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☆ Take Five: A September to remember?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 29, 2023. 1/ SCARY SEPTEMBERNow the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole confab is over, investors are strapping in for a potentially volatile month. Reuters Graphics2/ THE SICK MAN OF EUROPEGermany looks likely to be the only major economy to contract this year. No wonder the region's economic powerhouse is once again being called the sick man of Europe. But economists are sceptical, noting that at just 0.2% of GDP, the package is no game-changer and that the sick man will need more medicine.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Ira Iosebashvili, Kevin Buckland, Dhara Ranasinghe, Libby George, Naomi Rovnick, Jackson, Jerome Powell, Olaf Scholz, Xi Jinping, Philip Lowe, Michele Bullock, BoE, Amanda Cooper, John Stonestreet Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Federal, Reuters, ECB, Germany's, Reserve Bank of Australia, Traders, Bank of, British Retail Consortium, Reuters Graphics, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Ira, New York, Tokyo, London, Germany, Europe, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Zambia, Delhi, China, Bullock, Bank of England, Halifax

☆ Factbox: Developing countries in the grip of debt problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

In June, it clinched a $6.3 billion debt rework deal with the "Paris Club" creditor nations and its other big bilateral lender China. Another part of the domestic debt plan has faced delays, though, with a key deadline on a Treasury bond exchange delayed three times and now set for Sept. 11. Failure to complete the domestic debt overhaul by then could result in delays both in terms of IMF disbursements and talks with creditors. The government recently agreed to tackle roughly $4 billion of its domestic debt via a pension fund debt swap operation and a dollar-denominated bonds exchange. Cairo has a $3 billion IMF programme and has devalued the pound by roughly 50% since February 2022.

Persons: Adnan Abidi, Nandalal Weerasinghe, Kais Saied, Nayib Bukele, William Ruto's, Donald Trump, Libby George, Marc Jones, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, China, SRI, SRI LANKA Sri, Sri Lanka Development, Sri, Monetary Fund, IMF, UAE, Observers, European Union, SALVADOR, World Bank, African Development Bank, Presidential, Republican, Thomson Locations: New Delhi, India, Delhi, ZAMBIA Zambia, SRI LANKA, SRI LANKA Sri Lanka, China, GHANA Ghana, Zambia, Ghana, PAKISTAN Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, TUNISIA, North, Tunisia, EGYPT Egypt, Cairo, Salvador, KENYA, Kenya, UKRAINE Ukraine, Ukraine, Russia, LEBANON Lebanon

Demand for carbon credits is on track to fall in 2023, according to two of the top data providers. Nestle, which has also not disclosed its spending on offsets, said it would stop using carbon offsets and was seeking other routes to net zero. Until this year, the voluntary carbon market had grown as more companies came under shareholder pressure to adopt net zero policies. SECOND THOUGHTSFor the carbon markets, another issue is that regulators and carbon market advisory bodies are limiting the scope of their use by companies. "You need to reduce emissions and that's how you will be judged in the market when you're disclosing your carbon emissions."

Persons: Elizabeth Frantz, Gucci, Renat Heuberger, Stephen Donofrio, certifier Verra, EasyJet, Jane Ashton, Ashton, Naomi Swickard, Verra, Zimbabwe's, Steve Wentzel, Wentzel, Kristian Rönn, Rob Hayward, Susanna Twidale, Sarah McFarlane, Barbara Lewis Organizations: New England Forestry Foundation, REUTERS, Nestle, Reuters, Marketplace, Shell, Boston Consulting, Offset, GEO, Verra, Carbon, Investments, United Nations, Voluntary, Initiative, EU, KLM, Companies, Thomson Locations: Hersey, New Hampton , New Hampshire, U.S, Kenya, Pole, Stockholm, Ghana

☆ Uber rolls out electric bike fleet in Kenya, its first in Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Duncan Miriri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Uber boda boda riders prepare to ride the first fleet of the company's electric product during their launch in Nairobi, Kenya, August 31, 2023. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Uber Technologies Inc FollowNAIROBI, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Ride-hailing firm Uber (UBER.N) on Thursday launched an electric motorbike service in Kenya, its first in Africa, as the company seeks to make its global platform emissions free by 2040. Uber's new green product in Kenya, dubbed Electric Boda in a nod to the Swahili term for motorbike taxis, will comprise 3,000 bikes within six months, or just under a fifth of its fleet. The growth of the electric vehicles market in Africa has been slowed by a lack of adequate electric charging infrastructure and associated equipment. Motorbike transport is a big employer in Kenya, absorbing millions of people who are unable to secure formal jobs.

Persons: Monicah, Uber, Kagiso Khaole, Khaole, William Ruto, Duncan Miriri, Aaron Ross, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Technologies, Thomson Locations: Nairobi, Kenya, NAIROBI, Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Saharan Africa

Below are five charts showing what's been moved and/or shaken:1/SHOCK FOR THE STOCKSMSCI's 24-country emerging markets (EM) stocks index (.MSCIEF) is down 6% this month. It is still up for the year, though well below the 13.5% gain this year for MSCI's main global index, which has benefited from a boom in U.S. "mega-cap" stocks. "The markets that have underperformed are the lower-yielding markets like Asia," Mike Arno, a portfolio manager at Brandywine Global, said. "The market doesn't seem to think that China is a major threat," said Aegon Asset Management's head of EM debt, Jeff Grills. Reuters Graphics5/OUT OF AFRICAThe other big trouble spot has been Africa, where debt markets have seen a sharp pullback.

Persons: Jason Lee, what's, Tayyip Erdogan's, Katherine Marney, Mike Arno, Jeff, Erdogan, Van Eck's, Eric Fine, Viktor Szabo, Szabo, Marc Jones, Rodrigo Campos, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, JPMorgan, Brandywine, FX, HK, EMBI, abrdn, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Africa, MIWD00000PUS, Hungary, America, Brazil, Argentina, Asia, TURKEY, Gabon, Niger, JPMorgan's Africa, London, New York

☆ Algeria proposes transition to resolve Niger crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 29 (Reuters) - Algeria is proposing an initiative to resolve the political crisis in neighbouring Niger with a six-month transition period led by a civilian, Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf said on Tuesday. Attaf, who recently toured West African states, said "most of the countries we have talked to are against military intervention to end the crisis". Algeria has repeatedly said it was against military intervention, pointing to the chaos that followed NATO action in Libya in 2011 during its uprising against longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi. Algerian officials have spoken three times since the coup to the Niger military leader, who wants a transitional period of up to three years, Attaf said. Last week Algerian state television said President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had denied permission to France for a possible military operation in Niger, but France denied it had sought any such permission.

Persons: Francis Kokoroko, Ahmed Attaf, Attaf, Muammar Gaddafi, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Lamine Chikhi, Angus McDowall, Andrew Cawthorne, Alex Richardson Organizations: Defense, REUTERS, West, ECOWAS, NATO, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Republic of Niger, Accra, Ghana, Algeria, Niger, West African, Libya, Sahel, Algerian, France

☆ Indian rice shipments of 500,000 tons postponed after new duty- exporters
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Rajendra Jadhav | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

India, which is scrambling to rein-in inflation ahead of state elections later this year, on Friday expanded curbs on rice exports with a 20% duty on parboiled rice that would be effective until Oct. 15. Shipments of around 500,000 tons have been put on hold, said B.V. Krishna Rao, president of the Rice Exporters Association (REA). India exported a record 22.2 million tons of rice in 2022, including 7.4 million tons of parboiled rice. Lower-income consumers in Asia and Africa previously preferred 100% broken rice, exporters said, which was available at $325 per ton, but India banned exports of broken rice last year. India, which accounts for 40% of world rice exports, in July ordered a halt to its largest rice export category, non-basmati white rice, which fuelled a rally in global rice prices.

Persons: Rajendra, Himanshu Agarwal, B.V, Krishna Rao, REA, Rao, Tony Munroe, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Satyam Balajee, Rice, Association, Reuters Graphics, Thomson Locations: Kakinada Anchorage, Andhra Pradesh, India, Benin, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, New Delhi, Asia, Africa

☆ Opinion | We Have Unfinished Business With These Three Killer Diseases
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Richard Conniff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

As with so many infectious diseases, lack of determination is the real stumbling block. The United States and other donor nations could argue that we already do more than our share, contributing billions annually to the fight against TB and other infectious diseases. The realities of modern travel mean that none of us is protected from a TB resurgence until we have protected people everywhere. That ought to serve as a reminder that an estimated 247 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide in 2021, and 619,000 people died. They have eliminated wild poliovirus from major cities and Taliban-dominated regions where it was still circulating just a few years ago.

Persons: specter Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, Malawi — Locations: United States, Great, Texas, Florida, Saharan Africa, South Asia, El Salvador, China, Africa — Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan, Afghanistan

REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsChocolate makers are banking on the traditional resilience of their product to price increases. The data showed Hershey's sales volumes increasingly declined during the period as the company hiked prices. "We are seeing consumers starting to react more than before, I'd be very cautious with price increases," said Dan Sadler, a candy expert at U.S.-based market researcher IRI. Barry Callebaut (BARN.S), the world's biggest chocolate maker supplying most major brands including Nestle (NESN.S), doesn't expect any growth in sales volumes this year. Pennsylvania-based Hershey, is hoping that as it eases off the rate of price hikes, its sales volumes will reverse their current downtrend.

Persons: Nielsen, Dirk Van de, Luca Zaramella, Patrick Folan, Mike Blake, Mondelez, Hershey, Zaramella, Bernstein, I'd, Dan Sadler, Barry Callebaut, Hershey's, Michele Buck, Matt Scuffham, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: Nielsen, Hershey, Reuters, Consumers, Cadbury, Barclays, REUTERS, IRI, Nestle, Rabobank, El, Kailyn, Thomson Locations: Europe, United States, North America, Encinitas , California, U.S, Pennsylvania, El Nino, West Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kailyn Rhone, New York

☆ Russia, expansion and Western relations in the spotlight as leaders gather for pivotal BRICS summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

South African police officers walk in front of an event banner outside the venue for the BRICS summit at the Sandton Convention Center in the Sandton district of Johannesburg, South Africa, on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. Ramaphosa invited 67 leaders from across Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean to attend the summit, but no Western leaders received an invitation. watch nowBilateral deals and cooperation is common among BRICS members, but de Carvalho challenged the idea that there is a unanimous desire to compete with the G7. He added that the BRICS members do not always agree and do not see the group as a "panacea," but simply a "vehicle to become more influential in global discussions." "The G7 contains the rich Western economies, while BRICS contains the two most populous countries and the leading countries on three continents.

Persons: Michele Spatari, Cyril Ramaphosa, Xi Jinping, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Narendra Modi, Sergei Lavrov, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Ramaphosa, Gustavo de Carvalho, de Carvalho, Lula, BRICS, It's, it's, Steven Gruzd, Gruzd Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, West, South, Indian, Russian, International, Court, ICC, Western, African Union Commission, New Development Bank, South African Institute of International Affairs, CNBC Locations: Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, Ukraine, Africa, Latin America, East, Asia, Caribbean, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, UAE, Argentina, Indonesia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, BRICS, Russia, Brazil, China

CNN —The African Union has suspended Niger following the takeover of the West African country by a military junta on July 26. The council will review an assessment of the “economic, social and security implications of deploying a Standby Force in Niger,” it said. ECOWAS chiefs had initially given the junta a seven-day ultimatum to restore power or face consequences, including military action. That planned action did not happen as many attempts at dialogue and diplomacy have been made by ECOWAS and allies such as US and the European Union. The African Union affirmed its “solidarity” with ECOWAS’s efforts to restore constitutional order in Niger “through diplomatic means,” it said.

Persons: –, “, Security Abdel, Fatau Musah, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, Mohamed Bazoum, ” Organizations: CNN, African Union, Security, West, Economic, West African States, Force, European Union, Political Affairs, Peace, Union Locations: Niger, West, Republic of Niger, ”, Ghana

☆ Cargill ingredients are probably in every meal you eat. That makes the company's environmental goals a big deal.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Cargill, the largest private company in the US, buys from farmers and ranchers in 70 countries. Some environmental groups, including Greenpeace and Stand.earth , accuse Cargill of not doing enough on those fronts. What is Cargill doing about the climate crisis? What is Cargill doing about that? (A Cargill spokesperson added that the company also offers premium payments to soy growers in South America enrolled in a company sustainability program.

Persons: Cargill, Pilar Cruz, Burger, didn't Cargill Organizations: Service, Privacy, Cargill, Greenpeace, Stand.earth, Latina, Soil Health Institute, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Innovation Fund, Tropical Forest Alliance, US, Brazil —, Gran Chaco, South America Locations: South America, Southeast Asia, Cargill, North America, Germany, Romania, Poland, Southern, Brazil, West Africa, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, South

REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko Acquire Licensing RightsABUJA/NIAMEY, Aug 19 (Reuters) - A delegation from West Africa's main regional bloc ECOWAS met Niger's ousted president Mohamed Bazoum and held talks with junta leader General Abdourahmane Tiani in the capital Niamey on Saturday, a Nigerian presidential spokesperson said. The group that flew in was led by Nigeria's former military leader Abdulsalami Abubakar and included ECOWAS commission president Omar Touray, the source said. "After meeting .... (junta leader) General Abdoulrahmane Tchiani, the ECOWAS delegation in Niger have also visited President Mohamed Bazoum this evening," he wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter. There was no immediate comment from the junta, which has held president Mohamed Bazoum since seizing power despite international calls for his release. ECOWAS has taken a harder stance on the Niger coup, the wider region's seventh in three years, than it did on previous ones.

Persons: Francis Kokoroko, Niger's, Mohamed Bazoum, General Abdourahmane Tiani, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Omar Touray, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, General Abdoulrahmane Tchiani, Tiani, Alessandra Prentice, Toby Chopra, Jane Merriman Organizations: Chiefs, Defense, REUTERS, Rights, ECOWAS, West, Twitter, Islamic, U.S . State Department, Thomson Locations: Republic of Niger, Accra, Ghana, Rights ABUJA, NIAMEY, West Africa's, Niamey, Niger, al Qaeda, Islamic State

☆ West African bloc holds talks in Niger with junta
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defense staff brief the press on plans to deploy its standby force to the Republic of Niger, in Accra, Ghana, August 18, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko Acquire Licensing RightsABUJA, Nigeria Aug 19 (Reuters) - A delegation from West Africa's main regional bloc ECOWAS flew to Niger's capital Niamey on Saturday to hold talks with the junta, an ECOWAS source told Reuters, as the bloc pursues diplomatic ways to overturn the July 26 coup. ECOWAS has taken a harder stance on the Niger coup, the wider region's seventh in three years, than it did on previous ones. The credibility of the bloc is at stake because it had said it would tolerate no further such overthrows. Reporting by Felix Onuah Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Francis Kokoroko, Mohamed Bazoum, Omar Touray, Felix Onuah, Alessandra Prentice, Toby Chopra Organizations: Chiefs, Defense, REUTERS, Rights, ECOWAS, Thomson Locations: Republic of Niger, Accra, Ghana, Rights ABUJA, Nigeria, West Africa's, Niamey, Niger

"The increase in sugar and cocoa specifically is material," Mondelez CFO Luca Zaramella said in July. The data showed Hershey's sales volumes increasingly declined during the period as the company hiked prices. Barry Callebaut (BARN.S), the world's biggest chocolate maker supplying most major brands including Nestle (NESN.S), doesn't expect any growth in sales volumes this year. In the U.S., private label sales volumes grew nearly 9% in the year to mid-June despite near double-digit price rises, IRI data shows. Pennsylvania-based Hershey, is hoping that as it eases off the rate of price hikes, its sales volumes will reverse their current downtrend.

Persons: Mike Blake, Dirk Van de, Luca Zaramella, Patrick Folan, Mondelez, Hershey, Zaramella, Bernstein, I'd, Dan Sadler, Barry Callebaut, Hershey's, Michele Buck, Matt Scuffham, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: REUTERS, Hershey, Reuters, Consumers, Nielsen, Cadbury, Barclays, IRI, Nestle, Rabobank, El, Kailyn, Thomson Locations: Encinitas , California, Europe, North America, U.S, Pennsylvania, El Nino, West Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kailyn Rhone, New York

☆ West African militaries meet to finalise possible Niger intervention
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Military personnel gesture as the ECOWAS anthem is played during a meeting of the Committee of Chiefs of Defense staff on the deployment of the ECOWAS standby force in the Republic of Niger, in Accra, Ghana. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko Acquire Licensing RightsACCRA/NIAMEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - West African army chiefs were due to hold a second and final day of talks on Friday in Ghana's capital Accra, where they have been hashing out the details of a possible military intervention in Niger if diplomacy fails to reverse a military coup. Military officers deposed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and have defied calls from the United Nations, the West African bloc ECOWAS and others to reinstate him, prompting regional powers to order a standby force to be assembled. He said most of the bloc's 15 member states were prepared to participate in the standby force excepting those also under military rule - Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea - and tiny Cape Verde. Any escalation would further destabilise West Africa's impoverished Sahel region, which is already battling a decade-old Islamist insurgency.

Persons: Francis Kokoroko, Mohamed Bazoum, Security Abdel, Fatau Musah, Alessandra Prentice, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: ECOWAS, Chiefs, Defense, REUTERS, Rights, United Nations, West African, Political Affairs, Peace, Security, Islamic, Thomson Locations: Republic of Niger, Accra, Ghana, Rights ACCRA, NIAMEY, Ghana's, Niger, West Africa, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Cape Verde, Sahel, al Qaeda

[1/3] ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defense staff meet on the deployment of its standby force in the Republic of Niger, in Accra, Ghana. Niger military officers deposed President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and have defied calls from the United Nations, ECOWAS and Western powers to reinstate him, prompting West African heads of state to order the standby force to be assembled. "Let no one be in doubt that if everything else fails, the valiant forces of West Africa...are ready to answer to the call of duty," ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah said. Musah accused the Niger coup leaders of "playing cat-and-mouse" with ECOWAS by refusing to meet with its envoys and seeking justifications for their takeover of power. He said most of the bloc's 15 member states were prepared to participate in the standby force that could intervene in Niger.

Persons: Francis Kokoroko, Mohamed Bazoum, Security Abdel, Fatau Musah, Russia's Wagner, I'm, Omar Yaye, Musah, Bazoum, Anait Miridzhanian, Edward McAllister, Estelle Shirbon, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Chiefs, Defense, REUTERS, West, ECOWAS, United Nations, Political Affairs, Peace, Security, European Union, Media, Thomson Locations: Republic of Niger, Accra, Ghana, Niger, Niamey, ACCRA, NIAMEY, West Africa, Gambia, Liberia, Sahel, Mali, Niger's, France, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Cape Verde

☆ Safaricom launches M-Pesa mobile money service in Ethiopia
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A customer displays the package of a Safaricom Ethiopia sim card during the service launch in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsADDIS ABABA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Safaricom's (SCOM.NR) M-Pesa mobile money service went live in Ethiopia on Wednesday, in a boost to the Kenyan telecoms operator as it seeks to kickstart growth in one of Africa's biggest economies. The company also faces stiff competition from Ethio Telecom, whose profits more than doubled in its latest financial year. In July, Ethio Telecom reported having more than 34 million subscribers to its mobile money service Telebirr. Mobile money services are common in East Africa, allowing customers to send and receive money and pay for goods and services.

Persons: Safaricom, Stanley Njoroge, Dawit, Elias Biryabarema, Aaron Ross, Jane Merriman Organizations: REUTERS, Tiksa, South Africa’s Vodacom, Britain’s Vodafone, Democratic, Ethio Telecom, Thomson Locations: Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, ADDIS ABABA, Horn of Africa, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, Mobile, East Africa

REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/Illustration/File PhotoNEW YORK, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Investors in Argentina's financial markets, where bonds and the peso slid on Monday after central bank moves following a surprise primary election result, said the vote had a silver lining: it would likely hasten long-called-for economic reforms. The result initially introduced uncertainty into asset pricing, with traders selling stocks and dollar bonds - but prices later stabilized and the local stock market closed over 3% higher. Investors said this would outweigh any worries about Milei, despite some of his heterodox pledges, including to axe the central bank and dollarize the economy. Milei faces a significant challenge still to turn the primary election win into a successful run to the presidency. The central bank also increased the benchmark interest rate to 118% from 97%.

Persons: Agustin Marcarian, Javier Milei, Patricia Bullrich, Milei, Kimberley Sperrfechter, Sergio Massa, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Milei's, Walter Stoeppelwerth, Shamaila Khan, Rowe Price, Samy Muaddi, Rodrigo Campos, Adam Jourdan, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Argentine, REUTERS, Economics, Kimberley, Peronist, Investors, Gletir SA, Emerging Markets, Asia Pacific, UBS Asset Management, Jorgelina, Thomson Locations: Argentina, Argentine, MERV, Rosario

☆ Niger junta says open to talks as Putin, US stress peace
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Felix Onuah | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Souleymane Ag Anara/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 15 (Reuters) - Niger's junta on Tuesday said that it was open to talks to resolve a regional crisis caused by last month's military coup, while Russia and the United States called for a peaceful resolution. Singh declined to call the takeover a coup but said it "certainly looks like an attempted coup." Military leaders in Mali and Burkina Faso have kicked out troops from former colonial power France and strengthened ties with Moscow. Putin has called for a return to constitutional order in Niger, while Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin welcomed the army takeover and offered his services. Support for Russia has appeared to surge in Niger since the coup, with junta supporters waving Russian flags at rallies and calling for France to disengage.

Persons: Mohamed Bazoum, Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, Mahamat Deby, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Assimi Goita, Sabrina Singh, Joe Biden's, Singh, Bola Tinubu, Russia's Wagner, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Felix Onuah, Mahamat Ramadane, Idrees Ali, Nellie Peyton, John Stonestreet, Estelle Shirbon, Alexandra Hudson, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, West, Economic, West African States, ECOWAS, Islamic, Twitter, Military, Thomson Locations: Nigerien, Niamey, Niger, Russia, United States, Ghana, al Qaeda, Islamic State, West, Central Africa, Russian, West Africa's, Central Africa's, West Africa, Mali, Burkina Faso, France, Moscow, Bazoum, Western, U.S, Germany, Italy, Paris, Abuja, Chad, Washington

☆ He converted a van into a mobile medical clinic. Now, he’s bringing care to thousands in rural Ghana
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Meg Dunn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“Early screening wasn’t an option for us.”He realized that education and preventative health care was lacking in many remote areas of Ghana. A few times a week, the mobile clinic and medical team travel long distances to remote communities in Ghana and provide free routine medical care. CNN Hero Osei Boateng's Hope Health Van is designed like a medical clinic for seeing and treating patients. Boateng's organization does outreach to high schools as part of its efforts to combat the stigma surrounding mental health. “Words cannot describe the feeling that you get providing care for someone who otherwise wouldn’t be alive if your mobile health van wasn’t there.”Want to get involved?

Persons: Osei Boateng, Boateng, ”, “, ” Boateng, Osei, Van, it’s Organizations: NJ CNN, Cornell University, Healthcare Administration, OKB Hope Foundation, CNN, “, Hope Foundation, OKB Hope Locations: Somerset, NJ, Ghana, Saharan Africa

☆ Kantamanto market: At one of the world’s largest clothing dumps, textiles are getting a new lease of life
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Jenny Marc | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

They belong to a vendor in one of the world’s largest secondhand clothing markets, who plans on selling these clothes for a small profit. Using research, advocacy and innovation, the foundation draws attention to textile waste and finds ways to reuse it. A water stream across the street from Kantamanto textile market is choked with discarded clothing, essentially becoming a makeshift landfill. They purchase used clothing by the bale, without knowing what’s inside, in hopes of selling it for profit. The regulations will make the collection of textile waste mandatory in 2025, but the organization says these changes won’t be enough.

Persons: Ghana CNN — Kennie MacCarthy rummages, MacCarthy, ” MacCarthy, Andrew Caballero, Reynolds, Jenny Marc, “ I’ve, ”, –, Kayayei, “, Liz Branson, MacCarthy – Organizations: Ghana CNN, Bloomberg, Charities, CNN Merchants, Foundation, CNN, European Commission Locations: Accra, Ghana, Kantamanto, Europe, North America

☆ Ethiopia cracks down on gay sex in hotels, other venues
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ADDIS ABABA, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Security forces in Ethiopia are cracking down on hotels, bars and restaurants in the capital Addis Ababa where gay sexual activity is alleged to take place, the city administration said on Thursday. Rights groups say the LGBT community in Ethiopia remains underground because LGBT people face high levels of discrimination and fear violence and ostracism if their identities are discovered. The Addis Ababa Peace and Security Administration Bureau, a government body, said it was taking action "against institutions where homosexual acts are carried out" following tip-offs from the public, and had already raided a guest house in the city. Gay sex is prohibited by law in Ethiopia, but there are no recent reports of people being convicted for engaging in consensual same-sex sexual activity. (This story has been corrected to change sourcing from Ethiopia News Agency to Addis Ababa Peace and Security Administration Bureau in paragraphs 1, 4 and 5)Reporting by Tiksa Negeri, Writing by Hereward Holland, Editing by William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Guramayle, Hereward Holland, William Maclean Organizations: Security, Rights, Addis Ababa Peace, Security Administration Bureau, Facebook, Ethiopia News Agency, Security Administration, Tiksa Negeri, Thomson Locations: ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ghana, Uganda

☆ European airlines are adding up to 2 hours to flights to go around Niger after the African nation suddenly closed its airspace
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

This means airlines flying between Europe and southern Africa have to detour around the volatile nation. Carriers like British Airways and Air France are impacted, the latter adding up to two hours of flight time. Airlines like Virgin Atlantic Airways, Lufthansa, and Swiss International Airlines are also avoiding Niger. With the closure of Niger's airspace, airlines are now grappling with an even wider section of no-fly territory in north-central Africa. This map shows the African territories that European airlines cannot fly over.

Persons: —, FlightRadar24, they're Organizations: Carriers, British Airways, Air, Morning, Bloomberg, juntas, BCC, KLM, Cape Town, Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines, Japan Airlines, Finnair Locations: Europe, Africa, Air France, South Africa, Ghana, Niger, Johannesburg, London, Mali, Burkina Faso, Burkina Faso's, Ouagadougou, Cape, Entebbe, Uganda, Accra, Lagos, Nigeria, Russia, Helsinki, Tokyo, Germany, France, Libya, Sudan

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