Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigerian workers returned to their offices on Monday after four straight days off, two of them to observe the public holidays marking Eid-el-Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria's South-west town of Ile-Ife are celebrating the ranking of the public university as the best in Nigeria and eighth in Africa by the Spain-based research group Cybermetrics Lab. Full text...

Johannesburg, South Africa (PANA) - The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has launched its 24-hour news channel, with President Jacob Zuma tasking the station to tell the full story of South Africa as well as the African story. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - ECOWAS has again lived up to its reputation as a trail blazer in regional integration matters, with a staff of the ECOWAS Commission leading the pack of 16 participants at the just-ended intensive course on Migration Policy for Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Dakar, Senegal. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Marking the International Day of Friendship, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday urged the global community to use the potential of friendship to strengthen common bonds and inspire efforts for peace and sustainable development. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's federal government is to carry out a housing census on a date yet to be announced as part of efforts to meet the housing needs of the country's 167 million people. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Monday called on the Ethiopian government to release 29 individuals who it has detained and charged in court fir terrorism. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Mr. Yury Fedotov, on Monday stressed the links between combating these two significant threats for sustainable development in the world. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has expressed concern over a draft law in Somalia that would require journalists to reveal their sources and prevent them from disseminating information against Islam or Somali traditions. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN agency, tasked with defending press freedom, on Wednesday Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN member states on Wednesday kicked off a three-day meeting Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Ms. Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – The UN marked World Population Day on Thursday by spotlighting the issue of adolescent pregnancy, and calling on governments to take measures to enable girls to make responsible life choices and realise their potential. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN member states on Tuesday agreed to establish a new High-Level Political Forum to boost efforts to achieve global sustainable development that will improve people’s economic and social well-being while protecting the environment. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Ahead of this year's Ramadan fast starting in Nigeria on Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan has urged all the country's Muslims to offer special prayers during the period for greater peace, security, unity and rapid socio-economic development in the country. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Senior UN officials on Monday emphasised the need for the international community to tackle social and economic inequalities between regions and within countries, noting that this is crucial to achieve sustainability and avert future crises. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Monday condemned the recent attack on a school in north-east Nigeria that resulted in the deaths of a number of students and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - A meeting involving the UN refugee agency, Morocco, Frente Polisario, Algeria, and Mauritania ended on Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland, with an agreement to expand a programme of family visits between Sahrawi refugees living in camps near Tindouf, Algeria, and their families in the territory of Western Sahara. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) – Judges in Mali on Wednesday condemned a statement credited to the Malian interim president Dioncounda Traore, over his intention to pardon convicted coup plotters, the umbrella Union of the Malian Judges (SAM) revealed in a communique here. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The powerful Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) announced on Sunday it will begin a three-day ''warning'' strike on Monday to protest a rash of issues, from unfair labour practices by some oil firms to the state of the nation's roads. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Gov. Kashim Shetima of Nigeria's northern Borno state has disclosed that there are drug addicts in his cabinet, as he inaugurated a panel on drug abuse in the state that is regarded as the spiritual base of the Islamic sect Boko Haram. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has commended African countries for their continuous progress over the past 50 years, while stressing that many challenges remain in the continent and that accelerated action is needed to tackle them. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Music icon, Stevie Wonder, has appealed to more than 600 negotiators at a UN forum in Marrakesh, Morocco, to finalize a new global treaty easing access to books for the blind, visually impaired and other print disabled people. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – The UN International Labour Organisation (ILO) has called for an end Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's South-west Lagos State has legalised voluntary cremation, following the signing into law of the Cremation Bill by Gov. Babatunde Fashola on Monday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - New figures from the UN Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have shown that the number of children out of school dipped Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed regret that a new media law in Burundi was promulgated with provisions that may have a negative impact on the freedom of the press. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda on Thursday in New York released a report that sets out a universal agenda to eradicate extreme poverty from the world by 2030, and deliver on the promise of sustainable development. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Former Nigeria's Minister of Works, retired Maj.-Gen. Mamman Kotangora, has died at the age of 69, a local radio station monitored by PANA here said Thursday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Local and Regional organizations from different parts of the world will gathered at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday to address commitments made to end extreme poverty and sustainable development. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has emphasised the importance of countries stepping up their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before the 2015 deadline. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) President Nestor Osorio has called for a more effective and inclusive global governance system to ensure that the international community achieves the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and establishes an actionable post-2015 agenda. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) will present awards to African scholars who have published distinctive research in the field of education, at a ceremony in Sevres, near Paris, France on Tuesday, the association said in Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghanaian doctors on Tuesday announced the end of their crippling strike that disrupted services in government health facilities and brought suffering to patients for about one month. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Navi Pillay, on Monday welcomed the birth of a new mechanism which will empower individuals to seek out justice when their rights to food, adequate housing, education or health are violated. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - As the World Press Freedom Day is observed Friday, the umbrella Full text...

Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - Global rights body Amnesty International said Tuesday that Burundi's new law, which will severely limit the activities of journalists in Burundi, poses a grave threat to freedom of expression. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Teachers in Nigerian polytechnics have commenced an indefinite strike over pay and the poor work conditions, the local media reported Monday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's federal government has declared 1 May as a public holiday in observance of Workers' Day, Minister of Interior Abba Moro announced in a statement Friday in the capital city of Abuja. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana's National Labour Commission (NLC) has filed a writ at the High Court seeking the powers of the court to compel striking doctors to return to the hospitals as conditions in the public health facilities continue to deteriorate. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - In an unprecedented move, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has granted a television station, TopTV, permission to broadcast pornography in the country. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Sudan continues to hold 100 political prisoners, even though it has recently released 24 others, according to a coalition of human rights organisations. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - Thousands of disgruntled teachers in South Africa on Wednesday morning embarked on protest marches in Cape Town and Pretoria. Full text...

Lome, Togo (PANA) – Japan on Tuesday granted Togo CFA F 5.6 billion to assist the West African nation in its struggle to end poverty that is adversely affecting the population, official sources told PANA here. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) – The Mali-based NGO, SAMU-Social, and partners, Bamako Town Hall, have jointly initiated a project aimed at protecting children in difficult situations and reinforcing the technical capacities of the social services at the local level, PANA learnt here Monday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the International Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – Gambia's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has banned online dating services and the use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services offered by cyber cafes, PANA confirmed Monday. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - The strike by doctors in public health facilities in Ghana entered its second week on Monday, but with doctors rescinding their decision to intensify their action, at least for a week. Full text...

Lomé, Togo (PANA) – Pupils and students in public and private schools in the Togolese capital, Lome, and some cities in the West African state on Friday held demonstrations to express their anger at the handling of on-going strike called by teachers. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - Leading South African politicians have paid tribute to former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who died on Monday at the age of 87. Full text...