Newscast - Africa

Israel health ministry says it will allow entry to vaccinated visitors from low-risk countries, t, five weeks after it shut its borders to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and a group of ministers agreed that entry of vaccinated/recovering tourists from orange countries will be permitted from Sunday.
Israel had closed its borders to all foreign tourists last November 28. Bennett said at the time the move aimed to prepare Israel for an inevitable fifth wave of Covid cases.
Bennett however says the temporary blanket prohibition on foreign arrivals had achieved its goal, even as domestic Covid infections have soared.

French MPs began debating draft legislation that would require most people to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter public spaces such as bars, restaurants and long-distance public transport.
The vaccine pass is aimed at getting France’s remaining five million unvaccinated people over 12 to accept a shot.
Health Minister Olivier Veran told parliament that the tidal wave has indeed arrived, it’s enormous, but we will not give in to panic.
Veran added that selfishness often hides behind talk of supposed liberty.

Tunisia's interior ministry says a detained former justice minister is suspected of terrorism. Noureddine Bhiri of the Ennahdha party was detained over the weekend.
Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine says that there were reports of acts of terrorism prompting the authorities to act.
His wife is quoted by the AFP news agency saying that he had suffered a heart attack and that she was denied access to him.

Guinea's main opposition leader says more than 100 of the country's political parties will present a joint demand for a return to the civilian rule to the military junta that seized power in September.
Cellou Dalein Diallo told a news conference that the Collective of Political Parties had agreed on a timetable for a political transition.
The Economic Community of West African States is demanding elections within six months.
It suspended Guinea from the regional bloc after President Alpha Condé was deposed in a coup nearly four months ago.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and appropriate anti-corruption agencies to promptly investigate allegations of systemic mismanagement of security votes by state governors since 1999.
The SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, says the organisation said anyone suspected to be responsible should face prosecution as appropriate.

The 11 electricity Distribution Companies in Nigeria have responded to allegations that they, manufacture figures in a bid to bill customers who are still operating on the estimated billing platform.
The Executive Director for Research and Advocacy, Sunday Oduntan, explained that contrary to misinformation concerning the nature and purpose of revenue targets Discos give their staff, such targets were usually set based on what customers consumed.
The Discos argued that the allegation that marketers were given revenue targets in their quest to meet targets that supposedly lead to extortion of customers, giving them bills that do not reflect their electricity consumption, was not correct.

The Presidency has denied reports suggesting that the executive and legislative arm of government might be at loggerheads following an episode on Friday at the State House during the signing of the 2022 Budget and Finance Bill by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The spokesman for the President, Garba Shehu, says the president and the parliament have not fallen out.
He says President Buhari frowned at a couple of things including “reduction in the provisions for many strategic capital projects to introduce ‘Empowerment Projects.
Mr Shehu says there is no rift between President Buhari and the National Assembly, adding that both arms of government are working amicably for the good of the nation.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume has asked the Federal Government to name and arrest those that finance terrorism in the country.
Ndume says he was prosecuted by the Federal Government for sponsoring Boko Haram.
He noted that his offence was because the Department of State Services tracked a phone and uncovered a call made by the spokesman of the insurgents.
He also criticised security agencies for not doing a proper investigation before subjecting him to public ridicule.

The United States has cut Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea out of a duty-free trade programme over alleged human rights violations and recent coups.
The US Trade Representative says it terminated the three countries from the African Growth and Opportunity Act due to actions taken by each of their governments in violation of the AGOA Statute.
It says the US was deeply concerned by the gross violations of internationally recognised human rights being perpetrated by the government of Ethiopia and other parties amid the widening conflict in northern Ethiopia as well as by the unconstitutional change in governments in both Guinea and Mali.

Vietnam’s trade ministry has asked China’s Guangxi authorities to take urgent measures to ease congestion at border crossings after China stepped up its border controls with neighbours to follow zero COVID-19 policies.
State-run Vietnam News Agency says Anti-virus prevention measures that Guangxi is applying under the ‘zero COVID’ policies, including closing border gates or stopping fruit imports, are over necessary.
Guangxi trade officials said they would increase the duration of customs clearance and pass along other proposals to higher authorities.