News stories by Thandi Winston

As African heads of state gather to discuss the future of the youth of the continent, Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is a noticeable absentee at the African Union (AU) summit in Equatorial Guinea.

As a U.N. conference on water opens in South Africa today, the country's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research has repeated warnings that the country faces a water supply crisis. Experts attending the three-day conference will consider the challenges posed by growing demands, migration and water resources potentially limited by careless use and climate change.

Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Dakar on Sunday to mark the start of the annual World Social Forum. Activists carried colorful banners denouncing land grabs, restrictive immigration laws, agricultural subsidies in Europe and the U.S. and many other issues.