A Nigerian battalion serving with the hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has been ambushed by dozens of men armed with machine guns, rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, the mission reported today.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has called for a moratorium on the expansion of large mechanised farms in Sudan's central semi-arid regions, sounding a warning that it was a "future flashpoint" for conflict between the farmers and pastoralists.

South Africa's deputy foreign minister, Aziz Pahad, sketched his government's view of the challenges facing the deployment of the African Union/United Nations Hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID), at his latest weekly briefing for the media. An extract from the briefing:

Over 50 people have been reported killed in Tuesday's violent clashes between the Sudan army and their rival Sudanese People's Liberation Army forces in the contested oil-rich Abyei region.

Egyptian police shot and wounded a Sudanese nab to prevent him from crossing the border illegally to Israel (Daily Monitor May 20 Pg. 6). South Africa: Ugandans are getting increasingly caught up in the wave of anti-foreigner violence that has

Zanzibar's under 17 soccer team made an impressive show during their friendly match against Egyptian top flight side Petro Jet that ended in a 1-1 draw at the Olympic Stadium in Cairo over the weekend.

Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the detention of freelance journalist Al-Ghali Yahya Shegifat, who has been held incommunicado in an unknown location since 14 May. Neither his family nor his lawyer have been able to contact him and it