The United States Justice Department has promised to protect women seeking abortions in Texas after a state law that went into effect last week banned the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland says that his office is urgently examining its options to challenge the Texas legislation.
He also pledged to cooperate with the FBI to respond to any threats to abortion clinics, citing the FACE Act, a federal law that prohibits attacks on facilities that offer reproductive health services.
The Texas legislation, known as SB8, incentivises private citizens to sue anyone who provides or assists in abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

Sri Lanka’s parliament has approved a state of emergency declared by the president saying it is needed to control food prices and prevent hoarding amid shortages of some staples.
Opposition legislators said the emergency declaration is not needed because other laws can be used to maintain essential supplies, and the tough emergency rules can be misused to stifle critics.
The emergency law enables authorities to detain people without warrants, seize property, enter and search any premises, suspend laws and issue orders that cannot be questioned in court. Officials who issue such orders are also immune from lawsuits.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had declared an emergency on August 30.

The leader of an army unit that overthrew President Alpha Conde says Guinean government officials are barred from leaving the country until further notice and a curfew imposed in mining areas has been lifted.
Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya told a gathering of Conde’s ministers, including the prime minister and top government officials, that they should also hand back their official vehicles.
A military spokesman said on television that land air borders had also been reopened.

The G7 group of industrialised nations has called on President Kais Saied of Tunisia to urgently appoint a new head of government.
The group said that naming a prime minister would create space for dialogue about proposed constitutional reforms.
President Saied swept aside the government, suspended parliament and took control of the country while his opponents have accused him of staging a coup.
His measures were however broadly welcomed by Tunisians, who've been deeply disappointed by the performance of their political parties.

President Muhammadu Buhari has emphasised that the federal government will continue to draw from the expertise, partnership and consistency learnt from the eradication of Polio in the country to strengthen the health sector.
The President thanked the organisation for various interventions in the health sector, particularly putting in $268 million in the fight against polio.
The president noted that the support Nigeria had received from multilateral and bilateral partners, including Rotary International for Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage had been invaluable.
The President welcomed the Club’s offer of partnership with Nigeria in effective Coronavirus vaccine management and service delivery.

Medical doctors in Lagos who have been part of the nationwide strike action called by the Nation Association of Resident Doctors will resume duties immediately.
The government in a statement says Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has met some of the requests of the issues which led the NARD to embark on the industrial action since last month.
Among the issues discussed was the circular issued by the Head of Service removing Housemanship and NYSC Doctors from the Scheme of Service.
The residents appealed to the Lagos Governor to revoke or suspend the circular. The HOS explained the importance of domesticating decisions made at the federal level.

Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly committed an anti-open grazing bill to the Committee on Agriculture after it scaled second reading.
The House also read for the first and second time, the state’s Value-Added Tax bill and asked the Committee on Finance handling it to report back on Thursday.
Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, described the Prohibition of Open Cattle Grazing Bill as timely and one that would ensure harmonious relationships between herders and farmers and protect the environment of the state and the South West.
He suggested that the bill should make provision for the registration of herders and prepare them for ranching.

President Muhammadu Buhari approved the appointment of Dr Ifedayo Adetifa as the new Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement says Dr Adetifa replaces former NCDC chief, Chikwe Ihekweazu, who recently got a new job as the Assistant Director-General of Health Emergency Intelligence at the World Health Organisation.

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria asked the Federal Government to stop state governors from enacting the anti-open grazing law.
MACBAN Secretary-General, Saleh Alhassan says the law would undermine the relative peace and stability currently enjoyed in the local communities, threaten the social order and exacerbate cattle rustling.
He noted that the Federal Government should create a ministry for livestock and fisheries as obtainable in many African countries.
Alhassan noted that anti-open grazing laws would destroy livestock production and send millions who depend on the livestock value chain into poverty.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has ordered the Rivers State Revenue Service to fully implement the State Value-Added Tax Law 2021 which he assented to recently.
This follows the failure of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to stop the state government from collecting VAT, having filed an application at a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
He says the way is now clear for the administration and enforcement of the Rivers State Value-Added Tax Law 2021 across the entire state until otherwise decided and set aside by the superior courts.