United Nations and Ethiopia reach aid pact for war-hit Tigray

Leader of the Enlightened Christian Gathering Church and self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary stand to lose millions of rand of they do not present themselves to the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

Ethiopia predicted swift victory but northern rebels promised them “hell” on Wednesday in a two-week war threatening the vast nation’s unity and further destabilising the Horn of Africa.

Oil companies have asked security services to tighten surveillance as violent anti-police brutality protests and the expected sacking of hundreds of workers worsen desperation in the region, industry sources told Reuters.

Police in Malawi have confirmed that they have arrested leader of Enlightened Christian Gathering church and self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary.

Malawian fugitive, pastor Shepherd Bushiri has handed himself over to law authorities in his country of origin, Malawi.

Ethiopia’s government said on Tuesday its troops had achieved significant victories on the eastern and western fronts of its war against the leaders of Tigray and its army was marching to the region’s capital Mekelle.

Nigeria’s president will do what it takes to prevent a repeat of demonstrations against police brutality last month that led to unrest in which dozens of protesters and police were killed and more than 200 buildings torched, the police minister said.

Botswana's government has withdrawn charges against the woman who was accused of conspiring with South African businesswoman, Bridgette Motsepe to commit terrorism.

A “full-scale humanitarian crisis” is unfolding in Ethiopia, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday, with more than 27 000 now having fled heavy fighting to Sudan.

The committee that awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Tuesday it was deeply concerned about the conflict in Tigray region and called on all parties to end violence.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed warned on Tuesday that a three-day deadline for rebel regional forces to surrender has expired, paving the way for a final push on Mekelle, the capital of the northern region of Tigray. 

The World Health Organization has revealed that 18.3% of COVID-19 deaths in the African region are among people with diabetes, one of the conditions that global studies have found to increase the risk of severe illness and death among patients infected with the virus.

Malawi's Information Minister Gospel Kazako says there seems to be a narrative by the media and certain officials in South Africa which seeks to sow tensions between the two countries.

Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo has gone to Ethiopia, his spokesman said on Monday, as various African and European nations pushed for a mediated solution to a nearly two-week conflict in the Tigray region.

Some African and European nations pressed Ethiopia behind the scenes on Monday to allow mediation of a war in a northern region that has spilled into neighbouring Eritrea and rocked the wider Horn of Africa, diplomats said.

Malawi's government has accused South Africa of detaining its presidential plane for several hours without any reason.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government said on Monday it had captured another town in the northern Tigray region after nearly two weeks of fighting in a conflict already spilling into Eritrea and destabilising the wider Horn of Africa.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has finished treatment for COVID-19 but will undergo follow-up checks, the presidency said on Sunday.

The Prime Minister of Eswatini, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, has contracted the coronavirus. In a statement, Dlamini says he is asymptomatic and feeling well but in isolation.

Gunmen in western Ethiopia killed at least 34 people in an attack on a bus on Saturday night, the national human rights body said on Sunday, as fears grow of a security vacuum in the country amid a military campaign in the north.

The number of people who have fled into Sudan from the conflict in northern Ethiopia has risen to at least 20 000, the UN refugee agency said on Sunday.

Rebellious forces from Ethiopia's Tigray region fired rockets at the airport in Eritrea's capital Asmara on Saturday evening, their leader said on Sunday, confirming earlier reports of a major escalation in a 12-day old conflict in Ethiopia.

The leader of rebellious local forces in Ethiopia's Tigray region told Reuters on Sunday that they are fighting "16 divisions" of the Eritrean army in addition to Ethiopian troops.

Self-proclaimed prophet and leader of the Enlightened Christian Gathering Church, Shepherd Bushiri has made an impassionate plea to his Malawian government to intervene in his case in South Africa.

At least three rockets were  fired at Eritrea's capital from Ethiopia on Saturday night, five regional diplomats said, a major escalation of an 11-dayconflict pitting Ethiopian federal troops against local force sin the northern Tigray region.

Four doctors in Kenya and 17 patients succumbed to COVID-19 on Friday. The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union, KMPDU, says in the East African nation has lost eight doctors since Friday.

State House has brushed aside allegations that Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary, came on the same flight with President Lazarus Chakwera from South Africa on Friday evening.

Two airports in Ethiopia's Amhara state - which neighbours Tigray, where federal troops are fighting local forces - were targeted by rocket fire late on Friday, the government said, as an 11-day conflict widened.

Two airports in Ethiopia's Amhara state near the northern state of Tigray where federal troops are fighting local forces were targeted by rocket fire late on Friday, the government said.

Two explosions went off in two different cities in Ethiopia's Amhara state, which neighbours the northern state of Tigray where federal troops are fighting local leaders.