From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting.
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At least one person was killed in a grenade attack Saturday a rally by Ethiopia's new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed.
The attack was launched moments after the 41-year-old Abiy, a former soldier who took office in April, finished his speech to tens of thousands of people gathered in the center of Addis Ababa.
Addressing the nation on television shortly after the blast, Abiy said the attack was an attempt by forces who do not want to see Ethiopia united.
Dr. ???, that is, said that medical professionals were already at the rally and helped the wounded.
"We had emergency beds reserved and everybody was on standby, including all the doctors. And they came from their own action. Some of them were also in the demonstration and they came immediately, accompanied the patients."
Eritrea, which has long been at loggerheads with Ethiopia over a border dispute that Abiy has sought to resolve, condemned the attack as did the European Union and the United States.
Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa, that is, survived an explosion at a rally in Bulawayo on Saturday. The president said that the explosion at a stadium where he was addressing a political rally was a cowardly act that would not prevent the country from holding free and peaceful elections next month.
Mr. Mnangagwa came to power last November by ousting his former mentor, longtime president Robert Mugabe.
This is VOA news.
At least five people, including a one-year-old child, have been killed in clashes between pro-government forces and opponents of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.
Police said the boy was killed by a bullet fired by someone trying to prevent officers from clearing road barricades. The boy's mother said police had shot her son.
The Nicaraguan Human Rights Center said the violence started late Friday when police and paramilitary forces flooded six neighborhoods in East Managua and the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua.
The Central American country has been rocked by violence since April as protesters maintain roadblocks and demand President Daniel Ortega's ouster. They have been met by a harsh crackdown.
Turkey is holding snap presidential and parliamentary elections Sunday more than one year ahead of schedule. Six candidates are running for the presidency.
The election is expected to either solidify President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's grip on the nation or restrain his political ambitions.
At a rally Saturday, Erdoğan encouraged his followers to get out and vote.
He said that "Are you ready for tomorrow? There are hours less now. We have to persevere really had in these few remaining hours."
Erdoğan's main rival is Muharrem İnce, a 54-year-old former physics teacher and school principal, backed by Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party.
He told supporters Saturday he will change the way things are done in Turkey.
He said, "When I am president, I will lift the state of emergency within 48 hours. The central bank and its board of directors will be autonomous."
The elections will usher in a new system of governance, giving the president expanded powers. That was narrowly approved in a referendum last year. The post of prime minister will be abolished concentrating even more power in the hands of the president.
The extremist Pakistani Taliban has formally confirmed the death of its chief in last week's American drone strike in eastern Afghanistan. It also announced the appointment of his successor.
The slain militant leader, Mullah Fazlullah, and four of his key commanders were traveling in a vehicle in the Afghan border province of Kunar June 13 when they were struck by missiles fired from a U.S. drone.
In a statement issued Saturday, the militant TTP, or Pakistani Taliban, named Mufti Noor Wali Mehsood as the group's new chief and Mufti Mazahim as his deputy.
