South Africa's government has approved a raft of projects worth $5.4 billion to generate some 1,400 megawatts of renewable energy in Africa's largest economy, a minister said Monday.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday pressed Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to support possible military action in neighbouring Mali, where Islamists control large areas of the north.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was holding talks in Algeria on Monday to press for a possible military intervention in neighbouring Mali, large swathes of which have been overrun by Islamists.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived Monday in Algeria to discuss with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika the crisis in neighbouring Mali, large swathes of which have been overrun by Islamists.

South African police fired tear gas on Saturday to disperse striking mine workers who were trying to prevent a mass rally by the country's main mining union.

The South African economy will grow by a slower 2.5 percent this year after wildcat mining strikes cost $1.2 billion and dimmed the outlook for Africa's powerhouse, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Thursday.

France has resumed military cooperation with Mali, a French diplomat said amid preparations for an operation by international troops to try to wrest the west African country's north from Al-Qaeda linked Islamist militants.

The head of South Africa's largest trade union grouping on Friday urged 24,000 striking AngloGold Ashanti miners to return underground, but had to abandon his efforts when workers became hostile.

African and European leaders will meet in Bamako Friday to work on plans for a military intervention to seize back Mali's desert north from armed Islamists who control the region.

Islamists controlling northern Mali were destroying more Muslim saints' tombs in the ancient city of Timbuktu on Thursday, witnesses said, in the latest attack on the world heritage sites considered blasphemous by the jihadists.

African military action to oust Islamist militants who seized northern Mali after a March coup will start within weeks, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Tuesday.

European Union foreign ministers on Monday approved moves to "urgently" plan for a possible military mission to help Mali reconquer its vast arid north from rebels and Islamist extremists.

Gunmen attacked a power plant overnight in Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan, while police came under attack at Bonoua, further east, Defence Minister Paul Koffi Koffi said Monday.

The UN Security Council on Friday approved a resolution that presses West African nations to speed up preparations for an international military intervention aimed at reconquering northern Mali.

The UN Security Council approved a resolution that presses West African nations to speed up preparations for an international military intervention aimed at reconquering northern Mali.

The UN Security Council is poised to adopt a draft resolution paving the way for military intervention in Mali Friday, French officials said.

Several thousand people marched in Mali's capital Bamako on Thursday to call for armed intervention by a West African regional force to help wrest back the vast north of the country from armed Islamist groups.

Several thousand people marched Thursday in Mali's capital Bamako to call for armed intervention by a west African force to help wrest back the vast north of the country from armed Islamist groups.

Several thousand people marched Thursday in Mali's capital Bamako to call for armed intervention by a west African force to help wrest back the vast north from armed Islamist groups.

Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore has ordered 1,000 combat troops to be deployed in the northern region bordering crisis-hit Mali to guard against kidnappings, the foreign minister said Wednesday.