It used to be called "The Club of Dictators." The African Union (AU), and before it the Organization of African Unity, lists among its alumni such infamous characters as Idi Amin, Charles Taylor, Sane Abacha, Mengistu Haile Mariam and Joseph Mobutu.

In the Comoros Islands, the union government says it is ready to invade Anjouan and over throw embattled President Mohamed Bacar, whose presidency the government describes as illegal.

The African Union has elected new leadership at its summit meeting in Addis Ababa, but postponed action on an audit report that sharply criticizes the outgoing leaders.

African Union leaders gathered in Ethiopia to discusses means of containing the violence in Kenya and Chad during a special meeting on the last day of their summit.

Noting that collaboration between the United Nations and the African Union has entered a historic phase with the establishment of a joint peacekeeping operation in Darfur, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that the year ahead will be a crucial one for the two bodies as they strive to achieve shared goals.

The political crisis in Kenya is at the top of the agenda as the African Union holds its summit in Addis Ababa. But what can the AU do at this stage to help resolve the crisis and end the violence?

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has confirmed he will not attend next month's European Union-Africa summit if Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is there.

European Union and African Union officials are meeting in Ghana's capital Accra Wednesday to set the agenda for a joint summit in Lisbon, Portugal later this year. The summit has stirred controversy as governments wrangle over whether Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe should be invited.

Europe divisions over the vexed question of whether Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe should be invited to the European Union-African Union Summit in December in Lisbon deepened Friday as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, visiting South Africa, told reporters that "we're inviting all A.U. countries" to the summit.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced that he will not attend the European Union-African Union summit slated for December in Lisbon if Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe also attends.

African heads of state are arriving in Ghana's capital, Accra, to prepare for an African Union Summit that officially opens Sunday, July 1. The meeting aims to address a Libyan proposal to create a continent-wide government. But African human rights activists say there are many more pressing issues, such as the conflict in Darfur, that should be addressed first.

The African Union has extended the mandate for its Darfur peacekeeping mission until the end of the year as it waits to assemble a combined force with the United Nations.