Africa (except North Africa)

BENI, Democratic Republic of Congo, March 15 (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants have killed more than 60 people over five days of attacks on villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local residents said on Tuesday.

The assailants, believed to be rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), have targeted at least five villages, and the offensive was still ongoing, the residents told Reuters.

ACCRA, March 14 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed and five others injured in a highway accident in Ghana, police said Monday.

Foster Asante, the Nkawkaw District Police Commander, told the media that the accident occurred on Sunday when a sprinter bus performed a wrongful overtaking near a community along the Accra-Kumasi highway.

"The sprinter bus crashed into a stationary truck and the five persons died instantly," the police commander said.

According to him, five others who were injured were receiving treatment at two hospitals nearby.

CAPE TOWN, March 12 (Reuters) - South Africa has suspended the air operator certificate for Comair as a precautionary measure for 24 hours, effectively grounding its fleet and affecting passengers using low-cost airline Kulula as well as British Airways flights, the transport ministry said on Saturday.

Comair has since 1996 serviced local and regional routes from South Africa under the British Airways livery as part of a license agreement.

WINDHOEK, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Namibian President Hage Geingob on Saturday sent condolences to the government and people of Zambia after the passing of their former leader Rupiah Banda.

Banda passed away at his home on Friday at the age of 85 after a short battle with colon cancer.

DAKAR, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Senegalese President and current Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Macky Sall on Wednesday held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on securing a "lasting ceasefire" in Ukraine.

Sall later said in a tweet that as president of the AU, he is delighted about his talk with Putin "to press for a lasting ceasefire."

He also welcomed the "listening" and "willingness" of his Russian counterpart "to maintain dialogue for a negotiated solution to the conflict."

MOGADISHU, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Somali government said Wednesday it will sustain a reform program that it has initiated in various sectors following the conclusion of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to the country.

"It is clear that real progress is being made in the reform program and we remain committed," Somali Finance Minister Abdirahman Beileh said in a brief statement, welcoming the outcome of the IMF mission's second and third reviews of the extended credit facility to Somalia.

WINDHOEK, March 7 (NNN-Xinhua) — Namibia has exported 22 of the 37 auctioned elephants to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), sold as part of conservation efforts amid an increase in population and rising cases of human-wildlife conflict involving elephants in the southern African nation.

NAIROBI, March 8 (NNN-KBC) — Kenya and Moderna have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the first mRNA manufacturing facility in Africa.

Moderna is building this state-of-the-art mRNA facility in Africa with the goal of producing up to 500 million doses of vaccines each year.

The Company anticipates investing up to $500 million in this new facility which will focus on drug substance manufacturing on the continent of Africa for Africa, and could also be expanded to include fill/finish and packaging capabilities at the site.

LUSAKA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Zambia is targeting to put about 5,061,280 of its vulnerable population this year on a welfare program, a government official said on Friday.

Brenda Tambatamba, the Minister of Community Development and Social Services, said the government plans to scale the Social Cash Program this year by increasing the number of households from 973,323 last year to 1,027,000 this year, translating into 5,061,280 individuals in all the country's 116 districts.

NAIROBI, March 4 (NNN-KBC) –Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced the creation of a peace and environment award dubbed “Amani and Mazingira Global Award” as part of the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The President said the bi-annual award, which will be sponsored by the Government and the people of Kenya, will be given to persons or institutions that champion environmental sustainability and peace.