Daily News on Issues Affecting Africa for August 20th

Continue reading for a summary of recent news stories relating to some of the most pressing issues on the continent. We draw on a wide range of respected news sources, both from Africa itself and around the world. The themes of today's In the News post are: curfew in Liberia, clashes in Central African Republic, Africa's baby boom, Ebola in West Africa and South Africa's falling bank ratings.

Liberia: Monrovia on Lock - Riots in W. Point; Protesters,Army, Police, Clash

Heavy rioting is taking place in Monrovia as Liberian army troops and residents in the slum district of West Point clash, less than 24 hours after President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf announced a 9pm to 6am curfew and other stringent measures to contain the deadly Ebola outbreak.

To read more from AllAfrica, click Here.

'At least 34' massacred in Central Africa

Suspected ex-rebels from the Central African Republic's Seleka movement have massacred at least 34 people in several northern villages over the past several days, officials said. The former rebels killed at least 34 people over the last week in a series of attacks on remote villages, Bienvenu Sarapata, mayor of the M'bres commune in north of the capital Bangui told the AP news agency on Saturday.

To read more from Al Jazeera, click Here.

UN Report Predicts African Baby Boom

The African continent is primed for a massive baby boom within the next four decades, a shift that the United Nations' children's agency says represents both a challenge and a huge opportunity. By the year 2050, UNICEF predicts in a report released this week, Africa will be home to about 41 percent of the world's births. By that time, one in four people on this planet will be African.

To read more from VOA, click Here.

UN Ebola coordinator to visit West Africa

The public health expert coordinating U.N. efforts to fight Ebola said on Tuesday that he's heading to Washington and then to West Africa to determine the best ways the world body can support people, communities and governments affected by the deadly disease.

To read more from the Washington Post, click Here.

Shares in South Africa's banks fall after Moody's downgrade

Standard Bank, FNB, Nedbank and ABSA, which is owned by Barclays, were all downgraded on Tuesday and Moody's warned of more possible ratings cuts. The move comes a week after South Africa's central bank bailed out the smaller lender African Bank.

To read more from the BBC, click Here.