Africa (except North Africa)

LUSAKA, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Thursday pardoned 130 inmates as part of the commemoration of this year's Christmas Day which falls on December 25.

Minister of Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo said the pardoning of the inmates was in line with the powers vested on the president in the constitution.

He said during a press briefing streamlined on Facebook that among those pardoned included 113 male inmates and 17 females.

24 Dec 2020; MEMO: The Mauritanian army has announced on Wednesday an "accidental" confrontation with a Moroccan force at the northern borders of the country.

The army disclosed in a statement published on its website that one of its patrols came under fire on Tuesday night after accidentally approaching a defensive position of Moroccan forces. This occurred while the patrol was pursuing a group of smugglers in the border area near the town of Inal.

23 Dec 2020; MEMO: The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday that Addis Ababa and Khartoum reached a final accord to resolve the ongoing border crisis.

The announcement followed negotiations between an Ethiopian delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Yemek Mekonnen, and the authorities in Sudan.

According to the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Dina Mufti, the border dispute between the two countries is to be resolved peacefully, through dialogue.

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 22 (NNN-Xinhua) — At least five countries have suspended flights from South Africa after a coronavirus variant was recently discovered in the country.

Germany, Turkey, Israel, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia are among the countries that have announced the banning of such flights to prevent the spread of a variant of the SARS-COV-2 virus currently termed 501.V2 Variant. The ban was coming into effect on Monday in most of these countries.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa has announced that a new variant of the COVID-19 virus is driving the country’s current resurgence of the disease, which is seeing higher numbers of confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

The new variant, known as 501.V2, is dominant among new confirmed infections in South Africa, according to health officials and scientists leading the country’s virus strategy.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen in Nigeria abducted more than 80 Islamic school students in northwestern Katsina state Saturday night, but the pupils were quickly rescued by security forces after a fierce gun battle, police announced Sunday.

The foiled abduction comes less than two days after the release of 344 schoolboys who were kidnapped in the same area on Dec. 11. The incidents have highlighted the insecurity in northern Nigeria.

19 Dec 2020; MEMO: The death toll from  Friday's attack in Mogadishu that killed several high-ranking military and police officials has risen to 15, local authorities confirmed on Saturday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Speaking to local media, security officials said that 15 people lost their lives in the suicide attack that happened in the central town of Galkayo in the Mudug region.

LUSAKA, Dec 19 (NNN-ZANIS) – Zambia launched a nuclear policy, meant to provide guidance to the country’s national nuclear programme.

The National Nuclear Policy was meant to put the nation, on a path to exploit nuclear technology.

Minister of Higher Education, Brian Mushimba, said during the launch that, the policy will guide the country in the implementation of nuclear programmes that protects human life and the environment.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — More than 300 schoolboys abducted last week by armed men in northwest Nigeria have been released, a government official said Thursday.

In an announcement on Nigerian state TV, NTA, Katsina State Gov. Aminu Bello Masari said the 344 boarding school students were turned over to security officials and were being brought to the state capital, where they will get physical examinations before being reunited with their families.

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Rebels from the Boko Haram extremist group claimed responsibility Tuesday for abducting hundreds of boys from a school in Nigeria’s northern Katsina State last week in one of the largest such attacks in years, raising fears of a growing wave of violence in the region.

More than 330 students remain missing from the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara after gunmen with assault rifles attacked their school Friday night, although scores of others managed to escape.