Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- Mauritius Arts and Culture minister Motee Ramdass has tabled a bill in Parliament proposing a Trust Fund Bill to honour the memory of Indian immigrants, as well as protect Aapravasi Ghat, the site where they first settled on arrival in 1834. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Governor Peter Odili of Nigeria's south-eastern Rivers State has congratulated the newly-crowned Miss World, Nigeria's Agbani Darego, expressing the hope her victory would trigger a new enthusiasm and positive spirit of adventure among youths in the State. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Volume 2 of a compilation of songs by old Benin music celebrities would be officially launched on 24 November, according the initiator of the project, Jean Luc Akplogan. Full text...

Saint Denis- Reunion (PANA) -- The months of November and December are particularly religious in Reunion, where the Hindu, Muslim and Catholic communities celebrate their holidays in harmony. Full text...

Porto-Novo- Benin (PANA) -- More than a hundred researchers and policy makers are expected at an international conference on the Aguda or descendants of former slaves, billed for 20-26 November in Porto-Novo, Benin. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation is supporting the preservation of the famous historical town of Kilwa, 280 km south of Dar es Salaam but off the Tanzanian coast, which UNESCO declared a world heritage site in 1981. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Four prizes worth over two million CFA F (2,666 dollars) were awarded Thursday to Benin's outstanding journalists and artists for 2001. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The fifth edition of the Benin Golden Awards (BGA), the largest awards event in the country's cultural and artistic scene, was launched Thursday in Cotonou by Culture, Crafts and Tourism Minister Amos Elegbe. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- A Sharia court in Nigeria's northern state of Katsina has sentenced a man, Sani Rodi, to death by stabbing after convicting him of murder, the local media reported Thursday. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's deputy foreign minister Aziz Pahad says the rabid Afro-pessimism that prevailed a few years ago is on the retreat and positive events on the continent have proven many sceptics wrong. Full text...

Saint Denis- Reunion (PANA) -- Seven films from six African countries aare among 22 selected at the Reunion Film Festival which opened on Tuesday in Saint-Denis. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- An International Fashion Show featuring designers and models from Africa and outside the continent, is planned for 8 December in Cotonou, Benin, the organisers said Tuesday. Full text...

Saint Denis- Reunion (PANA) -- Malian singer Rokia Traore pulled thousands of fans in two concerts staged last Saturday in Mauritius and Monday in Reunion. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- Poet and novelist Hassan Nejmi was Sunday re-elected as chairman of the Morocco Union of Writers (MUW) for a second two-year mandate. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Tunisian leader Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, pleaded Monday against any attempt likely to lead to a possible "disruption of civilisations. Full text...

Moroni- Comoros (PANA) -- A 20-member Chinese troupe has been entertaining the Comoran public since the weekend at the start of an African tour that will take them to Lesotho, Botswana and Seychelles. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- The East African Community (EAC) is preparing a cultural festival on 30 November to mark the official launch of its key organs -- the EA Legislative Assembly and the EA Court of Justice respectively. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Benin will host the first African Arts and Culture Festival to be held 3-21 January 2002, the event organisers have announced. Full text...

Saint Denis- Reunion (PANA) -- Indian natives of Reunion Friday began a 10-day celebration of Dipavali festival which, according to Tamil belief, represents the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Literature should act as a vehicle of peace and cementing reconciliation between Angolans, Joao Melo, a former secretary general of the Union of Angolan Writers said Wednesday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia, (PANA) -- A renowned Japanese artist, Tadamitsu Saito, is to stage an extraordinary music concert, known as " Cosmic Manifesto" Saturday in Addis Ababa. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The enrolment of at least 5,000 children in some 466 Koranic schools under the talibe (Arabic word for "student") system in Muslim dominated northern Benin is worrisome to the World Bank, which discovered the phenomenon in a recent survey. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- The third edition of the West African broadcast media fiesta dubbed 'Waves of Freedom Festival' opens in Bamako on Wednesday under the patronage of Malian Prime Minister Mande Sidibe, official sources confirmed Tuesday. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- The Niger government plans to introduce to the National Assembly, a bill to promote indigenous languages. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- UNESCO's ongoing general conference in Paris on Monday elected Moroccan Ambassador Aziza Benani president of the organisation's executive council. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Locals in Cotonou all through the weekend celebrated their compatriot's exploits after Albert Bessanvi alias Gbéssi Zolawadji clinched the Sun City Kora Award for Best African Folk music artist last Saturday in South Africa. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The first Lagos International Arts Fair has started in Nigeria's commercial capital as part of efforts to promote African culture and heritage, its organisers said. Full text...

Saint Denis- Reunion (PANA) -- The people of Reunion on Sunday ended a two-day commemoration of the major uprising by runaway slaves in 1811 The commemoration comprised a peace rally and demonstration for the first time in Reunion. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- UNESCO's governing body, the general conference, Friday in Paris adopted the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity which is expected to acquire as much force as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the future. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- On the African continent, liberation is being replaced by indifference, complacency, and racist perceptions rivalling even the most backward of the pre-liberation era. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- A total of 15 music categories would be recognised when Sun City hosts the 6th annual Kora All- Africa Music Awards on Saturday, and one international figure will join an illustrious group of leaders awarded for their lifetime achievements. Full text...

Algiers- Algeria (PANA) -- The Algerian national theatre (ANT) wants to revive the memory of great names of the national stage by performing their works in Algerian Arabic, director Ziani Chérif Ayad said on Sunday. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Benin's representative in the 2001 Kora Awards to be held in Sun City, South Africa, singer Albert Bessanvi alias Gbessi Zolawadji, has received a government grant of 700 million CFA francs (over 900 thousand US dollars). Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Three African visual artists from Benin, Togo and DR Congo are exhibiting some 50 works in Cotonou, Benin. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- A National Federation of Arts and Culture (FNAAC) has been established in Cote d'Ivoire to promote cultural, artistic, social and economic development, the initiators said in Abidjan. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- The 8th Miss ECOWAS beauty contest takes place in Bamako 22 December, Yabobu Victor, chairman of the Organising Committee, has announced in the Malian capital. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Female singer Assy Kiwa will represent Benin at the "Ma Africa 2001" contest scheduled to begin on Monday in South Africa, sources close to her manager said. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Senegalese Education Moustapha Sourang Monday stressed what he said was the important contribution Africa could bring the dialogue among cultures and civilisations at a time when acts of terror threaten global peace. Full text...

Ouagadougou- Burkina Faso (PANA) -- Top African musicians would on 8 December stage a concert in Ouagadougou, the proceeds of which would be used to in the fight against HIV/AIDS, sources said. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The African film and broadcasting kicked off Wednesday at the French Cultural Centre in Cotonou, Benin ahead of the African film and broadcasting day. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- Rokia Traore, the young musical sensation from Mali, is to perform in Namibia 31 October at the National Theatre of Namibia (NTN) as part of her tour of Southern African and the Indian Ocean regions. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- At the 31st UNESCO general conference underway in Paris, Zimbabwe's minister of Education, Sports and Culture, A. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- The British Museum in London has returned a stolen ancient statue to Sudan after a Sudanese man smuggled it to the museum for sale, Sudan National TV reported. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- King Midodaho Kpassenoumedje of Ouidah in Benin has been elected chairman of the National Community of the Voodoo Cults at the end of an extraordinary congress, reliable sources said Tuesday. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- Mauritius and China have signed an agreement for cultural co-operation covering 2001-2003. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Florent Couao Zotti and Ken Bugul are representing Benin at an international book fair in Bordeaux, France, officials at the French Cultural Centre in Cotonou confirmed Tuesday. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- Sun City celebrates its African essence by hosting Kora Awards for music of African origin, which is expected to reach 389 million television viewers worldwide. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- French President Jacques Chirac said Monday that cultural diversity enriches humanity and could provide a suitable response to globalisation. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- The renowned European exhibition centre, Fiera Milano, has opened an office in Tunis to serve as a relay point for export Tunisian, Egyptian and Maghreb companies seeking deals and partnerships with Europe. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Tunisia's 2001-2002 cultural season is about to start, with various programmes already scheduled for music, theatre, cinema, dance, art and conferences. Full text...