Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Malian guitarist and composer, Lassana Dramé died on Thursday in Nioro du Sahel, 300 kilometres northwest of Bamako aged 94, official sources told PANA on Friday. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- About 12 artists from West and North Africa will take part in an exhibition at the Malian National Museum, titled "Contact Zone", from 3 Oct. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Niger will seek a seat on UNESCO's executive council during the organisation's 177th session opening on Tuesday in Paris, a Niger government source told PANA Monday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Senegambian musician Labah Socé died Thursday in a Dakar-based clinic at the age of 64, following a throat infection, sources close to the deceased said. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- The 7th African Photography Meeting organised by the Malian Ministry of Culture in collaboration with several other institutions is set for 24-30 November in Bamako, according to the African Photography House. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The caravan "Mémoires de Braises et Futurs, Tom Sank 2007", named after the former Burkinabe head of state, Thomas Sankara, which started on 8 September from the Mexican city of San Cristo'bal of Las Casas to arrive in Ouagadougou on 15 October, is in France until 28 September, associative sources told PANA. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) – "Editions Tombouctou" meant -to promote books and reading will organise its first literary event 17-19 January 2008, the organisers told PANA here Saturday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) – Thirty--three new sites will be considered for inclusion into World Network of Biosphere Reserves when the Bureau of the International Coordinating Council for UNESCO's Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB-ICC), meets at the Organization's headquarters from 18-20 September. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- The Holy month of fasting, Ramadan, will start Thursday in Mauritius, religious sources affirmed to PANA here Wednesday. Full text...

Sirte- Libya (PANA) -- At the end of their conference on "The African continent from the Organisation of the African Unity (OAU) to the African Union (AU)", African intellectuals from the continent and the Diaspora have issued the "Sirte Cultural Appeal for the establishment of the United States of Africa". Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- The Libyan cultural festival organised in Brussels on the occasion of the 38th anniversary of the 1 September Revolution opened Wednesday with several African diplomats, Belgian and European officials in attendance. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Malian writer and politician Seydou Badian Kouyaté, will release a new novel titled "La saison des Pièges" edited at the New Ivorian Editions (NEI), literary sources disclosed to PANA here Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- A program that allows young people to engage in intercultural dialogue within Africa and between African countries and the United Kingdom in order to increase the knowledge and understanding of each other's societies and to change perceptions has been launched. Full text...

Benghazi- Libya (PANA) -- A new preview complex destined to optic culture dubbed "Silvium" was inaugurated Thursday in Benghazi (1050 km east of Tripoli) at a ceremony attended by several Libyan men of culture, writers and artists as part of festivities commemorating the 38th anniversary of the 1st September revolution in Libya. Full text...

Ouagadougou- Burkina Faso (PANA) - – The ninth edition of the West African UNESCO Clubs (FESCUAO) festival started Monday in Ouagadougou under the theme of "Cultural diversity in Africa, obstacles to or assets for development". Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- The very first film of Cameroonian film director Joséphine Ndagnou, "Paris à tout prix" will be released in on screen in Yaounde beginning 9 August, authorised sources revealed here Tuesday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Ten Kenyan makers will undergo training at Nollywood in Nigeria, at the start of a cultural exchange in African film industry designed to bring the under-developed sector at par with the rest of the world, officials here said Friday. Full text...

Brazzaville- Congo (PANA) -- Famous South-African singer, Miriam Makeba says she will sing until she reaches three scores and thirty. Full text...

Muserata- Libya (PANA) -- The Libyan general people's committee for Culture and Information on Thursday began meeting in Muserata, northern Libya to review basic infrastructural projects to boost cultural activities. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The United Nations education and cultural organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee Tuesday placed two world landmarks in its list of the endangered sites with a view to mobilizing support for their conservation, according to a press release availed to PANA. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has signed a contract with Italian construction company, Lattanzi SRL, for the re-erection of the Aksum obelisk on its original location in Ethiopia, the UN agency said in a release Friday. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The relevance of the works of William Shakespeare in the African educational curriculum often raises questions from various sectors. Full text...

Mombasa- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenyan Muslim imams and scholars said here Sunday the religion abhors female genital mutilation (FGM), which they said was still rife in the country despite being outlawed. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The first session of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions will be held 18-20 June UNESCO in Paris. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) – Experts from Arab and Afric-an countries have agreed after discussions at a forum in Kano, Nigeria to edit school manuals that will be relevant for a better "cross-understanding" between Arabs and Africans. Full text...

Las Palmas- Canary Islands (PANA) -- "Casa Africa", an instrument aimed at strengthening cooperation between Spain and the African continent, whose inauguration is set for Wednesday in Las Palmas, will involve cultural, educational, social, institutional and development cooperation activities. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) – The French minister of cult-ure and communication, Christine Albanel, spokesperson of the French government, on Monday eulogised Senegalese writer and film-maker, Ousmane Sembene, who died Saturday in Dakar after a protracted illness. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) – Senegalese film director a-nd writer, Ousmane Sembene, died Saturday night in Dakar following a protracted illness, informed sources announced here. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Senegal and the International Network for the Convention on Cultural Diversity, have signed a Headquarters Agreement, informed sources said here Friday. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa will host the 8th meeting of the International Advisory Committee (IAC) of the UNESCO Memory of the World from 11-15 June in Pretoria, the Ministry of Arts and Culture announced here Tuesday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) – Forty--five new sites are for proposal for inclusion in the list of UNESCO's World Heritage during the 31st session of the World Heritage Committee scheduled 23 June to 2 July in Christchurch, New Zealand, UNESCO announced in a communiqué Thursday. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) – The 11th African and Fr-ancophone Films festival, commonly known as "Dark Screens" will run 2-9 June in Yaounde involving some 30 short and feature-length films and documentaries, organisers affirmed here Monday. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) – Several international artis-tes including France's Francis Lalanne and Congo's Sinda Makelele and Mimi Mavitiku have jointly produced a three-minute pop video in which they urge the UN to protect the people Sudan's western region of Darfur. Full text...

Antananarivo- Madagascar (PANA) -- Internationally acclaimed Indian artist Satesh Gupta arrived in Antananarivo Thursday for an exhibition of works and presentation of his latest book, 'Centering Awareness'. Full text...

Port-Louis- Mauritius (PANA) - – Stakeholders of the Mauritian film industry Thursday called for stricter laws to deal with piracy, which is threatening the industry. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- An impression on Sudan's restive region of Darfur by Malagasy painter, Brigitte Rabarijoana, is on display at the Africa Week event currently underway here since Monday. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Twenty-one African countries are among 77 nations which have, up to date, ratified the International Convention on the protection of Intangible Heritage, UNESCO director general, Koïchiro Matsuura has confirmed in Paris. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- Congolese writer, Kazadi Djodjo Richard, has published at the Kinshasa Commodore editing House, a book titled "Kadhafi, the Libyan president in action", where he describes the hidden side of the history of the Libya Jamahiriyah leader. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Africa will be celebrating its culture and artistic expression at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, from 21 to 25 May, according to a press release received by PANA here Friday. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The man described as the "doyen of Highlife" in Nigeria, Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, has died at the age of 73, according to his son, Obiajulu. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- The European Commission, Friday announced the setting up of an ACP/EU Cultural Fund, with an initial budget of 30 million Euros. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- The US ambassador in Mali, Mrs Terence McCulley on Thursday inaugurated the American Cultural Centre in Gao, in northeastern Mali, dubbed Gorongobou (songhoi ethnic group, in sonrai language). Full text...

Silver Spring- US (PANA) -- Nigerian comedian, Julius Agwu, has urged his compatriots in the Diaspora to showcase the country's good virtues for a positive international image. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) - — About twenty African journalists, gathered here on the initiative of the International Journalists League for Africa (LIJAF) since Wednesday, have called for the setting up of a media alliance against hatred and intolerance and to thwart the use of the press by extremist, populist or terrorist groups. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) - – Senegalese minister of Culture and Listed Historic Heritage, Mame Birame Diouf, has disclosed here that the government would soon submit to parliament a bill to enhance the protection of intellectual property rights. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- The Board of Directors of Cameroon's Copyright Corporation for Writers and Dramatists has appointed Alphonse Bombogo as its new Director General. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- The 18th edition of the Libyan Koran recitation and psalmody contest ended on Friday in Tripoli, with the first three winners in each test honoured with certificates and several gifts in kind and cash presented to them during the closing ceremony. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- The 24th session of African and Malagasy Higher Education Council (CAMES) continued Friday in Yaounde, with the participation of higher education ministers from several member states. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) – Senegalese musician Ismaël -Lô said on Monday in Paris that he would begin a marathon tour in South Africa to promote his latest album "Senegal". Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Clément Duhaime, Administrator of the Paris-based International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF), has described as "a significant step" the implementation of the International Convention on cultural diversity. Full text...