Africa (except North Africa)

ABUJA, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday rejected results of the weekend's presidential election being collated by the country's electoral body in Abuja.

In a statement signed by its national chairman, Uche Secondus, the PDP said the results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are disputable.

"All results currently being announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is incorrect, thus unacceptable to our party and people," the statement said.

25 Feb 2019; DW: Senegal's prime minister has claimed that President Macky Sall was re-elected in a first round vote on Sunday, hours after the opposition suggested that no candidate had won an outright majority.

Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, a Sall ally, claimed at midnight that the president had won 13 out of 14 regions with "at least 57 percent" of the vote.

"The results allow us to say that we should congratulate President Macky Sall on his re-election," he said.

25 Feb 2019; DW: Unrest and uncertainty has gripped Nigeria after a second day of vote counting following the presidential election. Human rights groups have reported the deaths of 39 people, while Nigerian police have confirmed some 128 arrests following election-related violence.

Saturday's presidential election was fraught with difficulty, having been delayed a week by the electoral commission at the last minute, citing logistical challenges.

DAKAR, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Ballot-counting started immediately after the voting process of the Senegalese presidential election ended peacefully around 6:00 p.m. Sunday (1800 GMT).

In a polling center in the city of Dakar, an official of the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (ANEC) told Xinhua the center closed at 6:00 p.m. sharp as scheduled. All the eight polling stations in the center started the ballot-counting afterwards.

22 Feb 2019; DW: Botswana's government is considering lifting a ban on big game hunting, saying it might be necessary to prevent conflict with humans.

Botswana is home to about 130,000 elephants — almost a third of Africa's elephant population — but some lawmakers say the number of elephants in the country is higher than that and causes problems for small-scale farmers.

22 Feb 2019; DW: Nigeria's second attempt to elect a new president started Saturday with the polls opening at 8 a.m. local time (0700 UTC). All eyes are on the nearly 120,000 polling stations to see if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has overcome logistical difficulties to deliver the required number of ballot boxes, papers and results sheets — and on time. IT specialists reconfigured some 180,000 machines needed to check biometric identity cards and allow people to vote.

GABORONE, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Kidz Academy International School in Kanye village in Botswana's southern district is making strides in introducing Chinese language in their curriculum.

Eliphas Moyo, a senior teacher at the school, said on Thursday that it is important to connect with China since it has a large population as well as economic influence.

"We therefore decided that the best way to have a connection with such an important country is firstly through language because communication is a crucial aspect in understanding one another," he said.

JUBA, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government on Thursday donated about 9,660 tonnes of rice to South Sudan to assist civilians at risk of starvation in the world's youngest nation, which is in the process of reconstruction after nearly five years of civil strife.

Manasseh Lomole, chairperson of Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, said the first batch of Chinese rice has already arrived in the capital Juba and the remainder will be delivered later.

The food donation will be channelled to returnees, internally displaced people and survivors of floods and drought.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported 537 deaths among the 844 cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since last August, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said OCHA reported Wednesday that the DRC Ministry of Health last week requested 147 million U.S. dollar to cover "all aspects of the (Ebola) response for six months."

MOGADISHU, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Somali Deputy Attorney General was shot dead by two armed men while driving a car in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, officials said late Wednesday.

Hassan Gelle, a police officer told reporters that two armed men with pistols shot Mohamed Mursal, a deputy attorney general in Sigale village in Mogadishu's Hodan district.

"The armed men ordered the deputy attorney general to get off his car and shot him dead, they sped off with the deceased's car, but the police later found it abandoned on the roadside," said Gelle.