Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Delegates to the recently-held regional Abuja Roundtable on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) negotiations have reiterated support for the ECOWAS Common Position (ECP) on the Treaty, especially the provision to curb indiscriminate circulation of arms and associated armed violence, and the abuse that threaten peace in the society. Full text...

Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) – A top DRC provincial official has appealed for international assistance for the 30,000 internally-displaced households currently resident in Kasese, 125 km from Punia, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – Congolese teachers, scheduled to embark on a nationwide strike Monday, shelved their plan after a meeting of top government officials and various Trade Union organizations, according to a Radio Congo report here Tuesday. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The Accra-based sub-regional rights body, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), has raised concern over the ''recent spate of suspensions'' meted out to the Ivorian media by the country's statutory press regulatory body, the National Press Council (CNP). Full text...

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Ministry of Defence has decided to apply "strong measures" to strengthen security in the violence-prone region of Kufra located in the country's deep south. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Immigration officials from Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia are meeting in Tanzania to work out ways for better identity management, under an EU-funded border management capacity building programme. Full text...

Tripoli Libya (PANA) - Libyan authorities are to close five prisons in Misrata, 200km east of the capital city of Tripoli, and their inmates transferred to the new Remand Centre in the city. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - A Libyan teenager is being held on Cape Town’s famous Robben Island in South Africa, after stowing away on a ship which sailed from Ghana a few days ago. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has urged feuding Sudanese tribal groups to cease the hostilities which have left dozens dead. Full text...

Port Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - The population of Mauritius increased by a total of 4, 865 people between 2011 and 2012, according to statistics released here Tuesday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - A group claiming to be Nigeria's violent Islamic group Boko Haram on Monday released a video on the online video sharing website 'YouTube' showing the French family that was kidnapped in neighbouring Cameroon 19 February. Full text...

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) – Four persons were killed and dozens of others injured following the torrential rain which pounded the Rwandan capital, Kigali, Saturday, according to Theos Badege, a spokesman of the Rwandan police. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Two Nigerians have been arrested in Ghana for their alleged involvement in the importation of 200 kilogrammes of cocaine with a street value of US$ 12 million. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - All eight passengers and driver of a commercial minibus died Sunday evening when the vehicle rammed into a truck at the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Nigeria's South-west, the local media reported Monday. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) - South Africa is to investigate crimes against humanity in Zimbabwe involving widespread rape perpetrated in the run-up to Zimbabwe’s 2008 presidential elections. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - A football pitch argument between two players on Saturday sparked an orgy of religious violence in Wukari, in the northern Taraba State, leaving at least five people dead, according to local media reports. Full text...

New York (US) – The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says the education of some 700,000 children in Mali has been disrupted due to the violence in the country, stressing that there is an urgent need to rebuild schools, train teachers and provide learning supplies. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Eleven passengers died on Saturday when the bus on which they were travelling was involved in an accident on the Accra-Cape Coast Highway west of the capital, police said. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The regulatory Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has suspended the operating licence of the radio station believed to have incited the recent killing of nine polio vaccinators in the country's northern state of Kano. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) – South Sudanese and UN officials, non-governmental organizations and officials of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) met over three days in Juba on how to harness Diaspora engagement for the development of South Sudanese health sector. Full text...

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - A US court has denied American citizenship to Rwandan Beatrice Munyenyesi, who is currently residing in the state of New Hampshire, over accusations of crimes she committed in her country in 1994, the local press reported here Friday. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - The Felix Houphouet Boigny prize for peace has been awarded to French President François Hollande, in recognition of his contribution to peace and stability in Africa. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - South African paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorious was granted bail by the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Friday afternoon, a week after he was arrested for the alleged murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenya's Court of Appeal Judge Kalpana Rawal was Friday nominated to be the country's new Deputy Chief Justice. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - A preparatory meeting on the rights of the indigenous people will be held 11-12 March in Brazzaville, ahead of a meeting on the same issue in New York, US, in May. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - France will grant Congo F CFA 41.9 billion to help the African country carry out two major projects - a road expansion programme and the provision of a rainwater drainage system, Jean-François Valette, French Ambassador to Congo, said Thursday in Brazzaville, the Congolese capital. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - In a dramatic twist to the bail application of South Africa's fallen sports hero Oscar Pistorious, the state has replaced the lead investigator, following the claims that the previous investigator Hilton Botha is facing attempted murder charges in an unrelated case. Full text...

Yaoundé, Cameroon (PANA) – An international military exercise dubbed "Obangame Express" that brings together soldiers from 16 African countries begins on Friday at the Douala naval base, Cameroon, sources close to the United States Embassy in Yaoundé told PANA on Thursday. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh, has taken over the management of the National Disaster Management Agency, a statement from his office has indicated. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The sub-regional rights body, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), on Wednesday condemned the assault on journalist Elkass Sannoh, by some Sierra Leonean police officers. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The United Nations/African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and the UN Country Team (UNCT) have welcomed a recent ceasefire agreement signed by the Sudanese government and Darfur’s Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Sudan, describing it as “a significant step” towards a comprehensive peace agreement for Darfur. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - The Nigerian State Security Service (SSS) on Wednesday paraded a 50-year-old Iranian-trained Nigerian, Abdullahi Mustapha Berende, for alleged active involvement in espionage and terrorist activities. Full text...

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) – The movement of persons and goods resumed Tuesday at the border crossing point of Ras Jadir between Libya and Tunisia after it was closed for five days, official sources told PANA here. Full text...

Conakry, Guinea (PANA) – The European Commission on Wednesday approved a loan of 8.4 million euros for Guinea to enable the West African nation provide potable water for its citizens in rural and semi-urban areas, the European bloc said in a statement obtained by PANA here. Full text...

Yaounde, Cameroon (PANA) – Reacting to the abduction of seven members of a French family Tuesday in the northern part of Cameroon, the French embassy here Wednesday issued a travel alert to its citizens in the Central African country. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - For the second time in a week, six foreign workers have been kidnapped from an oil service ship by gunmen who invaded the ship off the coast of Bayelsa in Nigeria's Niger Delta oil region, the police said Wednesday. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - Police on Wednesday denied claims that Oscar Pistorius may have physically assaulted his girlfriend before allegedly shooting her, after reports that a bloodied cricket bat was found at his home where the tragedy occurred last week. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - One of Nigeria's oldest and most prolific actors, Justus Esiri, has died at the age of 70, the local media reported Wednesday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - A court in Nigeria has ordered the country's federal government to pay 37.6 billion naira (US$237 million) as compensation to the victims of the Odi Community in Bayelsa State in the country's oil producing region. Full text...

Yaoundé, Cameroon (PANA) – Seven French tourists, all from the same family, were on Tuesday morning kidnapped in northern Cameroon, near the park of Waza at the Nigerian border, Cameroonian national television (CRTV) reported. Full text...

Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - Burundi anti-riot police Tuesday "violently" dispersed journalists demanding the release of their jailed colleague, Hassan Ruvakuki, the local correspondent of Radio France International (RFI, Swahili section). Full text...

Lomé, Togo (PANA) – Togo security forces Tuesday stopped journalists from a planned peaceful demonstration in front of the National parliament building where they were to protest against a vote on the bill amending laws of the High authority of audio-visual and communication (HAAC), Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) – An international military exercise, code named "Flintlock 2013", began Tuesday in South-eastern Mauritania, security sources told PANA here. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - South African Paralympic and Olympic running star Oscar Pistorius again broke down in court as his bail application resumed on Tuesday. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The Sudanese Army said on Monday it clashed with rebels in the Blue Nile Region where it freed Mafo, a strategic area. Full text...

Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - The Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mrs. Rebecca Grynspan, will be paying a working visit to Burundi from 20 to 22 February, according to an official communiqué issued Monday in Bujumbura. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Four bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of a car that plunged into a river in Nigeria's southern River State late on Sunday, according to rescuers. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - One person was killed Monday when an explosive device went off under the FESTAC/Mile 2 link bridge in Nigeria's commercial city of Lagos, according to the local P.M. News. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan Monday ordered the country's security agencies to ''take all necessary action to locate and rescue'' the foreign construction workers who were abducted from their camp by terrorists in northern Bauchi State Saturday. Full text...

Lome, Togo (PANA) – The Togolese Journalists Unions have called out their members to a peaceful demonstration Tuesday in front of the the National Parliament building here as parliamentarians prepare to vote on the bill amending laws of the High authority of audio-visual and communication (HAAC), reliable sources told PANA here Monday. Full text...