20120403
AFP
Senior officials from Sudan and South Sudan met Monday for the first face-to-face talks since heavy fighting between their armies broke out last week in disputed oil-rich border regions.

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AFP
South Africa's Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on Monday announced a new strategy to attract listings from African firms after the Treasury lifted restrictions on foreign companies.

20120403
AFP
Macky Sall, who was sworn in as Senegal's president Monday, is a stolid 50-year-old geologist once tipped as Abdoulaye Wade's designated heir who defeated his former mentor at the polls.

20120403
AFP
A tanker crashed then later exploded and caught fire in northern Nigeria, killing at least 12 people who had rushed to the scene to scoop fuel from the damaged vehicle, a local official said Monday.

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AFP
Human Rights Watch on Monday urged Angolan authorities to end their violent crackdown on anti-government protests, which have mushroomed this year ahead of polls.

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AFP
Once feared as a gangster's paradise, downtown Johannesburg's restored buildings, flowing fountains and sidewalk art are attracting an unusual breed of tourist -- local pedestrians.

20120403
AFP
A Chinese mining group will invest $21.2 million (15.8 million euros) to restart a Zimbabwean nickel mine that closed during the country's political turmoil, the mine's owners announced Monday.

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AFP
France has advised its nationals "whose presence is not essential" to leave Mali as Tuareg rebels sweep across the north of the country in the wake of a military coup.

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AFP
Mali's Tuareg rebels, who have taken much of the country's entire north during an unprecented offensive, have been spotted near the central town of Mopti, a French minister said Tuesday.

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AFP
West African leaders slapped crippling sanctions on Mali's new junta ahead of emergency UN talks Tuesday on the troubled nation, half of which is now held by Tuareg rebels and Islamist fighters.

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AFP
West African leaders slapped crippling sanctions on Mali's junta Monday on the eve of UN talks about the country, where half the territory has fallen to rebels and Islamist fighters.

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AFP
Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday rejected fresh calls by President Robert Mugabe for polls this year, after the ageing liberation leader called for a vote on a new constitution next month.

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AP
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Just 12 days after they stormed the presidential palace, the young officers that seized control of Mali in a coup were slapped Monday with harsh financial sanctions that could cause the country to run out of gasoline.

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AFP
Senegal's new president Macky Sall was sworn in on Monday after a crushing poll victory over outgoing leader Abdoulaye Wade and a transfer of power hailed as an example of democracy in Africa.

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AFP
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave a $12-million (nine-million-euro) grant Monday to a project aimed at boosting yam production and doubling the income of west African farmers of the crop.

20120402
AP
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — After seizing the strategic northern towns of Kidal and Gao, Tuareg rebels on Sunday began besieging the ancient city of Timbuktu, taking their fight for a homeland for the nomadic Tuareg people to the last major government holdout in northern Mali.

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AFP
In a shell of a building, occupied by squatters for six years with no water or electricity, Johannesburg property developer Renney Plit sees nothing but opportunity.

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AFP
At least one person was killed and 18 were wounded in attacks on a restaurant in Mombasa city and a church gathering in the nearby town of Mtwapa, the Kenyan Red Cross said Sunday.

20120402
AFP
The body of the last of six amateur rugby players who drowned last weekend has been recovered, as mourners began burying the dead in the southern city of Port Elizabeth, local media said Sunday.

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AFP
Mali junta head Captain Amadou Sanogo on Saturday ordered the army "not to prolong the fighting" in Gao, a move that leaves the main northern town open to the rampant Toureg rebels.