Military-ruled Mali delays February polls for ‘technical reasons’

Col Abdoulaye Maiga said a new election date would be announced later BAMAKO, Sept 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The military junta in Mali has said it will postpone the presidential election that had been scheduled for February 2024.A government spokesman, Col Abdoulaye Maiga, said a new date would be announced and…

Eight electrocuted after heavy rains in South Africa

Eight people have been electrocuted CAPE TOWN, Sept 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Eight people have been electrocuted after gale force winds and heavy rainfall lashed South Africa’s Western Cape province. The deaths include four boys said to have been electrocuted in a pool of water, local news network ENCA says.Hundreds of…

Pro-junta protesters in Burkina Faso hold big night rally amid coup rumours

OUAGADOUGOU, Sept 27 (NNN-GNA) — Hundreds of people poured into the streets of the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou on Tuesday evening, with reports stating that they were engaged in a pro-junta march.The march comes in the wake of rumours that the Colonel Ibrahim Traore-led junta was facing an internal coup.Even though…

Tanzania culls five million invasive quelea birds

The birds invaded rice farms in neighbouring Kenya early this year DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than five million invasive quelea birds have been killed in a mass cull in Tanzania, the authorities have said in comments reported in the local media.The birds had invaded more than…

Over 50 avian influenza cases confirmed in South Africa

PRETORIA, Sept 27 (NNN-SANEWS) — South Africa is dealing with a number of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 and H7 outbreaks, with more than 50 cases confirmed in various parts of the country, according to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD). The department has urged…

Updates: Fuel depot blast kills 20, injures hundreds in Nagorno-Karabakh

YEREVAN, Sept 26 (NNN-XINHUA) — At least 20 people died and 290 were wounded in Monday’s fuel depot explosion in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Seven victims died in hospital, and unidentified bodies of another 13 people were taken to the coroner’s office, Armenia’s state-run news agency Armenpress reported on Tuesday, citing…

Developed economies must do more to tackle climate change: South Africa’s Pres Ramaphosa

PRETORIA, Sept 26 (NNN-SANEWS) — President Cyril Ramaphosa has re-emphasised the call for developed economy countries to fulfil their pledge to assist developing nations in their transition to low carbon economies. “While the nations of the world agreed in Paris in 2015 on urgent actions to limit global temperature rises…

Two planes collide in Mexico, 5 dead including one child

LA GALANCITA (Durango, Mexico), Sept 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Five people, including one child, were killed when two private planes crashed Monday morning in the Mexican northern state of Durango, state authorities said. The crash occurred on a small dirt airstrip in the town of La Galancita, in western Durango. Two…

Ecuador back to online schooling due to extreme violence

QUITO, Sept 26 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) –A practice that expanded worldwide during the Covid-19 lockdowns to avoid physical proximity, online schooling returns to Ecuador in a move to minimize the dangers of living in the crime-ridden coastal province of Guayas, particularly its capital, Guayaquil, where shootings and murders have become commonplace. The…

16 people have been released after a kidnapping at a university in Nigeria

GUSAU (Zamfara, Nigeria), Sept 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Gusau Federal University in Zamfara state, northwestern Nigeria, announced that 16 students and staff had been released after they were kidnapped by gunmen in an attack on the school on Sept 22. In a statement, Gusau Federal University emphasized that the attack had…