Newscast - Africa

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi says Nigerians may be required to take extra shots of the vaccine to stay safe despite being vaccinated against the coronavirus disease
The commissioner says people may require a booster which is the first, second and subsequent doses because they have also discovered that even though the vaccine stops may not necessarily stop people from catching Covid.
Professor Abayomi explained that the state government plans to vaccinate 30 per cent of Lagos residents by the end of the year.

Nigerian Lawmakers gave the Independent National Electoral Commission the sole power to determine the mode of transmission of results.
The Senate resolved that voting at an election and transmission of results under this Bill shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Commission, which may include electronic voting.
Majority Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, say after a critical examination of the Bill by the Senate Committee on INEC, some fundamental issues were observed which required fresh legislative action.

Indian and Chinese say talks between both army commanders to disengage troops from key friction areas along their border have ended in a stalemate and failed to ease a 17-month standoff that has sometimes led to deadly clashes.
India’s defence ministry in a statement, says it gave constructive suggestions but the Chinese side was not agreeable and could not provide any forward-looking proposals.
A statement from a Chinese military spokesperson says the Indian side sticks to unreasonable and unrealistic demands, adding difficulties to the negotiations.

World Bank President David Malpass says the World Bank will keep pushing to help developing countries improve their business climates when asked about the bank’s decision to cancel its flagship “Doing Business” reports after a series of data irregularities and claims of data manipulation.
Malpass says strong research products remained a high priority for the bank and said it had taken several steps to improve research integrity, including elevating chief economist Carmen Reinhart to a role in senior management.

Two dozen countries have joined a U.S. - and EU-led effort to slash methane emissions 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels, giving the emerging global partnership momentum ahead of its launch at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow later this month.
The pledge will now cover 60% of global GDP and 30% of global methane emissions. If fulfilled, it would have a significant impact on the energy, agriculture and waste sectors responsible for the bulk of methane emissions.
The U.S. State Department and EU confirmed that the new signatories include Canada, the Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, Costa Rica, Cote Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Micronesia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Guinea, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malta, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Rwanda, Sweden and Togo.

Cryptocurrency analytics firm Elliptic says it had raised $60 million from investors including SoftBank and Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, the latest blockchain analytics firm to attract mainstream investment.
London-based Elliptic says the Series C round was led by Evolution Equity, with the SoftBank Vision Fund 2 investing for the first time. Other new investors include Japan’s SBI Group, Elliptic said in a statement, without disclosing its valuation.
it says It plans to invest in its global network and team, as well as continuing research and development.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca says that its COVID-19 antibodies’ cocktail has helped cut the risk of severe disease or deaths in a late-stage study.
The pharma company announced the results marking a boost in its effort to develop coronavirus medicines beyond vaccines.
The drug, a mix of two antibodies called AZD7442, reduced the risk of severe COVID-19 or death by 50 per cent in non-hospitalised patients who have had symptoms for seven days or fewer, meeting the main goal of the study.
The trial’s principal investigator, Hugh Montgomery, says these positive results show that a convenient intramuscular dose of AZD7442 could play an important role in helping combat this devastating pandemic.

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has approved a new government selected by newly-appointed Prime Minister Najla Bouden Romdhane.
The development came 11 weeks after Saied sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and granted himself judicial powers in a July 25 power grab that opponents have termed a coup.
The presidency in a statement says the president of the Republic has issued a decree naming the head of government and its members.
She kept Othman Jerandi as the foreign minister and Sihem Boughdiri as finance minister – both had been appointed earlier by Saied.

The African Union says it wants to extend and expand its military operation in Somalia, where AU troops have been fighting Islamist militants for 14 years.
The AU says the new mission would be run jointly with the United Nations. It says the expanded Amisom force would include soldiers from other African countries.
The plan needs to be endorsed by the UN and the Somali government, which has previously rejected AU proposals. Ethiopia, which contributes thousands of soldiers to Amisom, is facing serious security challenges at home.

The head of the European Union in Liberia has apologised for saying that Liberia's capital Monrovia is a disgusting and dirty city, following a backlash.
Laurent Delahousse says that his comments were meant to be a wake-up call to residents to change their practices of littering and to improve the city’s waste management system that receives funding from the EU.
Mr Delahousse clarified that his remarks were not intended to disparage anyone or to affect the reputation of the beautiful capital city of Liberia.
He apologised to the government and anyone feeling misrepresented by these remarks and willingly retract the exaggerated wording used.