Robert Mugabe’s “illegitimate” regime must be rejected by the world, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged today as votes were counted in Zimbabwe’s “sham” election.

A Darfur town has been razed to the ground since it came under the control of Sudanese troops this week, the United Nations says.

A Darfur town under the control of Sudanese troops has been razed in apparent retaliation for a suspected rebel attack on a nearby African Union peacekeeping base, the UN said today.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon promised to step up efforts to end the four-year-old conflict on his first visit to Darfur today and urged the world to be more sympathetic to the millions of people whose lives have been uprooted.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir today rejected the deployment of UN troops in Darfur, saying they were not required and that African Union troops could maintain order in the war-wracked region of western Sudan.

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.

International drinks group Foster’s reaped more from the sale of wine than it did from beer during its last financial year, figures show today.