‘Be patient’ – Ethiopia PM tells tribes looking to break away

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed  ADDIS ABABA, Sept 17 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed asked ethnic groups pushing to form breakaway regions to be patient and join him in building “a great Ethiopia”. Abiy made the plea during a visit to leaders of the Kafficho ethnic group, that…

Spain’s high court rules against extraditing Venezuelan ex-general to US

Former Venezuelan intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal leaving prison in Estremera, Spain MADRID, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Spain’s High Court ruled that the government should refuse a request from the United States to extradite Venezuela’s former military intelligence chief. Former general Hugo Carvajal was arrested on drug trafficking charges by Spanish…

Somaliland: UAE-built military base to be turned into civilian airport

BOSASSO, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Arab Emirates no longer plans to establish a military airport in Somaliland and the facility currently being built will be turned into a civilian airport, the region’s president said. Somaliland said last year that the UAE would train military in the semi-autonomous region,…

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…