Africa (except North Africa)

(Reuters) --- Nigeria will ban travellers coming from India, Brazil and Turkey because of concerns about the rampant spread of coronavirus in those countries, a presidential committee said on Sunday.

"Non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited Brazil, India or Turkey within Fourteen (14) days preceding travel to Nigeria, shall be denied entry into Nigeria," Boss Mustapha, chairman of the presidential steering committee on COVID-19, said in a statement.

The ban will take effect from May 4, the statement said.

LUSAKA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Zambia's governing party on Saturday officially adopted incumbent President Edgar Lungu as its candidate in this year's general elections.

The Patriotic Front (PF) officially adopted the Zambian leader during a ceremony held at the Mulungushi International Conference Center in Lusaka, the country's capital, by presenting him with a certificate of adoption as its candidate for the August 12 elections.

(Reuters) --- Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi on Friday declared a state of siege over the worsening violence in the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu that has killed hundreds this year and displaced more than 1.5 million.

A surge in attacks by armed militias and inter-communal violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have killed over 300 people since the start of the year as government troops and U.N. peacekeepers struggle to stabilize the mineral-rich territory.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia has swept up thousands of ethnic Tigrayans into detention centers across the country on accusations that they are traitors, often holding them for months and without charges, the AP has found.

28 Apr 2021; MEMO: Spokesman for the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry, Dina Mufti, said that the historic agreements to share Nile waters that downstream countries Egypt and Sudan hold on to are "unreasonable and unacceptable."

"The threats made by downstream countries regarding the Renaissance Dam are useless," Mufti added in a briefing to reporters yesterday, adding that his country is counting on the resumption of the Renaissance Dam negotiations under the auspices of the African Union (AU).

27 Apr 2021; MEMO: Residents of the Somali capital Mogadishu fled neighbourhoods today fearing renewed clashes between rival factions in the security forces, who have split in a dispute over an extension to the president's term, Reuters reported.

Government forces also raided an independent radio station and confiscated equipment.

DAR ES SALAAM, Apr 23 (NNN-IRIN) – Tanzania’s weather watchdog, yesterday, issued an alert, saying, a tropical cyclone called Jobo, may cause strong winds and waves in the country’s coastal belt of Lindi and Mtwara regions.

The cyclone, which appeared in the Indian Ocean, is currently in Madagascar heading north, said the Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA) in a statement.

The statement said, the tropical cyclone could make landfall over the north-eastern coast of Lindi region on Apr 25.

(Reuters) --- Thousands of people gathered in Chad's capital N'Djamena on Friday for the state funeral of President Idriss Deby, whose death while leading his troops against a rebel offensive has thrown the country into crisis.

Mourners included President Emmanuel Macron of France, which counted on the long-ruling strongman as a lynchpin in the war against Islamist militants, and a host of African presidents and prime ministers.

MOGADISHU, Apr 22 (NNN-IRIN) – At least four people were killed and several others injured, in a mortar attack in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, yesterday.

The Somali National Army (SNA) radio, said, al-Shabab militants fired mortar shells, which landed in Bondhere and WartaNabada residential districts, in the Banadir region, killing four people.

“Several other people sustained injuries during the attack,” the SNA radio reported.

(Reuters) --- France's foreign minister on Thursday defended a military takeover in Chad despite objections from the opposition there, saying it was necessary for security amid "exceptional circumstances".

The son of Chad's slain leader Idriss Deby took over as president and armed forces commander on Wednesday and dissolved the government and parliament as rebel forces threatened to march on the capital.