JOHANNESBURG - Delivering the fifth annual Nelson Mandela Lecture, former United Nations (UN) secretary-general Kofi Annan asks African leaders to practise good governance and democracy to rebuild the continent, and insists that the world's rich nations keep their promises of aid. Annan insists that aid alone will not end poverty in Africa, and urges African leaders to stop conflicts in many spots on the continent, including northern Uganda and Darfur.

CAPE TOWN - The International Aids Society is told that HIV-infected babies have a greater chance of survival if they receive treatment before they show signs of illness or a weakened immune system. A study of infants in Cape Town and Soweto, which began in 2005, has found that 96% of infants given immediate drug treatment were still alive two years later, compared with only 84% of children given later treatment. The study, by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, has been so successful that it has been amended, ending enrolments for the deferred treatment group and evaluating those in the group for treatment.

AFRICA

HARARE - Zimbabwe's embattled President Robert Mugabe opens a new session of Parliament that is expected to push through radical plans to nationalise foreign firms ahead of general elections next year. In the first five minutes of his address to the new session of the House of Assembly and the upper Senate, Mugabe claims that his government is battling to turn around the economy, which he says is a victim of sabotage by Western and local opponents trying to end his rule.

KIGALI - Rwanda calls for the extradition of two people arrested in France and suspected of involvement in the Central African nation's 1994 genocide. In a statement, the Rwandan government welcomes the arrest of Catholic priest Wenceslas Munyeshyaka and another person, Laurent Bucyibaruta, who are accused of playing a role in the slaughter of some 800 000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Both Rwandans had lived in France for years, but have been detained because of indictments issued by Kigali and the Tanzania-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which is prosecuting the top architects of the genocide.

DARFUR - Violence and insecurity in Darfur forces 25 000 more people from their homes and is straining the capacity of camps swollen with refugees that are fleeing conflict in western Sudan, according to a new UN report. The report says that, in May and June, a further 25 000 people have fled their homes, bringing the number of camp residents in Darfur to 2,2-million. The United Nations confirms that there are more than 200 000 Darfuri refugees in neighbouring Chad and 140 000 Chadians displaced by the Darfur conflict, which has bled across the border.

WORLD

SYDNEY - The world's biggest Aids conference closes with a call for the development of child-specific drugs to ensure that millions of HIV-infected children not only survive to adulthood, but also live without damaging side effects from their treatment. An estimated 2,3-million children are HIV infected, with about 600 000 new infections each year. Without treatment, half of all babies infected will die before their second birthday, yet only 15% of children who need treatment are currently receiving antiretroviral drugs.

TENNESSEE - President George W Bush, who has been pushing for the UN to take stronger action in Darfur, says he will not unilaterally send US troops to that region of Sudan. The US, which calls the situation in Darfur "genocide", in May tightened sanctions against Sudan, pressing the Sudanese government to end the bloodshed. Following discussions on Darfur with UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, Bush has expressed frustration with the organisation, calling it a "slow, tedious" process.