London - Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday knighted the controversial British author Salman Rushdie, an award which caused protests by Muslims around the world when it was announced last year.

El Geneina, Sudan - Six months after the peacekeeping force in Darfur transferred to UN leadership, no new battalion has deployed and enormous expectations among victims of the conflict are beginning to fade.

Harare - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday ruled out talks on solving Zimbabwe's political crisis until the release of his number two and 2 000 "political prisoners".

Bangui - A civil servant in the Central African Republic who forged the president's signature in order to fraudulently award qualifications to more than 40 candidates has been jailed for three years, court sources said.

Maputo - Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Wednesday hailed his government's policies of fighting poverty in the southern African nation.

Harare - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe told a rally on Tuesday "we will proceed with our election" and accused the opposition leader of seeking to withdraw because he was scared of losing.