France declared Libya’s air space “under control” today after Nato agreed to take command of the no-fly zone.

A FRENCH fighter jet has destroyed a Libyan plane after it violated the no-fly zone over the country.

African leaders were under fire today after choosing Equatorial Guinea’s coup plotter and dictator of 31 years as their ceremonial leader for this year.

American R&B star Beyonce is to perform in China, according to her official website today.

Gunmen have killed two African Union peacekeepers and critically wounded a third in Darfur, the African Union said in a statement today.

The African Union today said it would press ahead with its peacekeeping mission to Somalia despite failing to secure the 8,000 troops needed at a key summit of African leaders.

The United Nations and African Union envoys for Sudan agreed to work “hand-in-hand” to try to bring all the warring parties to the peace table and convince them there is no military solution to the Darfur conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people.

Four million Sudanese in conflict-wracked Darfur are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance as newly rearmed Arab militias and rebels escalate attacks and resume looting and burning villages, the UN humanitarian chief said.

The European Commission is to provide nearly €60m in aid to the cash-strapped African Union which is struggling to finance plans on the continent, officials said today.

African and Western diplomats were discussing the details of a peacekeeping mission to Somalia, an African Union spokesman said today, after militias vowing to impose Islamic rule took over the capital of the Horn of Africa country.

The African Union stepped up pressure on Sudan’s holdout rebels to sign a deal to end Darfur’s three-year civil war and appealed for a stronger African peacekeeping force to monitor implementation of the peace agreement signed by the government and the main rebel group.

Late reggae legend Bob Marley's 61st birthday is going to be celebrated in Ghana with a special day-long tribute festival.

International donors pledged an additional €160m to fund the African Union peacekeeping operation in Darfur today during a conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to raise money to stop the ongoing violence in western Sudan.

Late reggae legend Bob Marley's 60th birthday was celebrated by thousands of fans yesterday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - the first time the event has been held outside of his Jamaican homeland.

Thousands of Bob Marley fans gathered in the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday for the start a month of festivities marking the 60th anniversary of the reggae icon's birthday.