Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has condoled with the government and people of Venezuela on Tuesday's death of President Hugo Chavez. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - During his lifetime, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who died Tuesday aged 58, saw himself as a friend of Africa, a continent that he believed suffered the same fate as his native Latin America in the hands of colonialists. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged Kenyans to remain peaceful and ensure a credible conclusion of the Kenyan presidential election as they wait for the ballots to be counted, in contrast to the violent outcome of the 2007 polls. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The US has applauded the people of Kenya for participating peacefully in the 4 March general elections, as the final results of the polls are being awaited. Full text...

Ebène, Mauritius (PANA) – Comoros on Tuesday said it would donate 100,000 Euro towards the electoral process in Madagascar. Full text...

Conakry, Guinea (PANA) – The Guinean military, in collaboration with the ministry of Security, Civil Security and Security Sector Reform, on Tuesday called on Guineans to remain calm following the acts of vandalism in some districts of Conakry, the capital. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The race for the Kenyan presidency between Uhuru Kenyatta and main rival Raila Odinga remained tight with about 5 million votes, some 40%of the electorate, already counted. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Amnesty International on Tuesday said it is premature for the UN Security Council to consider lifting the arms embargo on Somalia, warning that such a move could see armed groups like Al-Shabab laying their hands on even more weapons, while removing existing mechanisms of transparency and accountability. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenya's elections appear a tight race between two coalitions with 13% of the votes counted. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Voting in Kenya’s six-piece elections closed Monday and results started streaming in almost immediately with Uhuru Kenyatta taking the lead after early vote count. Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - Malawi's opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will hold its first ever national convention, called "Indaba" in local parlance, from 17-19 April, according to the party's Publicity Secretary, Nicholas Dausi. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - A new political party, FARE, has emerged in Mali with businessman Aliou Keita elected its leader. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The Kenyan army has been put on high alert following the overnight killing of 12 people, including six Kenyan police officers and six members of a separatist group in Kenya's coastal region. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Presidential candidate Raila Odinga voted in Kenya's first election in five years Monday, saying he was optimistic that his coalition would win the presidential vote with a more convincing majority to avoid a runoff. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan, on Saturday warned that African leaders must work harder to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in their countries or face the continuous threat of political instability with its attendant societal dislocations. Full text...

Cotonou, Benin (PANA) – Two persons - Commander Pamphile Zomahoun, a close ally of President Yayi Boni, and an accounting expert, Johannes Dagnon - were Friday arrested and detained for what authorities called a "breach of public safety". Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday won a key legal battle ahead of the 2015 presidential race, following a ruling by a High Court in Abuja, the Nigerian Federal capital city, that he (Jonathan) was free to seek re-election in 2015 if he so desires. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, late Friday conferred his country's highest National honour, the Grand Cross of the Order of the Nation, on President Goodluck Jonathan in appreciation of Nigeria’s contributions to peace, stability and progress in Cote D’Ivoire. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan, has pledged that he will continue to work with his Ivorian counterpart, Alassane Ouattara, and other ECOWAS leaders to achieve greater peace, security, political stability and economic prosperity in the West African sub-region. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS has renewed the mandate of the Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara, as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government for another one year. Full text...

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) – Libya will soon ask the UN Security Council to lift its embargo on arms import imposed against the country in 2011, Libyan Prim Minister, Ali Zeidan, said on Wednesday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenya, the centre of one of Africa's most competitive presidential election, is back on the international spotlight five years after undergoing a traumatic post-electoral violence that killed scored of people. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The International Criminal Court (ICC) has concluded the confirmation of charges hearing against former President of Cote d' Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo, charged with the killing of over 100 people, the court said on Thursday.  Full text...

Yaounde, Cameroon (PANA) – Cameroon will organize its first senatorial polls on 14 April, 2013, according to a decree released Wednesday by President Paul Biya. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged world leaders to promote tolerance and respect, saying that, “these principles can contribute to resolving conflicts, such as those in Syria and Mali, as well as addressing a host of other global challenges”. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – Zambian President Michael Sata has commended the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) for valuing lives more than elections by postponing the Livingstone parliamentary by-election which was scheduled to take place Thursday. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Njongonkulu Ndungane, the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, on Thursday expressed support for Dr. Mamphela Ramphele’s call for a national dialogue on key issues in South Africa. Full text...

Brussels, Belgium (PANA) - Belgium is demanding an enhanced security of the site where European instructors who will train Malian soldiers will be based before the country's soldiers can participate. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – Nigeria has fully deployed the full complement of 1,200 troops it pledged for the African led International Mission in Mali (AFISMA) with the airlifting of the last batch of 162 troops to Mali Wednesday, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Onyeabo Azubuike, said in Abuja. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have "cleared the coast" for the Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to contest the 2015 presidential election if a statement from the PDP Chair, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, is anything to go by. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - East African foreign ministers have arrived in Kenya on a solidarity mission ahead of the country’s first election under a new constitution on 4 March, the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said Wednesday. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) - Police have detained Zambia’s opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema in Livingstone, Southern Province, to help with investigations following the death of Harrison Chanda, an official of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF). Full text...

Niamey, Niger (PANA) - The Nigerien head of state, Mahamadou Issoufou, left Niamey Wednesday for Cote d'Ivoire where he will attend the ECOWAS Summit, according to local Nigerien media. Full text...

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - The Indian president, Pranab Mukherjee, is expected in Mauritius 11 March for a two-day official visit during which he will be an honorary guest at celebrations marking the 45th anniversary of the Independence of Mauritius, PANA learnt Wednesday from official sources. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – The United States on Wednesday said it is deeply concerned that, 10 years after the outbreak of the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, the Darfurians have continue to suffer from increased insecurity, human rights abuses and sexual violence, the US State Department said in a statement, received here by PANA. Full text...

Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - The 42nd Ordinary Summit of ECOWAS was due to open in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, Wednesday to discuss regional peace and security issues, including the situations in Mali and Guinea-Bissau, among others. Full text...

Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - ECOWAS ministers have endorsed the proposed transformation of the African-led International Mission in Mali (AFISMA) into a UN peacekeeping operation. Full text...

Niamey, Niger (PANA) – A meeting of the Association of Ombudsmen from member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) opened here Tuesday to address the peace and security issues in West Africa. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – Zambia’s former president, Rupiah Banda, says Kenyans have made adequate preparations to guarantee the organization of peaceful and credible elections that all Africans can be proud of. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan, will Wednesday begin a four-day visit to Cote d’Ivoire, where he will join other ECOWAS leaders in Yamassoukrou for the 42nd Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The low wages in Kenya, against the background of rising cost of living, received tremendous attention at a televised presidential debate on the economy late Monday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Noting the general failure of the authorities to ensure justice and reparation, Amnesty International has called on the Ivorian authorities to halt what it calls the widespread human rights violations and abuses which continue to be committed with impunity by state agents or militias supported by the state. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday called on the Sudanese authorities to release or charge to court the six opposition members in its custody, saying their continued detention without charges violates due process. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - As the controversy over the 4-billion-naira (US$25 million) African First Ladies' Peace Building Mission building in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, continues, Nigerian First Lady Patience Jonathan has defended the project. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenyan presidential candidates taunted each other Monday night in the second round of their presidential debate that focused on the economy and land. Full text...

Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - Some 70 per cent of troops pledged to the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA) have been deployed in the country through the efforts and solidarity of the troops contributing countries, the Foreign Minister of Côte d'Ivoire, Mr Charles Koffi Diby, said on Monday. Full text...

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (PANA) – Ivorian minister of foreign affairs, Charles Koffi Diby, says increasing the number of troops of the International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA) is the top priority to guard against all eventualities. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday stated Nigeria’s commitment to resolving the crisis in Guinea Bissau under the aegis of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence were due to open their emergency meeting in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, Monday to discuss regional security, including the draft ECOWAS counter-terrorism strategy and its implementation plan, among other issues. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Leaders of 11 African countries and four regional and international organizations on Sunday signed a peace deal which they hope will bring peace to the troubled Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes Region. Full text...