REBEL leader Laurent Nkunda yesterday called for ceasefire talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo government after meeting a UN peace envoy even as new clashes broke out between his fighters and the army.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s main rebel leader today promised his support of a ceasefire and UN efforts to end the fighting.

Gunmen seized four more foreign workers amid a dramatic rise in violence that has rocked Nigeria’s southern petroleum-producing region, oil industry officials said today.

A truck bomb aimed at electoral commission headquarters ran into barriers and failed to explode today, hours before the start of a Nigerian presidential vote already shadowed by violence, charges of fraud and a last-minute ballot hitch.

Sudan’s president has rejected a proposal to send thousands of UN peacekeepers to Darfur to boost 7,000 African peacekeepers there, crushing hopes for a quick solution to a crisis that is spreading across central Africa.

Nigerian authorities prevented dozens of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s heavily armed bodyguards from entering the country with weapons in a dispute that lasted hours and saw Gaddafi storm away from the airport on foot.

A Nigerian airliner reportedly carrying more than 100 people, including the spiritual leader of Muslims in Nigeria, crashed today near the airport in the capital, Abuja. A television station said at least six people survived.

Angry villagers in Nigeria who took over three Shell oil platforms in the volatile Niger Delta have agreed to end their siege and allow operations to resume.

Six foreigners kidnapped in a nightclub raid in Nigeria’s southern oil region have been released.

CONGRATULATIONS to Steven King on his enlightened article (Irish Examiner, July 19).

Chancellor Gordon Brown said today that he would press fellow Group of Eight countries to boost funding for education in developing nations at their summit next month.

The Sudanese government confirmed today that it will sign a draft agreement with rebels from its Darfur region as talks continued despite a question marking hanging over the deal.

A Sudanese Darfur rebel faction has demanded that the African Union (AU) extend its deadline for the concluding peace talks, as Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo pressured the warring sides to sign a proposed deal.

THE Chinese authorities angrily denied yesterday that the country turns a blind eye to human rights abuses in places like Sudan in its search for oil to help power its booming economy.

THE Chinese authorities angrily denied yesterday that the country turns a blind eye to human rights abuses in places like Sudan in its search for oil to help power its booming economy.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said today his government will seek closer ties with resource-rich Africa, after signing oil and other agreements with Nigeria and granting the West African giant an aid package.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said today his government will seek closer ties with Africa as the world's fastest-growing economy works to achieve a gross domestic product target of four trillion US dollars (€3trillion) by 2020.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has began a visit to oil-rich Nigeria, where his nation is striking deals to secure the supplies of petroleum and other resources needed to fuel the world’s fastest-growing economy.

NIGERIAN President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday called for aid to help combat the “severe degradation” of three-quarters of African farmland, a leading cause of hunger and poverty on the continent.

ELITE Irish troops with the UN were involved in the capture and detention yesterday of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, while he was trying to flee from Nigeria.

Liberian warlord and war crimes suspect Charles Taylor disappeared from the haven Nigeria had granted him just as he was to have been handed over to face trial, Nigerian officials said today.

Nigeria’s announcement that it is ready to hand over exiled Liberian warlord Charles Taylor – the first former African head of state indicted for crimes against humanity and war crimes – is a reluctant gesture that sends a powerful message to other warmongers on the continent.

Nigeria said today it will send back to Liberia exiled ex-president and one-time warlord Charles Taylor, wanted for trial on war crimes by a UN-backed court.

Nigeria today said it was considering a request from Liberia to the hand over ex-President Charles Taylor.

MILITANTS holding nine foreign hostages in Southern Nigeria destroyed an oil pipeline yesterday and blew up a boat in violence that has cut about 20% of crude production in Africa’s oil giant.

Militants holding nine foreign hostages in southern Nigeria said they attacked another oil facility today and blew up a military vessel in ongoing violence that has cut about 20% of crude production in Africa’s oil giant.

NIGERIAN kidnappers have said their American hostage is gravely ill and threatened to kill three other foreign oil workers held captive if he died.

Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo called on his supporters to end days of violent street protests in the government-held south, telling protesters to go home and asking fearful workers to return their jobs.

Authorities have grounded Boeing 737 planes across Nigeria for spot safety checks, stranding thousands of travellers today around Africa’s most populous nation after two deadly accidents in two months.

A NIGERIAN jetliner carrying 110 people - including dozens of school children - crashed in stormy weather yesterday as it approached the southern city of Port Harcourt, killing at least 103 who were on board.

A Nigerian jetliner carrying 110 people – including dozens of school children- crashed in stormy weather today as it approached the southern city of Port Harcourt, killing at least 103 who were on board.

A Nigerian jetliner carrying 110 people – including dozens of school children - crashed in stormy weather today as it approached the southern city of Port Harcourt, killing at least 103 who were on board.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in Ivory Coast today on a mission to help resolve the war-divided West African nation’s latest crisis.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has agreed to be investigated by the country’s anti-corruption watchdog after a political opponent accused him of graft, an allegation he denies, officials said.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has spurned efforts by other African leaders to get him to talk to the head of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the government-controlled daily newspaper The Herald reported today.

African leaders are sticking with their demand for two veto-wielding permanent seats on the UN Security Council, rejecting a compromise some had hoped would ensure the success of proposed UN reforms.

Andrew Quinn

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said today that both African nations and developing countries had a responsibility to tackle corruption that is damaging the continent.

Tony Blair will today recognise the “critical role” to be played by the private sector in combating poverty in Africa.

Togo’s new President Faure Gnassingbe and his chief opponent were in the Nigerian capital Abuja today to discuss power sharing in his tiny West African nation, still tense after last month’s presidential ballot.

Nigeria has selected a British company to audit its oil sector in the government’s most serious bid yet to bring transparency to a multi-billion-dollar industry plagued by corruption.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, an Opec member, called today for the oil cartel to take action to lower crude prices, now at over 50 US dollars a barrel.

AFRICAN leaders have backed an arms embargo and other immediate UN sanctions against Ivory Coast, isolating President Laurent Gbagbo’s hard-line government even further in its deadly confrontation with its former colonial ruler, France.

Nigeria’s main trade union called off a national strike today after the government ordered immediate cuts in domestic fuel prices.