AFRICA

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | XINHUA |  The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 4,330,666 as of Saturday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU), said the death toll from the pandemic …

Cairo, Egypt |  XINHUA |  Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed on Thursday lauded the cooperation between Egypt and China on combating the COVID-19 pandemic as “fruitful and unprecedented.” “I would like to thank the state of China, its leadership, government and people, for their great solidarity with us in this …

Nairobi, Kenya |  XINHUA |  Kenya and the United States have held virtual talks on signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Betty Maina, Kenya’s cabinet secretary of Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development said in a statement on Thursday. Betty Maina said that she discussed with Katherine Tai, the …

Cairo, Egypt | XINHUA | Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi stressed on Wednesday that “all choices are open” in dealing with the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). “Don’t touch a drop of Egypt’s water,” Sisi said during the inauguration of an integrated complex for secure and smart documents in Cairo. …

Khartoum, Sudan | XINHUA |  Sudan on Tuesday blamed the lack of progress during the new round of talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on “Ethiopian obstinacy.” “A round of talks over the GERD was concluded today (Tuesday) in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa without any progress because …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |  XINHUA |  The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Monday said it needs 49.7 million U.S. dollars to meet the needs of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Ethiopia. A monthly fact sheet published by UNHCR said it needs the funding to meet …

Dar es Salaam | THE INDEPENDENT | President Samia Suluhu Hassan has today announced that Tanzania will come out of isolation and take a new direction in the battle against COVID-19. She also ordered the lifting of a ban on several media houses. “I intend to form a committee of experts, …

  Conservationist body lists them as critically endangered Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Conservationists across Africa have welcomed a recent decision to upgrade the African savanna elephant and forest elephant as “endangered” and “critically endangered” species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is the global authority …

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | THE INDEPENDENT | The heads of the Tanzanian Ports Authority and Communications Regulatory Authority that have been in the headlines for the wrong reasons lately, have been fired by President Samia Suluhu Hassan. President Samia on Sunday fired the director of the Tanzania Ports Authority …

Harare, Zimbabwe | XINHUA |  Zimbabwe’s capital Harare has opened more immunization centers during the Easter weekend in a bid to ramp up vaccinations against the pandemic. Twenty-four centers including hospitals, polyclinics and satellite clinics have been designated as vaccination centers in the city of about 1.5 million people, the …