Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Cotonou will host, from 1 to 6 March, the 4th edition of the International Show of Francophone Poets in Benin (SIPOEF), under the theme " women colours", organizers said here Friday. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The 2010 edition of the Gaani festival, a cultural event of the Batombou people of Benin and the sub-region, begins Saturday in Nikki, i n the northern part of the country, official sources told PANA here Tuesday. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- The eighth edition of the international children's drawi ng contest, aiming at promoting the convention on the rights of the child, will b e held 28-29 April in Libya, organizers told PANA here on Friday. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) â" The Gambia's first Mama A-frica International Womenâ?s Museum and Arts Centre in Batokunku, Kombo South, was on Tuesday inaugurated by the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Fatou Mass Jobe Njie. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- Angolan musicians have recorded a song, entitled "Muxima love" in Luanda to express solidarity with the Haitian earthquake victims, PANA reported, quoting a news bulletin in the Angolan News Agency (ANGOP) on Saturday . Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- The second edition of the literary season in Mali, which opens next Tuesday at Bamako's palace of culture, will see the participation of writers from eight countries. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday recommended that nude clubs in the state, shut by the government in 2009, be re-opened, acco r ding to the privately-owned Punch newspaper. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- UNESCO is launching a campaign to protect Haitiâ?s movea ble heritage, notably the art collections in the countryâ?s damaged museums, gal leries and churches, to prevent pillaging of their cultural heritage. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- Fourteen candidates will compete for the Miss Luanda 201 0 beauty pageant, to be held during a gala at the Tropical Cinema in Luanda on 2 9 January. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- The Senegalese musician, Demba Dia, popularly ca lled Rock M'balakh, and his Mauritanian partner, Dey Ould Amar, will soon set up a recording studio from where musicians across the continent can record their wo r ks. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- The Togolese government on Thursday paid tribute to the celebrated painter and visual artist, Paul Ahyi, who died on 4 January. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- The culture and arts world has lost one of its heads, wr iter, novelist and historian, Khalifa Mohamed Tillissi of Libya, who died Wednes d ay afternoon aged 80, PANA reported from here Thursday. Full text...

Lomأ©- Togo (PANA) -- Togolese President Faure Gnassingbأ© Thursday paid tribute to the great Togolese visual artist, Paul Ahyi, who died Monday at the age of 80 , PANA reported. Full text...

Abeokuta- Nigeria (PANA) -- Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II of the Ashanti Kingdo m of Ghana has returned home after a four-day royal visit to the ancestral home o f the Yorubas in south-west Nigeria, Ile-Ife and a stop-over visit in Abeokuta, w here the former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo held a reception for him on Tuesday. Full text...

Abeokuta- Nigeria (PANA) -- Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II of the Ashanti Kingdo m of Ghana has returned home after a four-day royal visit to the ancestral home o f the Yorubas in south-west Nigeria, Ile-Ife and a stop-over visit in Abeokuta, w here the former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo held a reception for him on Tuesday. Full text...

Literature Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- Egyptian intellectual and columnist, Dr Jaber Ousfour, has won the Gaddafi International Prize for Literature, official sources said in Tripoli on Monday. Full text...

Lomأ©- Togo (PANA) â“ Togo's Fraternity Theatre Fe-stival (FESTHEF) ended on Fri day in Assahoun, about 50 km southeast of Lomأ©, the Togolese capital, with an a p peal by artistes for support for the cultural event. Full text...

Podor- Senegal (PANA) -- The fourth edition of the international Blues of the Riv er Festival ends Saturday in Podor, on the initiative of Senegalese singer, Baab a Maal, a native of the town, located in the northern part of Senegal. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- A joint team of Libyan and Italian experts and technicians during the year took stock of some 3,177 archaeological pieces and ranked 4,000 antiquities at the Tripoli-based Al-Saraya Al-Hamra Muse um. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- The 12th edition of the international festival of drama a nd puppet will be held February in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger respectively, or g anisers said here Thursday. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- A joint team of Libyan and Italian experts and technicians during the year took stock of some 3,177 archaeological pieces and ranked 4,000 antiquities at the Tripoli-based Al-Saraya Al-Hamra Muse um. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The third edition of the International Christian Celestial Music Festival starts on Friday in Cotonou, sources close to the organizers reported Wednesday in the Benin economic capital. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- A 35-year old hairdresser from Abomey in central Benin, Hأ©lأ¨ne Assokpأ©, on Friday won the 2009 Hanan Queen competition meant to prom o te African beauty. Full text...

Douala- Cameroon (PANA) -- The fourth edition of the Cameroonian Music Festival ( JCM) will start here Tuesday, an informed source told PANA here Friday. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The fifth edition of the contest for the Beninese "stout est lady" will be held Friday at the International Conference Centre of Cotonou, said Ms. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The fifth edition of the contest for the Beninese "stout est lady" will be held Friday at the International Conference Centre of Cotonou, said Ms. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The seventh edition of Benin's international cultural fe stival begins on Saturday in Abomey, about 141 kilometres away from Cotonou, the capital. Full text...

Cairo- Egypt (PANA) -- The Director General of the United Nations Educational, Cu ltural and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, announced here on Mon d ay the establishment of a high level panel on peace and dialogue among cultures, saying she hoped the panel would bring about tolerance and reconciliation in the world. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Twelve African films have been selected for the sixth ed ition of the International Film Festival in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, schedul e d for 9-16 December, organizers announced in a press statement. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Twelve African films have been selected for the sixth ed ition of the International Film Festival in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, schedul e d for 9-16 December, organizers announced in a press statement. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Senegalese singer Naby has emerged the winner of the RFI Dis coveries prize 2009, after an evening of performance held here Wednesday evening. Full text...

Lomأ©- Togo (PANA) -- The third edition of the international festival of the docu mentary film on human rights began Wednesday in Lomأ©, the Togolese capital, on t he theme: "Transitional justice and perspective". Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The African Union (AU) has given the African Culture Watc hdog (OCPA) the responsibility to co-ordinate the calendar of cultural events in Africa in a bid to avoid a clash, OCPA executive director, Lupwishi Mbuyamba, to l d PANA here Monday. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou, has been ranked the b est cultural town in Africa, beating Accra, Cape Town and Douala, in that order, according to a report by Africa's Culture Watchdog (OCPA), presented on Monday i n Paris, the French capital. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- The Tripoli "Akakos" gallery in Tripoli will host, start ing from Monday, the annual show of Libyan fine arts, organized by the Libyan Ge n eral Authority for Culture. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka, 1996 Nobel prize winner for Literature, on Tuesday expressed grave concern about the consequences of the international financial crisis on African literature. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- The General Libyan Authority for Culture and the Islamic Organisation for Education, Sciences and Culture (ISESCO) on Saturday signed two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) in Tripoli relating to editing an d dissemination of books and periodicals, and the creation of a regional centre of traditional arts and trades. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Nigerian photographer, Uche Okpa Iroha, has won the Seydou Keأ¯ta Prize, named after a famous Malian photographer, in the 8th edition of t h e African photography meetings of Bamako. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Senegalese musician Baaba Maal has said he would emphasi se the disastrous effects of global warming on Africa during the world summit o n climate change scheduled for 7-18 December in Copenhagen, Denmark. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Liberian radio station, Star Radio, won the radio contest in French language, dubbed "26 March Prize", as part of the seventh edition of t h e Waves of Freedom Festival, which ended Thursday in the Malian capital, Bamako, PANA reported from here. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- The sixth edition of the "Triangle du Balafon" festival, w hich will bring together artists and bands of Balafon players from Burkina Faso, Cأ´te d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali and Angola, will start on Friday in the Malian city of Sikasso, 380 kilometres south of Bamako, the Malian capital, official sources told PANA. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Outgoing UNESCO Director-General, Koأ¯chiro Matsuura, Tue sday expressed his sorrow over the death of eminent French anthropologist, Claud e Levi-Strauss, whom he described as one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th cen t ury. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- The seventh edition of the International Festival of Afri can Fashion (FIMA) begins Tuesday in Niamey, the Nigerien capital, with a parade of the African ready-to-wear dresses at the Palace of Congresses of Niamey, the m inister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Promotion of Artistic Entrepreneurship, M. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The 35th session of UNESCOâ?s General Conference ended h ere on Friday marked, among other issues, by the adoption of a new programme and budget for 2010 and 2011, PANA reported, quoting a UNESCO press release. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The General Conference of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has validated the election of the Bulgarian I r ina Bokova as chairperson of the organisation. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- Nine African countries and 22 other nations have been elec ted into the governing body of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organ i sation (UNESCO). Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) â" A French ship, â?La Meuse-â?, will dock in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on Tuesday under the framework of a Mediterranean cultural pr o ject, â?Ulysse 2009â?, that encourages cultural exchange between the two shores of the Mediterranean. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- The Minister of Culture and Arts of the DR Congo, Es dras Kambale, Sunday called on Congolese to to pay a glowing tribute to musician Luambo Makiadi who died 20 years ago. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- Gambian President Yahya Jammeh leaves Banjul on Tuesday to attend the 35th Session of UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisati o n (UNESCO) General Conference in Paris, according to a press release from the Of f ice of The President. Full text...

Abu Dhabi- UAE (PANA) -- The Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Her itage, chaired by Awadh Ali Saleh Al Musabi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), h a s identified 12 elements of intangible cultural heritage, in need of urgent safe g uarding, in eight countries during its current session in Abu Dhabi, PANA report e d. Full text...