AFP - Senior MPs from north and south Sudan are heading for Canada this weekend to learn from Quebec's independence referendums, officials said Friday, as the African state prepares to vote on southern secession.

AFP - The UN Security Council on Friday extended by a year the mandate of a joint UN-African Union force in strife-torn Darfur, stressing the need to protect civilians and ensure safe humanitarian access.

AFP - Thousands of southern Sudanese gathered at the grave of their first president John Garang on Friday in memory of those killed in a 22-year war with the north, six months before an independence vote.