US President Joe Biden tightens restrictions on Huawei and ZTE

US President Joe Biden has signed legislation that stops companies judged to be a security threat from receiving new telecoms equipment licences.

The Secure Equipment Act says the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should no longer review applications from companies ruled a threat.

It means equipment from Huawei, ZTE and three other Chinese companies cannot be used in US telecoms networks.

Democrat and Republican senators all approved the bill.

It was voted in unanimously by the Senate on 28 October, after passing through the House of Representatives with 420 votes in favour and only four against it.

In March, the FCC said it had identified five Chinese companies that posed a threat to national security under a 2019 law designed to protect US communications networks.

It named Huawei and ZTE, as well as Hytera Communications Corp, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co, and Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co.

However, the FCC was not required to reject the companies’ applications to be used in US networks.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said the regulator had approved more than 3,000 applications from Huawei since 2018.

He said the Secure Equipment Act would “help to ensure that insecure gear from companies like Huawei and ZTE can no longer be inserted into America’s communications networks”.

China has been critical of the crackdown.

“The United States, without any evidence, still abuses national security and state power to suppress Chinese companies,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson at China’s foreign ministry, said in June.

The FCC has also proposed new rules that would let it revoke licences that have already been granted.

Last month, the FCC voted to withdraw permission for China Telecom’s US subsidiary to operate in the United States, citing national security concerns.

President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to hold a virtual meeting next week.

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South Africa stretches lead in Group G after victory over Zimbabwe

The Bafana Bafana of South Africa defeated the Warriors of Zimbabwe by a lone goal in the penultimate match in the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) World Cup qualifier on Thursday evening.

South Africa has now stretched their lead on the table to 13 points, followed closely by Ghana, who has ten points after they were held by Ethiopia one all in an earlier game.

Prior to the penultimate matches, South Africa was leading Ghana by just a point, the recent outcome made it three.

A 26th-minute goal by Teboho Mokoena was enough to grant them the three maximum points, but not enough to give them an absolute lead on the table.

South Africa would have to at least pick a draw in the last game against Ghana to ensure progress to the playoff stage, whilst Ghana would need to win against the Bafana Bafana in Cape Coast to seal a spot in the next stage.

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France investigates rape of soldier at Élysée palace

French prosecutors have opened an investigation into an alleged rape at the presidential palace in Paris.

Local media report a female soldier has said she was sexually assaulted after a drinks reception at the Élysée palace in July.

President Emmanuel Macron had earlier attended the event, held for departing staff.

The accused – also a soldier – has been questioned, but has not yet been formally charged, reports say.

Newspaper Libération first reported the accusation on Friday.

Both the alleged victim and accused attacker reportedly worked at a high-security staff office in the building, and Libération said they knew each other.

A presidential official told the AFP news agency that “as soon as the authorities were aware of these claims, measures were immediately taken” to support the alleged victim.

Both she and the accused have been moved to other duties, the palace has said.

On the evening of 1 July, there was a drinks party at the Elysée to bid farewell to a departing senior officer – a member of President Macron’s personal military staff.

The president himself made a short address before leaving, but afterwards it’s alleged that the drinking continued.

It was then that a woman soldier claimed that she was sexually assaulted by one of her colleagues.

She lodged a formal complaint at a police station the next day, and shortly afterwards a criminal investigation was launched.

The alleged assailant was placed under the status of “assisted witness”, which is a step short of actually being charged.

In recent years, a number of sexual assault scandals have rocked French society.

Mr Macron has vowed to tackle the problem of violence against women, and his government introduced a new law setting the age of consent at 15 in response to the scandals this March.

He is expected to stand for a second term as president in elections scheduled for April 2022, although he has yet to declare his candidacy.

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UK halts plan to recruit Kenyan nurses

The UK government has announced that it has stopped the recruitment of Kenyan health professionals to work in the National Health Service (NHS).

This is because Kenya has been added to a UK list of countries where there is a shortage of nurses and other health workers.

In July the UK and Kenya announced a deal that would enable the UK to reduce employment shortages in the NHS by recruiting nurses from Kenya who were unemployed.

Kenya’s Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe had said 20,000 Kenyan nurses would travel.

However, it is unclear how many had been recruited under this scheme but those who had already been accepted will be able to take up employment in the UK.

Last month, Mr Kagwe said that only 10 out of 300 health workers who had taken the required English language test had passed.

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