Zambia's chances of emulating Egypt, Ghana and Cameroon as the only nations to retain the African Nations Cup did not look promising when they began their campaign with a stuttering 1-1 draw against Ethiopia on Monday.

As multilateral negotiations have paused, multi-national corporates have increasingly become aggressive; and our bureaucrats restless.

"Sri Lanka is our next door neighbour. Geography bounds us. We have overwhelming trade ties with them. India is their biggest trade partner and the largest investor in Sri Lanka. Every fifth tourist in Sri Lanka arrives from India. Both countries' bilateral relation are so intertwined that both of us will soon take India's vote against them in the United Nations Human Rights Council in their stride."

Ivory Coast and Zambia ruthlessly crushed African Nations Cup underdogs Equatorial Guinea and Sudan 3-0 respectively on Saturday to end the dreams of opponents who had upset the odds to reach the last eight.

Sudan advanced into the African Nations Cup quarter-finals after a 2-1 win over Burkina Faso on Monday handed them second place in Group B by the slimmest of margins.

Ivory Coast's safety first approach paid off as they reached the African Nations Cup quarter-finals on Thursday but similar tactics backfired for Angola in a 2-2 draw with Sudan, who had not scored at the tournament for the previous 36 years.

Didier Drogba's talismanic qualities helped Ivory Coast make a winning, if not impressive, start to the African Nations Cup finals as he scored the only goal against a stubborn Sudan. With Angola, who beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in Sunday's other match in Malabo.

Gloom over ministerial, courtesy US-China spar, conflict between cotton-producing African nations.

Adding yet another feather to its cap, India has been re-elected to a key United Nations committee on the elimination of racial discrimination, more than a week after securing membership of the powerful Joint Inspection Unit, the only external oversight body of the United Nations.

Latin America has the largest income inequality, although it is more equitable than sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia in life expectancy and schooling, states a UNDP report.

UN member states elected 18 countries to serve three-year terms starting next year and three other nations through by-elections held as some countries were stepping down from the 54-member Council before the formal end of their terms.

Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd) on how the global war on terror has changed the geo-politics of the world and India's role in it.

Saumya Dave, an Indian born student from Atlanta has won a competition which will allow her to visit places in Africa and file a series of blog posts and articles that will be published in The New York Times.

Rajeev Srinivasan on one of the best film festivals in India.

At stake in Ivory Coast is a thriving economy and a fragile tribal balance, which threatens to turn into a religious issue. Neelam Deo reviews the options before the country and the global community

The 'dirty money' myth seems to have finally been dispelled, after a new study has revealed that banknotes don't pick up enough bacteria to be dangerous.

The index finds that countries like United Kingdom, Netherlands and Switzerland are more crowded than India or China, which are the most populous nations on earth.

India's largest cellular service company Bharti Airtel will invest $600 million in Nigeria's mobile market following its take over of Zain Telecom's African business for around SUD 10.7 billion.

It also had other suitors like French company Vivendi, Egyptian company Etisalat and even MTN.

Depleted Ghana beat Burkina Faso 1-0 on Tuesday to advance to the African Nations Cup quarter-finals.

Hosts Angola and Algeria qualified for the African Nations Cup quarter-finals after playing out a goalless draw in their final Group A match on Monday.

Ivory Coast became the first team to reach the African Nations Cup quarter-finals after beating Ghana 3-1 with 10 men in Group B on Friday.

Togo have been officially disqualified from the African Nations Cup after the squad flew home on Sunday following the deadly gun attack on their bus in Cabinda two days earlier.

Pre-tournament favourites Ivory Coast were held to a goalless draw by neighbours Burkina Faso in Monday's only African Nations Cup Group B game.

Togo will be disqualified from the African Nations Cup finals if they do not show up for Monday's Group B match against Ghana in Cabinda, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said on Monday.

African Nations Cup will go ahead despite an attack by gunmen on the bus carrying the Togo team as the players entered the host country Angola for the tournament, the organisers CAF said on Friday.

VfB Stuttgart squandered the chance to lift themselves further away from trouble when they conceded a late penalty to draw 1-1 at Mainz on Sunday.

Javier Saviola and Oscar Cardozo scored two goals apiece and defender Luisao was also on target as Benfica thumped Everton 5-0 in the Europa League on Thursday.

At least 19 people were killed in a stadium crush during a World Cup qualifier between Ivory Coast and Malawi in Abidjan on Sunday. A rush by spectators led to the collapse of a wall, medical officials said. Police then fired tear gas to clear the crowd, causing a stampede which also left many people seriously injured.

It's not so hard when you share the work. Happy 2009.

The ongoing financial crisis, poverty reduction, reforms including expansion of the Security Council, uneven progress in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and Darfur conflict are likely to dominate the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly that begins on Tuesday. More than 170 heads of state and governments, foreign ministers and senior diplomats will participate in the discussion lasting about two weeks.

India was elected last year and its term ends in 2010, but it would be eligible for re-election. Most members, including Pakistan and Bahrain, were elected despite opposition from the human rights groups who said that their record had been dismal.

Paris St Germain have been banned from the League Cup next season after some of their fans unfolded a insulting banner during this season's League Cup final, the French League (LFP) said on Wednesday.

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation on Wednesday said global commodity prices were far from easing in the short term owing to tight supply-demand situation and warned of flare ups over food shortage.The UN FAO director general said the world has 4-5 million tonnes (MT) of cereals stocks that can feed the global population for only 8-12 weeks.

India is heading for a major rise in food prices especially rice and pulses. Following the global trend and anticipating a shortage, Central government has raised the minimum price for non-Basmati rice exports. Other countries like Egypt and Cambodia have imposed restrictions on export of rice. With rice being staple food in many countries export restrictions will affect prices in the importing countries. These countries are already facing social unrest over high food prices.

Hotlines between New Delhi and Addis Ababa, the headquarters of the African Union, are working overtime to make next month's India-Africa summit as big a success as a similar event organised by China last year. New Delhi's intention to give a new thrust to its relations with Africa was evident when it announced a hike of 60 per cent in its aid to the continent for the next financial year. The 2008-09 Budget presented in Parliament last week, enhanced aid to Africa.

That garden stone, handmade carpet or embroidered T-shirt you just bought was probably made by child labor.

Barcelona have written permission from Cameroon to delay striker Samuel Eto'o joining the country's African Nations Cup preparations until Saturday, the Primera Liga club's coach Frank Rijkaard said on Tuesday.

The countries ranked below India include Bahrain, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Iran, Oman, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Benin, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Pakistan, Chad and Yemen with the lowest gender equality of 45.1 per cent.

India is all set to train a large number of cotton traders from African countries from Tuesday.