Africa (except North Africa)

GENEVA, Aug 24 (NNN-Xinhua) — The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the Ebola virus death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has risen to 1,965 and the outbreak continues at a “substantial but stable transmission intensity” for the past 10 weeks.

Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, Dr. Mike Ryan, said at a UN briefing here that since mid-June, some 80 new confirmed cases a week have been observed.

ACCRA, Aug 22 (NNN-GNA) — Ghana is set to make giant strides in agricultural production following enhanced partnership between Mexico and government, a deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture has revealed.

Speaking after a closed-door meeting with the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Mexico and a delegation from the embassy, Kennedy Osei-Nyarko noted that government is working hand in hand with their counterparts in Mexico to improve the yields of some crops in the country such as corn and to increase the nutritional levels.

NAIROBI, Aug 21 (NNN-KBC) — Kenya’s maiden crude oil will hit the international market next week destined for China.

The crude oil will be shipped by Chinese state owned firm ChemChina which won the tender to buy the maiden Kenyan oil early this month.

Petroleum Principal Secretary Andrew Kamau has said the sale gives momentum to the nascent oil exploration industry in Kenya.

Kamau further says the construction of 810 kilometers pipeline between Lokichar and Lamu is expected to commence next year and take three years to complete.

DAR ES SALAAM, Aug 18 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — 16 southern African countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have agreed to adopt Kiswahili as a formal language in the region.

HARARE, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Shops, banks and retail outlets in Zimbabwe's capital Harare were closed on Friday after the High Court banned a planned demonstration by the opposition MDC Alliance.

By 12 noon local time, all the shops in the central business (CBD) district including banks and major retail outlets had closed.

At mid-morning, a handful of opposition supporters tried to defy the ban and march through the streets of Harare but police moved in and fired tear gas to disperse the protesters.

JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Envoys from Cuba, Iran, Palestine, and Venezuela on Tuesday slammed the United States for its "bullying, intimidation, economic blockade and sanctions," which they said hurt international trade and undermine world peace.

They made the condemnation at an international solidarity symposium in Johannesburg.

Cuban ambassador to South Africa Rodolfo Benitez Verson said countries facing U.S. economic sanctions should unite, noting that his country has made progress despite the U.S. blockade.

HARARE, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday urged Zimbabweans to shun violence and corruption and focus their efforts in rebuilding the economy.

The president made the remarks in his address to the nation at the National Heroes Acre to mark this year's 39th Heroes Day, held every year to remember fallen and living gallant sons and daughters of the country who fought to bring Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980.

NAIROBI, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Many scholars and business leaders consider the U.S. flip-flopping on its trade policy towards China an act of bullying after Washington decided to impose an additional 10 percent tariffs on 300 billion U.S. dollars worth of Chinese imports, contradicting the consensus reached by the two heads of state in Osaka.

Eric Mangunyi, a researcher at the Walter Sisulu University in South Africa, said it is obvious that the United States is trying to press China to make significant concessions on trade talks while refusing to budge itself.

10 August 2019; AFP: At least 60 people perished in Tanzania on Saturday when a fuel tanker overturned and then exploded as crowds of people rushed to syphon off leaking fuel.

The deadly blast, which took place near the town of Morogoro, west of the economic capital Dar es Salaam, is the latest in a series of similar disasters in Africa.

07 August 2019; AFP: Mozambique's government and the ex-rebel group Renamo completed a long-awaited peace pact on Tuesday, inking a final deal aimed at ending years of conflict.

President Filipe Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade embraced after signing the landmark agreement at a ceremony in Maputo's Peace Square witnessed by former presidents and regional and continental leaders.