Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The Africa Union (AU) has established a permanent committee at the presidential level to promote Intra-African trade by pushing for the removal of trade barriers, ahead of the 2017 deadline for creating a continental Free Trade Area (FTA). Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson has stressed the importance of close and active cooperation between the UN and the African Union (AU) in tackling critical issues, from the instability in Mali to the food crisis in the Sahel region. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Right from the first round of voting by African leaders on Sunday, South Africa's Minister of Home Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma left few in doubt that she has what it takes to clinch victory over incumbent Jean Ping in the race for the presidency of the African Union (AU) Commission. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - South Africa's Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was elected the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission late on Sunday, after surging through all the four rounds of voting. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) Summit opened in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Sunday to discuss trade, jobs and economic growth, but the conflicts in Mali, Guinea-Bissau and the DR Congo dominated talks. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has issued a deadline of 2 August 2012 to Sudan and South Sudan to conclude agreements on outstanding knotty issues between the two states. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has received a boost in its efforts to promote peace in Africa, with the signing of an agreement with African football governing body CAF, to use the universal appeal of football as a platform to advocate and promote social change in Africa. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) has recommended the deployment of a neutral force in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to help quell a rebel insurgency that has swept through seven towns in a matter of three months. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has called for the restoration of military-toppled Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure. Full text...

Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) – The Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara, left here on Friday for Addis Ababa to take part in the 19th African Union (AU) summit in the Ethiopian capital, official sources said here. Full text...

Washington, DC, US (PANA) - US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson will lead the U.S. delegation to the 2012 African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 13-17 July, a US State Department statement said here. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - African foreign ministers kicked off a two-day meeting in Addis Ababa, Thursday, to draw up a work plan for the 19th session of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government Assembly, which will hold in the Ethiopian capital after being moved from Malawi. Full text...

Johannesburg, South Africa (PANA) - A group of African civil society bodies and international organisations with a presence in Africa has asked the African Union (AU) to demonstrate support for justice for victims of grave international crimes at its summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this week. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – A summit of head of State from the Economic Community of Central African States (CEMAC) will be held this month in Brazzaville, the organization’s secretary general, Antoine Ntsimi, said on Tuesday in the Congolese capital. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has condemned Sunday’s twin terrorist attacks in North Eastern Kenya, which killed 17 people, and vowed its support to Kenya’s efforts to continue its fight against international terror in Somalia. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) Monday condemned the ongoing destruction of UNESCO-registered World Heritage tombs by radical Islamists in Mali’s ancient city of Timbuktu. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - The crisis in Mali was the major topic discussed when the Mauritanian President, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, met Wednesday here with the African Union (AU) Commission's chief, Jean Ping, official sources told PANA.Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN and African Union (AU) envoys have highlighted a new regional strategy that they hope will bring an end to the activities of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and help affected populations. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Sudan's President Omar Bashir on Monday relieved all his advisers of their duties as part of austerity measures his government is currently applying to cut down public expenditure. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has expressed its understanding for the constraint faced by Malawi, which recently gave up the hosting rights of July's AU Summit instead of inviting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, has called on community citizens to assume ownership and participate actively in the implementation of the ECOWAS regional integration programmes. Full text...

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) – The deputy secretary of the Libyan ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mohamed Abdelazi, says Libya is will cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to resolve the disagreement between them on the detention of an ICC team in the North African country. Full text...

Vienna, Austria (PANA) - The Governing Board of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has approved 13 loans and grants totaling about US$66 million to boost socio-economic development in over 34 partner countries, many of them in Africa. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Sudan and South Sudan are expected to resume the negotiations that were interrupted earlier this month, in an effort to resolve outstanding issues following South Sudan's independence last year. Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - Malawi President Joyce Banda said Thursday although she respected the African Union's decision to move next month's summit from Lilongwe, Malawi, to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, following disagreements over the attendance of embattled Sudanese leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir, she had no regrets for her stand on the issue.Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) said Monday further talks were required between Sudan and South Sudan to end a border dispute that led to the current deadlock and moved the two neighbours to the brink of a new civil war threatening the entire Horn of Africa region. Full text...

Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Zimbabwe's main daily newspaper, the Herald, on Monday sharply criticised Malawi for bowing to Western pressure and canceling an African Union (AU) summit in the country over the attendance of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) Friday confirmed it will no longer be holding its July summit in Malawi, after the country insisted it would rather lose the hosting right than allow Sudan's President Omar el-Bashir to attend, because of his indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over war crimes charges. Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - Malawi has said it will go ahead to host next month's African Union (AU) summit despite Sudan asking that the summit be shifted to the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, following Lilongwe's attempts to block President Omar Hassan al-Bashir from attending because he was a wanted war criminal by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Queen Elizabeth II of England has sent a condolence letter to President Goodluck Jonathan over Sunday's plane crash in Nigeria in which 153 persons died. Full text...

Luanda, Angola (PANA) - The Peace and Security Council of the African Union and the Political and Security Committee of the European Union have called for "concerted international action" and inclusive solution to the political crisis in Guinea-Bissau, worsened Full text...

Luanda, Angola (PANA) – The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) on Friday in Luanda reiterated its support for the candidacy of Nkosasana Zuma for the chair of the African Union (AU) Commission. Full text...

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The African Union (AU) will monitor the electoral process in Libya, according to Mondher Rezgui, the Representative of the AU Commission in Libya. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – Pan African activists and leading experts, including academics, who were meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a one-day, high-level roundtable that provoked debate on democracy, governance and Pan-African idea in honour of the late Pan-African civil activist, Tajudeen Abdul Raheem of Nigeria, have been challenged to strive for a “bottom-up, people-to-people integration” against “a top-down, state-to-state integration” project.Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has renewed by 12 months, the mandate of the task force leading the hunt for Ugandan rebel leader, Joseph Kony, whose Lords Resistance Army (LRA) is accused of committing atrocities in three countries in the Central African region. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS Commission President Kadire Desire Ouedraogo has pledged to accelerate the progress of regional integration and consolidate the activities of ECOWAS institutions. Full text...

Cotonou, Benin (PANA) – The Chairman of the African Union (AU) and President of Benin, Yayi Boni, will attend the G8 summit holding on Saturday at Camp David, US, according to a statement from the Beninese Foreign Affairs ministry.Full text...

Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - The current chairman of the African Union (AU), Benin's president Boni Yayi, on Monday reaffirmed the continental organization's support to countries being destabilised by conflicts. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The resettlement and reintegration of ECOWAS citizens displaced by conflicts is a priority critical to the region’s people-centred integration and development objective, ECOWAS Commission Vice President.Toga McIntosh said. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) -The African Union (AU) Adhoc Committee of Heads of State and Government would meet on Monday in Cotonou, Benin, to examine the election of the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and members of the AU Commission. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - A delegation from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) has arrived in Brazzaville to seek the support of Congolese President Denis Sassou N’Guesso for the candidature of South Africa's Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the post of African Union Commission Chairperson. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has condemned Sunday's terrorist attacks in Nairobi, Kenya, and Kano, Nigeria, which targeted Christian worshippers. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) – Elated at the key roles played by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the successes it has achieved in the sub-region, three parties from the ruling majority coalition in Mauritania on Thursday urged their government to re-join the 15-member regional bloc. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) Tuesday suspended Guinea Bissau from the 54-member bloc with immediate effect, a senior AU official said. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - As the African Union’s (AU) Peace and Security Council kicked off a crisis meeting to discuss the coup-plagued Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday, AU Commission chief Jean Ping has warned the military against “window-dressing” a coup d’état through the introduction of a so-called “new political architecture.” Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Ethiopia's long distance running legend Haile Gabreselassie on Sunday beat British runner Paula Radcliffe in the much-anticipated OMV Champions Race, at the 29th edition of the Vienna City Marathon in the Austrian capital, according to the online 'RaceNewsService', Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has welcomed Japanese car maker Toyota's plan to set up its regional headquarters in Kenya, noting that it would boost trade ties with Japan, a statement from his office said Friday. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) Friday condemned the coup attempt in the West African state of Guinea Bissau, saying it will not accept any unconstitutional change of government. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Defending champion John Kiprotich of Kenya will lead the pack of elite African runners who are expected to feature in Sunday’s Vienna City Marathon, according to the online RaceNewsService. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has welcomed the deal between ECOWAS and the putschists in Mali, which paves the way for the restoration of constitutional rule in the West African state, the continental body said in a statement. Full text...