Paris- France (PANA) -- A five-day conference expected to give an overview of the dimensions of Afro-Brazilian heritage in the Gulf of Benin will be held in Benin starting on 26 November. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- Libyans Wednesday dug deep into history to commemorate the country's resistance against a Spanish invasion dating back to 25 July 1510. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Italy and Ethiopia would continue to consolidate efforts toward the repatriation of the Axum Obelisk to Addis Ababa, Radio Ethiopia reported Wednesday, quoting the foreign ministry. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Ethiopia has expressed "surprise and sadness" over a statement by Italy's deputy minister of culture, saying Italy would not return the Axum Obelisk to Addis Ababa, Radio Ethiopia reported Saturday quoting the foreign ministry. Full text...

Brazzaville- Congo (PANA) -- About 20 countries from Africa and the Diaspora would take part in the 3rd Pan-African Music Festival (FESPAM) 4-11 August in Brazzaville and Kinshasa, the organisers said early this week. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- Visitors to a two-week exhibition of sculptures by Marie-Claire Yung Hing and well known Namibian sculptor Erick Schnack have the option of having their portraits sketched by the latter. Full text...

N'djamena- Chad (PANA) -- The Chadian delegation to the just- ended OAU Summit in Lusaka proposed compatriot Abakar Abdelhamid as deputy director general of the Afro-Arab cultural Institute, to be based in Bamako, Mali. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- Morocco's third International Lute Festival will be held from 18 to 21 July in the northern Moroccan town of Tetouan. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- Local musicians on Thursday reached a milestone when their newly-launched Namibia Music Industry Union (NAMIU) became the 10th affiliate of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW). Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The famous lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt and other historical underwater relics might soon benefit from international legal protection, experts have suggested at the end of a UNESCO-sponsored meeting in Paris. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- Manuel Pierson, President of the US-based "Fund for African-American Cultural and Educational Solidarity (FACES), says Gambian authorities should step up publicity campaign to win more American support. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- An international conference rolls off Tuesday in Rabat, Morocco on dialogue among cultures in a changing world. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- African delegates at the on-going UNESCO conference on underwater cultural heritage have issued a paper saying they expect a final convention that protects underwater cultural heritage. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- Sudan on Monday mourned one of its most popular singers, Sayyid Khalifa, who died in a heart hospital in Amma, Jordan at age 73. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Experts of UNESCO's member countries, who on Monday resumed discussions in Paris on the Convention for Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, said they expect to reach a consensus on the issue by the end of deliberations 7 July. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- A 25-year-old Kenyan paid with his life Thursday for his crude attempt to have his teenaged sister circumcised by force, the East African Standard reported Friday. Full text...

Porto Novo- Benin (PANA) -- A meeting of Togolese and Benin archivists is underway in Porto-Novo, on the management of private archives in a liberalised economy. Full text...

Douala- Cameroon (PANA) -- An Islamic cultural centre has been inaugurated in Cameroon's coastal city of Douala. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Three films including Ethiopia's "The Father" have been selected to officially open the Zanzibar international film festival (ZIFF) scheduled to begin 29 July. Full text...

Berseba- Namibia (PANA) -- Deputy Prime Minister Hendrik Witbooi has enjoined Nama-speaking Namibians to revive, practise and preserve their culture for future generations. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- Musicians and film makers from different nations of the Indian Ocean will rub shoulders at the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), beginning 29 June, at an annual event that offers audiences and impresarios a direct taste of exciting new talents and styles. Full text...

N'djamena- Chad (PANA) -- Two drama groups from Chad are taking part in the sixth edition of the International Actors' Festival (FIA) being held from 23 June to 3 July in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- Musicians and filmmakers from different nations will rub shoulders at the two-week Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) starting on Friday. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- While professional and amateur astronomers from around the world are flocking to Zimbabwe to see the solar eclipse due there Thursday, the country's traditional medicine men said Wednesday they were deeply worried by the spectacle, warning it was a bad omen. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Reflecting the culture and heritage of two countries, Fashion Iziko, a celebration of fashion and creative styles of the UK and South Africa, began in Cape Town on Monday. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The third conference of French- speaking ministers of culture is underway in Cotonou with participants from some 55 countries discussing cultural diversity within the Francophonie. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Experts from Francophonie member countries Wednesday in Cotonou began preparations for the organisation's third conference of Culture ministers expected to discuss cultural diversity 14-15 June in the Benin capital. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- UNESCO Wednesday honoured the Secretary General of Ghana's National Commission for UNESCO, John Kusi Achampong, for his commitment and devotion to the service of the UN agency. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- The big crowd that packed the hall of the Holiday Villa Hotel Monday was amazed to see Sudanese girls grace their presence on the traditional catwalk in the country's first fashion show. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- A francophone village, set up as part of preparations for this week's ministerial conference on culture for French-speaking countries, was inaugurated Monday in Cotonou. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- An internationally renowned South African artist, Joe Maseko, has just completed a collection of 11 works which are on sale at the Absa Gallery in Johannesburg this week. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- Famara works on another album for Gambia Thomi Nikles, the Swiss reggae sensation who took Gambia as his African music roots, is set to present the Smiling Coast with a second album. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Minister Ben Ngubane announced Tuesday that R10 million would be made to the National Arts Council (NAC) for special arts companies. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Guinean historian and writer Djibril Tamsir Niane was on Sunday elected to head the West Africa Researchers' Union. Full text...

Saint-Louis- Senegal (PANA) -- A symposium on cohabitation strategies for languages and literature in Francophone Africa would hold next Wednesday in Senegal's Gaston Berger University in St Louis. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- A guest speaker at a conference on the crisis bedevilling the Ivorian education system has indicted the emblem of Abidjan University - a mask - as the mystical force behind a recent spate of violence on campus. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- The seventh edition of the World Festival of Sacred Music, which opened last Saturday in Fes, will end on June. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The first American retrospective of internationally acclaimed South African artist William Kentridge, has opened at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and will remain on view until mid-September. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- The 37th edition of the National Popular Arts Festival (FNAP) will be held from 6 to 15 June in the southern Moroccan city of Marrakech on the theme: "Les Chants de l'Atlas" (Atlas Songs). Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Benin's music group Afrik'Uny is in Libreville, Gabon taking part in the festival of cultures that rolled off at the weekend, sources close to the band said. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- African linguists from the Gambia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, America and Europe, have agreed to create an Academy of African Languages in Mali. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The Intergovernmental Agency of the Francophonie has announced the disbursement of 5,620,000 French Francs to support the production of 25 new films and other audio- visual productions in developing member countries. Full text...

Praia- Cape Verde (PANA) -- Cape Verdian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Manuel Inocencio Sousa, flies to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands Friday for the official opening of a special cultural programme for Cape Verdians in the Dutch city. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Several French papers Tuesday paid homage to Cameroonian composer and writer Francis Bebey, who died Monday morning in Paris at the age of 72, sending shock waves among his admirers and the world of African music. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- Cartoonists from notably Gabon, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and host country Cameroon will 4-8 June meet in the coastal city of Douala in their second convention. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- UNESCO's Executive Board began its 161st session Monday focusing on the UN agency's draft programmes and budget for 2002-2003. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The Burkina Faso culture and arts minister Mohamoudou Ouedraogo Saturday challenged African countries to develop an African cultural policy to promote a deeper understanding and tolerance among fellow Africans. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Senegal's Ramatoulaye Diallo won the prestigious 2001 M-Net Face of Africa competition at a glittering ceremony at Sun City Saturday night. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Togolese Prime Minister Agbeyomi Kodjo said Monday that this year's Africa Day should be observed with genuine determination to promote democracy and respect for human rights on the continent. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The oral and musical heritages of three African communities are among 19 cultural spaces and forms of expression to which UNESCO Friday gave the title of "masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity. Full text...