Retired French football star Zinedine Zidane, a United Nations goodwill ambassador, will visit Mali this week to draw attention to the nation’s efforts to fight poverty, the UN said on Monday.

New regime forces were in full control of the desert oasis of Bani Walid on Monday after they finally overcame resistance by Muammar Gaddafi loyalists after a six-week siege, a commander said.

Arsene Wenger admits Robin van Persie’s long term future at Arsenal remains uncertain after the Dutch forward underlined his value with a match-winning display against Sunderland.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday stressed during a brief visit to Tripoli the importance of integrating Libya’s many militias into the country’s new regime, two months after they drove Muammar Gaddafi from power.

Kenyan troops pushed deep into Somalia Monday to hunt Al Qaeda-linked fighters blamed for a spate of kidnappings, in an unprecedented move that raised fears of a regional escalation.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon Monday urged President Bashar al-Assad to immediately stop the killings of civilians, a day after the Arab League called for “national dialogue” to end violence sweeping Syria

More than 200 protesters occupied a square in front of St Paul’s Cathedral in the heart of London’s financial district on Monday for a third day of protests against corporate greed and state cutbacks.

The South African Football Association (SaFa) has been branded a “disgrace” by sports minister Fikile Mbalula for its reaction to the country not reaching the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

An Indian dentist and radiologist, Dr Kamlesh Desai, has urged Nigerians to embrace the habit of bleaching their teeth regularly in order to look good.

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has complained that his side are being punished by incorrect penalty decisions, as they sit above the relegation zone only on goal difference.