The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed says Twitter chose Ghana as the headquarters for its African operations, due to the unpatriotism of Nigerians. Mr Mohammed says the tech giants chose Accra over Nigeria because the nation’s West African neighbours are champions of democracy and abide by the rule of law.He says the reasons cited by Twitter for citing the headquarters in Accra, Ghana is that Accra is a champion of democracy and there is rule of law in the country, among other reasons. He says this is what happens when the country is de-market.He further blamed the media for championing the course of devaluing Nigeria by fervently putting out negative reports and painting the country as hell on earth.

The Federal Government says the issuance of new SIM cards will resume on April 19, as long as verification is done and the guidelines are fully adhered to.The Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy communicated this in a statement signed by Femi Ademiluyi, a techncal aide to Minister Isa Pantami.The government suspended the activity in December 2020 as it embarked on an audit of the Subscriber Registration Database.The Communications Ministry says at the time that the audit exercise was important in order to verify and ensure compliance by Mobile Network Operators with set quality standards and requirements of SIM Card Registration.The resumption of new SIM cards issuance comes as the country is set to implement a Revised National Digital Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has told Congress it is proceeding with more than $23 billion in weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates, including advanced F-35 aircraft, armed drones and other equipment, congressional aides said on Tuesday.A State Department spokesperson says the administration would move forward with the proposed sales to the UAE even as they continue reviewing details and consulting with Emirati officials related to the use of the weapons.The Democratic president’s administration had paused the deals agreed to by former Republican President Donald Trump in order to review them. The sales to the Gulf nation were finalized right before Trump left office.The Trump administration told Congress in November it had approved the U.S. sale to the UAE as a side deal to the Abraham Accords, a U.S.-brokered agreement in September in which the UAE agreed to normalize relations with Israel.

President Joe Biden’s planned announcement on Wednesday of a complete U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan by Sept. 11 aims to close the book on America’s longest war, as critics warn that peace is anything but assured after two decades of fighting.As officials disclosed Biden’s pullout plans, the U.S. intelligence community renewed deep concerns on Tuesday about the outlook for the U.S.-backed government in Kabul, which is clinging to an eroding stalemate.The U.S. assessment states that the Afghan government will struggle to hold the Taliban at bay if the coalition withdraws support.Biden plans to announce at the White House on Wednesday that all U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be withdrawn no later than Sept. 11.

US health authorities on Tuesday recommended pausing the Johnson & Johnson Covid shot over blood clot fears, with the company quickly announcing it would delay its European rollout, in a setback for global immunization campaigns.Official says out of nearly seven million Americans who have so far received the single-dose vaccine, six women aged between 18 and 48 developed a rare type of clot in the brain along with low platelets.Food and Drug Administration scientist Peter Marks says the disorder might be triggered by a rare immune response to the vaccine similar to that seen among a few hundred recipients of the AstraZeneca jab in Europe.Both vaccines are based on adenovirus vector technology.The European Union has signed a deal for 200 million shots of the vaccine with an option for 200 million more.US authorities are now carrying out an investigation which could end up leading to tough regulatory choices, such as restricting the J&J shot to subsets of the population.People who have received a J&J shot within the past three weeks were asked to report to their doctors if they experienced severe headaches, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath.

The Sudan Tribune news website reports that Sudan has closed its eastern border with Ethiopia after an increase in coronavirus infections in Al-Qadarif state.Al-Qadarif state is one of the main entry points for people fleeing the war in the Ethiopian Tigray region. Their number last week rose to nearly 70,000.The decision to close the border was taken to prevent the entry of foreigners except those determined by the authorities.Those exempted will go through strict health procedures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.Imams at local mosques are ordered to perform Taraweeh prayers - nightly prayers in Ramadan - only in the mosques' courtyards.

The Central Bank of South Sudan says it will auction $5m to commercial banks and foreign-exchange bureaus every week in order to bring down high prices of basic commodities.People have been complaining about skyrocketing prices, which economists attribute to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.The first auction was conducted on Tuesday morning in the capital, Juba, with 22 commercial banks participating.Twenty banks managed to access foreign exchange resources at various rates based on the bids they submitted.The bank’s governor, Dier Tong Ngor says the resources will provide traders and clients of commercial banks with the necessary foreign exchange resources that they need and also help business people to bring in essential commodities to South Sudan.

South Africa's Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has announced the suspension of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 jab to investigate a possible link with blood clots.Dr Mkhize says the decision was a precautionary suspension.Hours earlier US health authorities paused the use of the one dose jab after cases of extremely rare blood clotting.The US Food and Drug Administration says six cases in 6.8 million doses had been reported and it was acting out of an abundance of caution.Johnson & Johnson says it was also delaying its vaccine rollout in Europe.The US move follows similar rare cases in the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has prompted some curbs in its use.

Former South African president Jacob Zuma has up to Wednesday to suggest the penalty the country's highest court should impose if he were to be found guilty of contempt.The penalty relates to his ignoring of summons to appear before the commission of inquiry chaired by Justice Ray Zondo to answer corruption allegations - which he denies.The commission had earlier asked the court to sentence the former president for two years, to stamp the authority of the court and show the seriousness of Mr Zuma's actions. An appeals court on Tuesday upheld an earlier judgement for the state to recover money that it had spent on the former president's legal fees. It said the state funding in the corruption case was "unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid".It is estimated that the state paid between $1m and $2.2m in legal costs for him.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has invited the former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha for questioning.Okorocha had reportedly refused to honour previous invitations from the anti-graft commission.He was arrested at about 4 pm at his Unity House private office in Abuja after a five-hour standoff with EFCC operatives who trailed him to the location.Mr Okorocha was invited for questioning by the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Nasiru Mohammed.The police say the Senator’s invitation was prompted by his alleged involvement in gaining forceful entry into a property confiscated by the State Government.