Africa (except North Africa)

BUJUMBURA, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye Friday spoke highly of the traditional friendship and all-round pragmatic cooperation between Burundi and China.

Ndayishimiye made the remarks when receiving the credentials presented by the new Chinese Ambassador to Burundi Zhao Jiangping in Bujumbura. He thanked China for its long-term support and assistance to the development of Burundi, hailing China as a reliable friend of the Burundian people.

20 May 2021; MEMO: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has told FRANCE 24 that the situation in Gaza reminds him of the apartheid era in his own country. Israeli actions against the Palestinians, he said, evoke memories of the crimes of apartheid committed in South Africa under white rule, adding that while South Africa stands by the Palestinians, he urges both sides to sit down and negotiate.

KAMPALA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday said oil revenues must be invested in avenues that create jobs and wealth.

Museveni, according to a State House statement, was in Tanzania to witness the signing of the Host Government Agreement between Tanzania and the oil companies going to construct an oil pipeline from the oil wells in Uganda to the Tanzanian seaport of Tanga.

HARARE, May 18 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Zimbabwean government on Monday announced the termination of the appointment of Moshe Itzhak Osdaicher as the country’s honorary consul in Northern Israel.

The termination is with effect from February 2021, Spokesperson for Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Constance Chemwayi said in a statement.

The ministry did not give reasons for the termination of the appointment.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa has started its mass vaccination drive with the goal of inoculating nearly 5 million citizens aged 60 and above by the end of June.

Shots of the Pfizer vaccine were given to South Africans in a few nursing homes and to some people aged 60 and older on Monday to start the campaign.

So far the country has inoculated just over 478,000 of its health care workers with Johnson & Johnson vaccines and it plans to give the shots to the remainder of its 1.2 million health workers by the end of this week.

ABUJA, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Muhammadu Buhari is due to meet the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, on growing security concerns in the Sahel and Lake Chad regions.

The President, who will be departing Abuja on Sunday, May 16 will be attending a four-day African Finance Summit in the French capital, Paris, during which he is expected to meet with Macron on security matters.

(Reuters) --- Zimbabwe's justice minister accused the country's judiciary of being "captured" by foreign forces seeking to destabilise the government after the High Court ruled it was illegal to extend the tenure of the chief justice by five more years.

Three judges of the High Court said in a judgment on Saturday that Luke Malaba had ceased being a judge and chief justice after he turned 70 years old. 

15 May 2021; MEMO: Police in Kenya on Thursday fired tear gas bombs to disperse more than 200 people protesting in the capital, Nairobi, against the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip.

The march began after Eid Al-Fitr prayers at a nearby mosque. An eyewitness told Reuters that several protesters had been arrested.

KINSHASA, May 14 (Xinhua) -- President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Felix Tshisekedi said on Thursday that he attaches great importance to DRC-China relations and intends to deepen mining and infrastructure cooperation with Chinese companies.

Tshisekedi made the remarks while inspecting the Sino Congolaise des Mines (Sicomines), a joint venture between the DRC state mining company Gecamines and a group of Chinese companies, in Kolwezi of the southeastern province of Lualaba.

KAMPALA, May 12 (NNN-Xinhua) — Uganda’s incumbent President Yoweri Museveni was sworn in on Wednesday to serve for the sixth five-year term in office.

Chief Justice, Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny-Dollo swore in Museveni as the president of the East African country at Kololo Independence Grounds in the capital Kampala.