Africa News

HARARE (AFP) - Teachers in Zimbabwe's public schools have gone on strike to press for higher pay, a union spokesman on Sunday, despite a pay rise for civil servants announced by the government.

RABAT (Reuters) - The heart of many homes is the kitchen and that is where Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi hosted Condoleezza Rice for a Ramadan meal this week, a symbolic gesture to try to end decades of enmity.

ALGIERS, Algeria - Now is not the right time for the U.S. to move forward on a once-celebrated deal for civilian nuclear cooperation with Russia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday.

LUANDA, Angola - Angolan election officials say early parliamentary results give the ruling party a big lead over a former rebel group.

KHARTOUM (AFP) - Dozens of Darfur rebels and Sudanese government soldiers have been killed in fierce clashes in North Darfur state, fighters from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) said on Sunday.

KHARTOUM, Sudan - A Darfur rebel group says it has successfully repelled a government assault in North Darfur, but the Sudanese government denies it carried out any operations in the area.

CAIRO (AFP) - At least 30 people were killed after dozens of homes in a northern Cairo shantytown were crushed by a massive rockslide, state television reported on Sunday, updating an earlier toll.

KHARTOUM (AFP) - Fashion-conscious women in Sudan anxious to look their best for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan are scouring the capital in search of this season's must-have item -- which may not even exist.

RABAT (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Morocco Saturday on the last leg of a North Africa visit after holding talks on terrorism in Algeria with President Abedelaziz Bouteflika.

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Cameroon came from behind to trump Cape Verde Islands 2-1 Saturday and become the second country to reach the final African qualifying phase for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

ALGIERS (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talked terrorism in Algeria Saturday with President Abedelaziz Bouteflika, as her North Africa visit edged towards its conclusion.

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - The South Africa Rugby Union (SARU) denied Saturday a report claiming national coach Peter de Villiers was the victim of sex blackmail.

LAGOS (AFP) - A Nigerian court has granted bail to a former state governor facing corruption charges, court officials said Saturday.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Thirty-one people were killed and 23 injured when a massive rockslide hit a crowded Cairo shanty town on Saturday, sending rocks and boulders crashing down on dozens of houses, security and medical sources said.

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AFP) - South Africa fell 1-0 to Nigeria Saturday and lost virtually all hope of playing in the African Nations Cup five months before hosting the 2010 World Cup.

ALGIERS (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice touched down in Algeria's capital for several hours Saturday, continuing a North Africa tour that earlier took in Tunisia and Libya.

LAGOS, Nigeria - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua returned to the West African country Saturday after more than two weeks in Saudi Arabia, where he reportedly spent a lengthy stint in a private hospital, officials said.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese forces launched ground and air attacks on two rebel bases in North Darfur on Saturday, killing an unknown number of people, insurgent groups said.

LAGOS (AFP) - Nigeria's President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua returned home from Saudi Arabia Saturday, a government official said, amid questions about his health.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi -- once reviled as a "mad dog" by a U.S. president -- on Friday on a historic visit which she said proved that Washington had no permanent enemies.

TRIPOLI, Libya - The United States and Libya sealed a historic turnaround after decades of terrorist killings, American retaliation, suspicions and insults with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's peacemaking visit Friday with Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's mercurial strongman.

TRIPOLI (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Tunis early Saturday to pursue a North Africa tour after a landmark meeting in Libya with its leader Moamer Kadhafi.

TORONTO - Canada on Friday joined the U.S. and European Union in imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe's authoritarian regime headed by President Robert Mugabe.

LAGOS (AFP) - Gunmen on Friday released two French oil workers seized one month ago in Nigeria's main oil producing region, a diplomat said.

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigerian authorities provisionally released a U.S. journalist late on Friday, almost a week after he was arrested for filming the army in the oil-producing Niger Delta, his colleagues and a rights group said.

LAGOS (AFP) - Nigeria has set up a 40-member technical committee on peace talks to end the crisis in the oil-rich Niger Delta, the government said Friday.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada has imposed targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe to protest against "intimidation and state-sponsored violence" against opposition supporters, Foreign Minister David Emerson said on Friday.

LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola's first election for 16 years will go into an unscheduled second day on Saturday, the official in charge said after opposition parties had condemned the vote as chaotic and demanded a re-run.

HARARE (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected in Harare on Monday to continue mediation efforts to break a deadlock in power-sharing talks, a Zimbabwean official said on Friday.