Morocco, Nigeria vow to strengthen partnership

RABAT, March 1 (NNN-Xinhua) — Moroccan King Mohammed VI and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to strengthen partnership, the Moroccan official MAP news agency reported. The pledge was made during a telephone conversation between the two leaders following Buhari’s re-election as Nigeria’s president. “The conversation was an opportunity to recall…

Senegal election: President Macky Sall wins second term

DAKAR, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Senegal’s President Macky Sall has won a second seven-year term following Sunday’s election.He took 58% of the vote in the poll in which he faced four challengers, but was accused of preventing some of his main rivals from running.Two well-known opposition figures were barred from…

Sudan: Embattled Pres Bashir steps aside as head of ruling party

KHARTOUM, March 1 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Friday delegated his powers and authority as head of the ruling National Congress Party to its deputy’s head, Ahmed Mohamed Haroun, until the party’s next general conference, the party said in a statement. Haroun, who is wanted by the International…

Somalia: Huge explosions rock capital Mogadishu, deaths reported

There was an estimated duration of an hour between the first and second blasts MOGADISHU, March 1 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Deadly bomb blasts in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Thursday evening, claimed the lives of over a dozen persons, according to local media reports.The first attack was executed on the Maka…

Ghana VP Bawumia returns home with funding for Tamale Airport, Bekwai Hospital & Kumasi Market expansion

ACCRA, March 1 (NNN-GNA) — Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has returned home after his United Kingdom trip where it emerged Ghana has secured funds from the UK government to execute the Tamale Airport expansion project, complete the Bekwai Hospital as well as initiate phase three of the Kumasi Central…

South Africa: Zinc mine to change the face of the Northern Cape – Pres Ramaphosa

NORTHERN CAPE (South Africa), March 1 (NNN-SANEWS) — Pres Cyril Ramaphosa is confident that Vedanta Resources Limited’s investment at its Gamsberg zinc mine is a step in the right direction towards changing the fortunes of the Northern Cape. Speaking at the opening of the mine, located near Aggeneys in the Northern Cape,…

US vows Philippines aid against ‘armed attack’ in China-claimed sea

MANILA, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday vowed to defend the Philippines against “armed attack” in the disputed South China Sea in Washington’s starkest warning yet against Chinese claims to most of the strategic waterway. Speaking in Manila after meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo…

Mexican lawmakers approve bill to set up National Guard

MEXICO CITY, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Mexican lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill to set up a 50,000-strong National Guard force to combat the country’s drug cartels. The move, proposed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, hasled to criticism that it will further militarize Mexico’s fight against armedgangs. The bill was…

Independence vote for Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville to be delayed

PORT MORESBY, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A referendum that could lead to statehood for the troubled south Pacific Island of Bougainville will bedelayed until the end of the year, top officials meeting in Port Moresby said. Amid a row over funding, the vote — which could split the island fromPapua…

Sudan jails eight over banned protests

KHARTOUM, March 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Eight anti-government protesters were sentenced to jail in Sudan late Thursday, state media reported, the first such punishments handed down by emergency courts introduced by President Omar al-Bashir to contain rallies demanding an end to his iron-fisted rule. The eight were among hundreds who had…