Africa (except North Africa)

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Four unidentified bodies have been found in Congo amid the wreckage of a plane that had been carrying staff of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, the government said on Tuesday.

The cargo plane, believed to have been carrying around eight passengers and crew, crashed last Thursday in Democratic Republic of Congo’s central province of Sankuru.

The Antonov An-72 transport aircraft, which was operated by the air force on behalf of the presidency, was flying to the capital Kinshasa in the west of the country when it came down near the town of Kole.

MAIDUGURI (Nigeria), Oct 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of Nigerian hunters, armed with charmed amulets and intimate knowledge of harsh terrain, are preparing an offensive against the Boko Haram extremists who have ravaged the northeast for a decade, calling it “high time” they help soldiers end the deadly insurgency.

Nigeria’s government discouraged a similar offensive five years ago, calling it a suicide mission. This time it has the backing of the governor of Borno state, which has suffered the worst of the Boko Haram attacks.

KINSHASA, Oct 12 (NNN-UNICEF) — UNICEF is vaccinating thousands more children against measles and rushing life-saving medicines to health centers across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as deaths from the world’s largest measles outbreak top 4,000.

Since January, 203,179 cases of measles have been reported in all 26 provinces of the country, and 4,096 have died. Children under the age of five represent 74 per cent of infections and nearly 90 per cent of deaths.

OUAGADOUGOU, Oct 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) – At least 16 people were killed in a mosque attack, by unidentified gunmen Friday, in northern Burkina Faso.

“Unidentified gunmen attacked Salmossi mosque, 20 km from Gorom-Gorom commune (in the Oudalan province, 269 km north-east of the capital Ouagadougou), where about 15 worshippers were killed and five others injured,” a military officer said.

Several local sources confirmed the attack, whereas the authorities still remain silent over the tragedy.

GARISSA, Kenya, Oct 13 (NNN-KBC) – A roadside blast killed at least 10 paramilitary police officers in Garissa, along Kenya-Somalia border, a security official said.

A senior police officer said, the security officers from Harehare General Service Unit (GSU) Camp, lost their lives when their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device (IED), suspected to have been planted by al-Shabab militants.

“The vehicle was extensively damaged,” said the police officer, who did not want to be identified.

ADDIS ABABA/CAIRO, Oct 12 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — While Egypt wants to guarantee a steady supply of water for its 100 millions citizens , Ethiopia is determined to power the homes of the over 100 million citizens.

Sudan completes the triangle of nations that are currently deadlocked over the construction of a dam on the River Nile.

11 October 2019; AFP: South Africa's scandal-plagued former president Jacob Zuma will face a corruption trial, a court ruled Friday, in one of multiple alleged graft cases over his long political career.

The country's High Court unanimously dismissed Zuma's bid for a permanent stay of prosecution over 16 counts of fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to a multi-billion-dollar arms deal dating back to before he took office in 2009.

ABUJA, Oct 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Unknown gunmen are now asking for a ransom after at least nine people were kidnapped in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

They abducted the victims from an area on the outskirts of the city. Reports say the victims include a 12-year-old boy.

Eyewitnesses say the gunmen were dressed in military uniform and turned up in large numbers.

They laid an ambush along a main road and fired shots at moving vehicles, forcing them to stop.

The vehicles’ occupants were then shepherded at gunpoint into the bush.

OUAGADOUGOU, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 30 suspected terrorists were killed on Monday by Burkina Faso's armed forces in Gorgadji locality in the northern Sahelian region of the country, the national television RTB reported Tuesday.

Several soldiers were injured during the fight in the troubled northern region of the terrorist-attack-torn country, according to the RTB.

Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been facing a spate of terrorist attacks, in which more than 500 people were killed and over 280,000 displaced including more than 9,000 pupils.

Blantyre, Oct 7 (AFP) The battle against corruption in the poor southern African state of Malawi has turned a shy, diminutive omsbudswoman, Martha Chizuma, into a popular icon.

The quietly confident former magistrate and registrar of the High Court, appointed public protector in December 2015 when she was only 36, is the youngest person and only the second woman to hold the office.