Africa (except North Africa)

NAIROBI, Jul 25 (NNN-KBC) – Kenyan police said, they have heightened security ahead of the general elections slated for Aug 9.

Hilary Mutyambai, inspector-general of Police, told journalists in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, that, a total of 150,000 officers drawn from partner securities agencies, will be deployed during the elections, to ensure a safe environment for all to cast their votes.

“Formed police units have also been deployed across the country, to offer tactical support to general duty officers before, during and after the general elections,” Mutyambai said.

NAIROBI, July 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 30 passengers were killed and several others injured on Sunday evening when their bus fell off a bridge and plunged into a river along the highway in Tharaka Nithi, Kenya, local police said.

The bus, traveling from Meru town to the coastal city of Mombasa, plunged into the Nithi River about 40 meters below along the Meru-Nairobi highway at around 6:40 p.m. (1540 GMT), Eastern Regional Police Commander Rono Bunei said on Monday.

DAR ES SALAAM, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and her Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday officially opened the 42.4-km Arusha bypass, said a statement issued by the East African Community (EAC), a regional intergovernmental organization.

LAGOS, July 23 (Reuters) - The European Union is seeking additional gas supplies from Nigeria as the bloc prepares for potential Russian supply cuts, Matthew Baldwin, deputy director general of the European Commission's energy department, said on Saturday.

Baldwin was speaking in Nigeria where he held meetings with officials from Africa's largest oil producer this week.

He was told that Nigeria was improving security in the Niger Delta and planned to re-open the Trans Niger pipeline after August, which would yield more gas exports to Europe.

July 22 (Reuters) - Mali's army said it repelled a "terrorist attack" on Friday against its main base outside the capital Bamako, which was carried out with car bombs.

"The provisional death toll is two assailants neutralised," it said in a tweet. "The situation is under control and clearing operations are under way to flush out the authors and their accomplices."

HARARE, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Thursday his government's target to achieve a 12 billion U.S. dollars mining industry by 2023 is achievable given the growing momentum in the industry.

He said it was encouraging that last year, and despite the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mining sector's performance amounted to 5.2 billion U.S. dollars from 2.9 billion dollars in 2017.

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — As the World Health Organization announces the next step in its rollout of the world’s first authorized malaria vaccine in three African countries, concerns about its value have come from an unlikely source: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, arguably the vaccine’s biggest backer.

WHO endorsed the vaccine last fall as a “ historic ” breakthrough in the fight against malaria, but the Gates Foundation told The Associated Press this week it will no longer financially support the shot.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The toxic chemical methanol has been identified as a possible cause of the deaths of 21 teenagers at a bar in the South African city of East London last month.

Methanol was found in all of their bodies and investigations are continuing to determine whether the levels of the toxic chemical were enough to have killed them.

PRETORIA, July 18. /TASS/: The Central African Republic will introduce its own cryptocurrency named Sango coin starting July 21, the South African radio station SABC reported Monday citing the republic’s financial authorities.

"The Sango coin will be available starting July 21. The minimal amount to purchase the Sango coin is $500, which will be received in the form of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum," according to a statement made by the Central African Republic’s Sango innovative digital project.

LUSAKA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The 4th African Union (AU) mid-year coordinating meeting concluded Sunday in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, with a call for members to accelerate the integration process and promote value addition to raw materials through increased industrialization.

Macky Sall, the AU chairperson, told reporters during a press briefing that the leaders agreed to actualize the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to promote trade and enhance integration.