african countries 24

Sudan’s main opposition coalition and the ruling military council on Saturday signed a final power-sharing agreement, paving the way for a transitional government following the overthrow of long-time leader Omar al-Bashir.

Stability in Sudan, which has been grappling with an economic crisis, is seen as crucial for a volatile region struggling with conflict and insurgencies from the Horn of Africa to Egypt and Libya.

The Transitional Military Council (TMC) has ruled Sudan since April, when the military ousted Bashir following months of protests against his rule during which dozens of demonstrators were killed. Bashir is wanted for war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region by the International Criminal Court and is awaiting trial on corruption charges.

The council and the main opposition alliance, known as the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), have been negotiating the power-sharing deal for months.

One of Sudan’s top generals, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is deputy head of the military council, and FFC representative Ahmad al-Rabie had initialled the agreement on 4 August and were the main signatories on Saturday.

Regional and international dignitaries including Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit were present.

Commerce initially allowed Huawei to purchase some American-made goods in May shortly after blacklisting the company in a move aimed at minimizing disruption for its customers, many of which operate networks in rural America.

An extension will renew an agreement set to lapse on August 19, continuing the Chinese company’s ability to maintain existing telecommunications networks and provide software updates to Huawei handsets.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to discuss Huawei in a call this weekend, one of the sources said.

Huawei did not have an immediate comment. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

When the Commerce Department blocked Huawei from buying U.S. goods earlier this year, it was seen as a major escalation in the trade war between the world’s two top economies.

As an example, the blacklisting order cited a criminal case pending against the company in federal court, over allegations Huawei violated U.S. sanctions against Iran. Huawei has pleaded not guilty in the case.

The order noted that the indictment also accused Huawei of “deceptive and obstructive acts”.

At the same time the United States says Huawei’s smartphones and network equipment could be used by China to spy on Americans, allegations the company has repeatedly denied.

The world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker is still prohibited from buying American parts and components to manufacture new products without additional special licenses.

Air strikes have killed more than two dozen civilians in northwestern Syria in the last two days in an escalation of a Russian-backed offensive against the last major rebel stronghold, a war monitor and local activists said on Saturday.

An air strike in the village of Deir Sharki killed seven members of one family, most of them children, on Saturday morning, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Another seven people were killed by bombardments in other areas, it said.

On Friday, air strikes in the village of al-Haas killed 13 people. The dead included a pregnant woman and her unborn baby, local activists and the Observatory said. They had been seeking shelter after fleeing another area.

Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Observatory said the government’s aim was apparently to force civilians to flee from areas that had been relatively unscathed in the military escalation that began in late April.

“They are bombing the towns and their outskirts to push people to flee,” he said, adding that hundreds of families were moving northwards away from the targeted areas.

The United Nations (UN) on Friday urged Zimbabwe not to crack down on peaceful protesters, after Zimbabwean police fired tear gas and beat up more than a 100 opposition supporters with batons moments earlier, after they defied a protest ban in central Harare, according to witnesses.

Zimbabwe police combed Harare’s streets rounding up suspected opposition supporters, enforcing a clampdown on dissent after using water cannon to break up a protest that authorities had declared illegal.

In Geneva, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights agency, Rupert Colville, urged the authorities, not to crackdown on peaceful protesters and to ensure that people’s right to freedom of expression is respected.

Colville said that ahead of the planned protest, there had been worrying reports of threats against people who wanted to participate in demonstrations and protests about the current economic situation.

There had also been reports of surveillance of such people, and also reports of attacks and arrests of prominent activists and civil society leaders who were taking part in organizing today protests.

Friday’s street demonstration was to have been the first in a nationwide series of protests organised by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, which accuses President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government of state-sponsored violence, corruption and economic mismanagement.

The gathering was banned by police on Thursday, and the MDC called the protest off early on Friday after armed police barred access to the party’s Harare offices and its court appeal against the ban failed, but more than 100 MDC supporters defied the order.

Anger is mounting as Zimbabweans grapple with triple-digit inflation, rolling power cuts and shortages of US dollars, fuel and bread – bringing back memories of the hyperinflation of a decade ago that forced the country to ditch its currency.

[WATCH]: Police disperse a crowd gathered at the Africa Unity Square in Harare, Zimbabwe. One woman was injured in the process. Police have banned the protest action against deepening economic problems in the country | Read more: https://t.co/UWbVv6bhQt #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/4WjRYrP1qV

— SABC News Online (@SABCNewsOnline) August 16, 2019

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The Board at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has admitted to the rot within the procurement system at the rail service.

Board Chairperson Khanyisile Kweyama says it’s not a secret that Prasa has been thoroughly destroyed by corruption and maladministration.

Kweyama was speaking on Friday at a roundtable that discussed what they termed as “pertinent issues” at Prasa. These included the latest developments such as the war room that has been established, safety issues and ongoing investigations.

Prasa says its war room deals with issues of reliability, maintenance and proper contracts at the agency.

The board notes that since its appointment 18 months ago, it has been focusing on cleaning up the past.

At the same time, the Acting CEO at Prasa Nkosinathi Sishi has denied that he secretly negotiated an agreement that allows the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to extract management fees in excess of R400 million for proposing and developing infrastructure projects for Prasa.

Earlier this week, the Daily Maverick ran an article that Prasa insiders have questioned the need for the project.

Sishi says any engagement he has had with DBSA has been with the approval of the board.

A massive contingent of Chinese paramilitary were still in position at a stadium on Saturday in Shenzhen, near the border with Hong Kong which is expecting more mass demonstrations over the weekend.

Armoured vehicles, trucks and large numbers of service personnel from China’s paramilitary, known as the People’s Armed Police, have been stationed at the Shenzhen stadium where some have been seen taking part in training drills both inside and beside the stadium this week.

From the stadium, over a body of water, you can see the northwest coast of Hong Kong and further west, the recently opened bridge that connects Hong Kong to Zhuhai.

These exercises from the paramilitary have accentuated a concern that China is considering direct intervention in Hong Kong.

In recent days, Chinese state media has been full of thinly veiled threats that China would not sit by and watch if the “violence” and “near-terrorism” continued.

The unrest in Hong Kong, which began as a protest against an extradition bill has now morphed into one of the biggest crises Chinese President Xi Jinping has faced since he took power in 2012.

Thousands of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters in Harare are expected to march against the Zimbabwe’s worsening economy and poor living standards. This is despite government’s warning that the mass demonstrations will be stopped.

The MDC says the protests will be peaceful. However, they want to register their dissatisfaction with government’s handling of the power outages, increased hyper-inflation and fuel shortages amongst other things.

Spokesperson Daniel Molokele says this protest is one of many to come. “We are going ahead and not just on Friday. It’s a series – it’s a permanent process until we resolve issues. On Friday we are going ahead. On Monday – Bulawayo; Tuesday Gueru, on Wednesday -Masvingo and on Thursday Mutare and we will continue to roll out town by town; city by city.”