Bank of Japan ends negative rates, bids farewells to the era of radical policy
In a widely expected decision, the Bank of Japan ditched a policy put in place since 2016 that applied a 0.1per cent charge on some excess reserves financial institutions parked with the central bank.
More than 100 villagers abducted in latest round of mass kidnappings in northern Nigeria
President Bola Tinubu, elected to lead the country of more than 210 million people last year, has ruled out payment of ransoms as is often done in the operation to free the children.
Congolese journalist Bujakera imprisoned for ‘spreading false information’ set for release
Bujakera, who has denied all charges, had faced up to 20 years in prison. He was accused of fabricating a memo that implicated a Congolese intelligence official in the murder of an opposition spokesman.
FGM setback: Gambia considers repealing female cut law, will be first country to reverse the ban
The bill is backed by religious conservatives in the nation of less than three million people. Its text says that “it seeks to uphold religious purity and safeguard cultural norms and values.” The country’s top Islamic body has called the practice “one of the virtues of Islam.”
Explainer: How UN food security agency uses deaths and malnutrition to declare famine
In the 21st century, climate-related famines have largely been averted thanks to an innovative tool to track acute hunger, developed during the crisis in Somalia in 2004 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and now used by humanitarian agencies worldwide. This initiative is called the Integrated Security Phase Classification or IPC.
US officials meet Niger’s junta as Biden weighs options in Africa to steady counterterrorism agenda
On Saturday, following the meeting, the junta’s spokesperson, Col-Maj Amadou Abdramane, said US flights over Niger’s territory in recent weeks were illegal. Meanwhile, Insa Garba Saidou, a local activist who assists Niger’s military rulers with their communications, criticised US efforts to force the junta to pick between strategic partners.
Britain’s Sunak awaits with bated breath legislature’s verdict to relocate assylum seekers to Rwanda
The plan is key to Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats” bringing unauthorized migrants to the U.K. Sunak argues that deporting unauthorized asylum-seekers will deter people from making risky journeys and break the business model of people-smuggling gangs.
West calls Russia’s ‘election was an election without choice’ but China, India back Putin
Arriving in Brussels on Monday, EU foreign ministers roundly dismissed the election result as a sham ahead of agreeing sanctions on individuals linked to the mistreatment and death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
China’s military and state media rap US following explosive report on SpaceX spy satellite plans
Wang Yanan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge, a magazine overseen by the ruling Communist Party, was quoted in an interview as saying the SpaceX satellite project posed “a challenge to global security and stability”.
Gaza in the toss of man-made food crisis, 300,000 at risk of death, says UN-backed monitor
In all, 1.1 million Gazans, around half the population, were experiencing “catastrophic” shortages of food, the worst category, with around 300,000 in the areas now facing the prospect of famine-scale death rates.
