Africa (except North Africa)

DAR ES SALAAM, Aug 30 (NNN-Xinhua) — Tanzania’s ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi held a rally to mark the launch of President John Magufuli’s re-election bid in the country’s capital Dodoma.

Magufuli, who took office in November 2015 after succeeding former President Jakaya Kikwete, is seeking re-election for a second and final five-year term in the Oct 28 general election.

In his address at the rally, Magufuli promised to complete unfinished projects and start new ones aimed at making Tanzania “a great nation” if re-elected.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Honking and drumming, thousands of people protested Saturday in the capital of Mauritius over the government’s handling of an oil spill from a grounded Japanese ship and the alarming discovery of dozens of dead dolphins in recent days.

The protesters waved the country’s flag and held up signs with messages such as “You have no shame” and “I’ve seen better Cabinets at IKEA.”

CAPE TOWN, Aug 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A South African court ruled that a Kuwaiti firm could ship thousands of sheep to the Middle East, dealing a blow to animal welfare activists seeking to ban such exports on concerns that extreme heat could kill the animals en route.

In the high court case, South Africa’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) sought an interim injunction to prevent Kuwaiti livestock exporter Al Mawashi from sailing a vessel loaded with sheep out of South Africa’s East London port.

26 Aug 2020; MEMO: US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, visited the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, yesterday arriving on a flight directly from Tel Aviv, Israel, in a historic move.

Pompeo said on Twitter that he was happy to be on board the first official direct flight from Israel to Sudan.

The New York Times reported that the direct flight between the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and Khartoum came after Pompeo’s plane obtained special permission.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Winter is ending in the Southern Hemisphere and country after country -- South Africa, Australia, Argentina -- had a surprise: Their steps against COVID-19 also apparently blocked the flu.

But there’s no guarantee the Northern Hemisphere will avoid twin epidemics as its own flu season looms while the coronavirus still rages.

PORT LOUIS, Aug 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The broken stem of a Japanese-owned ship which ran aground causing a devastating oil spill in pristine waters off Mauritius, has been successfully sunk in the open ocean.

Nagashiki Shipping, which owns the MV Wakashio, said it had completed scuttling of the front part of the vessel at sea on Monday as instructed by local authorities. 

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mediators from West Africa’s regional bloc reached agreement on certain points in talks with Mali’s military junta that are aimed at returning the country to civilian rule, the parties said on Sunday, adding that some outstanding issues remained.

The negotiations will continue on Monday, members of both delegations told journalists in Bamako.

Leaders of the military junta led by Colonel Assimi Goita and mediators from West Africa’s regional bloc led by Nigeria’s former president, Goodluck Jonathan, met behind closed doors all day on Sunday.

NAIROBI, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday urged African countries to put solid COVID-19 prevention measures in place before embarking on reopening of learning institutions.

WHO said in a statement released in Nairobi that reopening of schools in the Sub-Saharan African region should be accompanied by strict adherence to protocols and guidelines meant to contain the spread of coronavirus.

"Just as countries are opening businesses safely, we can reopen schools," said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — West African leaders escalated pressure on Mali’s ruling junta late Thursday, calling on them to allow President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s return to power as the mutinous soldiers who overthrew him insisted his midnight resignation had been his own decision.

The junta behind Tuesday’s military takeover said the 75-year-old Keita was only being held at army barracks for his own protection, and denied he had been ousted in the first place.

PRETORIA, August 20. /TASS/: Mali’s military leaders who seized power have called on citizens to stop "the acts of vandalism" in the country and asked state officials to return to work, Nigerian newspaper Vanguard reported on Thursday.

"We are inviting all staff of state agencies to come to work and start working," a representative of the self-proclaimed National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) Col. Ismael Wague told the national television.