Health Minister Chen Shih-Chung says Taiwan may raise its COVID-19 alert level in the coming days if cases rise, which would mean shops selling non-essential items would have to close.Taiwan announced plans to restrict public gatherings as a result of a cluster of six new cases with no clear source of infection, an unusual outbreak for the island that had kept the pandemic well under control.Chen told parliament the level could be lifted a notch to 3, limiting gatherings to five people indoors and 10 outdoors, as well as the closure of non-essential businesses.

The World Health Organization is reviewing coronavirus data from Seychelles after the country’s health ministry said more than a third of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week had been fully vaccinated.The ministry and the WHO stressed on Tuesday that the majority of those who tested positive had not been vaccinated or had only received one dose, that no one who had died had been fully vaccinated and that nearly all of those needing treatment for severe or critical cases were unvaccinated.The WHO however says it was closely following the situation in the Indian Ocean nation, which has a population of less than 100,000 and has been reporting daily cases numbers in the low hundreds.

Fears the shutdown of a major fuel pipeline would cause a gasoline shortage led to some panic buying and prompted US regulators on Tuesday to temporarily suspend clean fuel requirements in three eastern states and the nation’s capital.A ransomware attack on Friday on Colonial Pipeline forced the company to shut down its entire network, though industry experts say any shortages will be temporary.The Environmental Protection Agency announced a one-week suspension of clean air rules in an effort to ease supply issues.

Kenya has suspended flights to Somalia just days after its neighbour said diplomatic ties between the two countries had been normalised following months of tension.The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority says that commercial flights to and from Somalia would be paused for three months.The regulators say all flights between Kenya and Somalia are suspended except medevac flights and United Nations flights on humanitarian missions only.KCAA director-general Gilbert Kibe told AFP news agency the suspension was a decision by the government.The directive appeared to catch some Somali aviation officials and travel agents by surprise.

The World Food Program has announced that some 500 trucks of food aid have reached Ethiopia's Tigray region.The WFP says 500 more trucks are on their way to the troubled region to assist the more than two million affected people.The trucks came into the country from neighbouring Sudan and It has been difficult for humanitarian aid to reach the Tigray region.The international community has been calling for the Ethiopian government to allow humanitarian aid workers to access the region.

The head of the Suez Canal Authority says that it plans to expand and deepen the stretch of the canal where the container ship Ever Given became stuck for six days in March.Osama Rabie made the remarks at an event attended by Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, where a variety of infrastructure products were inaugurated.The blockage of the Suez Canal caused a huge disruption to global trading networks.The Ever Given is still being held as the Suez Canal Authority seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation from its owner.

The acting Chief Medical Examiner of Lagos State, Dr Sunday Soyemi testified before the judicial panel on restitution for victims of SARS-related abuses.He showed the panel a bullet he extracted from a victim of an extrajudicial killing, Charles Otoo.Dr Soyemi, a lecturer in the college of medicine, Lasuth and a pathologist of 17 years, testified that the cause of death was a severe injury to the brain following a gunshot to the skull.He said the bullet would still need to undergo ballistic examination before the coroner’s court.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved new security measures for the South-east and South-south regions of the country.The acting Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, refused to disclose the new measures, saying a decision was reached at the meeting not to, henceforth, publicise measures to be deployed to tackle insecurity in the country.He says the Security Council meeting which has taken place three times within the past 11 days has assessed the security situation in the country, particularly in the South-East, South-South as it affects law and order.

The Federal Government is set to prosecute 400 suspects arrested for allegedly funding terrorism in the country.The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed reiterated the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in tackling the menace of insurgency, banditry and other security threats across the country.He says the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has announced that the Federal Government is set to prosecute 400 suspects arrested for allegedly funding terrorism.The Minister also appealed to Nigerians to support security agencies, who face the added task of having to watch their backs while working to protect others.

Nigerian Southern Governors have banned open grazing of cattle across states in the region and urged the President to address Nigerians on the state of the nation.The Governors also called for the restructuring of the country to address increasing agitations in different parts of the nation, while restating their commitment to the unity of the country.The ban on open grazing comes as herdsmen violence continues to be reported across the country.