The corruption trial of the former South African President Jacob Zuma is due to begin on Wednesday, following multiple delays.The once-celebrated hero of the anti-Apartheid struggle is expected to plead not guilty to charges of fraud and racketeering in a case that dates back to an arms deal in the 1990s.He claims he's the victim of a political witch hunt - that the nation’s courts are working for his political enemies.Mr Zuma is also facing fresh allegations of corruption and could be imprisoned for contempt of court in a separate matter.

Kenya will receive 72,000 Covid-19 vaccines from the Covax facility this week.The vaccines were re-distributed from South Sudan after the country’s health officials say they could not use the jabs before their expiry date.South Sudan received 132,000 Astra Zeneca doses from Covax in late March.The country’s Health Minister Mayen Machout told journalists that they were not able to use all the doses because of delays by parliament to approve the use of the vaccine.AFP news agency reports that South Sudan will be left with 52,000 doses that it hopes to use before they expire on 18 July.

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, has constituted a committee to conduct a safety audit of all Nigerian Air Force operational and engineering units.A statement on Tuesday by NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, revealed that the committee comprised serving and retired senior officers of the force.The committee is to analyse safety reports from operational and engineering units, conduct safety evaluation of NAF units, and recommend measures to enhance the safety of operations in the units.It was also mandated to interact with unit operational and technical personnel for views, observations, and contributions on safety measures.

The Federal Government has begun to administer the second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to eligible persons in the country.Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, says a total of 4,683 people have taken the second jabShuaib noted that the agency has almost completed administering all first doses as of Monday.He advised that all Nigerians who have received their first dose should check their vaccination cards for the date of their second dose, and ensure that they receive the second dose to gain full protection against COVID-19.

The Federal Government says it is taking significant precautions to protect Nigerians against B.1.617.2, also known as the Indian variant of coronavirus.Dr Faisal Shuaib, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency says Flights from India and other high-risk countries such as Turkey and Brazil have been barred from entering Nigeria.He revealed that the agency has almost completed administering all first doses as of Monday as 1,929,237 Nigerians have been captured.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has again voted to retain the monetary policy rate at 11.5 percent.The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele says the committee voted to leave the MPR at 11.5 per cent, Cash Reserve Ratio at 27.5 percent, and Liquidity Ratio at 30 percent.He explained that the move is expected to allow further economic growth, after the country exited recession in the fourth quarter of 2020, amid rising inflation.The MPC also lamented the effect of insecurity on the nation’s economy and called on the Federal Government to handle insecurity immediately to successfully tackle inflation.The MPC also noted that at least 70% of Nigeria’s population must be vaccinated if the country means to achieve economic recovery.

The Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris says the £4.2m looted by ex-Delta State Governor, James Ibori, has been returned to the state.The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami argued that the law that was alleged to have been breached by Ibori was a federal law and that the parties of interests involved in the repatriation of the funds were national and not sub-national governments.He says the major consideration relating to who is entitled to a fraction or perhaps the money in its entirety is a function of law and international diplomacy.

European Union leaders have agreed on a set of sanctions against Belarus, including a ban on the use of the 27-nation bloc’s airspace and airports amid fury for the forced diversion of a passenger jet flying between two EU countries in order to arrest an opposition journalist.The EU leaders also decided to slap individual sanction on officials linked to the operationThey called on the International Civil Aviation Organization to start an investigation into what they see as an unprecedented move and what some have called state terrorism.The decisions at the summit will be turned into action as soon as legal proceedings allow.

Police in India’s capital has served notice at Twitter’s offices, seeking information for a complaint about why a tweet by the spokesman of the ruling Hindu nationalist party was tagged as manipulated media.Congress complained to Twitter saying the document was fake, after which the United States’s company marked some of the posts manipulated media.New Delhi police say they had received a complaint about the classification of Patra’s tweet, which it was investigating, adding that a team of officials visited a Twitter office to serve notice of the inquiry.Twitter says it applies its manipulated media tag to posts that include media that have been deceptively altered or fabricated.

The United Nations and the African Union says soldiers in Mali have detained the president and prime minister of the interim government deepening political chaos in the country just nine months after a military coup overthrew its previous leader.The bodies in a joint statement called for President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane’s immediate and unconditional release and say the international community rejects in advance any act of coercion, including forced resignations.The United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and the West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS also signed the statement.