Newscast - Africa

President Muhammadu Buhari is to host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Abuja on a two-day official visit.
Erdogan is expected to fly in from Angola, accompanied by the Turkish First Lady, Mrs Emine Erdogan.
Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, says that the leaders of the two countries are expected to consider about two dozen Bilateral Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding, MOUs and they will authorize the signing of those on which there is concurrence.
He added that President Erdogan will hold a one-on-one meeting with President Buhari and he is expected to commission the Turkish Cultural Centre in Abuja.

The Lagos State Police Command says it will only allow indoor and virtual events.
The State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, says the police would not allow any form of protest except vehicular procession.
The police commissioner cautioned residents, especially the youth against embarking on any form of protest without the approval of the police.
Odumosu explained that such approval will enable police deployment for adequate protection against hoodlums who could hijack the exercise.
He explained that the need to reassure Lagos residents is to douse the tension that has enveloped the state of recent.

Appzone, the Pan-African fintech software provider has announced the Pan-African launch of BankOne, its digital core banking solution now re-engineered to serve the continent’s leading Fintechs, neobanks and challenger banks.
CEO of Appzone Core, Mr Mudiaga Umukoro says BankOne has played an active role in driving the digitization of Nigeria’s financial services industry.
He says the platform has now been repositioned to serve the continent’s growing number of Fintechs and neobanks.

Russia will suspend the activities of its diplomatic mission to NATO and close the alliance’s offices in Moscow in response to its expulsion of eight Russians in a row over spying.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the moves, are set to plunge relations between Moscow and the transatlantic security body to new depths when they take effect at the start of next month.
Lavrov also announced that NATO’s military liaison and information offices in Moscow would be closed, saying accreditations would be recalled at the beginning of November.
He said that contact between the Western alliance and Moscow could be done through the Russian embassy in Belgium.

Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso has declared a state of emergency as the country grapples with a surge in drug-related violence, and ordered the police and military onto the streets.
Lasso says in the streets of Ecuador there is only one enemy which is drug trafficking adding that in recent years Ecuador has gone from being a drug trafficking country to one that also consumes drugs.
Earlier on Monday, Lasso named a new defence minister as the country reels from a substantial prisons crisis.

The State Department has announced that the top United States envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad is stepping down less than two months after the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the country.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement says Khalilzad will be replaced by his deputy, Tom West noting that West will work closely with the US embassy, which is now based in Doha, on US interests in Afghanistan.
A person familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity that Khalilzad submitted his resignation on Friday.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has linked food aid from abroad with diplomatic pressure on the country.
He says Ethiopia needs to stop receiving assistance to avoid that pressure.
He says Ethiopia's problem is wheat aid. With wheat, aid comes diseases. With wheat aid come many things, many consequences. If we stop it, many of the problems will be solved.
Ethiopia, which is among major aid recipient countries, is facing increasing pressure from some Western governments over the conflict in its northern Tigray region, where millions are at risk of starvation.

The Ethiopian government says recent attacks by the Ethiopian rebel group, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front have claimed the lives of at least 30 civilians.
The government says the TPLF targeted areas in Amhara and Afar regional states, which both border Tigray, in unwarranted attacks against innocent civilians.
TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda says civilians were targeted but the federal government denies launching an attack.
The TPLF, which regards itself as the legitimate authority in Tigray, has not responded to the allegations.

Ugandan police say the country will not heighten its terror-alert threat level despite recent travel advisories by the UK and French embassies warning their citizens of a likely attack.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga says that the threat levels would not be raised until security teams have more tangible information.
He says the government has also contacted the British and French embassies to find out what specific information they had.
Uganda's police say that counter-terror teams have thwarted several plots, both foreign and domestic, since the twin bombings in the capital, Kampala, on 11 July 2010.

The Vietnamese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Luong Quoc Thinh, has urged Vietnamese businesses to embrace the newly-registered Nigeria-Vietnam Economic, Trade and Cultural Association and make it a reliable platform for trade and investment promotions in both countries.
The envoy says it would help promote trade and cultural exchanges between both countries.
Thinh also urged Vietnamese businessmen and women to embrace the association and make it a reliable platform for trade and investment promotions in both countries.