President Muhammadu Buhari officially unveiled a digital Performance Management System that would help track government projects across the country in real-time.
The president says the dashboard will keep an eye on projects using live data.
President Buhari says the PMS has been in effect since January 2021 and has helped him to monitor the performance of ministries and by extension, monitor the progress of his administration.
The president disclosed that it was in the continued drive to ensure accountability that his government incorporated a performance management framework into the functions of the Central Delivery Coordination Unit.

The United Arab Emirates’ economy ministry says the Gulf state and Syria agreed on future plans to enhance economic cooperation and explore new sectors.
The move underscores shifting regional dynamics after 10 years of war in Syria.
The UAE supported the Syrian opposition during the early years of the conflict, The UAE and other Arab countries made openings towards President Bashar al-Assad’s government as the Syrian army recaptured most of the territory from the opposition
The ministry wrote on Twitter the value of non-oil trade between the two countries in the first half of 2021 was one billion dirhams.

China has denounced Taiwan’s national day speech, during which President Tsai Ing-wen says her government will not bow down to pressure from Beijing and will continue to bolster the island’s defences in order to protect its democratic way of life.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office says that Tsai’s speech incited confrontation and distorted facts, adding that seeking Taiwan independence closes the door to dialogue.
Chinese President Xi Jinping says no one should underestimate the Chinese people’s strong determination, will and capability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Tsai says Taiwan will keep bolstering its defences to ensure nobody can force the island to accept the path China has laid down, offering neither freedom nor democracy, and repeated a call for talks with Beijing.

Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel says Israel’s security will remain a top priority for every German government during a farewell visit to the Jewish state.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called her a true friend of Israel.
The German leader had earlier voiced confidence that whoever followed her as chancellor will feel equally committed to Israel’s security.
She says Israel’s security will always be of central importance and a central topic for every German government.
Bennett credited Merkel with fostering an unprecedented bond between the countries and described her as Europe’s moral compass due to her support for Israel.

A U.N. official says a funding shortage means humanitarian aid will have to be cut for many of the nearly 10 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo facing multiple crises because of lack of money.
The U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in the DRC, David McLachlan-Karr, says millions of people in the eastern provinces are victims of long-simmering inter-ethnic conflicts and conflicts over natural resources.
He says the situation is particularly concerning in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces, as well as territories in northern Tanganyika. These protracted conflicts, he says, have left millions of people destitute and in urgent need of assistance.
He says it will be difficult to provide that aid because only 27% of the U.N.'s nearly $2 billion appeals for this year has been funded.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune demanded France’s total respect following a diplomatic row over visas and critical comments from Paris about the North African country.
Algeria accused its former colonial ruler France of genocide and recalled its ambassador from Paris on October 2 in anger over what it said were inadmissible comments attributed to French President Emmanuel Macron.
The Algerian government also banned French military planes from its airspace a day later.
Tebboune says the return of the Algerian ambassador to France is conditional on the total respect for the Algerian state.

Brazil star Neymar says that the 2022 World Cup will be his last as he doesn’t have the strength to put up with more football”.
He says he doesn’t know if he will still have the mental strength to put up with even more football.
Neymar says that he will do everything to get to the 2022 World Cup in great shape and will do everything to win for his country and fulfil his biggest dream.

Sierra Leone has formally abolished the death penalty after President Julius Maada Bio signed into law a new measure outlawing capital punishment that was agreed by MPs in July.
The president says as a nation, they have exorcised horrors of a cruel past while affirming their belief in the sanctity of life.
Rights group Amnesty International says that last year 39 death sentences were handed down.
Amnesty says Death sentences have often been commuted, but by the end of last year, 94 people were still on death row.

South Sudan’s health ministry has begun the rollout of the single-dose Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Johnson & Johnson.
South Sudan received the first consignment of just over 150,000 J&J doses in September. They were donated by the US government through the Covax initiative and make up the biggest consignment yet.
Dr Victoria Anib Majur says more than 80,000 people have been vaccinated using the Oxford AstraZeneca jab.
Dr Victoria Anib Majur, from the health ministry, urged women to get the vaccine which she said was safe and effective while refuting rumours which say that Covid-19 vaccination causes infertility.

The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, says that President Muhammadu Buhari was the only politician in Nigeria at this time with the charisma and credibility to rally the whole country behind the patriotic push to rise above its current challenges.
Osinbajo stressed the need for Nigeria to remain an indivisible country, assuring that its challenges would soon be overcome.
Osinbajo urged Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to promote the message of one country, noting, anybody, who looks at how Nigeria operates will recognise that they are better off in this system, and that is the truth.