Africa Business Radio

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.

Medical doctors in Lagos who have been part of the nationwide strike action called by the Nation Association of Resident Doctors will resume duties immediately.The government in a statement says Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has met some of the requests of the issues which led the NARD to embark on the industrial action since last month.Among the issues discussed was the circular issued by the Head of Service removing Housemanship and NYSC Doctors from the Scheme of Service.The residents appealed to the Lagos Governor to revoke or suspend the circular. The HOS explained the importance of domesticating decisions made at the federal level.

Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly committed an anti-open grazing bill to the Committee on Agriculture after it scaled second reading.The House also read for the first and second time, the state’s Value-Added Tax bill and asked the Committee on Finance handling it to report back on Thursday.Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, described the Prohibition of Open Cattle Grazing Bill as timely and one that would ensure harmonious relationships between herders and farmers and protect the environment of the state and the South West.He suggested that the bill should make provision for the registration of herders and prepare them for ranching.

President Muhammadu Buhari approved the appointment of Dr Ifedayo Adetifa as the new Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement says Dr Adetifa replaces former NCDC chief, Chikwe Ihekweazu, who recently got a new job as the Assistant Director-General of Health Emergency Intelligence at the World Health Organisation.

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria asked the Federal Government to stop state governors from enacting the anti-open grazing law.MACBAN Secretary-General, Saleh Alhassan says the law would undermine the relative peace and stability currently enjoyed in the local communities, threaten the social order and exacerbate cattle rustling.He noted that the Federal Government should create a ministry for livestock and fisheries as obtainable in many African countries. Alhassan noted that anti-open grazing laws would destroy livestock production and send millions who depend on the livestock value chain into poverty.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has ordered the Rivers State Revenue Service to fully implement the State Value-Added Tax Law 2021 which he assented to recently.This follows the failure of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to stop the state government from collecting VAT, having filed an application at a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, the state capital.He says the way is now clear for the administration and enforcement of the Rivers State Value-Added Tax Law 2021 across the entire state until otherwise decided and set aside by the superior courts.

The Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari has banned all commercial phone charging points in the state as part of measures to tackle the scourge of banditry.He issued the ban on Monday at the Katsina Government House while inaugurating the committee charged with monitoring and enforcing the recently introduced executive order in the state.Governor Masari believes that the latest measure, coupled with further collaborations with the Federal Ministry of Communications will drastically reduce the menace of banditry in the north-western state.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the setting up of a Health Sector Reform Committee to commence the development and implementation of a Health Sector Reform Programme for Nigeria in collaboration with the State Governments and the FCT administration.A statement issued by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, says the setting up of the Committee is a sequel to a Health Sector Diagnostic Review Report developed by a consultant, Vesta Healthcare Partners and the Federal Ministry of Health.The committee will undertake a review of all healthcare reforms adopted in the past two decades and lessons learnt and factor them into the development of the new Health Sector Reform Programme.

Dozens of women took to the streets of the capital to demand their right to work, a role in any future government, and a seat at the table in discussions with the Taliban.The protest began with 50 women marching towards the presidential palace.Razia Barakzai, a protester told Al Jazeera that the women were stopped near the entrance to the finance ministry, where the Taliban surrounded them and kept them from continuing on their march towards the palace entrance.Barakzai says the Taliban had employed both pepper spray and tear gas to try and disburse the crowd.Barakzai says the Taliban which tried to encircle the protesters were wearing red banners and carrying guns.

Officials have said nearly half a million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in Australia overnight.Australia is under pressure to ramp up its vaccination programme and last week agreed deals with the United Kingdom and Singapore for a total of about 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, double this month’s supply.Lieutenant General John Frewen, head of the vaccination task force, told broadcaster ABC that there will be another set of flights in a couple of days, but they will be getting a million of the four million every week over the next four weeks.Frewen says one million doses of Moderna will also reach Australia in a week or so expanding a vaccine rollout, which also includes AstraZeneca.

The UAE announced a new visa allowing foreigners to work in the country without being sponsored by an employer, loosening residency requirements in an attempt to boost economic growth.Foreigners in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates are generally only given limited visas tied to their employment, and long-term residency is difficult to obtain.officials say those holding the new green visa will be able to work without company sponsorship, and can sponsor their parents and children up to 25 years old.Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani al-Zeyoudi says It targets highly skilled individuals, investors, business people, entrepreneurs, as well exceptional students and postgraduates.

South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma was placed on medical parole just two months into his term.The Department of Correctional Services in a statement says that Zuma’s medical parole took effect on Sunday and he will serve the rest of the 15-month prison sentence outside the jail.The statement says Zuma will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections, whereby he must comply with a specific set of conditions and will be subjected to supervision until his sentence expires.It added that the decision was motivated by a medical report the department received.

Western diplomats in South Sudan have said the government should respect freedom of expression, including the right to peaceful protest.Their joint statement follows the arrest of a number of activists in the wake of a call by a group calling itself People’s Coalition for Civil Action, which is allegedly planning an anti-government protest on Sunday.The diplomats said freedom of expression was needed in parliament and in society at large, adding that freedom of assembly must also be protected.They pointed out that these were universal rights enshrined in South Sudan's transitional constitution.

Soldiers who seized power in Guinea have ordered government ministers and national figures to attend a meeting later on Monday.The special force's officers warned that anybody who failed to appear would be regarded as a rebel.They said regional governors have been replaced by military commanders, and the ousted president, Alpha Condé, was safe but in detention.An indefinite nationwide curfew is in force.The head of Special Forces, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, said his soldiers had seized power because they want to end rampant corruption and mismanagement.

Zamfara Government has shut down internet and mobile phone services in the state as security forces fight to contain armed gangs who have been carrying out killings and kidnappings for ransom.The shutdown comes just days after gunmen abducted more than 70 schoolchildren in the town of Kaya-Maradun.The authorities believe it will help security forces track down gunmen behind the rising violence in the region.The kidnappers are believed to coordinate their activities and negotiate ransom payments for the release of their victims through mobile phones.

Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited and a member of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Economic Advisory Council, Mr. Bismarck Rewane has stated that Nigeria has maintained the infamous position as the poverty capital of the world, with 93.9 people in Africa’s most populous country currently living below the poverty lineRewane stated that seven million Nigerians fell into extreme poverty in 2020.The report had then stated that the number of Nigerians in extreme poverty increases by six people every minute.Rewane pointed out in the latest report that the Petroleum Industry Act, which is in the process of being implemented, would have minimal impact on new investments in the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.