Africa (except North Africa)

JUBA (Reuters) - Sudan’s power-sharing government and several rebel groups on Saturday formalised a peace agreement aimed at resolving decades of conflict which left millions displaced and hundreds of thousands dead.

Three major groups signed a preliminary deal in August - two factions from the western region of Darfur and one from the southern region - after months of talks hosted by South Sudan.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Malian authorities have released 180 Islamic extremists from a prison in the capital and flown them to the country’s north, an official confirmed late Sunday, fueling speculation that a prominent opposition politician held by jihadists could soon be freed after more than six months in captivity.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — President Donald Trump has tested positive for the coronavirus, joining a small group of world leaders who have been infected. Trump is 74, putting him at higher risk of serious complications. Here’s a look at other leaders who have been infected.

BORIS JOHNSON

JOHANNESBURG, Sep.28 (Xinhua) -- Former South African President Jacob Zuma's legal team on Monday wrote to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, demanding he recuse himself as the chair of the state capture commission because of his bias against Zuma.

"For the reasons to be fully set out in the application to be made, we are instructed to seek your recusal as Chairperson of the commission on the ground that our client (Zuma) reasonably apprehended that you have already adopted a biased disposition against him," the letter from Zuma's legal representative Eric Mabuza said.

ABIDJAN, Sept 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The special UN envoy for West Africa has urged peaceful elections in Ivory Coast at the end of a week-long visit.

Mohamed Ibn Chambas met President Alassane Ouattara who is running for a third term after his preferred successor died.

President Ouattara’s candidacy has caused tension in the country and led to protests.

The elections are scheduled for Oct 31.

Chambas also met three of the president’s challengers, electoral body officials and civil society representatives.

ABUJA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian military on Sunday confirmed that 13 suspected Boko Haram militants surrendered to troops during an operation aimed at smoking out remnants of the terror group in the country's northeast region.

The terrorists surrendered as troops on Saturday "sustained aerial bombardment and aggressive intensive clearance operation" in the Bama area of the northern state of Borno, John Enenche, the military spokesman, said in a statement.

OUAGADOUGOU, Sept 27 (NNN-XINHUA) – Development assistance to Burkina Faso, amounted to 907 billion CFA francs (almost 1.55 billion U.S. dollars) over 2019, the country’s Ministry of Economy and Finance said, in a 2019 review issued last night.

The number represents a four-percent increase from the previous year, according to the review.

The top ten partners were the World Bank Group, the United Nations, the Global Fund, the European Union, the Islamic Development Bank, Germany, the United States, France, Sweden and the African Development Bank.

27 Sep 2020; MEMO: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told the United Nations on Friday that his country has “no intention” of harming Sudan and Egypt with a giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile that has caused a bitter water dispute between the three countries, Reuters reports.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — In a year of cataclysm, some world leaders at this week’s annual United Nations meeting are taking the long view, warning: If COVID-19 doesn’t kill us, climate change will.

With Siberia seeing its warmest temperature on record this year and enormous chunks of ice caps in Greenland and Canada sliding into the sea, countries are acutely aware there’s no vaccine for global warming.

BAMAKO (Reuters) - A retired colonel was sworn in as Mali’s interim president on Friday, tasked with presiding over an 18-month transition back to civilian rule following a military coup.

Bah Ndaw, 70, also served as defence minister in 2014 and previously headed the air force. He took the oath of office in front of several hundred military officers, political leaders and diplomats.

Colonel Assimi Goita, who led the Aug. 18 coup that overthrew Ibrahim Boubacar Keita as president, was sworn in as vice president during a ceremony in Bamako.