Juul to pay $438.5m to resolve US marketing probe

 Juul Labs will pay $438.5m (£380m) to end a probe of its advertising to underage buyers as it rose to be one of the top e-cigarette firms in the US.

The deal with 33 states and Puerto Rico also restricts Juul’s marketing, for example barring use of people under the age of 35 in its adverts.

Juul called the settlement “a significant part” of its efforts to resolve “issues from the past”.

The firm is also fighting a US ban of its products.

The US Food and Drug Administration in June said it would bar sales of Juul products due to insufficient data about the health impact. The measure is on hold while the company appeals the decision.

It continues to face litigation in some other states, as well as private lawsuits brought by individual families and others.

Juul said the terms of Tuesday’s settlement were in line with its marketing practices since a “company-wide reset” in the fall of 2019 and that it was “focused on the future”.

“We believe that once the FDA does a complete review of all of the science and evidence presented, as required by law, and without political interference, we should receive marketing authorization,” the firm said in a statement.

Juul was widely blamed for the explosive growth in teen vaping. More than a quarter of high schoolers used e-cigarettes in 2019, according to a federal survey, though that share has since subsided.

The investigation into Juul’s marketing found that the company had “relentlessly marketed vaping products to underage youth” even though such purchases are illegal in the US, said Connecticut attorney general William Tong, who announced the settlement on Tuesday.

He said the company had also used age verification practices it knew were ineffective and did not clearly disclose that its pods contained nicotine, which is addictive.

“Juul’s cynically calculated advertising campaigns created a new generation of nicotine addicts,” he said.

Money from the settlement will be paid out over six to 10 years and is to be used to combat tobacco use.

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Zambia president denies role in politician’s arrest

 Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema is against laws that impinge on the freedoms enjoyed by citizens, his spokesperson has said.

The comment follows the arrest of a critic for allegedly defaming the head of state.

Neither does the president influence the arrest of his critics nor how the law should be applied, spokesman Anthony Bwalya added.

Opposition politician Sean Tembo was arrested last Thursday over the alleged defamation and he remains in police custody.

A video of Mr Tembo being taken to hospital on Monday for a brief visit before being returned to police custody has been shared online.

Social embed from twitter

Mr Tembo, an ardent critic of Mr Hichilema, was arrested last week after a Facebook post criticising a fuel price hike was widely criticised as vulgar and sexist.

“Bally’s monthly menstruation is here again. Fuel prices to be reviewed tomorrow,” he wrote.

Mr Hichilema is widely known as “Bally”, especially on social media.

But his spokesperson said Mr Tembo’s arrest had nothing to do with the president.

Mr Hichilema ” does not write the law, and neither can or does he direct how the law should be enforced, nor does he direct or effect the arrests of those who perceivably fall foul of the law in its current form,” Mr Bwalya said.

He added that the president was working to re-establish Zambia as a model of democracy and good governance in the region and beyond.

Despite promising to issue a comprehensive statement on Mr Tembo’s arrest, the police have yet to do so.

Several people have recently been arrested under the defamation of the president law that carries a maximum three-year prison sentence, as calls to repeal it intensify.

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Mistreated Kenyan returns from Saudi Arabia

 A Kenyan woman whose story of cruelty at the hands of an employer in Saudi Arabia had angered many has arrived back home.

Diana Chepkemoi had an emotional reunion with her family and supporters on Tuesday afternoon at the main airport in the capital, Nairobi.

“I left Kenya to go to Saudi Arabia with the hope of getting a better life. Mine is just a tip of the iceberg, people are suffering…. I am pleading with the government to do something, help them, they are suffering,” she told reporters.

She added that she faced “psychological abuse”, saying her employer told her she was “bought” and “anything” could be done to her.

Ms Chepkemoi’s mother said she was “very grateful” for her daughter’s return, adding that the 24 year old was in a “critical condition”.

“I was helpless, I thank everyone who has facilitated the return of Diana home alive,” Clara Cherotich said.

Photos of the former university student shared on social media over the weekend showed Ms Chepkemoi looking listless and emaciated, far from her radiant self before she left the country in June last year.

This led to her family as well as Kenyans on social media campaigning for her release.

Her local MP, Brighton Yegon, who was among the group at the airport, said he would table a motion in parliament banning workforce export to Saudi Arabia.

On Monday, the Kenyan embassy in Riyadh said in a statement that following the outcry, Ms Chepkemoi was picked from her employer’s house and rushed to a top-level hospital for a check-up. She was later discharged and referred to a specialised hospital for a further diagnosis where she was given a clean bill of health.

“The only difference is that I got the courage to speak out. It’s a shame being told that there is nothing your government can do,” Ms Chepkemoi told reporters.

In 2021 a report submitted by the foreign affairs ministry indicated that 89 Kenyans, the majority of them domestic workers, died in Saudi Arabia.

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Call to cancel Uganda popular festival over immorality

 The Ugandan parliament has directed that the Nyege Nyege festival, an annual popular music concert, scheduled to take place in nine days’ time in the city of Jinja, east of the capital, Kampala, should be cancelled.

One MP said the concert was a “breeding ground for sexual immorality”.

State Minister for Tourism Martin Magara however defended the event describing it as a hub for tourism.

He said more than 8,000 foreign tourists had already booked tickets for the event.

Parliamentary speaker Anita Among said parliament would not allow the promotion of tourism at the expense of children.

The ministry of ethics had given permission for the festival to take place on grounds that no children were allowed in and that no-one goes to the venue naked.

Nyege Nyege has been a big draw for music fans in the region and beyond, it showcases various artists from across the continent along with those in the diaspora.

The festival, which would be marking its seventh edition, has often attracted controversy.

In 2018, it was cancelled on grounds that it was promoting promiscuity but it was allowed it to proceed later after a public outcry.

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South Africa hits economic setback

 Floods in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, rolling blackouts and the global economic slowdown are the major contributors to South Africa’s economy shrinking by 0.7% in the second quarter of 2022.

The April floods which killed more than 400 people contributed to a near-6% decline in manufacturing output.

The destruction of roads and key infrastructure in KwaZulu-Nata accounts for the decline in the key manufacturing sector.

On top of this, both the agricultural and mining sectors also shrank.

Last year the economy grew by 4.9% as rebounded from the impact of the pandemic and the measures to deal with it.

Lockdowns in 2020 saw GDP decline by an unprecedented 6.4%.

Following months of positive growth, the 0.7 % decline announced on Tuesday has pushed the country back below to pre-pandemic levels.

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