Newscast - Africa

Elon Musk says Apple has halted most of its advertising on Twitter and accused the company of threatening to remove the platform from its app store.
The feud comes as many companies have halted spending on Twitter amid concerns about Mr Musk's content moderation plans for the site.
Mr. Musk says Twitter has seen a massive drop in revenue, blaming activists for pressuring advertisers.
He accused Apple of censorship and criticized its policies, including the charge it levies on purchases made on its app store.

Zimbabwe has been ordered to suspend power generation from its main source of electricity, the Kariba hydroelectric dam.
The Zambezi River Authority says water storage levels were too low for power generation.
It added that Zimbabwe had already used up its annual allocation of water for electricity, and It was eating into neighboring Zambia’s share.
Zimbabwe will only be able to resume generating power from Kariba in January.
Zimbabwe has faced rolling power cuts due to drought, and breakdowns at its aging power plants.

The World Health Organization has announced a new preferred name for the monkeypox virus, saying it would refer to it as mpox.
The WHO says it had received complaints the current name was "racist and stigmatizing and that, after consultations with experts, mpox would be used simultaneously with monkeypox for one year.
The WHO urged other medical organizations and the media to adopt the new name as well.

Ethiopia is hosting the UN's annual internet forum despite an internet blackout of more than a year in the war-devastated region of Tigray.
More than 2,500 delegates from all over the world are attending the forum, which is focusing on ''connecting all people and safeguarding human rights''.
The UN's decision to host the event in Addis Ababa has however raised eyebrows among internet and human rights campaigners.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed defended blackouts, saying the internet is not water, the internet is not air'' and shutdowns were aimed at saving lives.
He added that decisions were made to save lives during conflicts.

The Osun House of Assembly says the state will continue to be known as the “State of Osun” as against “Osun State”.
The Osun Assembly countered the move, maintaining that the adoption of the State of Osun is a matter of law.
The Assembly says the usage of the state anthem, crest, and flag is an enactment of the law and as such, its usage is a matter of law and not choice.
The enactment of the state of Osun anthem, crest, and flag law, 2012’ assented to on the 18th of December, 2012, contained in Schedule I, II, III, IV, and V, which carefully details every component of this law is not in ambiguity.

President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to leave a legacy of free and fair elections in Nigeria and the West African sub-region at large.
He says they are convinced that the sustenance of democracy and the rule of law should remain the norm in this promising region.
He says there will be multiple political activities in some ECOWAS member states, including Nigeria, where general elections are due to be held in February and March 2023.
He also reiterated his commitment to free, fair, and transparent elections and smooth transitions.

The United Nations announced that it had reached an agreement with the Federal Government to develop tools for monitoring public spending in agriculture.
The agreement also covers monitoring the effects of public policies on prices for farmers and producers in Nigeria.
It says the agreement was reached between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
The UN says both parties had renewed their collaboration for the next five years and signed the first work plan to help repurpose budgets, incentivize producers, and speed up inclusive agricultural transformation.
The UN agency stated that it was time to rethink, repurpose and rethink the agriculture sector of the Nigerian economy.

The contributions of telecommunications to the nation’s real Gross Domestic Product increased by 10.52 percent year-on-year to hit N7.28tn in the first nine months of 2022.
The National Bureau of Statistics says the sector contributed N11.99tn to nominal GDP within the period under review, a 17.83 percent y-o-y increase from the N10.18tn it was in the corresponding period of 2021.
The NBS explained the gross output of telecoms and information services as, “Revenue from telephone, telex, facsimile, telegraph, and other income from satellite and internet services.
The statistics body categorizes telecoms under the information and communication sector which comprises telecommunications and information services; publishing; motion picture, sound recording, and music production; and broadcasting.

US authorities announced a ban on the import or sale of communications equipment deemed an unacceptable risk to national security including gear from Chinese giants Huawei Technologies and ZTE.
Both firms have been on a roster of companies listed as a threat by the Federal Communications Commission and the new rules bar future authorizations of their equipment.
Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel says the FCC is committed to protecting our national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within our borders.
The FCC says that it was also seeking comment on future action relating to existing authorizations.

Elon Musk says Twitter will provide a general amnesty to some suspended accounts from next week.
This came after he started a poll asking Twitter users whether accounts that had not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam should be let back on the social media platform.
Several accounts, such as that of former US President Donald Trump, have already been reinstated by Mr. Musk.
Musk says the people have spoken and Amnesty begins next week.