Dozens Die In DR Congo Cholera Outbreak – Report

 At least 48 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s central province of Sankuru, following a cholera outbreak in the region, the privately-owned news website Actualites CD has reported.

According to local health officials, 401 cases of the disease were recorded between 15 and 21 August.

To contain the disease, health officials are working with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) to raise awareness among the local population.

According to the website, the province of Sankuru has also been dealing with other diseases such as measles, monkeypox, acute respiratory infections and meningitis.

On 12 August, Congolese health officials said they had recorded 69 cases of monkeypox , which was declared a global health emergency in July by the World Health Organization.

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Suellen Tennyson: Kidnapped US Catholic nun freed in Burkina Faso

 A US Catholic nun who was kidnapped by armed men in April in Burkina Faso has been freed, the bishop of the local north-east diocese of Kaya has said.

“Sister Suellen is currently in a safe place and in good health,” Bishop Theophile Nare said in a statement.

Suellen Tennyson, 83, was taken hostage from a local parish in the middle of the night, leaving behind her glasses and blood pressure medication.

The identity of the kidnappers is not known.

However, several militant groups have carried out attacks in Burkina Faso.

Bishop Nare said he did not have any information on the circumstances leading to Sister Suellen’s release. The FBI had put out a missing person notice after the kidnapping.

Several militant groups allied to al-Qaeda and Islamic State operate in the Sahel region and are known to carry out attacks and kidnapping against civilians in Burkina Faso and neighbouring countries.

Regional nations continue to launch several offensive operations against the militant groups.

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Saudi Woman Jailed For 45 Years For Social Media Posts

 A Saudi woman has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for her social media posts, in the second case of its kind this month, activists say.

A terrorism court convicted Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani of “using the internet to tear the social fabric” and “violating public order by using social media”, rights group Dawn reported.

Little is known about her other than that she criticized Saudi leaders.

Another woman was jailed for 34 years over her Twitter activity on 9 August.

Abdullah Alaoudh, director of research for the Gulf region at Dawn, told the BBC’s Newshour programme that the US-based group had learnt of Qahtani’s case only after being passed court documents by a judicial source, and that it was continuing to investigate.

“Nothing in her court documents pertains to any violence or criminal activity,” he said.

“The charges against her are really broad. They are using the counter-terrorism law and the anti-cybercrime law… that can criminalise any posting that is even remotely critical of the government,” he added.

Several other female activists have reportedly been detained in relation to social media posts since last year. Mr Alaoudh said he feared that they could also be handed lengthy prison sentences.

“The Saudi government is sending a strong signal to the West that it does not care about human rights.”

Mr Alaoudh warned that it was “impossible not to connect the dots” between US President Joe Biden’s controversial meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed in Jeddah last month and “the uptick in the repressive attacks”.

Mr Biden had previously vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over its human rights record.

ALQST, a UK-based rights group, also expressed grave concern about Qahtani’s sentence, which it said was “based on [her] tweets”.

“As feared, we are witnessing an alarming deterioration of the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia,” it added.

The Saudi Prisoners of Conscience account also tweeted that it had confirmation of the sentence, but there was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities.

Earlier in August, Salma al-Shehab, a Saudi PhD student at Leeds University, was jailed for 34 years.

She was arrested while on holiday in Saudi Arabia in January 2021, and was found guilty of “providing succour to those seeking to disrupt public order” and “publishing false and tendentious rumours”.

Before leaving England, the 34-year-old mother of two had called for reforms and the release of prominent activists and intellectuals imprisoned under a crackdown on dissent overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Shehab’s prison term was believed to be the longest ever handed to a peaceful activist in the country until Qahtani’s was reported.

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Former Soviet leader Gorbachev dies at 91

 THIS JUST IN: Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union whose attempts to shake up his country’s political and economic system led to the collapse of the Communist superpower and the end of the Cold War, has died, Interfax reported.

The Russian news service cited the Moscow hospital where Gorbachev died at 91.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, he was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991.

DNT News with correspondence report from Moscow

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Court approves analysis of Kenya voting systems

 Judges of Kenya’s Supreme Court have ordered the electoral commission to grant party agents of presidential candidate Raila Odinga’s supervised access to computer servers that were used for transmission and storage of voting data.

The court also gave a 48-hour order for scrutiny and recount of votes from 15 polling stations as part of an election challenge filed by Mr Odinga after the election commission chairman Wafula Chebukati declared Deputy President William Ruto the winner of the 9 August presidential poll.

Chief Justice Martha Koome also directed the head of the police to provide adequate security to representatives during the exercise to be conducted at an undisclosed location.

A seven-judge bench will commence the hearing of the presidential election petition on Wednesday.

The court has consolidated the petition around nine issues, including looking into the validity of the election, after striking out two petitions and rejecting three applications.

During Tuesday’s pre-trial conference, the court set rules for the hearing including time allocated for each party and representation.

Mr Odinga rejected the election result saying the announcement of Mr Ruto as president-elect was unlawful citing divisions among electoral commissioners and the failure of Mr Chebukati to explain how he arrived at the final tally.

Mr Chebukati declared Mr Ruto the winner, saying he garnered 7.1 million votes to Mr Odinga’s 6.9 million.

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Angola beat South Africa ahead of CHAN 2023

 Luanda - National football team beat South Africa on Sunday 2-0 in the second and final qualifying match for CHAN 2023 in Algeria, played in Luanda’s 11 de Novembro Stadium.

Mateus Galiano and Ary Papel scored for Angolan team, “Palancas Negras” at 54th and 90+2' respectively.

This is Angola's second win over this opponent in 13 matches.

The first took place in 2016, curiously for the same result and also in the qualifiers for access to a CHAN, played in Rwanda.

Elections 2022: João Lourenço pledges to govern for prosperity

 Luanda - President-elect João Lourenço promised Monday to continuously work for Angola's large economy, large democracy and a society in which national citizens have the same opportunities to develop their talents and prosper.

The head of the MPLA's list for the general elections of 24 August, made the pledge at final results released by the National Electoral Commission (CNE), which guarantee his party the positions of President and Vice-President of the Republic, as well as 124, of the 220, MPs to the National Assembly.

CNE gave the ruling MPLA party the victory, with 51.07% (3.1 million votes / 124 MPs), with UNITA coming second, with 44.05% (2.7 million / 90 MPs).

The PRS ranked third, with 1.13% (70,398 / 2 MPs), followed by the FNLA, with 1.05% (65,223 / 2 MPs), and the PHA, with 1.01% (63,002 / 2 MPs) . CASA-CE, on the other hand, had 0.75% (46,750), not having obtained any MP, as did the APN, with 0.48% (29,740), and P-JANGO, with 0.42% (26,268).

“(…) this mandate of the People, which is sovereign, grants the MPLA the constitutional right and obligation of its candidate to be sworn in as President of the Republic of Angola, to form the Executive, appointing the ministers and secretaries of State, the governors from all 18 provinces, as well as all municipal administrators”, he declared.

He envisaged for the next five years an Executive that guarantees the stability and consolidation of the democratic and lawful State and that promotes dialogue and social consultation with the different partners of civil society.

João Lourenço pledged to fight for more transparency and efficiency of State institutions, more development and progress for Angola and for the Angolans.

The commitment to a programme focused on diversifying the economy and creating jobs, training staff and strengthening the education system, modernising Public Administration and decentralising the State, expanding health services and basic sanitation.

He also spoke of the continuity of a set of investments and necessary reforms to make Angola a more prosperous, more developed and more innovative country, giving all Angolans the future they aspire to and deserve.

He urged unity in a new spirit of patriotism and responsibility, where everyone contributes to a more just society.

João Lourenço proposes, with the private sector and other partners, to invest "strongly" in the creation of more opportunities for employment, self-employment and success in entrepreneurship, considering that it is time to open the doors of opportunities to young people, to restore the prosperity and promoting peace.

He praised the level of organisation of the elections, the massive presence of observers and the free media coverage of the elections, which led the international community to recognise these elections as having been free, fair and transparent.

He considered the absolute majority achieved as a victory of humility, seriousness and stability, thanking them for participating in the elections and ensuring the functioning of polling stations, while saluting competing political forces.

 The election had the participation of eight parties and 6.4 million voters, corresponding to 44.82 percent of the 14.3 million registered citizens.