An African Union (AU) official says the continental body monitors the implementation peace agreements in Central African Republic (CAR).

The African Union has been seeking to increase the size of the African-led force in Mali as French and Malian troops push further towards northern parts of the West African country.

A treaty that African nations hope will lead to the fair and humane treatment of people displaced in their own countries has come into force about two years after it was conceived.

In an open letter Thursday to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the president of the African Union urged the U.N. to take immediate military action in northern Mali, which was seized by al-Qaida-linked rebels earlier this year.

Most African countries are lagging behind in achieving the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals and will not make as much progress in health, nutrition and sanitation as had hoped, U.N. officials said.

African conservationists have called for stiffer penalties to address wildlife- related crimes which have contributed to the dwindling number of elephants in the continent as a result of rampant poaching.

A spokesman for the Ugandan military says Uganda will withdraw peacekeeping troops from Somalia if the United Nations Security Council accepts the findings of experts who allege Uganda supports rebels in eastern Congo.

Minister of Information Salah Abdel-Maksoud said the that the media on the African continent demands hard and continued work to lay the groundwork for new media work African cope with data changing times and rely on influence argument, logic and dialogue of thought and mind.

African experts and stakeholders late Monday met for the 8th African Development Forum (ADF VIII) at the UN Economic Commission For Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to deliberate on ways of addressing challenges to govern and harness natural resources to the development of the continent.

Addis Ababa — The new head of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, took office on Monday becoming the first female to assume the top position of the 54 member continental bloc.

The Prize Committee of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation met in London yesterday to conclude its deliberations on the 2012 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. Following its meeting, the Prize Committee informed the Board of the Foundation that it had not selected a winner for 2012.

Although the average African country is being governed better than it was a decade ago, the quality of governance in the four leading nations of Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa is slipping.

Addis Ababa — While in the last decade an additional 52 million of sub-Saharan Africa's children enrolled in primary schools, with girl's enrolment increasing from 54 percent to 74 percent, a large majority of girls - 16 million - are still being denied access to education.

Three-quarters of African countries and several Arab nations are at a high or extreme risk of a food crisis, according to a new report.

Arusha — When Dr. Ruth Khasaya Oniang'o, a professor of food science and nutrition, shared advice from her mother at the September 2012 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), it really struck a chord. As a young African woman, I know the importance of a mother's advice - not just of my own, but of African mothers generally.

Over the past several weeks, AllAfrica’s crack investigative team has documented scientists acting strangely. At summits, symposia and scholarly consultations – and in exclusive interviews - researchers have abandoned caveats and qualifications to make bold assertions and appeals for actions.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The trial has resumed in South Africa of Nigerian Henry Okah, who is accused of masterminding terrorist attacks in the Nigerian city of Abuja in 2010.

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AFP
Southern African leaders on Saturday slammed Rwanda for supporting rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a threat to regional stability and urged Kigali to immediately stop its "interference".

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AFP
A Mauritanian online news agency has published a video showing five of six French hostages kidnapped by the North African Al-Qaeda branch from Mali and Niger in the past two years.

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AFP
The number of malnourished children is set to hit a new high of 1.5 million in the Sahel next week as cholera and locusts emerge as new threats, UNICEF warned on Tuesday.