Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- A mummified corpse of a man believed to have lived in the third century BC has been unearthed in the Sudanese locality of Nuri along the River Nile, about 600 km north of Khartoum. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Mali's Culture minister Pascal Baba Coulibaly has announced a decision by the government to ratify the Florence Convention. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's best music group, Bongo Mufin, said their US tour would go ahead despite the deportation of "Appleseed" the band's Zimbabwean lead vocalist. Full text...

London- UK (PANA) -- The Commonwealth Broadcasting Association is calling for short stories for radio from talented writers for the 2002 Commonwealth Short Story Competition. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- UNESCO announced Wednesday that the themes of reconciliation and development are the main focus of its activities in 2002, the year it has dedicated to cultural heritage. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- Belgium's Association for Cultural Promotion, under the country's federal department for co-operation, plans to organise simultaneously in Liege and Antwerp, a big cultural event dubbed "Africalia 2003" from March to October next year. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PAN) -- Africalia, a cultural promotion association set up by Belgium's federal department of development cooperation, will provide financial support to the DAK'ART biennial slated for May in the Senegalese capital of Dakar. Full text...

Algiers- Algeria (PANA) -- "Little Senegal," a feature film by Algerian Rachid Bouchareb, will be shown on 6 April at the Oran film theatre in Algiers, the Algerian capital. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- Belgian authorities intend to modernise an African district in Brussels that was abandoned following the murder of a 25-year-old Congolese on 22 March. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- Belgium's cultural promotion association "Africalia" will support two dance training projects this year in Mozambique and Senegal, as well as literary projects in Burkina Faso and Mali. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Alliance Ethio-Francaise, the French and Canadian embassies in Ethiopia and the International Francophonie Organisation have announced a musical concert for 21 March in Addis Ababa, to feature Congolese musician Casimir Soba, Alias Zao. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Lubumbashi city in the Democratic Republic of Congo is among 10 cities chosen by UNESCO from 76 entries to receive the Cities for Peace prizes for 2000-2001. Full text...

Douala- Cameroon (PANA) -- English-speaking Cameroonians are more open to French than their French-speaking compatriots are to the English language, according to a report by the Douala Bilingual Centre published on the occasion of Commonwealth Day, celebrated last Monday. Full text...

Ouagadougou- Burkina Faso (PANA) -- Leaders of the film industry in member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) have ended a two-day meeting here with a formal resolution to harmonize the development of the industry on a regional basis. Full text...

Ouagadougou- Burkina Faso (PANA) -- Burkina Faso is to host the first edition of the "Artistes en Fete" (Fet'Art) festival to be held from 14 to 17 March in Ouagadougou, the organisers said Wednesday in the Burkinabe capital. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- DR Congo's Wendo Kolosoy and Rumbanella music bands, plan a tour of Europe, America and Africa, to promote the Rumba (dance) across the world, organisers said in Kinshasa. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Authorities in Mali are preparing the country's first cultural map and they intend to publish it soon. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Nigerian writer and social critic, Wole Soyinka, on Friday in Addis Ababa, reiterated his call for a common language for African countries south of the Sahara, saying this would go a long way in promoting regional integration. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The International Francophonie Organisation (OIF) plans to provide substantial funding in the coming months to promote local African languages, OIF sources revealed Wednesday. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Celebrated South African singer Miriam Makeba and Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina have been named this year's winners of the two-million kronor (190,000- dollar) Polar Music Prize. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The International Council of Museums (ICOM), Tuesday praised the French authorities for acknowledging Nigeria's ownership of three Nok and Sokoto sculptures acquired by France in 1999. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- Visiting plastic artist Horst Poppe of Germany conceded Sunday in Luanda that the symbols and force of Angolan culture inspired his research into the significance of the country's cultural features. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (Cape Town) -- Actor Will Smith who has been nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Muhammed Ali in the new blockbuster movie, says he is planning to buy property in South Africa. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Niger fashion designer Alpha Diye will lead a host of eight internationally renown African designers in a fashion show organised as an event to support in "defining priorities for regional integration," which is a theme for the African Development Forum's (ADF III) to being held in Addis Ababa from 3-8 March. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Goree Memorial to be established in Dakar will be a centre for meditation, communication, artistic and aesthetic activities as well as for scientific and technological awakening, the project's co-ordinator Amadou Lamine Sall said in Dakar Tuesday. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Hatier's Black World Collection ("Hatier monde noir poche"), specialised in the publication of pocket size books on Africa, will resume its activities in the next few weeks, the publisher disclosed in Paris Tuesday. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- Ugandan Muslim leaders have expressed outrage at recent remarks made by Ugandan House of Bishops over Kampala's membership in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Acclaimed Cape Town film maker Tim Greene has embarked on his first feature film - the story of a Cape Town street child, based on Charles Dickens classic novel, Oliver Twist. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's blockbuster film 'Mr Bones' has now grossed more than R30 million (about 2. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- More than 500 South African and overseas dancers will gather at Sun City's Superbowl for three days beginning 26 April to participate in the famous Battle of the Giants All Styles Dance Festival. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- The Angolan Writers Union (UEA) Wednesday in Luanda launched a website meant to promote its members throughout the world. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- UNESCO has warned that about half of some 6,000 languages spoken in the world are under threat, among them local languages in Nigeria and some East African countries. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- About half of the 6,000 or so languages spoken in the world are under threat of disappearing, UNESCO has cautioned. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Bravo China-South Africa, a celebration of music and dance, premiered on the Nelson Mandela stage at the Civic Theatre in Johannesburg on Sunday night. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The University of Sorbonne in Paris said it will on Saturday posthumously honour renowned Cameroonian writer, Mongo Beti. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Guateng Province will on Saturday organise a Traditional Fair to highlight and promote "unity in diversity" in South Africa. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The three terracotta statues illegally taken by France from Nigeria will remain at the Quai Branly museum in Paris for the next 25 years, an official source said here Wednesday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Around 350 manuscripts and ten holy slabs (Tabots) stolen from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church are currently found in British museums and libraries, according to the Association for the return of Maqdala Ethiopian Treasures (AFROMET). Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The first stage reading festival will hold in Cotonou, Benin from 13 to 15 March, ahead of the international festival of Benin Drama (FITHEB), sources in Cotonou announced Wednesday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) A holy slab known as -"Tabot" belonging to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is to be returned soon to the rightful owners 133 years after its capture by the British army which stormed Makdala, Emperor Tewodros' last stronghold. Full text...

Bangui- Central African Republic (PANA) -- The traditional dance festival in Central African Republic was currently being held in Bangui. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Organisers of the International Theatre Festival in Benin (FITHEB) on Monday began a pre-fund raising campaign for the 240-million-franc CFA budget to stage its sixth edition scheduled 16-27 March in Cotonou. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- France would help finance the rebuilding of the Agadez Sultan's famous mosque and palace, the Niger News Agency (ANP) reported in Niamey. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) – Gone are the days when Fren-ch Television programmes were done by only white personalities. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- An international music festival is scheduled 17-27 January in Benin's main cities, said officials of the French Cultural Centre in Cotonou. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia, PANA - A few months ago, one of- Namibia's paramount chiefs urged other influential tribal groups to forge integration of the San, a nomadic fruit-gathering community, into the mainstream economy and political life. ) Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- The authorities in Morocco have hinted of plans to renovate the Al Masjid al Aâdam, the great mosque in Taza 660 km north-east of Rabat, which dates back to the Almohades era between 1147 and 1269. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Writers and publishers of travel stories from different parts of the world will gather in Bamako from 21 to 25 February for an international festival of "Surprising travellers" (Etonnants voyageurs). Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Opened last Friday by Malian First Lady Adam Ba Konare, the 3rd international festival on Peul arts and culture is underway in Bamako. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- The death of Cameroonian writer Mongo Beti on 7 October 2001 in Douala following a brief illness definitely left a cultural imprint in the country in past year, analysts agreed. Full text...