Africa (except North Africa)

LUANDA, Aug 22 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel valued as fruitful the talks held with his Angolan counterpart, João Lourenço, in which he confirmed the feeling of friendship and mutual trust that distinguish bilateral ties.

The president ratified the willingness of both parties to continue expanding and consolidating these relations in areas of mutual interest, as well as reaffirmed the priority that the Caribbean nation gives to its ties with this country.

MOGADISHU, Aug 22 (NNN-DAILYNEWS) — Somalia has announced a ban on social media platforms Tiktok and Telegram and the online betting platform 1XBet.

The government says these platforms are being used by “terrorists and groups responsible for spreading immorality… to spread graphic clips, photos and mislead society”.

It comes as Somalia announces an ambitious target to crush the al-Shabaab militant group, which still controls large swathes of the country, within the next five months.

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Leaders of the BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - converged on Johannesburg on Tuesday for a summit where they will weigh expanding the bloc as some members push to forge it into a counterweight to the West.

Heightened global tensions provoked by the Ukraine war and a growing rivalry between China and the United States have added urgency to a drive to strengthen the bloc, which has at times suffered from internal divisions and a lack of coherent vision.

CAPE TOWN, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- At 6:30 a.m. every morning in De Aar, a small town more than 750 km northeast of Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa, Deswin Basson would stand at the door of his house in the cold wind, waiting for his colleagues to pick him up and drive him to work at a substation more than 20 km away.

Although getting up so early is not always fun, the 27-year-old local is full of enthusiasm every day. Deswin works at the substation of Longyuan South Africa Renewables (Pty) Ltd.'s (Longyuan SA) De Aar Wind Power Project.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Russia and China will look to gain more political and economic ground in the developing world at a summit in South Africa this week, when an expected joint dose of anti-West grumbling from them may take on a sharper edge with a formal move to bring Saudi Arabia closer.

HARARE, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- BRICS has become attractive to developing nations and is fostering development based on fairness and transparency in global trade practices, a senior Zimbabwean official told Xinhua in a recent interview.

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Mutinous soldiers in Niger are under pressure from regional sanctions as they refuse to reinstate the country’s president whom they toppled nearly a month ago while being fearful of attacks from France, an official said.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity after Saturday’s meeting between Niger’s new military regime and a delegation from the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS.

ACCRA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - West Africa's main regional bloc on Friday said it had agreed an undisclosed "D-Day" for a possible military intervention to restore democracy in Niger if diplomatic efforts fail, stressing that it would not hold endless dialogue with the defiant junta.

The comments came at the end of a two-day meeting of West African army chiefs in Ghana's capital Accra, where they have been hashing out the logistics and strategy for a possible use of force in Niger. ECOWAS has said such action would be a last resort.

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — If mutinous soldiers who ousted Niger’s president succeed, it will threaten democracy and security across the region and the continent, a high-ranking member of President Mohamed Bazoum’s political party warned in an interview with The Associated Press.

Boubacar Sabo said Bazoum had been “kidnapped” by members of the presidential guard who overthrew him on July 26 and have since kept him under house arrest.

LAGOS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 36 soldiers were killed on Monday in an ambush by terrorists and a military helicopter crash in Nigeria's central Niger state, the military said Thursday.

Edward Buba, a military spokesperson, told reporters at a press briefing in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, the troops were ambushed by terrorists of an unidentified group on Monday near the town of Zungeru of Niger state, and some soldiers were killed during the fire exchange.