Africa (except North Africa)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister has gone to the battlefront, his government announced Wednesday, after the leader said martyrdom might be necessary in the yearlong war with rival fighters approaching the capital.

State media showed no images of Abiy Ahmed, a 45-year-old former soldier, and his spokeswoman Billene Seyoum dismissed a request for details on his location as “incredible.” He arrived at the front Tuesday, according to a government spokesman.

JUBA, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan and the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday they have stepped up Ebola virus disease (EVD) preparedness and response readiness in the high-risk counties of Morobo and Yei River, Central Equatoria state.

Fabian Ndenzako, WHO Representative for South Sudan said the UN agency has started developing a response plan and mobilizing resources to ensure that required preparedness and readiness priority activities are implemented.

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa have called for increased cooperation to bring peace to conflict-ridden regions in Africa, at the start of the Kenyan leader’s two-day state visit to South Africa.

Meeting in Pretoria Tuesday, the two leaders discussed the “grave situation in Ethiopia” and agreed that there is an urgent need for all parties to commit to an immediate, indefinite and negotiated cease-fire, Ramaphosa said.

They also condemned recent bomb attacks in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister says he will lead his country’s army “from the battlefront” beginning Tuesday, a dramatic new step in a devastating yearlong war.

“This is a time when leading a country with martyrdom is needed,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a statement posted on social media Monday night. With rival Tigray forces moving closer to the capital of Addis Ababa, his government declared a state of emergency earlier this month.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Militiamen killed at least 12 people in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo during a raid on a camp for displaced people, a military spokesperson said on Monday, and some civil society groups said the death toll was much higher.

Fighters from the CODECO militia raided the village of Drodro in Ituri province, killing six children, four men and two women as they fled the army response, Jules Ngongo, a spokesperson for Ituri's military government, told Reuters.

KAMPALA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Deadly twin bomb blasts in Uganda's capital Kampala earlier this week have drawn worldwide condemnation, with different capitals pledging to stand with Uganda in the fight against the resurgence of terror attacks that have regional connotations.

Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an affiliate of the Islamic State in central Africa, claimed the suicide attacks that left seven people dead, including three suicide bombers, and 37 other people injured. Similar attacks were carried out in central Uganda last month, although they were of a lesser magnitude.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday warned a shadowy Russian company with connections to the Kremlin not to interfere in efforts aimed at restoring democracy in the West African nation of Mali.

As he wrapped up a weeklong, three-nation tour of Africa that was dominated by crises across the continent, Blinken said it would be “unfortunate” if the Wagner Group became active in Mali, where there are internationally backed plans to have a democratically elected government in place by April.

KAMPALA, Nov 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Security forces in Uganda have shot dead a Muslim cleric accused of working with an armed group linked to suicide bombings in the capital Kampala.

Officials said Sheikh Muhammad Abas Kirevu had recruited for cells run by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – rebels who have pledged allegiance to the Daesh group.

He was killed just outside Kampala.

At least four people were killed by attackers on motorbikes who blew themselves up in the city on Tuesday.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a weeklong, three-nation tour of Africa that the Biden administration hopes will highlight its assistance on fighting the coronavirus pandemic and climate change.

On a trip overshadowed by crises elsewhere on the continent, Blinken was in Senegal on Saturday promoting American-built infrastructure projects, sustainable development, women’s empowerment and other human rights initiatives to bolster faltering democracies across Africa.

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 19 (Reuters) - The suspects in the murder case of a white farmer in South Africa that last year triggered riots and stoked weeks of racial tensions were acquitted on Friday, local media reported.

The killing of Brendin Horner, whose body was found tied to a pole at his farm in Free State province, led to riots in October last year. These were followed by a stand-off between white protesters and Black counter-protesters from the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Senekal, a central South African town near where the murder took place.