Africa (except North Africa)

03 Jan 2021; AA: Turkey condemned a deadly terror attack in Niger that killed at least 56 people, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

"We are deeply saddened by the news that many people lost their lives and were injured in a terrorist attack perpetrated against the Tchombangou and Zaroumdareye villages near the Mali border on 2 January 2021," it said in a statement about the attack that left at least 20 others wounded.

NIAMEY, Jan 2 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — The presidential candidate of Niger’s ruling party looked set for a first-round win as his vote tally expanded on Friday.

Provisional results showed Mohamed Bazoum as having garnered 1.4 million votes, only trailed by former president Mahamane Ousmane with 675,000.

The electoral commission is expected to announce the final results Saturday in Niamey.

Former prime ministers Seini Oumarou and Albade Abouba were on course for 345,000 and 260,000 votes respectively.

NAIROBI, Jan 2 (NNN-KBC) — Clinical officers in Kenya have agreed to end their strike that has paralyzed the Country’s public health system for the last 26-day.

This after the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers signed a return to work deal with the Ministry of Health.

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said the Government remains committed to ensuring continuity of service in public health facilitates and will do everything possible to ensure all health workers on strike resume duty as soon as possible.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A new report says Ethiopian security forces killed more than 75 people and injured nearly 200 during deadly unrest in June and July after the killing of a popular singer. More than 30 others were beheaded, tortured or dragged in the streets by attackers amid ethnic slurs.

GABORONE, Dec 31 (NNN-NAMPA) – Botswana and Namibia issued a joint statement calling for citizens to remain calm and patient, after fatal shootings in Nov of three Namibian nationals and one Zambian national by the Botswana Defence Force.

In the statement by the two heads of state, the two sides underscored the deepening bilateral relations, and conveyed their commitment to resolving the matter expeditiously and amicably.

LUSAKA, Dec 28 (NNN-ZANIS) – A train, carrying 24 wagons of coal, derailed in southern Zambia’s Mazabuka town, due to a blocked drainage, the state-run railway firm said yesterday.

Zambia Railways Limited acting spokesperson, Sombe Ng’onga, said, the incident happened in the early hours of yesterday morning.

She said, preliminary investigations revealed that, the derailment was caused by a blocked drainage, due to heavy rains, that buried the rail line.

Niamey (Niger), Dec 28 (AP-PTI) Niger voted Sunday in presidential and legislative elections that could see the West African countrys first democratic transition of power since independence amid a growing threat from jihadists in the region.

A good turnout was seen in the capital throughout the day, said observers .

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s COVID-19 spike has taken the country to more than 1 million confirmed cases on Sunday and President Cyril Ramaphosa called an emergency meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council.

The country’s new variant of the coronavirus, 501.V2, is more contagious and has quickly become dominant in many areas of the resurgence, according to experts.

BANGUI (Reuters) -Central African Republic on Sunday voted in presidential and legislative elections being held under a cloud of violence as the government, international partners and United Nations peacekeepers seek to hold off a rebel advance.

Militias hostile to President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who is seeking a second term, have stepped up attacks since the constitutional court this month rejected several candidates, including former President Francois Bozize.

LUSAKA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities in northern Zambia on Saturday launched a massive oral cholera vaccination campaign aimed at containing the frequent outbreak of diarrhea disease in some districts.

The first round of vaccination campaign will be done in Nsama, one of the districts with high cholera incidences in which over 7,000 people will be captured, according to the state-run news agency, the Zambia News and Information Service (ZANIS).