Africa (except North Africa)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Anxious residents of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius stuffed fabric sacks with sugar cane leaves Saturday to create makeshift oil spill barriers as tons of fuel leaking from a grounded ship put endangered wildlife in further peril.

The government has declared an environmental emergency and France said it was sending help from its nearby Reunion island. Satellite images showed a dark slick spreading in the turquoise waters near wetlands that the government called “very sensitive.”

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A huge blast rocked a military base in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu near a stadium on Saturday, killing at least eight people and injuring 14, emergency workers said, and the militant group al Shabaab claimed responsiblity.

Soldiers opened fire after the explosion which sent clouds of smoke into the sky, said Halima Abdisalan, a mother of three who lives near the area.

“We ran indoors in fear,” she told Reuters. “Soon I could see a military pickup speeding and carrying many soldiers covered with blood. I do not know if they were all dead or injured.”

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius declared a “state of environmental emergency” late Friday after a Japanese-owned ship that ran aground offshore days ago began spilling tons of fuel.

Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced the development as satellite images showed a dark slick spreading in the turquoise waters near environmental areas that the government called “very sensitive.”

Mauritius has said the ship was carrying nearly 4,000 tons of fuel and cracks have appeared in its hull.

MAPUTO, Aug 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US has warned that Islamist militants are getting more aggressive in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado with support from the Daesh group.

The militants, known locally as al-Shabab – although it has no known links to the Somali jihadi group of the same name, have been attacking remote villages across the province over the past two years.

Head of US special operations in Africa, Maj-Gen Dagvin Anderson, told journalists that the group is receiving external support that is making it more dangerous.

HARARE, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Tuesday appointed Vice President (VP) Constantino Chiwenga as new Minister of Health and Child Care.

Chiwenga takes over former minister Obadiah Moyo whom was fired by Mnangagwa last month over corruption allegations.

This means Chiwenga will double as VP and health minister.

Misheck Sibanda, the chief secretary to the president and cabinet, confirmed the appointment of Chiwenga in a statement.

Sibanda said Chiwenga's appointment was with immediate effect.

ABIDJAN, Aug 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The party of Ivory Coast’s former president Laurent Gbagbo named his one-time prime minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan as its candidate for the October presidential vote, ending speculation Gbagbo might return from abroad to stand.

The election is seen as the biggest test yet of the tenuous stability achieved since a civil war in 2010-11 in which around 3,000 people were killed, sparked by Gbagbo’s refusal to step down from office after a disputed election.

YAOUNDE, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- A Cameroonian military plane crashed in a bush during landing at Maroua Airport in the country's Far North region on Sunday, but there were no fatalities, local authorities said.

The plane sped off the runway following landing and crashed in the bush, authorities said.

Several people, including civilians and soldiers, were injured and were immediately rushed to the hospital to receive medical attention.

DOUALA (Reuters) - Suspected militants from Islamist group Boko Haram killed 15 people and wounded six others in a grenade attack on a camp for displaced people in northern Cameroon on Sunday, a security source and a local official told Reuters.

In the early hours, assailants threw a grenade into a group of sleeping people inside the camp in the village of Nguetchewe, said district mayor, Medjeweh Boukar. The camp is home to around 800 people, he said.

The village is located in the Mozogo district, close to the Nigerian border in the Far North region.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa on Saturday surpassed 500,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, representing more than 50% of all reported coronavirus infections in Africa’s 54 countries.

Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize announced 10,107 new cases Saturday night, bringing the country’s cumulative total to 503,290, including 8,153 deaths.

LAGOS, July 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Gunmen killed 14 villagers in central Nigeria’s Kogi state on Wednesday, police said, blaming the attack on communal violence.

The night-time attack on Agbudu village in Koton-Karfe area also left six people seriously injured, said state police commissioner Ede Ayuba in a statement.

“I was there and I was part of those who picked up some of the dead bodies we are talking about,” he said.

He said 13 of the dead were members of the same family.