Vice President of Sierra Leone Mohamed Jalloh, imposed a curfew on Wednesday from 3 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) in a bid to quell anti-government protests that resulted in the deaths of several persons and about eight police officers. According to officials and local media reports, hundreds of people took to the streets on Wednesday in a public display of frustration over inflation, rising cost of living, and general economic conditions in the country. It was gathered that the police officers, including six men and two women, were “brutalised” and killed in the area where the protests were held on Wednesday, youth minister Mohamed Bangura said. Bangura said he could not immediately confirm the number of civilians killed or injured in the violent demonstrations. “We are yet to know how many people were injured, but I can confirm that eight police officers were killed,” he said. Bangura also described the protests as an "act of terrorism."

Former President Thabo Mbeki has warned of anti-government protests similar to the 2010 Arab Spring. He said unemployment, poverty, corruption, and lawlessness could trigger the anger of South Africans. Mbeki was speaking at the memorial service for ANC Deputy Secretary-General, Jessie Duarte. According To Mbeki "One of my fears comrades is that one of these days..... we're going to have our own version of the 2010 Arab Springs. "You remember what happened in Tunisia, in Tunis when that Arab Spring started? A street vendor was abused and beaten up by the police and destroyed whatever he was selling and that made the country angry.

The President of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo, was unanimously elected on Sunday as the new chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He was elected at the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government 61st Ordinary Session in Accra, Ghana, to succeed Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo, who held the position for almost two years. The new chairman, elected for a year, will have the mandate to restore constitutional rule in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, which are currently under military governments.

Sri Lankan MPs have elected prime minister and acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe as the country's new president following the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapakas. The six-time prime minister polled 134 votes in a three-cornered parliamentary vote, with his main opponent Dullas Alahapperuma getting 82 and leftist Anura Dissanayake just 3, giving him an absolute majority on first preferences.

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence on Saturday shortly before angered protesters stormed his compound and nearby office in the capital of Colombo. Thousands of anti-government protesters from all over the country marched to Colombo demanding his resignation after months of protests over the mismanagement of the country's economic crisis.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has been shot on the street in the Western prefecture of Nara, Japan, on Friday morning. Abe was making a speech for an election campaign in the city when he suffered a shot to the chest. He collapsed at around 11:30 a.m. after people on the scene heard what sounded like a gun going off twice. Police have arrested a man in his 40s, Yamagami Tetsuya in Nara on suspicion of attempted murder and retrieved what appeared to be a homemade gun, local media reports. Abe is the longest-serving Japanese Prime Minister in history. He stepped down as leader in 2020, for health related reasons.

A former member of Colombia’s M-19 guerrilla group, Gustavo Petro has been sworn into office on Sunday after winning the presidential election in June. Gustavo Petro who is now Colombia’s first leftist president promised to unite the polarised country in the fight against inequality and climate change, and achieve peace with rebel groups and criminal gangs.

An early-morning drone strike has killed Ayman al-Zawahri, leader of Al Qaeda after Osama bin Laden’s death, at an urban safe house in Afghanistan ending a 21-year manhunt for the Egyptian radical. According to a confirmation made by the United States of America (USA) President, Joe Biden on Monday, “I authorized a precision strike that would remove him from the battlefield, once and for all.”

The bodies of at least 46 people believed to be migrants were found on Monday in and around an abandoned tractor-trailer on the outskirts of San Antonio, a major city in south-central Texas, officials said. Officials said a city worker had discovered the 18-wheeler that carried up to 100 individuals abandoned at the scene after hearing cries for help. Nearly two dozen Mexicans, seven Guatemalans and two Hondurans were among the dead. Those found alive, including four children, were taken to hospital but suffered apparent heat exhaustion and dehydration. More of the surviving migrants later died at a Texas hospital Tuesday morning according to officials, bringing the total death toll to 50. Three later died at Baptist Medical Center, a spokeswoman confirmed. Where the 50th victim died was not immediately clear.

Turkish defence Ministry says the first shipment of Ukrainian grain has left Odesa port this morning in a deal to alleviate the global food crises following the Ukrainian invasion by Russia. The statement said, “The ship Razoni has left the port of Odesa bound for Tripoli in Lebanon. It is expected in Istanbul on August 2. It will then continue its journey after it has been inspected in Istanbul,” According to the report from the Ukrainian infrastructure Minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, the vessel was carrying 26,000 tonnes of corn.

United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, Boris Johnson will be resigning today as the Conservative leader after losing the support of his newly appointed chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, ministers and MPs. According to Nadhim Zahawi “Prime Minister: this is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country. You must do the right thing and go now.”

Russia has on Tuesday 17th of May 2021 announced that it had decided to pull out of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), stating that the organisation has abandoned the principles on which it was created, and is turning it into an instrument of anti-Russian policy.