Sudan's foreign minister has written to the UN Security Council to intervene on the row over Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile River.
Sudan wants the council to meet and discuss the dam's impact on the safety and security of millions of people.
Minister Mariam al-Mahdi's letter to the council head asks him to urge Ethiopia to stop the unilateral filling of the dam.
Ethiopia says the dam is vital for its development as it could bring power to 60% of the population. Sudan says filling the dam without solving outstanding issues would threaten national security.
Sudan wants Ethiopia to commit to a legally binding agreement, rather than guidelines, on the amount of water retained and the timetable for filling the reservoir.

President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to bequeath a citizen-led policing system to the nation at the end of his eight-year rule in 2023.
He stated that his administration has demonstrated firm commitment towards changing the principle and strategy of policing.
He mandated the Ministry of Police Affairs to receive complaints from the public on cases of abuse and maltreatment by police personnel.
Buhari added that he has directed the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission to review upward police emoluments.
He said the new pay structure would be commensurate with the vital functions of the police performed as the lead agency in internal security operations.

President Muhammadu Buhari has transmitted a 2021 Supplementary Appropriation Bill of N895.842 billion to the Senate for passage into law.
Buhari says the amount captured in the bill was proposed to fund the COVID-19 vaccine programme.
He added that part of the supplementary budget would be used to also fund health-related expenditures for the treatment of additional 50,000 patients under Nigeria Comprehensive AIDS Programme in states and to procure additional equipment to tackle security challenges nationwide.
He says the supplementary budget will be funded through facilities sourced from the World Bank and available new facilities.
Buhari said the supplementary budget was promoted by the need to make provision for procurement and administration of COVlD-19 vaccines.

The Senate has confirmed the appointment of Major General Farouk Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff.
The red chamber took the decision following the consideration of the report of its joint committee on Defence and Army led by Senators Aliyu Wamakko and Ali Ndume.
The federal government kick-started the process of resolving its dispute that led to the suspension of the operations of the microblogging platform, Twitter, in Nigeria, with President Muhammadu Buhari raising a team to negotiate with the United States-based company.

The U.S. Consulate General in partnership with the Nnamdi Azikiwe University unveiled the Awka Window on America, the newest addition to the existing network of American Spaces in Nigeria.
The new Window on America will offer dynamic programming on topics including U.S. culture and society, education, women’s empowerment, civic engagement, entrepreneurship, and STEM learning to Nigerians from all walks of life.
U.S. Consulate Public Affairs Officer Stephen Ibelli noted that the new Window on America is open to everyone in the community offering its services, programs, and resources to the public at no cost.

The ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja has restrained the Federal Government from imposing sanctions or harassing, intimidating, arresting, or prosecuting Twitter.
It also restricted the government from carrying out such actions against any other social media service provider, as well as media houses, pending the hearing and determination of a suit challenging the government’s suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria.
The court gave the restraining order after hearing arguments from parties in a suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 concerned Nigerians.

President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated the National Steering Committee of the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy to be chaired by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
President Buhari was confident that the program would address the underlying causes of poverty on the basis of which it developed programmes that would deal with the multi-dimensional nature of poverty within the practical context of comparative advantage of human and natural resources in the various geo-political zones.
He says the major challenge before the committee is to translate the good intention of the government into a positive impact on the average Nigerian in order to create an appreciative impact on the poverty situation in the country.

The United States, the European Union, Canada and The United Kingdom have imposed sweeping sanctions on Belarusian entities and officials and called on Minsk to end its repressive practices against its own people.
The allies also told the administration of President Alexander Lukashenko to cooperate with investigations into the forced landing of a Ryanair flight there in May and the arrest of the journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, who were on board.
They said they are committed to supporting the long-suppressed democratic aspirations of the people of Belarus and stand together to impose costs on the regime for its blatant disregard of international commitments.

The US Supreme Court ruled that America’s top university athletics body cannot block student-athletes from getting extra benefits, eroding its power over the multi-billion-dollar college sports industry.
The high court sided unanimously with student-athletes in a narrow case focused on whether they can receive limited cash or non-cash benefits from their schools related to their education, which the National Collegiate Athletic Association currently forbids.
The Supreme Court made it clear it did not accept the NCAA’s claim that its strict ban on their earning any money, to retain “amateur” status, was important to the business.
The court called the NCAA an effective monopoly in its control over the lucrative industry of college sports.

The World Health Organization says it is setting up a hub in South Africa to give companies from poor and middle-income countries the know-how and licences to produce COVID-19 vaccines, in what President Cyril Ramaphosa called a historic step to spread lifesaving technology.
The WHO says the tech transfer hub could make it possible for African companies to begin manufacturing mRNA vaccines in as little as nine to 12 months.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement aimed at boosting access to vaccines across the African continent, where coronavirus infections and deaths increased by almost 40 per cent over the past week.