Newscast - Africa

Russia has rejected claims that it has defaulted on its external debt for the first time in more than a century, telling investors to go to Western financial agents for the cash that Moscow claims were sent but bondholders did not receive.
The White House says that Russia had defaulted on its international bonds for the first time since the Bolshevik revolution, as sweeping sanctions amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine have effectively cut the country off from the global financial system.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says the fact that Euroclear withheld this money and did not bring it to the recipients is not their problem.

President Guillermo Lasso announced that Ecuador will cut fuel prices, which had sparked weeks of demonstrations, though not by as much as protesters have demanded.
The country’s energy ministry warned that oil production had reached a critical level and could be halted entirely within 48 hours if the protests and roadblocks continued.
The ministry says the seizure of oil wells and road closures have prevented the transport of equipment and diesel needed to keep operations going.

Japan’s government warned of a power crunch as extreme heat hits the country, with temperature records toppling and Tokyo’s rainy season declared over at the earliest date on record.
The Japan Meteorological Agency says temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit were forecast in Tokyo throughout Monday, and the mercury is not expected to drop below 34 until Sunday.
Yoshihiko Isozaki, deputy chief cabinet secretary, asked the public to reduce energy consumption during the early evening hours when the reserve ratio falls.

The Africa Development Bank has pledged that $3bn will be invested over the next 10 years to end vaccine dependency across the continent.
The plan includes a new pharmaceutical centre for research, development and manufacturing based in Rwanda's capital, Kigali.
AfDB says it will also help patent and license African-made medicines, and support governments to navigate the intellectual property rights to global vaccines and medicines.
AfDB says Africa currently imports more than 70% of all its medicines, spending about $14bn every year.

The Ethiopian government says it has set up a seven-member committee to hold peace talks with Tigrayan forces in a bid to end the 19-month civil war.
It is to be chaired by the country's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Demeke Mekonen.
Ethiopia's Justice Minister Gediwon Timothios says the governing party would only agree to the African Union leading the peace process.

Ivory Coast says it would spend around $430 million in a three-year campaign to support young people in border regions at risk from Sahel jihadists.
Youth Minister Mamadou Toure says as part of the fight against vulnerability in northern areas, particularly the six regions bordering Burkina Faso and Mali, the government has launched an ambitious programme of integration and infrastructure for education and health.
Toure says along with the military response, they want to develop an ambitious social programme to give young people prospects to prevent them from becoming easy targets for jihadist movements.

The Federal Government is investigating the breach of the data privacy of David Nwamina, a young Nigerian at the centre of an allegation of organ harvest against a former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
The Nigeria Data Protection Bureau, says it was investigating the breach of the data privacy of Sonia Ekweremadu, the daughter of the Ekweremadus.
The National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Data Protection Bureau, Dr Vincent Olatunji, has ordered an investigation into the use and public circulation of the personal data allegedly belonging to Nwamini David and Sonia Ekweremadu in the ongoing case of organ transplant pending before a British Court.

Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle has clarified that his directive urging people to acquire firearms is for them to complement the efforts of security forces in the ongoing war against insurgency.
The governor explained that the committees were being inaugurated to ensure proper implementation of the security measures being taken to tackle the upsurge of banditry in the State.
The governor reiterated that his administration will continue to explore strategies to crush the security challenges and the sufferings endured by the citizens at the hands of the terrorists.

Emefiele stressed that the central bank’s foreign exchange regime further seeks to ensure external balance without compromising the need for internal balance and the overall goal of macroeconomic stability.
The CBN governor says the thrust of exchange rate management by the bank was to allow the market system to determine the exchange rate parity in an efficient manner devoid of the activities of speculators and rent-seekers.
He pointed out that the bank’s choice of exchange rate regime had at all times been determined by the prevailing economic fundamentals, adding that it was not uncommon that the dynamics of the external and domestic economy lead to a change in regime.

The Ondo State government says the call for self-defence by the Zamfara State government has again emphasised the importance of establishing state police to adequately tackle the insecurity bedevilling various parts of the country.
Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu says the call by the Zamfara State government for citizens to arm themselves has shown the loss of confidence in the current security arrangement in the country.
He accused the Federal Government of denying exigent regional security outfits the right to bear firearms, saying the security agencies in the country were overwhelmed and distracted.