Supporters of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader Lazarus Chakwera march in Lilongwe on June 4, 2019 to protest alleged fraud in presidential elections last month which he lost by 159,000 votes to Peter Mutharika. They blocked access to Capital Hill, the seat of government,calling for Mr Chakwera to be sworn in as President. PHOTO | AMOS GUMULIRA | AFP
China and Russia on Tuesday blocked calls by Britain and Germany to call for an end to the violence in Sudan which has seen the military kill more than 60 people in the past three days.
While China believes the UN Security Council should not pronounce itself on what it deems an internal matter, Russia wants the AU to take the lead in resolving the crisis.
Britain and Germany also wanted protesters and the ruling Transistional Military Council to resume talks, a position backed by six other european countries, after the junta revoked previous agreements and called for elections within nine months.
Mozambique top court declares multi-million secret govt loan void
Mozambique's constitutional court declared Tuesday that hundreds of millions of dollars in secret government loans were void, signalling that they do not have to be settled.
One of the controversial loans totalling $2 billion was taken out by the government between 2013 and 2015 for a tuna-fishing fleet and a maritime surveillance project.
The US views the payments as a money laundering scheme and was critical last month of a decision to extradite a former finance minister Manuel Chang by South Africa to face trial in Mozambique.
Mozambique defaulted on the debt, and repayments could swallow up future revenue from natural gas deposits discovered in the north of the country.
Malawi opposition rally against election 'robbery'
About 3,000Malawian opposition supporters marched through the capital Lilonge and burst into government offices Tuesday to protest against alleged fraud in elections last month that returned Peter Mutharika as president
Backers of the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) allege their leader Lazarus Chakwera was robbed of victory in the May 21 election, which an official count showed he lost by just 159,000 votes.
They marched from MCP headquarters to Capital Hill, the seat of the Malawi government, chanting anti-Mutharika slogans and demanding Chakwera be sworn in as president. .
Ex-Burkina leader's brother risks extradition over journalist's murder
The brother of Burkina Faso's ousted leader Blaise Compaore risks being sent home from France to face prosecution for the 1998 murder of a journalist, after a Paris court on Tuesday approved his extradition.
The French government must still approve the ruling to hand over Francois Compaore and the decision can be appealed in France's State Council, which rules on constitutional matters.
Compaore was arrested in Paris in October 2017. He is wanted in connection with the killing of investigative journalist Norbert Zongo who was investigating the death of Compaore's chauffeur.
Murder attracts the death penalty in Burkina Faso.
Zambia president vows to wind up copper giant KCM
Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Tuesday pledged to dissolve KCM, the country's largest copper producer, in a deepening dispute with foreign mining companies over tax and employment.
KCM is owned by London-based Vedanta Resources, in turn owned by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal.
Lungu's government accuses Vedanta of cooking books to show KCM as loss making in order to avoid paying taxes.
Vedanta attributes the losses to rising taxes and electricity bills.
Zambia is desperate for tax revenue to service its growing debt.
Ghana activists protest plans for bauxite mine
Conservation activists on Tuesday accused Ghana's president of plans to mine bauxite in a forest reserve despite fears it could put access of millions to drinking water at risk.
Daryl Bosu of the Green Livelihood Alliance told a news conference in the capital Accra, that mining bauxite in the Atewa forest watershed was not sustainable.
The forest reserve contains large deposits of bauxite, an essential component in aluminium production as well as a range of rare species.
Sinohydro Group Limited of China will provide $2 billion of infrastructure in exchange for Ghana's refined bauxite under a deal approved by Parliament.
Developers sue Apple over app store fees
A lawsuit filed Tuesday by developers alleges Apple is abusing its monopoly position in its online marketplace to extract excessive fees from those creating iPhone applications.
The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in California, claims Apple cornered the market with its iOS App Store, collecting a 30 percent commission on all app sales and in-app purchases.
The complaint comes as Apple holds its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California and just weeks after the US Supreme Court allowed a consumer lawsuit against Apple on similar grounds to proceed.
In the past, Apple has defended its control of the App Store, saying it enables the iPhone maker to protect against malicious software and maintain quality standards.
Sorghum rebounds in Europe thanks to climate change
Farmers in Hungary are abandoning corn in favour of sorghum, which consumes a third less water than maize, for fodder.
Extreme temperatures in the region are forcing farmers to adopt crops to global warming.
Sorghum is mostly grown in Africa's Sahel region and is the world's fifth major cereal crop after corn, rice, wheat and barley.
In Africa where it is a major food crop Nigeria and Sudan are the main producers of the grain while 60 million tonnes are harvested each year worldwide.
FIFA reinstates Sierra Leone after officials acquitted
FIFA has lifted the suspension of Sierra Leone after the authorities in the country acquitted the national football federation's former president and secretary general of corruption.
Football's world governing body FIFA suspended the Sierra Leone Football Association in October due to "government interference."
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) then disqualified the country from the 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifying competition.
The row stems from the decision of Sierra Leone's anti-corruption commission to sack SLFA president Isha Johansen and general secretary Christopher Kamara during an ongoing probe into corruption and mismanagement.
IAAF to fight Swiss court testosterone ruling
The IAAF said Tuesday it will fight a Swiss court decision to suspend its rules obliging athletes, including double Olympic champion Caster Semenya, to lower their testosterone levels in order to compete in certain events.
Switzerland's highest court on Monday temporarily suspended the IAAF rules following an appeal by Semenya, the South African who won the women's 800 metres at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
The athlete was contesting a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport which previously found that the rules were "discriminatory" but "necessary" to ensure fairness in women's athletics.
IAAF said it would seek a swift reversion of the provisional order moving forwards.
