Colombia maintains support for Venezuelan military deserters

BOGOTA, March 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Colombia will continue to providesupport to nearly 1,000 deserters from the Venezuelan military in itsterritory, the foreign ministry said — after several reported theywere about to be evicted. The support — food and shelter — will remain in place until theidentification of “measures allowing for…

DR Congo train derailment kills 24

KINSHASA, March 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – At least 24 people were killed and 31 injured Sunday when a freight train carrying stowaways derailed in theDemocratic Republic of Congo, police and medical services said. The accident occurred in Kasai province, in the centre-west of the centralAfrican country. “We have retrieved 24 bodies,…

More than 120 dead after cyclone hits Mozambique, Zimbabwe

BEIRA (Mozambique), March 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – More than 120 people have died and many more are missing in Mozambique and neighbouring Zimbabwe after tropical cyclone Idai barrelled across the southern Africannations with flash floods and ferocious winds. Authorities in Mozambique said the toll there had risen to 62 in the…

Vatican: Pope Francis reactivates plans for South Sudan trip

VATICAN, March 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Pope Francis has asked aides to resume plans for a visit to South Sudan, a trip that had to be scrapped in 2017 because of the civil war in the world’s youngest country. During a meeting with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on Saturday, Francis…

Fire kills at least 8, destroys homes in northeast Nigeria camp for IDPs

ABUJA, March 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A fire killed at least eight people and left 15,000 others without shelter after raging through a northeast Nigerian camp for people displaced by a war against Boko Haram insurgents, aid group Norwegian Refugee Council said.Northeast Nigeria is ground zero for one of the world’s…

Ghana gets 40m Euro facility from EU to promote job creation – Information Minister

ACCRA, March 18 (NNN-GNA) — Ghana has signed a 40 million euro facility grant with the European Union aimed at promoting investments and job creation. This was announced by Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah at a press briefing on Sunday. This financing agreement is the last programme to be signed…

Sudan secures $300M loans from regional funds to address currency crisis

KHARTOUM, March 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Sudan says it has signed agreements for $300 million in loans from a regional monetary fund to help address a foreign currency crisis that has fueled months of anti-government protests. The state-run SUNA news service reported that the Finance Ministry secured a $230 million loan…

Gunmen attack Mali army base, kill at least 16 soldiers

BAMAKO, March 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Gunmen attacked and briefly seized a Malian army base on Saturday’s night, killing at least 16 soldiers and destroying five vehicles in central Mali’s Mopti region, the mayor in the area where the attack happened said on Sunday. The base is in the village of…

Guinea Bissau ruling party wins legislative polls but without absolute majority

BISSAU, March 18 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — The ruling party in Guinea Bissau has won Sunday’s legislative elections, but without an absolute majority. This means, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, will be unable to form a government without a deal. According to provisional results from the…

Ethiopian Airlines: ‘Clear similarities’ with Indonesia crash

 ADDIS ABABA, March 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Flight data from the Ethiopian Airlines disaster a week ago suggest “clear similarities” with a crash off Indonesia last October, Ethiopia’s transport minister said. Both planes were Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. Last Sunday the Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed after take-off from Addis Ababa, killing all…