Tanzania’s Zanzibar begins to register traditional healers

ZANZIBAR CITY (Tanzania), Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Zanzibar’s traditional healers with their toolkits of herbs, holy scriptures and massages are being registered by authorities keen to regulate the practitioners who treat everything from depression to hernias.  About 340 healers have been registered since Zanzibar, a region of the east African…

Tunisian establishment stunned as outsiders claim election win

Saied, right, was on 18.9 percent, ahead of imprisoned media magnate Nabil Karoui, who was on 15.5 percent TUNIS, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Law professor and political outsider Kais Saied is leading Tunisia‘s presidential polls with two-thirds of the votes counted, the electoral commission said, after the country’s second free vote for head…

Congo police detain former health minister in Ebola probe

KINSHASA, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A former Congolese health minister was taken into custody on Saturday over alleged mismanagement of funds for the country’s response to the Ebola epidemic, police said. Oly Ilunga oversaw Democratic Republic of Congo’s handling of the outbreak, the second deadliest in history, for nearly a…

Libya: Two commanders allied to east-based Haftar killed in strike near Tripoli

TRIPOLI, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two commanders of the eastern Libyan forces trying to take the capital Tripoli from the internationally-recognised government were killed in a drone strike, officials said. The strike is a blow to Khalifa Haftar’s eastern-based Libya National Army (LNA), which in April launched a campaign to…

West African leaders pledge $1 billion to fight jihadists

OUAGADOUGOU, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — West African leaders announced a billion-dollar plan to fight the rising problem of jihadist violence in the region, at a summit in Burkina Faso. The plan, to be funded from 2020 to 2024, was announced at end of the Economic Community Summit of West African…

Ocean Viking: Rescued migrants disembark in Italy

The Ocean Viking LAMPEDUSA (Italy), Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Eighty-two migrants have disembarked on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa after six days at sea. Italy says it is allowing the ship, the Ocean Viking, to offload the migrants as most of those on board will be relocated to other…

Dozens feared dead in DR Congo boat accident

KINSHASA, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 36 people are missing after a boat capsized in the Congo River on the outskirts of Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), police said. The vessel carrying passengers and cargo had departed from Mai-Ndombe province in Congo’s northwest and was bound for Kinshasa…

Zimbabwe: Doctors protest at ‘abduction’ of union leader

The march was the second consecutive day of protest action organised by the doctors HARARE, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Hundreds of doctors have marched through the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, to condemn the alleged abduction of their union leader. Peter Magombeyi had organised a series of strikes over poor pay and working conditions…

Spanish national basketball team returns triumphant from FIBA World Cup

Spain’s national basketball team’s Rudy Fernandez holds up the trophy during a celebration in Madrid MADRID, Sept 17 (NNN-XINHUA) —The Spanish National Basketball team celebrated their World Championship win on Sunday in China with hundreds of thousands of fans in the center of Madrid on Monday night. Spain’s second World Championship after the 2006…

Update: US singles out Iran, readies response to Saudi oil attacks

WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States readied its response to the “unprecedented” attack on Saudi oil facilities as President Donald Trump said Iran was likely to blame, fanning new fears of conflict in the Gulf region. Trump said he was ready to help key ally Saudi Arabia after…