NIGERIAN DOCTORS BEGIN INDEFINITE STRIKE.
Doctors in Nigeria's public hospitals have started a "total and indefinite strike" over what they described as the failure of government to address their grievances.
The striking medics make up the largest percentage of doctors in Nigeria's hospitals.
Their walk-outs usually severely disrupt healthcare services in government hospitals.
Among their demands, they're asking for the immediate payment of all salaries and a new hazard allowance.
The Nigeria Medical Association says at least 50 doctors leave Nigeria every week to work abroad.
Poor working conditions, coupled with bad pay and the rising cost of living are the main factors.
KENYA'S PRESIDENT OFFERS TO MEET ODINGA AMID TENSION.
Kenya's President William Ruto says he is ready to meet opposition leader Raila Odinga amid the recent cost-of-living protests.
Dozens of people have died in the demonstrations.
Odinga has been leading them to push the government to lower taxes and ease other price hikes.
It came after Odinga held a media briefing claiming that Ruto had snubbed an offer by the Tanzanian president to mediate between the government and the opposition.
Odinga has condemned the police for their brutal actions against protesters and has called for vigils on Wednesday in honour of the people killed in protests.
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DEADLY MEDITERRANEAN WILDFIRES KILL MORE THAN FORTY.
More than 40 people have died in Algeria, Italy and Greece as Mediterranean wildfires threaten villages and holiday resorts, and thousands have been evacuated.
Greece is preparing for more evacuation flights from Rhodes, as fires also rage on the islands of Corfu and Evia.
The current long heatwave shows no let-up - temperatures are expected to rise above 44C (111F) in parts of Greece.
Fires in Sicily and Puglia have forced thousands of people to flee.
High winds and tinder-dry vegetation mean firefighters are struggling in many areas to douse the flames and create firebreaks.
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GHANA PARLIAMENT VOTES TO ABOLISH DEALTH PENALTY.
Ghana's parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty, joining a long list of African countries that have done so in recent years.
The country currently has 170 men and six women on death row, whose sentences will now be replaced by life imprisonment.
The last execution took place in 1993.
Execution has been the mandatory sentence for murder in Ghana.
Opinion surveys suggest that most Ghanaians approve abolition.
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UNITED NATIONS SAYS THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN FLEEING SUDAN OUT OF SCHOOL.
More than 40,000 children who have fled fighting in Sudan to South Sudan since April are now unable to attend school.
According to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 183,000 people have so far crossed the border since the conflict between Sudan's rival military factions began.
The numbers are expected to rise as the war continues and attempts to broker a ceasefire flounder.
Those arriving in Unity State, on the border with Sudan, had injuries and reported incidents of looting and harassment by armed groups during their journey.
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UNITED KINGDOM CRITICISED FOR LACK OF UNDERSTANDING' OF WAGNET'S ACTIVITIES IN AFRICA.
The UK government has been sharply criticised by the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) for under-estimating the dangerous growth of Russia's Wagner mercenary group.
In a scathing report, the cross-party committee of MPs accused the government of what it called "a dismal lack of understanding" of Wagner's activities in Africa.
"We are deeply concerned by the government's dismal lack of understanding of Wagner's hold beyond Europe, in particular their grip on African states," says the Committee's chair, Alicia Kearns MP.
The report itemises seven states where Wagner's military activity has been detected: Ukraine, Syria, the Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan, Libya, Mozambique and Mali.
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Cambodia's PRIME MINISTER TO RESIGN, HANDS POWER TO SON.
Cambodia's Hun Sen, one of the world's longest-serving leaders, has announced he will resign as prime minister and hand over to his son in coming weeks.
The anticipated announcement came three days after his party again won all the seats at an uncompetitive election.
Hun Sen, 70, has become increasingly authoritarian after nearly four-decades of rule in Cambodia, analysts say.
He first flagged a transition in 2021, but until Wednesday, no one knew when that would take place.
His eldest son, Hun Manet, has long been groomed for the role and was until recently the commander of the Royal Cambodian Army.
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CHINA, RUSSIA IN FIRST POST-PANDEMIC VISITS TO NORTH KOREA.
A Russian delegation led by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has arrived in North Korea, to be joined by a Chinese delegation later on Wednesday.
They will attend Pyongyang's celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, marked typically by massive military parades.
The visits are the first to North Korea since the country shut its borders in a bid to keep out the pandemic.
It is unclear if this signals a change in Pyongyang's border policies.
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CHINA FOREIGN MINISTER'S REMOVAL SPARKS SPECULATION.
Speculation on Qin Gang remained rampant on Wednesday, a day after he was removed as China's foreign minister just seven months into the job.
No reason was given for Qin's removal, which was announced after an emergency meeting on Tuesday.
His predecessor Wang Yi has been reappointed to the post.
Official silence over Qin's unexplained disappearance from public view for the past month had sparked speculation both in China and abroad.
Social media on Wednesday was full of searches and speculation over his abrupt dismissal.
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INDIA PRIME MINISTER FACES NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE IN PARLIAMENT.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is set to face a no-confidence vote in parliament amid a deadlock with the opposition over violence in the state of Manipur.
A lawmaker from the opposition Congress party moved a no-confidence motion on Wednesday.
Opposition leaders have said this is to force Modi to speak on Manipur.
They have been demanding that he address parliament on the ethnic clashes in the state.
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