Africa (except North Africa)

ABUJA, Jan 19 (NNN-Xinhua) — Thirty bandits were killed in a gunfight with troops in Nigeria’s northwest region, a spokesman for the military said.

The incident occurred on Sunday at the Maje Riverline axis in the Bugundu local government area of the northern state of Zamfara, said Ibikunle Daramola, a spokesman for the Nigerian Airforce.

Daramola said that the operation was in response to reports that scores of bandits, along with a large number of rustled livestock, were spotted heading toward Kekuwuje, a town along the Yar-Katsina road in Zamfara.

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won a decisive re-election victory on Saturday, elections officials said, but his main rival Bobi Wine alleged widespread fraud and said citizens should reject the result.

Museveni won 5.85 million votes, or 58.6%, while main opposition candidate Wine had 3.48 million votes (34.8%), the Electoral Commission said at a news conference on the final results from Thursday’s election.

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Long-time leader Yoweri Museveni took an early lead in Uganda’s presidential election according to preliminary results on Friday, though his main rival said there had been widespread fraud and his supporters had the right to protest.

With 29.4% of votes from Thursday’s ballot counted, Museveni had won 1,852,263 votes, or 63.9%, while main opposition candidate Bobi Wine had 821,874 (28.4%), the electoral commission said just after 11 a.m. (0800 GMT).

PRETORIA, January 13. /TASS/: The Russian embassy to Uganda (with dual accreditation in South Sudan) has received a message from Russian nationals Ilya Varlamov and Pyotr Verzilov after their detention in the South Sudanese town of Kapoeta, a spokesperson for the embassy told TASS on Wednesday.

"They have got in touch with us," the Russian diplomat said. "They have not been arrested yet, but just detained. Work is underway."

NAIROBI (Reuters) - More than 80 civilians were killed in an attack on Tuesday in the Benishangul-Gumuz region on Ethiopia’s border with Sudan, the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said on Wednesday.

“We have received information that over 80 civilians have been killed in yet another massacre,” Aaron Maasho, a senior advisor at the commission, told Reuters on Wednesday.

The region where the attack occurred borders Sudan. More than 220 people were killed in an attack last month in the same region.

13 Jan 2021; MEMO: Ethiopia's foreign ministry yesterday warned Sudan of "retaliation" after border clashes were reported in the country's northern Tigray region.

"Addis Ababa's silence against border escalation is not out of fear," the ministry's spokesperson, Dina Mufti, said in a statement, accusing the Sudanese army of "taking advantage of Ethiopia's preoccupation with the Tigray clashes while deeply penetrating into the region."

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya dropped charges on Tuesday against two senior former officials who prosecutors said had agreed to provide testimony against a former finance minister and others accused of corruption over the awarding of tenders to build two dams.

Kamau Thugge, at the time the number two official at the finance ministry, and Susan Koech, an official at the tourism ministry, were among a number of officials charged in the case a year ago, including then-Finance Minister Henry Rotich.

07 Jan 2021; MEMO: The Somali opposition has warned US oil firms not to sign deals with the Somali government, according to a statement posted on the Twitter account of one of the opposition leaders.

The opposition announced in a statement posted on Monday that the federal government in Somalia is planning to sign a secret oil deal with two foreign oil firms.

ABUJA, Jan 6 (NNN-IRIN) – Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, met with visiting Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi yesterday, with both sides pledging to promote bilateral cooperation on all fronts.

Buhari asked Wang to convey his sincere greetings to Chinese President, Xi Jinping.

Buhari said, over the past 50 years, Nigeria-China relations achieved constructive results and Nigeria is very satisfied with the progress of bilateral relations.

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera has won a second term in office, according to provisional results announced by the electoral commission Monday.

Touadera was reelected in the first round of the Dec. 27 presidential vote with 53.9% of the votes, the National Election Authority said. In second place was Anicet-Georges Dologuele with 21.1% of the vote, and Martin Ziguele came in third with 7.4%, according to the results announced.