SmallShop....Africa News

A peace deal in 2005 ended the second Sudanese civil war and established southern Sudan as an autonomous region within the country. However, the region remains plagued with intra-tribal conflicts as it prepares for local and national presidential this year followed by a referendum on independence in 2011. Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid reports from Juba on attempts by the police to bring unity and security to the region, despite their limited resources.

VOA's Jacqueline Ogoh reports from Lagos on the millions of orphans in Africa and the health needs for these children. I

An unsentimental introduction to some of the remarkable women and men who struggle to survive against desperate odds in Africa's largest slum.

Rescue boats and helicopters scoured the Mediterranean Sea after an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed just off the coast of Lebanon early on Monday. The passenger jet carrying 90 people, which took off from Beirut en route to Addis Ababa, disappeared off the radar just minutes after take-off. Some witnesses say they saw the aircraft go up in flames before it plunged into the sea. Bodies and pieces of the wreckage began to wash up on the coast within hours of the crash. But the reason for the accident is still far from clear. Al Jazeera's Tarek Bazley reports.

Although the most pressing signs of the global economic meltdown seems to be ebbing, the political impact of the downturn on Africa would only be seen at a later stage, said the Institute for Global Dialogue (IDG) on Tuesday.

The Angolan government has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to bring the Africa Cup of Nations to their country for the first time. But while four new stadia and an improved infrastructure will be left behind, many in Angola feel the money should have been spent elsewhere. The vast majority of young would-be footballers in Angola have little or no access to proper training facilities and often struggle just to get a decent meal every day. Andy Richardson reports from Luanda.

On the morning of 8 January 2010, Africanews was in Rosarno while no TV and almost no journalist were there attending the peaceful march of the Africans which ended in front of the Town Hall. After that some local Italian residents started attacking Africans in the streets. At the end of the day they were escorted by the police far away from Rosarno (southern Italy).

Five years after a peace deal ending Sudan's 22-year-long civil war, there are fears of the country sliding back into all-out war between the North and the South. With calls to world leaders to intervene and bolster the fragile peace agreement, what can be done to avoid conflict in Sudan? What can the world powers do for Sudan?

The Togo team has returned home bringing with them coffins of their dead colleagues, after quitting the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.

Doctors say reserve goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale will remain in hospital for a couple of days after fatal gun attack on Togo football team.

Egyptian police have said the three suspects arrested over a mass shooting outside a Coptic Christian church on January 6 have denied involvement. It was the worst attack against Christians in Egypt in nearly a decade. Some of the victims' families have told Al Jazeera that politicians may have been behind the shooting. Amr El-Kahky reports from the town of Nagaa Hammady.

Gunmen opened fire on the bus carrying Togo's national soccer team to a tournament in Angola, killing at least three people. The team has withdrawn from the African Cup of Nations.

Artillery shells killed at least 11 people in the Somali capital Mogadishu, after rebels fired mortar bombs at the presidential palace. Heavy fighting regularly rocks the port city, where the Western-backed government controls little more than the palace, the airport, sea port and a few streets in between.

VOA's Paul Ndiho reports on African albinos discrimination and how the Red Cross says thousands of albinos born without skin pigmentation are in danger in Burundi and Tanzania.

A volcanologist from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo says the Nyamulagira volcano which erupted in Virunga National Park early on Sunday is still spewing lava. The lava flows are not known to have threatened large populated areas

An offshoot of al-Qaeda has emerged in the deserts of North Africa, claiming an area it calls the Sahara Emirate. The group roams the border region of Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Morocco. Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive footage showing the fighters posing with bombs and rocket propelled grenades at a desert camp. Mohammed Vall reports from Mauritania.

An Egyptian court is expected to announce a verdict shortly in a case where train operators face accusations of negligence.

Their effectiveness has been questioned and United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been criticised for supporting an army accused of widespread rape and killings.

A court in Egypt has ruled in favour of the government's decision to ban students from wearing the face veil (niqab) while taking university examinations. But female students who had appealed the ban when it was originally imposed by the government last October have vowed to appeal the verdict. The students said the ban on niqab infringed on their religious rights.

Zimbabweans are hoping a steady return of tourists will help jolt its economy towards recovery. With the Victoria Falls as one of its major attractions, the country had 1.4 visitors in 1999. But numbers took a plunge in 2000 following unrest related to the land-redistribution policy implemented by President Robert Mugabe.

For the Democratic Republic of Congo, still gripped by war, there's little hope for much change in the coming year. The world's largest UN peacekeeping force of about 20,000 troops is in the country but appears largely ineffective. Some say it is even made life worse for the population who have suffered attacks by both opposition and government forces. Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow is in Kiwanja, in North Kivu, where the fear of murder and rape is a daily reality.