Newscast - Africa

The detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has dragged the Federal Government of Nigeria to an Abia State High Court, over what he described as violations of his human rights.
The Federal Government, the Nigeria Army, the Department of State Service and the Nigeria police are respondents in the suit.
Kanu is seeking enforcement of his fundamental rights and wants the court to, among other things, halt his trial currently in motion at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
He also asked the court to mandate the respondents to pay the sum of five billion nairas for the physical, mental, emotional, psychological, and other damages suffered as claimed by the applicant.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, says that contrary to what he described as propaganda by the striking members of the National Association of Resident Doctors, no doctor or health worker in Nigeria is owed their monthly salary.
The minister says the fumes from the propaganda machine of NARD were obfuscating the reality of the Federal Government’s efforts to re-position the health sector.
He says No doctor, nurse, pharmacist or any other health worker including the driver is owed a monthly salary, the government pays as and when due.

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed security chiefs to find tactics to solve the security challenges in the country, particularly in the North-West and North Central.
He reiterated the urgent need to deal with the bandits, who according to the security chiefs, are becoming a nuisance, killing and making reckless pronouncements to solicit attention.
The Minister of Defense, General Bashir Magashi, told State House correspondents after the meeting that the government reviewed the situation in the country and concluded that it can resolve the security challenges, especially in Zamfara State and the North Central, which was of huge concern at the meeting, but with the cooperation of Nigerians.

Britain says it would do its utmost to rescue more than 300 Afghans who helped its armed forces but are now languishing under the new Taliban regime.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed to answer a question on how many British-Afghans remained after a hurried Western airlift was ended.
He says thousands made it out from Kabul on packed Royal Air Force planes, but 311 people were left behind who are eligible for the UK’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, such as interpreters.
Johnson demanded the Taliban honour commitments to allow out those wishing to leave, and to respect women’s rights if the militia wants to gain access to billions of dollars in Afghan funds frozen overseas.

Qatar aid envoy says Qatar will soon resume funding for civil servants and poor families in the besieged Gaza Strip under a new mechanism involving the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations.
Envoy Mohammed al-Emadi after meeting leaders from Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza, that Qatari stipends for civil servants and poor families, suspended since May, would resume in the coming days.
Doha has underwritten Gaza rebuilding and infrastructure projects since the 2014 Israeli offensive on the coastal enclave, but another round of fighting in May prompted Israeli and the US demands to revise the payouts.

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.