Africa (except North Africa)

MOGADISHU, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it has reached a staff-level agreement with Somalia on the fifth review under the extended credit facility (ECF) arrangement.

The IMF said in a statement released Monday that the agreement will allow the lender to release some funds to Somalia once approved by the IMF board.

IMF mission chief Laura Jaramillo said despite significant challenges, including from the continued severe food crisis, Somalia has maintained strong reform momentum and program performance has been satisfactory.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan police said Tuesday that one person died, 31 officers were injured and more than 200 protesters were arrested in anti-government protests led by opposition leader Raila Odinga the previous day.

Odinga announced that the protests will be held twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays — starting next week.

JOHANNESBURG, March 19 (Reuters) - South Africa is aware of its legal obligation, a spokesperson for President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday, referring to a proposed visit by Vladimir Putin after an international court issued an arrest warrant against the Russian leader.

Russian President Putin was expected to visit South Africa in August to attend a BRICS summit.

"We are, as the government, cognisant of our legal obligation. However, between now and the summit we will remain engaged with various relevant stakeholders," spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said.

18 Mar 2023; AA: The death toll from Cyclone Freddy in southern Africa has exceeded 500, authorities said.

In Malawi alone, 438 have been confirmed dead with at least 282 more missing and 918 injured.

"About 345,183 have been people displaced are now in over 500 camps," Charles Kalemba, a commissioner at the Department of Disaster Management Affairs, told Anadolu.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Senegal’s capital Tuesday in a peaceful show of support for the country’s opposition leader who’s facing trial later this week.

It was the first of several days of scheduled demonstrations backing Ousmane Sonko. The 46-year-old politician will go to court Thursday, after being charged in a civil lawsuit against him by Senegal’s tourism minister for alleged defamation and public insults.

ANTANANARIVO, March 12 (Xinhua) -- At least 22 people have been killed after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Madagascar in Southern Africa, Madagascar's port authority said on Sunday evening.

The boat carrying a total of 47 people capsized on Saturday due to an accident in the seas off the coast of Madagascar, the Maritime and River Port Agency said in a statement.

Twenty-three of them on board were saved, and operations to rescue the missing were still ongoing, the authorities said.

YAOUNDE, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Voting for Senate elections is underway in Cameroon, officials said Sunday.

The voting, which began on Sunday morning in 198 polling stations in ten regions of the country, will continue until 6:00 p.m. local time.

"The atmosphere is calm and everything is moving on smoothly," Gabriel Bihina Effila, a municipal councilor who voted in the capital, Yaounde, told Xinhua.

JOHANNESBURG, March 12 (Reuters) - Cyclone Freddy battered central Mozambique on Sunday after making landfall for a second time in a month, breaking records for the duration and strength of tropical storms in the southern hemisphere.

Communications and electricity supply in the storm area have been cut so the extent of the damage and number of casualties were not clear.

LUSAKA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The 23rd Chinese medical team in Zambia on Tuesday donated medical equipment and other supplies to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), the biggest public hospital in the country, to help improve healthcare delivery.

Charles Mutemba, senior medical superintendent at the UTH, expressed his gratitude to the medical team not only for the donation but also for the training of local medical personnel, who are now able to conduct brain surgery.

8 Mar 2023; MEMO: South Africa's parliament voted yesterday to downgrade the country's embassy in Israel due to the ongoing Israeli occupation and abuses of international human rights law in occupied Palestine.