Media Foundation for West Africa - The Ghana-based sub-regional rights body, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), on Wednesday demanded “an end to hostilities against the media in Mali,” PANA reported from here. In a statement, the MFWA said journalists in Mali had accused the 'military authorities of illegally tapping their telephones as a means of silencing critical opinion in the country'.

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - About 3.5 million people are affected by the food security and nutrition crisis in Mali, with 175,000 children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition in the West African nation and 385,000 more suffering from moderate acute malnutrition, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest situation report on Mali. The report, tagged situation report number 4 and received by PANA here Wednesday, said the situation in northern Mali remained precarious, but that the vast majority of people affected by the food security and nutrition crisis are in the south and require urgent assistance.

Economy - Morocco earned 4.26 billion dirhams (1 euro = 11.07 dirhams) from phosphate export in the first four months of this year, an increase of 15.7 percent over the 3.68 billion dirhams earned during the same period in 2011, according to the State-owned Foreign Exchange Office (FEO).

Value added tax - The Burundian government has suspended the collection of the value added tax (VAT) and the administrative charge on consumer food between 15 May and 31 December, 2012, to 'alleviate the suffering of the Burundi's population caused by soaring prices,' President Pierre Nkurunziza disclosed here on the eve of the celebration of the International Labour Day.

African Development Bank - At the invitation of President Barack Obama of the US, the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Donald Kaberuka, will attend the Group of Eight (G8) summit at Camp David in Frederick County, Maryland, US, on 18 and 19 May.

Noncommunicable diseases - A newly-released World Health Statistics 2012 report has put the spotlight on the growing problem of the noncommunicable diseases burden, amid the revelation that 1 in 3 adults worldwide has raised blood pressure, a condition that causes around half of all deaths from stroke and heart disease, while 1 in 10 adults has diabetes. “This report is further evidence of the dramatic increase in the conditions that trigger heart disease and other chronic illnesses, particularly in low- and middle-income countries,” says Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO. “In some African countries, as much as half the adult population has high blood pressure.”

The Pan-African telecoms service supplier, Gateway Communications, announced Wednesday that it had brought additional capacity from submarine cable SAT-3 to landlocked Botswana via South Africa, under its Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) initiative.

Lagos, Nigeria - A former President of the umbrella Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Pascal Bafyau, died of a massive heart attack Wednesday aged 65, the local media reported Wednesday.

Dakar, Senegal - The Japanese Ambassador in Dakar, Mr. Hiroshi Fukada, Tuesday handed over to the Senegalese government 17,500 tons of rice worth FCFA 5.3 billion (US$10.6 million), the embassy said in a statement made available to PANA.

Lagos, Nigeria - The Nigerian government is set to airlift arms, beddings, utility vehicles and other 'logistics' to Sudan to upgrade Nigeria's Contingent-Owned Equipment (COE) for the nation's over 3,300 peacekeepers and 450 police officers currently serving under the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). The government has also dispatched a team of Army engineers and mechanics with a consignment of spare parts to resuscitate broken COE.

Benghazi, Libya - Libya's Army Chief of Staff, Maj.-Gen. Yousef Al-Mangouch, has welcomed the appeal by the civil society for the rebuilding of the country's Army.

Wednesday's foreign exchange rates for Zambian kwacha - Following are the latest exchange rates for the Zambian kwacha, as  released by the Bank of Zambia Tuesday.

Latest forex rates in Mauritania - Following are the latest exchange rates for the Mauritanian Ouguiya as published here Wednesday by the nation’s central bank:

Forex rates for Central African CFA on Wednesday - Following are the latest exchange rates for the CFA, issued here Wednesday by the bank of Central African States (BEAC).

The Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have signed a technical assistance agreement under which the agency will acquire material for air traffic management at the cost of FCFA 25 billion (US$50 million). According to a statement issued by ASECNA. the pact was signed in Senegal's capital, Dakar, by ASECNA Director-General Amadou Ousmane Guitteye and the Director of the ICAO Technical Cooperation, Mr. Ivan Galan.

World soccer's governing body FIFA has named Sudanese referee Khalid Abdel Rahman to preside over the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Namibia next month.

Football - CAF Champions League title holder Esperance of Tunisia will start its campaign in the group phase of the prestigious competition with an away match to Nigeria’s Sunshine Stars, according to the draw for the league phase. Other teams in the same group (A) with Esperance and Sunshine Stars are Etoile du Sahel, also of Tunisia, and ASO Chlef of Ageria.

Thousands of people in Somaliland are getting more fresh meat in their diet due to an innovative World Food Programme (WFP) initiative that provides parents with vouchers to help them afford nutritious food from local traders, a WFP statement made available to PANA here Wednesday said. It said under the programme, people receive US$80 of vouchers each month, and can use them to buy a variety of food including rice, cooking oil and fresh camel and goat meat. 

New York, US - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, Mr. Augustine Mahiga, has called on the international community to boost their efforts to help Somalia through its peace and national reconciliation process. He said Somalia was entering its most critical stage, as the end of its transitional governing period approaches in August. 'As Somalia faces the greatest opportunity to end the transition, after so much investment by the international community and well-wishing Somalis, we must complete the tasks at hand,” Mahiga told the UN Security Council in New York Tuesday.

New York, US - A new report by the UN has called for new approaches to empower local communities to ensure food security in Africa. It said sub-Saharan Africa cannot sustain its present economic growth unless it eliminates the hunger that is affecting almost a quarter of its people. The Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Ms. Helen Clark, who spoke at the launch of the report in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, said: 'Impressive GDP growth rates in Africa have not translated into the elimination of hunger and malnutrition. Inclusive growth and people-centred approaches to food security are needed'.