<p>"Sudan's supreme court ruled on Monday that two more presidential candidates could stand in the country's first democratic elections in 24 years to be held in April, including the first female."</p> 0 <p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Sudan's supreme court ruled on Monday that two more presidential candidates could stand in the country's first democratic elections in 24 years to be held in April, including the first female.</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">Sudan's opposition parties had complained that the strict requirements to run for the presidency were aimed at preventing people from standing. Candidates needed 15,000 signatures from 18 of Sudan's 25 states."</p> <p>MORE: <a class="darfur" href="http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE6170HG20100208" target="_blank">"Sudan court adds two more presidential candidates for vote"</a> (Reuters)</p> 2010-02-08T17:01:40+00:00 2010-02-08 730 darfur_sudan_court_adds_two_more_presidential_candidates_for_vote 0 2010-02-08T17:01:40+00:00 <p>"The trial of Zimbabwe opposition politician Roy Bennett was postponed indefinitely on Monday as court workers joined a wage strike by government employees."</p> 2 <p style="padding-left: 30px;">"The trial of Zimbabwe opposition politician Roy Bennett was postponed indefinitely on Monday as court workers joined a wage strike by government employees.</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">Court officials turned people away from the High Court in Harare, where Bennett, a close ally of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, is on trial charged with illegal possession of arms for 'terrorism, banditry and sabotage.'"</p> <p>MORE: <a class="zimbabwe" href="http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE6170CC20100208" target="_blank">"Zimbabwe strike forces Bennett trial delay"</a> (Reuters)</p> <p>PREVIOUSLY: <a class="zimbabwe" href="http://notonourwatchproject.org/news/zimbabwe_update_zimbabwe_court_allows_disputed_bennett_email_evidence" target="_blank">"Update: Zimbabwe court allows disputed Bennett email evidence"</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> 2010-02-08T17:00:17+00:00 2010-02-08 729 zimbabwe_update_zimbabwe_strike_forces_bennett_trial_delay 0 2010-02-08T17:00:17+00:00 <p>"Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno arrived Monday in Khartoum on his first visit to Sudan since 2004, amid a thaw in ties between the African neighbours, an AFP correspondent said."</p> 0 <p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno arrived Monday in Khartoum on his first visit to Sudan since 2004, amid a thaw in ties between the African neighbours, an AFP correspondent said.</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir greeted Deby at Khartoum's airport at the start of a visit expected to help seal last month's accord normalizing ties which had been strained by reciprocal accusations of support for rebels."</p> <p>MORE: <a class="darfur" href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gnVY18Ti7NiPqTeclQC7h5tCoMKw" target="_blank">"Chad's Deby in Sudan amid thaw in ties"</a> (AFP)</p> 2010-02-08T16:56:04+00:00 2010-02-08 728 darfur_chads_deby_in_sudan_amid_thaw_in_ties 0 2010-02-08T16:56:04+00:00 <p>"South Sudan's former rebels warned on Sunday that leading party members must not contest seats in upcoming elections as independent candidates, and issued a deadline for them to withdraw."</p> 0 <p style="padding-left: 30px;">"South Sudan's former rebels warned on Sunday that leading party members must not contest seats in upcoming elections as independent candidates, and issued a deadline for them to withdraw.</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">The south's ruling Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM) is challenging its former civil war enemies in the north in the first elections in 24 years due in April."</p> <p>MORE: <a class="darfur" href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ilQshPmqLkPoHI1WsJp7JnUG2ihg" target="_blank">"South Sudan ex-rebels warn independents to toe party line"</a> (AFP)</p> 2010-02-08T16:51:40+00:00 2010-02-07 727 darfur_south_sudan_exrebels_warn_independents_to_toe_party_line 0 2010-02-08T16:51:40+00:00 <p>"'No disruption to learning' touts a newspaper ad for a new private Zimbabwean school, one of many springing up in living rooms, backyards and plots across Harare."</p> 2 <p style="padding-left: 30px;">"'No disruption to learning' touts a newspaper ad for a new private Zimbabwean school, one of many springing up in living rooms, backyards and plots across Harare.</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">It's a big selling point in a country where government schools lost an estimated 20,000 teachers in 2008, a year when students attended class only 50 days. Teachers launched a new strike on Friday, raising worries about the new school year that began just last month."</p> <p>MORE: <a class="zimbabwe" href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ie_dYZR9oEnMZxHKz8Twz2yPjw2A" target="_blank">"Private schools sprout in Zimbabwe as public system struggles"</a> (AFP)</p> 2010-02-08T16:49:54+00:00 2010-02-07 726 zimbabwe_private_schools_sprout_in_zimbabwe_as_public_system_struggles 0 2010-02-08T16:49:54+00:00