UN leader Ban Ki-moon backed African calls for Madagascar strongman Andry Rajoelina and two rivals to withdraw from the country's presidential election in July. Ban criticized a decision by Madagascar's electoral court to accept the candidacies of Rajoelina, Lalao Ravalomanana, wife of the leader ousted by  more...

Official silence about the health of Algeria's ailing leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika, hospitalised in France last month, has fed the rumour mill over presidential elections due in less than a year. Calls have grown in the Algerian media for the constitution's rarely mentioned Article 88 to be applied, according  more...

South African Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant has appealed to the leadership of both unions in Lonmin to put the interests of the country and workers first, APA can report Sunday.Expressing concern at the troubling events that are unfolding in Lonmin's Marikana mine, which have led to the downing of tools  more...

North Korea has released 16 Chinese fishermen and their boat, Chinese state-run media said Tuesday, after reports that armed assailants had taken the sailors hostage and demanded a ransom. "All the fishermen with the boat are safe on their way back," China's Xinhua news agency said, citing a Chinese embassy  more...

The government of Japan has awarded the Second Hideyo Noguchi Prize for Africa to Dr. Alex Godwin Coutinho of Uganda for his outstanding contributions in the medical services. Dr. Coutinho, a renowned Ugandan physician won the Prize for Medical Services for his pioneering efforts to expand access to  more...