Africa Business Radio

UK visitors are now able to travel to the US for the first time in nearly two years. The border reopened at 05:01 GMT and the first flights take off from Heathrow at 08:30 - but all UK visitors over 18 will have to provide proof of vaccination to enter the US. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has called this a significant moment for UK-US travel. He added that transatlantic flights are at the heart of UK aviation. The travel ban is being lifted for people from Brazil, China, India, Ireland, South Africa, Iran and the Schengen countries - a group of 26 European nations.

A federal appeals court in the United States has frozen a vaccine mandate by President Joe Biden’s administration that is intended to push workers at businesses with more than 100 staff into getting COVID-19 shots or be tested weekly. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate. It says the mandate hereby stays pending further action by this court. Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda says the Labor Department was confident in its legal authority to issue the rule, which will be enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

A stampede of fans surging toward the stage during rapper Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival in Houston killed at least eight people and injured dozens more as panic rippled through the crowd of largely young concertgoers, according to officials. City Police Chief Troy Finner says that his department has opened a criminal investigation following unconfirmed reports that someone in the audience was injecting other people with drugs. Officials told reporters that People began to fall unconscious, some apparently suffering cardiac arrest or other medical issues.

Libya’s ruling presidential council has suspended Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush for administrative violations and barred her from travelling. A spokeswoman for the council says the three-member body suspended Mangoush on Saturday for carrying out the foreign policy without coordination with the council. Libya’s transitional Government of National Unity rejected the council’s decision in a statement early on Sunday. It says that the presidential council has no legal right to appoint or cancel the appointment of members of the executive authority, suspend them or investigate them adding that these powers are exclusive to the prime minister.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has rejected fresh accusations of corruption after a newspaper investigation found major donors to his Conservative Party were offered seats in parliament’s upper chamber. Eustice also described the furore over Conservative politician Owen Paterson, who quit parliament after the government’s U-turn on plans to overhaul the system for combatting parliamentary corruption Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told Sky News it was difficult to see a future for Kathryn Stone, the independent parliamentary commissioner for standards after Conservative MPs blocked her recommendation to suspend Paterson.

Iran’s army is holding a large-scale sea, land and air military drill, which comes shortly after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and United States Navy had a confrontation in the Sea of Oman over a seized oil tanker. The drill was launched on Sunday morning and is expected to incorporate soldiers, vessels, armoured vehicles, manned and unmanned aircraft, and missile and radar systems in both offensive and defensive capacities. Abdolrahim Mousavi, commander-in-chief of Iran’s army, told state television that the exercises will be held in an area encompassing one million square kilometres east of the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman, and the northern parts of the Indian Ocean.

Sudan’s army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan says he will not participate in any government that comes after a transitional period and denied that the army was responsible for the deaths of protesters rallying against the military takeover. The independent Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors says at least 14 demonstrators have been killed and about 300 wounded. Al-Burhan told Al Jazeera that It is our pledge that they are committed to completing the democratic transition, holding elections on time, and committed to not stopping any political activity as long as it is peaceful.

The Ethiopian authorities have described as impotent an alliance of nine anti-government groups formed to fight federal forces and their allies. Government spokesman Kebede Desissa claimed the new coalition had no support and was the weakest political force in the country. He says the rebel groups are baseless, have no social bases and they have no capacity to change anything. Mr Kebede added that he regarded current events as normal Ethiopian politics because whenever there is a need for political stability in the country, Ethiopian diasporas come together and form an alliance thinking that the government cannot stay in power and the government is weakened.

The West African regional bloc Ecowas has imposed sanctions against Mali's transitional leaders and their families. The sanctions range from travel bans to a freeze of their financial assets. It follows their failure to adhere to the timetable of returning the country to constitutional rule by February next year. Ecowas says that the Malian authorities had informed them of their inability to meet the transition Deadline of holding elections. It says Ecowas will be considering further sanctions next month if there's still been no progress towards elections in Mali.

The Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators has issued a-14 day ultimatum to the federal government to publicly parade and prosecute the perpetrators of the invasion of Justice Mary Odili’s house in Abuja. The Coalition, in a statement, gave the ultimatum after its general assembly meeting. The statement says If the government failed to answer and apologise to Odili’s family, Niger Delta people and prosecute the perpetrators within the next fourteen days. The Coalition says it viewed the action as a ploy to intimidate, harass, humiliate and forcefully evict her from her current position in the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The Central Bank of Nigeria says that it recorded a significant reduction in the volume and cost of foreign exchange procurement in 2020, the year of COVID when the entire world was on lockdown and businesses closed. The bank says a total of $1.83 billion was procured over the period, representing a decline of $2.12 billion or 53.67 per cent compared to the $3.95 billion procured in 2019. The annual report by the apex bank’s Currency Operations Department shows that the CBN also slashed its expenditure on currency printing from N75.52 billion in 2019 to N58.61 billion in 2020. The central bank explained that this was used to fund Bureaux De Change operations, payment of estacode and Personal Travel Allowances to Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency has commenced a controlled demolition at the site of the collapsed building in Ikoyi. The two other towers beside the one that caved in on Monday, November 1 have been left untouched as agencies of government continue to clear the rubble at the site. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has, however, says that the other two structures would be subjected to ageing analysis.

The Independent National Electoral Commission has suspended the collation of results for the Anambra State governorship election. INEC’s Chief Returning Officer for the election, Professor Florence Obi, says they have collated results from 20 out of 21 local government areas. Professor Obi says a declaration would only be made after a supplementary election was conducted in the remaining local government – Ihiala.

The United States has approved a $650m sale of air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia in what would be the Biden administration’s first major weapons deal with the Gulf kingdom. The Pentagon says the US State Department approved the sale to help Riyadh counter current and future threats. The Pentagon says this proposed sale will support US foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be an important force for political and economic progress in the Middle East. It added that Massachusetts-based firm Raytheon would be the principal contractor for the sale of AIM-120C-7/C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles and related equipment.

India has cut the taxes paid by consumers on petrol and diesel after the surging cost of crude oil pushed fuel prices to record highs. The government says the decision aims to ease price rises and further spur the overall economic cycle. Global commodity prices have soared this year as economies around the world recover from the pandemic. India's excise duty on petrol has been reduced by 5 rupees per litre, and by 10 rupees on diesel. The government statement says the reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel will also boost consumption and keep inflation low, thus helping the poor and middle classes.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says Global food prices have hit the highest level in over a decade after rising by more than 30% in the last year The agency's figures highlighted the soaring cost of cereals and vegetable oils around the world. The UNFAO says its measure of cereal prices was up by more than 22% compared to a year earlier. The UNFAO says its index of vegetable oil prices was pushed up by rises in the cost of palm, soy, sunflower and rapeseed oils. The UNFAO says in the case of palm oil, prices have been driven higher after output from Malaysia was subdued due to ongoing shortages of migrant workers.

The Gates Foundation is the latest international donor offering to address the looming shortage of syringes for Covid-19 vaccination in Africa. This comes amid warnings from the World Health Organization (WHO) that the shortage of crucial commodities such as syringes was slowing the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the continent. Kenyan company Revital Healthcare is licensed to manufacture the syringes and will now benefit from the $4m grant from the Gates Foundation. The WHO and Unicef have predicted a shortfall of up to 2.2 billion syringes needed to administer the Covid-19 vaccines as well as other routine immunisations in 2022.

The president of Seychelles says that the world must take the needs of island nations seriously when it comes to the impact of climate change and rising sea levels. Wavel Ramkalawan told the BBC that they are already seeing some of the islands changing shape and some of the islands are losing so much landmass. He added that the wealthier nations need to step up their game. He says there should be a pause in oil exploration in the Pacific Ocean. He added that they have rather got to look at wind energy, solar energy - at what is natural and what is renewable.

Somalia has asked the African Union Commission representative in the country to leave within a week after declaring him persona non grata. Somalia’s foreign ministry says Simon Mulongo, the AUC’s deputy special representative in Mogadishu, was no longer welcome in the country due to his engagement in activities that are incompatible with African Union Mission in Somalia’s mandate and Somalia’s security strategy. Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdirizak says the Somali government will hold accountable AMISOM person[n]el, particularly those at the leadership level, who are expected to be beyond reproach in their integrity as they discharge their duty under the UN/AU mandate.

Sudan's military chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has agreed to accelerate the return to a transitional government following talks with the United States and the United Nations. The UN special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, says the discussions had yielded the outline of a potential deal to reverse last month's coup, including the reinstatement of the deposed prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok. He, however, remains under house arrest, though four of his ministers are being released.