Hassan al-Turabi, the leader of the Islamist Popular National Congress Party (PNC) and a former ally of Omar al-Bashir, is now the Sudanese president’s main opponent.
Bitter football rivals Algeria and Egypt meet in Sudan for a re-match of last weekend's World Cup qualifier that spilled into violence in both Cairo and Algiers.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will not attend an Islamic summit in Istanbul next week following EU objections, Turkish officials say. Bashir is the subject of an international arrest warrant for war crimes.
President Barack Obama has formally renewed US sanctions on Sudan as part of efforts to press Khartoum into ending violence in the Darfur and in the country's semi-autonomous south.
The US has unveiled a plan to ensure, amongst other things, that the 2005 peace deal with Sudan is fully implemented. "Backsliding by any party will be met with credible pressure," said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Two female aid workers arrived in Khartoum on Monday exhausted and eager to go home after surviving nightmare experiences such as mock executions during 107 days of grueling captivity in Darfur.
Armed men have ambushed a convoy of police and international peacekeepers escorting civilian workers in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, killing one peacekeeper and wounding another two.
More than 100 people were killed and many injured at the weekend in the latest series of violent tribal clashes in the southern state of Jonglei, according to a military spokesman.
In this edition: floods caused by heavy rain have killed nearly 160 people since June in West Africa; post-election violence mars Ali Bongo's victory in Gabon; and Cameroon responds to a report on the lavish holidays of President Paul Biya.