Newscast - Africa

Russia has earned $98bn from fossil fuel exports during the first 100 days of its war in Ukraine, with the European Union being the top importer.
The report published by the independent, Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air came as Russian forces continued making slow but steady progress in their campaign to fully capture eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.
Kyiv has called on Western countries to sever all trade with Moscow in the hopes of cutting off its financial lifeline in the wake of the February 24 invasion.
Pre-war, Russia supplied 40 per cent of the EU’s gas and 27 per cent of its imported oil.

Beijing started a new round of daily mass testing in one of its major districts after a rapidly spreading outbreak linked to a bar saw COVID rules tightened.
The outbreak prompted authorities in the sprawling Chaoyang district on Monday to put schools back online, with the exception of students taking middle and high school placement exams.
China is the last major economy still committed to a zero-COVID strategy, stamping out new cases with a combination of targeted lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid urged citizens in Turkey to leave as soon as possible over threats that Iranian operatives are actively planning attacks on Israelis in Istanbul.
Lapid says there is a real and immediate danger citing several Iranian attempts at carrying out terror attacks against Israelis on holiday.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for a boost to defence budgets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying France was now on a war economy footing.
Macron says Europe needed a much larger defence industry to avoid relying on suppliers elsewhere for its equipment needs.
Macron says he had asked the defence ministry and armed forces chiefs of staff to adjust a six-year framework defence spending plan running to 2025 to the new geopolitical situation, to match the means to the threats.

Saudi Arabia has required would-be hajj pilgrims from many Western countries to apply for visas via a government portal online, a move intended to crack down on fake travel agencies.
The new system was put in place as the kingdom prepares to welcome 850,000 Muslims from abroad for the annual hajj after two years during which pilgrims not already in Saudi Arabia were barred because of Covid pandemic restrictions.
Officials say It applies to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia to avoid a system that sometimes led to scams, with fake agencies.
State media announced the online portal a week ago, and the registration period ended Monday.

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has warned that real global gross domestic product might fall to five per cent if the world economy decouples into self-contained trading blocs.
Members were urged at the opening session of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, to demonstrate that the body could deliver for the international community and the people it serves.
She pointed out that the world was grappling with uncertainty and crises on multiple fronts.
Okonjo-Iweala urged members to avoid allowing geopolitical tensions to spill over into the work at the WTO as the consequences for the multilateral trading system would be severe.

The head of the UN refugee agency has condemned plans by Britain to send the first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda on Tuesday.
Filippo Grandi says the policy set a catastrophic precedent.
He says other countries that took in far more asylum seekers than Britain could decide to follow its example.
Courts in London have rejected two last-minute challenges to the new policy.
The British government argues that the move is designed to deter people trafficking, but there's been widespread criticism by opposition parties and rights groups.

The Togolese government has declared a state of security emergency in its northern border region.
The government spokesman says the measure will last for three months and could be extended by the national assembly.
It allows security forces there to have more flexibility to deal with threats of jihadist attacks.

The World Health Organization says it is working with experts to come up with a new name for monkeypox.
It comes after more than 30 scientists wrote last week about the urgent need for a non-discriminatory and non-stigmatising name for the virus and the disease it causes.
They said the continued reference to the virus as African is both inaccurate and discriminatory.

A UK court has ruled against Nigeria in the $1.7bn suits against JP Morgan Chase Bank over the transfer of proceeds from the sale of OPL 245.
Judge Sara Cockerill of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales Commercial Court held on Tuesday that the Nigerian government couldn’t show that it had been defrauded.
Nigeria argued among other things that the bank acted negligently when it transferred $875 million in funds between 2011 to 2013 from government accounts to Etete, who had been convicted of money laundering.