A group of soldiers who ousted Guinea’s President Alpha Condé from power on Sunday have ordered the country’s cabinet to attend a mandatory meeting on Monday. Those who refuse to attend the 11:00 GMT meeting will be considered rebels, a statement on state TV said. President Condé remains in detention, but his fate is unclear. The UN, African Union, and regional body Ecowas have condemned the coup and called for a return to civilian rule. “I strongly condemn any takeover of the government by force of the gun and call for the immediate release of President Alpha Conde,” the UN secretary-general António Guterres tweeted. After hours of gunfire on Sunday, the streets of the capital, Conakry are reported to be quiet but it remains unclear if the entire military backs the coup.(BBC)…[+]

One-year-old twin girls who were born conjoined at the back of their heads have seen each other for the first time after undergoing rare separation surgery in Israel. The 12-hour operation at the Soroka Medical Centre in the city of Beersheba last week took months of preparation, and included the scalp grafts for both.

Dozens of experts from Israel and abroad were involved. The girls, who have not been named, are said to be recovering well. “They are breathing and eating on their own,” Eldad Silberstein, the head of Soroka’s plastic surgery department, told Israel’s Channel 12 news. It is the first time such an operation, which has only been conducted 20 times worldwide, has been performed in Israel.(BBC)…[+]

Israeli authorities have launched a massive manhunt after six Palestinian prisoners escaped from one of the country’s most secure jails overnight. The men are believed to have dug a tunnel from their cell over several months that led to a road outside Gilboa Prison’s walls. Officials were alerted by farmers who noticed them running through fields. The fugitives include a former leader of the militant group Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade and five Islamic Jihad members. An Israel prison service official described the escape as “a major security and intelligence failure”; Palestinian militant groups hailed it as “heroic”.The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.(BBC)…[+]

The EU and UK-Swedish drug-maker AstraZeneca have settled a row over a shortfall in coronavirus vaccines that affected the European rollout earlier this year. AstraZeneca has agreed to deliver 200 million doses of its vaccine, which had been promised under a contract, to the EU by the end of March 2022. The deal puts an end to the EU’s pending action in the Belgian courts. The EU said this week that 70% of adults had been double vaccinated. Earlier this year AstraZeneca angered European Commission officials when it said it could only deliver a fraction of the doses agreed for the first three months of 2021. The bitter dispute overshadowed the initial weeks of the vaccine rollout across the EU’s 27 countries. The Commission accused the company of breaking an August 2020 advanced purchase deal while AstraZeneca hit back arguing that the contract only required its “best effort” to deliver millions of vaccine doses on time.(BBC)…[+]

Japan’s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, has said he will not run for re-election as party leader this month, signalling the end of his tenure. Mr Suga had been appointed to the role just a ye ar ago following the resignation of Shinzo Abe. The shock announcement comes as Mr Suga’s approval ratings dropped to an all-time low. Japan – which is still under a state of emergency – is now grappling with its worst ever Covid wave. The country, which has now seen more than 1.5 million virus cases, has also seen a slow vaccination roll out. The decision to host the Olympics Games this year despite the worsening pandemic also proved to be hugely unpopular.(BBC)…[+]

A toxic leak from a massive diamond mine in Angola killed at least 12 people and left 4,500 sick, a minister in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo says. The leak turned a tributary of the River Congo red and killed huge numbers of fish, which some people ate, said Environment Minister Eve Bazaiba. She said that DR Congo would seek damages but did not specify how much. There has been no public response so far from the Catoca mine’s owners. According to Reuters news agency, the mine produces about 75% of Angola’s diamonds. After a reservoir containing toxic by-products from the mine leaked in late July, the Tshikapa river across the border in DR Congo turned red killing hippos, fish, and other animals. Ms Bazaiba said there were “tonnes of dead fish floating on the river… and then the first reflex was to take the fish”.(BBC)…[+]

A prominent television presenter in Ivory Coast has received a 12-month suspended sentence for promoting rape during a live broadcast. Yves de M’Bella had invited a man described as an ex-rapist to demonstrate on a mannequin how he had assaulted women. Widespread outrage followed and M’Bella was suspended from TV and radio. Women’s Affairs Minister Nassénéba Touré said Monday’s broadcast had undermined efforts to eradicate rape. The court fined the presente r $3,600 (£2,600) and has banned him from leaving the country’s main city, Abidjan, the Reuters news agency reports, quoting an official. The guest, Kader Traoré, was sentenced to two years in prison and fined $900, also for promoting rape.(BBC)…[+]

The US space agency’s Perseverance rover looks to have retrieved a rock sample on Mars at the second attempt. The robot’s drill made a neat hole in a thick slab dubbed “Rochette”. New images appear to show a rock core was securely picked up. A previous attempt last month saw the sample crumble to dust. If Perseverance has been successful this time, it would represent the first ever rock section collected on another planet intended for return to Earth. The rover is tasked with gathering more than two dozen cores over the next year or so that will be fetched home by a joint US and European effort later this decade.(BBC)…[+]

A five-year-old Afghan boy evacuated from Kabul after the Taliban takeover has died in Poland after eating poisonous mushrooms, officials say. The boy’s six-year-old brother, who also ate the mushrooms, had a liver transplant but is critically ill, a doctor said. The boys were staying at a refugee centre near Warsaw after arriving in Poland with their family on 23 August. They ate the mushrooms a day later and were taken to hospital. “Unfortunately, we were unable to help both boys,” the hospital’s director, Dr Marek Migdal, said on Thursday, confirming the death of the five-year-old boy. He had suffered irreversible brain damage and was unable to have a liver transplant, unlike his brother.(BBC)…[+]

Police have stepped-up checks at Italian stations amid threats from protesters to disrupt high-speed trains on the first day of a Covid pass. The “green pass” is now compulsory for domestic flights, ferries and long-distance or fast trains as well as schools and universities. Increased security was reported at stations at Rome, Milan and Florence.  Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio has condemned a climate of hatred over the launch of the pass.

He is one of several public figures to have been targeted by anti-vaccination protesters in recent days. Journalists and medical experts have complained of being stalked while Mr Di Maio faced death threats online.(BBC)…[+]