Newscast - Africa

The Ministry of Labour and Employment has rejected the 21-day ultimatum given to the Federal Government by the Nigeria Medical Association saying it is in direct collision with the Memorandum of Understanding signed on August 21.
The NMA had threatened to join the ongoing strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors if the government failed to resolve all the issues contained in the various agreements signed with its affiliate unions.
The government argued that the NMA’s position was at variance with the timeline stated in the Memorandum of Agreement.

A WHO document shows that the World Health Organization’s pandemic programme plans to ship 100 million doses of the Sinovac and Sinopharm COVID-19 shots by the end of next month, mostly to Africa and Asia, in its first delivery of Chinese vaccines.
The Chinese shipments will help the sputtering global COVAX vaccine sharing programme which is far behind its pledge to deliver 2 billion doses this year following supply problems and export curbs imposed by major producer India.
It could also boost Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy efforts despite concerns over the efficacy of the Chinese shots, which have been turned down or paired with boosters from Western manufacturers by some of the recipient countries.

The Africa director of the World Health Organization says COVID-19 vaccinations in Africa have tripled during the past week, though protecting even 10 per cent of the continent by the end of September remains a very daunting task.
Matshidiso Moeti told reporters that this is a preventable tragedy if African countries can get fair access to vaccines.
The WHO Africa director says 13 million doses were administered in the past week, three times more than the number of shots given in the previous week as donations of doses increased from developed countries.

India lifted its ban on Boeing Co.’s 737 Max jet, a major boost to the American planemaker that leaves China as the only leading aviation market yet to allow the aircraft to resume service.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation in an order posted on its website says India’s decision comes after it observed no untoward reporting on jets already flying since 17 global regulators allowed it to resume flights.
Boeing rose 0.4% to $222 before the start of regular trading in New York. The stock had climbed 3.3% this year through Wednesday while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 16%.

A group of seven US Capitol Police officers are suing former President Donald Trump accusing him of conspiring with far-right groups and intentionally sending a violent mob on January 6 to disrupt the congressional certification of the election.
The suit filed in federal court in Washington, DC, alleged Trump worked with white supremacists, violent extremist groups, and campaign supporters to violate the Ku Klux Klan Act, and commit acts of domestic terrorism in an unlawful effort to stay in power”.
The 71-page suit lays out in detail the officers’ arguments that Trump and his supporters conspired in the months leading up to January 6 to prevent Congress from certifying the election results through the use of force, intimidation, and threats.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced his country has already completed its evacuation operations in Afghanistan.
The country pulled out its troops of Kabul just before the bombings on Thursday, after receiving very clear intelligence of an impending attack.
Morrison says they were able to ensure the departure of the remaining Australian personnel over the course of last night, not that long before the terrible events that unfolded last night took place.
He also said that American and British forces had helped Australia over nine days to evacuate some 4,100 people, including 3,200 Australians and Afghan citizens with Australian visas.

South Sudan’s government has vowed to foil anti-government protests called for by a group of activists on Monday.
The People’s Coalition for Civil Action wants the president and his first vice-president to step down.
They accused President Salva Kiir and First Vice-President Riek Machar of frustrating the people of South Sudan.
Juba Mayor Kalisto Lado Faustino says his administration will restrict any gathering of two or more people in the city on Monday.
Mr Lado described the group calling for the protests as people who are against the implementation of the revitalised peace agreement.

Kenya says that the main Covid-19 vaccine to be used in rural areas will be the one manufactured by Johnson & Johnson.
Chairperson of the country's vaccine task force, Dr Willis Akhwale, says that hospitals in these areas did not have the infrastructure to store the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which require specialist equipment, such as very cold freezers.
Dr Willis told the BBC that the AstraZeneca vaccine will also be used in hospitals in rural and urban areas.

A government-licensed recruiting agency based in Nigeria’s capital Abuja is conducting interviews for doctors to work in Saudi Arabia.
Dozens of doctors have been applying for the jobs through Meed Consultants, which is recruiting doctors in different specialities under a programme tagged Saudi Ministry of Health Doctors Recruitment August 2021.
Flyers announcing the recruitment have been circulating widely on social media, especially on WhatsApp platforms.
A consultant pathologist, Dr Kura Phillip told the BBC that the problems faced by doctors in the country had already been outlined by their union which prompted the ongoing strike.
He cited the meagre hazard allowances given to doctors exposed to numerous illnesses, ranging from communicable diseases, so many pandemics that were easily transmissible.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission says more than 70 per cent of Nigerian youth might soon become ex-convicts if the present high rate of their involvement in cybercrime was not stopped.
The Benin Zonal Command of the agency secured the conviction of three cybercriminals before Justice A. T. Mohammed of the Federal High Court sitting Port Harcourt, Rivers State, bringing to 33 the number of internet fraud convictions recorded by the zone within 24 hours.
The Ilorin zonal commander of the EFCC, Mr Usman Muktar decried the high rate of cybercrime among youths and enjoined every stakeholder in the country to discourage the youths from internet fraud.
Muktar says the EFCC had witnessed an increasing number of arrests of Nigerian youths in cybercrime in recent times, charging parents to ask their children questions about sources of their wealth.