned here. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- Sudan, which has the highest prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the world, has made a commitment to ban the practice. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- She comes across as an unassuming homely woman with a look that belies her present position of Assistant Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), but people familiar with Joy Phumaphi say she is down to earth and behaves true to character. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- The first ladies of Eritrea, Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde arrived here Saturday to participate in festivities marking the 34th anniversary of the 1 September Revolution. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Monica Kaari, 21, stunned folks in the Kenyan district of Meru when she circumcised herself Wednesday night, saying she did so to appease her in-laws and reconcile with her husband from who she had separated. Full text...

Ludzidzini- Swaziland (PANA) -- As Swazis prepare to celebrate their kingdom's 35th independence anniversary and King Mswati III's birthday 6 September, the traditional governor of Ludzidzini Jim Gama, has directed chiefs to ensure that all widows in the country removed their mourning gowns before the dual event. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- First ladies from Southern African countries have issued a declaration urging their husbands and governments in the region to place gender concerns high on their poverty eradication agenda. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- Health minister Ahmed Bilal Osman conceded here at the weekend that up to 90 percent of women in Sudan's northern provinces have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM). Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- While the international community watches the wrangling at the unending Sudanese peace talks, the average woman in the south of the country, though desperate for peace, has more immediate concerns. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- The secretariat of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is in the process of developing a gender policy for the region, with a view to promoting parity in a region where women are still a long way to asserting their rights. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Lawyers, magistrates and other jurists began reflects here Wednesday towards harmonising the Family and Peoples Code with the country's Constitution. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy, Susan Shabangu is hosting the South African Women in Nuclear (WIN) workshop at the Kopanong Conference Centre, Benoni. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenyan women, pursuing compensation claims from the British government over alleged rape by the British soldiers, on Thursday marched in the streets of Nairobi before presenting the British High Commissioner a petition to demand the claims. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- Controversy is simmering over the nationality of newly crowned Miss Uganda after she admitted that although she was born and raised in the East African country, her father is Senegalese. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- Ugandan government's failure to protect women from domestic violence and discrimination increases their risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- KwaZulu-Natal entrepreneur, Tholakele Hadebe has won the 2003 Technology for Women in Business (TWIB) Award, at a glittering ceremony held in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga. Full text...

Praia- Cape Verde (PANA) -- A regional gender training centre for West and Central Africa will be set up in Cape Verde before the end of this year, reliable sources disclosed here Sunday. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's all-women rescue crew, believed to be the first in the world, from the Nokia Surf Rescue Helicopter Service, is keeping a close eye on Durban's coastline festivities during the Women's Day weekend which began on Saturday. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- To commemorate this year's National Women's Day, the South African Airways (SAA) said it would operate an all-female crew flight to Durban Saturday. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki on Friday saluted South African women ahead of National Women's Day and renewed his government's commitment to transform South Africa into a non-sexist country. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- As the 9 August National Women's Day observance draws near, the provincial Gauteng Health Department Thursday paid tribute to women in the public health sector to acknowledge their contributions. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Ten leading South African women have been named the finalists in this year's Visible Difference Awards which is timed to coincide with National Women's Day, to pay tribute to the unsung heroines of South Africa. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- Democratic Republic of Congo women have raised concern over what they see as marginalisation in the transitional institutions of the country, and are calling for readjustment. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- A woman who has dedicated much of her life to training impoverished members of society to read and write on Thursday night walked away as winner of the Woman of the Year Award at a prestigious function here. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Malians Thursday observed Pan-African Women's Day noting a sharp increase over a decade in the number of girls enrolled in school in the West African state. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- The Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD), Tunisia's governing party, says women would make up about 25 percent of its candidates in the next legislative and municipal elections. Full text...

Lagos- Nigerian (PANA) -- The executive director of UNICEF, Carol Bellamy, has called for tough laws globally against "criminals" engaged in trafficking women and children. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- While there is need to support trade, resolve financial crisis, stop wars, end environmental degradation and cope with climate changes, among others, women's reproductive rights should not fade into the periphery," the director of the Society for International Development (SID), Wendy Harcourt, said on Thursday. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- Speaker Ali Nouhoum Diallow of ECOWAS Parliament has challenged African women to stand up and fight for their rights. Full text...

Libreville- Gabon (PANA) -- The Gabonese Movement for Well-being (MGBEF), an NGO specialised in planned parenthood and reproductive health, Thursday launched a campaign here to promote the use of female condoms. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- About 20 female journalists from 15 West African countries Wednesday commenced a three-day drill here on the concept of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiative. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The debate on abortion in Kenya took a new twist Friday with MP Cecily Mbarire urging the government to legalise the practice so as to reduce deaths from clandestine abortions. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- Niger's Minister of Social Development, Population and Women's Protection, Halimatou Abdoulwahid, Friday denounced early marriages, which often resulted in complications during child delivery in the country. Full text...

Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- African women are set to acquire a new instrument in their struggle for emancipation and elimination of all forms of discrimination, after the African Union executive council adopted a Protocol to the African charter on human and peoples' rights, relating to women's rights. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Some 50 councillors in Benin started a capacity building seminar here Tuesday aimed at improving efficiency and transparency in the running of local councils. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- A Kenyan legislator claimed that 98 percent of domestic violence cases in the country were caused by inheritance, land disputes and polygamy. Full text...

Pretoria- South Africa (PANA) -- First Lady Zanele Mbeki of South Africa has enjoined women in the country to be active participants in the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) as well as contribute to the vision, objectives and principles of the African Union. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- A notional survey has revealed that more than 43 percent of Uganda's population is denied access to credit facilities offered by Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), due to poor infrastructure. Full text...

Marrakech- Morocco (PANA) -- The proceedings of the 2003 women's World Summit were officially launched in Marrakesh (320 km south of Rabat) Saturday night by Princess Lalla, sister of King Mohammed of Morocco. Full text...

Ouagadougou- Burkina Faso (PANA) -- Just about a third of girls of school going age are enrolled in Burkina Faso, official sources conceded here Friday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- UNICEF has raised alarm over violence meted against women and children in the ongoing conflict in DR Congo's Ituri Province. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- As workshop participants review stern travel restrictions on Sudanese women outside the country, a female government official has boldly criticised the restrictions as "discriminatory". Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- The 2003 Women's World Summit would hold 28-30 June in Marrakech, 320 km south of Rabat with some 700 women from more than 80 countries in attendance. Full text...

Ouagadougou- Burkina Faso (PANA) -- The UNICEF executive director, Carol Bellamy, on Tuesday in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) officially launched a campaign called "25 by 2005" aimed at accelerating the progress in education of girls during the next two years. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- President Omar el Bashir of Sudan said on Monday that his government would donate 5. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenyan Women are upbeat following recent recommendations that a truth and reconciliation commission for the country be constituted, saying the body would help "spill out" all wrongs committed against them and their families during past regimes. Full text...