JOHANNESBURG, April 22 (Reuters) &#8211; The African Union&#8217;s disease control body on Thursday urged countries to use COVID-19 vaccines donated to them quickly to save lives and livelihoods, after confusion in Malawi and South Sudan about whether doses they received had expired.
&#8220;My appeal to member states is: if we are doing our part to mobilise these vaccines, you do your part and use the vaccines,&#8221; John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told a news conference.
Malawi plans to destroy more than 16,000 doses of AstraZeneca&#8217;s vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India because the shots were not administered before the April 13 expiry date on the packaging. The doses were supplied via the AU thanks to a donation from telecoms group MTN
South Sudan has set aside 59,000 doses supplied by the AU and does not plan to use them because of the same expiry issue, a government official told Reuters last week.
But Nkengasong, the continent&#8217;s top public health official, said the Africa CDC had informed countries receiving the donations that the shots could be used until mid-July, based on a further analysis conducted by the Serum Institute.
&#8220;The Serum Institute expanded that deadline based on their own analysis to July 13, and we shared that information with the countries,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We are in an emergency situation, and it is my appeal to all member states that when you get your vaccines, put down the right systems to use those vaccines quickly.&#8221;
African countries have struggled to secure enough COVID-19 vaccines to roll out mass immunisation campaigns.
Many are reliant on donations from global vaccine distribution scheme COVAX, which is co-led by the World Health Organization and partners including the Gavi vaccines alliance.
Nkengasong said that so far 15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Africa, out of a population of 1.3 billion. The Africa CDC has set a target of vaccinating 60% of the continent&#8217;s population, or 750 million people. (Reporting by Alexander Winning Editing by Frances Kerry)
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African countries urged to use vaccines quickly after expiry confusion

By John Irish
PARIS, April 22 (Reuters) &#8211; France&#8217;s foreign minister on Thursday defended a military takeover in Chad despite objections from the opposition there, saying it was necessary for security amid &#8220;exceptional circumstances&#8221;.
The son of Chad&#8217;s slain leader Idriss Deby took over as president and armed forces commander on Wednesday and dissolved the government and parliament as rebel forces threatened to march on the capital.
Under the constitution, the speaker of the National Assembly should have become interim president. But after the military had already shut down parliament, speaker Haroun Kabadi said in a statement that &#8220;given the military, security and political context&#8221;, he had agreed to a military transition &#8220;with full lucidity&#8221;.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Kabadi&#8217;s position justified the military taking control.
&#8220;There are exceptional circumstances,&#8221; Le Drian told France 2 television. &#8220;Logically, it should be Mr Kabadi&#8230;but he refused because of the exceptional security reasons that were needed to ensure the stability of this country.&#8221;
Chad&#8217;s political opposition has denounced the military&#8217;s takeover, as did an army general who said he spoke for many officers. Labour unions called for a workers&#8217; strike.
Idriss Deby was killed on the frontlines of a battle against rebels who had invaded from the north. An authoritarian ruler for more than 30 years, he was nonetheless a lynchpin in France&#8217;s security strategy in Africa.
France has about 5,100 troops based across the region as part of international operations to fight Islamist militants, including its main base in N&#8217;Djamena.
Any instability in Chad, which has the region&#8217;s best-trained and most battled-hardened troops, would harm efforts to fight Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin and groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel.
Deby&#8217;s son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, said on Wednesday the army wanted to return power to a civilian government and hold free and democratic elections in 18 months.
&#8220;We know that the military and France forced his hand,&#8221; Yacine Abderamane Sakine, president of the Reformist Party, told Reuters. &#8220;The argument that the president of the National Assembly is old and sick is not credible.&#8221;
This had been a coup d&#8217;etat transferring power from father to son, he said.
Le Drian, who will travel with President Emmanuel Macron on Friday for Deby&#8217;s funeral and to hold talks with the military council, made no mention of the 18-month time frame.
He said the priority was for the military council to play the main role in ensuring stability and then turn its attention to a peaceful and transparent transition to democracy.
&#8220;It&#8217;s the moment for it to be done when the security of the country has really been established,&#8221; Le Drian said.
He did not expect Chadian troops to pullout from operations elsewhere in the Sahel region.
The rebels, the Libyan-based Front for Change and Concord in Chad, a group formed by dissident army officers, rejected the military&#8217;s plan and said on Wednesday that a pause in hostilities they are observing to give time for Deby to be buried would end at midnight. (Additional reporting by Mahamat Ramadane in N’Djamena, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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France defends Chad military takeover as needed to ensure stability

By Karin Strohecker and Katya Golubkova
LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) &#8211; Russia&#8217;s central bank will meet on Friday to set interest rates with more than one third of analysts now expecting inflation pressures and rising geopolitical tensions to prompt policymakers into a 50 basis point rate hike.
About two thirds of analysts are sticking to earlier forecasts of a 25 bps rate hike to 4.75%.
Here are some key questions being asked by markets:

1/WHAT ROLE WILL GEOPOLITICS PLAY?
Russian markets are no strangers to geopolitics, but Washington&#8217;s latest sanctions targeting local sovereign debt send a message about what options are on the table and more might come.
There is no shortage of potential triggers. Tensions are rising between Moscow and Western countries alarmed by opposition leader Alexei Navalny&#8217;s worsening condition and the massing of tens of thousands of Russian troops near Ukraine and annexed Crimea. Meanwhile Russians have taken to the streets in a nationwide protest in support of Navalny.
Latest sanctions sparked some short-lived turmoil but also prompted banks such as Morgan Stanley to revise up rate hike forecasts.
&#8220;The new sanctions do not threaten Russia&#8217;s financial stability, but we think that the CBR would want to give extra support to the market,&#8221; said Morgan Stanley&#8217;s Alina Slyusarchuk.


2/WILL INFLATION PRESSURES SUBSIST?
A weaker rouble during parts of 2020 and pandemic-related supply disruptions have pushed Russian inflation higher in recent months. Even with a hiking cycle underway, inflation is seen topping Russia&#8217;s 4% target throughout 2021.
In a speech on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said financial authorities must maintain macroeconomic stability and restrain inflation.
While inflation risks remain elevated, many analysts expect Russia might have seen price pressures peak already.
&#8220;CBR is a cautious central bank which quickly shifts its stance to stay ahead of the market. This is the main supportive factor for the rouble,&#8221; said Ivan Tchakarov at Citi.


3/ WHERE ARE RATES HEADED?
For the first ever time, the central bank will publish its expectations for the trajectory of the policy rate.
Although details on just how are scant, rhetoric from the central bank suggests this will not be a Fed-like dot plot or a pure model outlook analogous to that of South Africa&#8217;s central bank.
Instead, the interest rate trajectory will reflect a range of model simulations and scenarios discussed during the MPC meetings – perhaps in form of a fan chart.
&#8220;We anticipate such fan charts to demonstrate front-loaded rate normalisation, in line with the CBR&#8217;s latest communication,&#8221; said Ehsan Khoman at MUFG.

4/OFZ SUPPORT?
Local sovereign bond yields spiked to 7.4% in early April &#8211; levels last seen in the midst of the pandemic rout a year ago.
Russia&#8217;s central bank is prohibited from buying OFZs directly on the primary market, but it can provide banks with liquidity to increase such purchases. Three state-controlled banks, Sberbank, VTB and Otkritie, hold a total of over 4 trillion roubles or around a third of all OFZs.
There is some focus on how the central bank might tweak access to liquidity after introducing monthly one-month and one-year repo auctions last May to provide banks with options, including for additional OFZ purchases.
The central bank can buy OFZs on the secondary market and support the prices in case of severe volatility but has called such a step &#8220;a last resort option&#8221;.

5/CAN GROWTH PERSIST?
Russia&#8217;s economy shrank 3.1% last year. The central bank forecasts a 3.0-4.0% recovery this year followed by a slowdown over the subsequent two years.
A more aggressive increase in borrowing costs would risk restraining the fledgling recovery, while data on how supply and demand are shaping up paint a mixed picture since Russia started to relax lockdown measures in January.
&#8220;Monthly indicators for March show an improvement on the supply side relative to February,&#8221; said Clemens Grafe at Goldman Sachs. &#8220;By contrast the demand side indicators were mixed.&#8221;

(Reporting by Karin Strohecker in London and Katya Golubkova in Moscow, additional reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya in Moscow; Editing by Catherine Evans)
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GRAPHIC-Politics, inflation, new models: Five questions for Russia’s central bank

By Angela Ukomadu and Seun Sanni
LAGOS, April 22 (Reuters) &#8211; In a district of Lagos, Nigeria&#8217;s megacity, a group of teenagers wade through a mass of plastic bottles, food containers and bags that have blocked a waterway. Wearing gloves and masks, they pick up the discarded plastic and drop them into refuse bags.
Their aim is to enable water to flow around the waterway that was constructed to prevent flooding in the city&#8217;s Sangotedo district, while raising awareness of the problems caused by single-use plastic.
&#8220;We need to start now because in a few years it&#8217;s going to be too late to do anything,&#8221; said Esohe Ozigbo, the 15-year-old climate change activist who leads the group of youngsters, on the need to address environmental issues.
Plastic waste is ubiquitous in Lagos, the commercial capital of Africa&#8217;s most populous country with a population of more than 20 million people, where dropping litter is commonplace.
To reinforce their message about the extent of the waste in Lagos, Ozigbo and her fellow activists attach plastic to fabric to create garments they wear in their annual &#8220;Trashion Show&#8221;.
Greenfingers Wildlife Initative, a non-profit conservation group funded by donations, works with young people to stage the shows in shopping malls. The goal is to &#8220;mix creativity with advocacy&#8221;, said the organisation&#8217;s founder, Chinedu Mogbo.
&#8220;Rather than just taking everything maybe to a dumping site&#8230; we decided to spruce things up and start the Trashion Show,&#8221; he said.
In the car park of a Lagos shopping mall in early April, shoppers watched teenagers clad in multicoloured shopping bags, rubbish sacks and plastic bottles.
Ozigbo, who cites Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg as her inspiration, said she hoped the shows made shoppers think about their actions.
&#8220;We are just teenagers but we are trying to &#8230; make a change in the world,&#8221; she said. (Reporting by Angela Ukomadu and Seun Sanni; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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Nigerian teen climate activists create fashion from waste to fight pollution

* Lira plummets ahead of long weekend
* Rouble steady after Putin speech
* CEE currencies await ECB meeting
* EM stocks recover slightly
By Ambar Warrick
April 22 (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey&#8217;s lira was headed for its worst day this month as concerns over financial stability grew, while other emerging market currencies were encouraged by a weaker dollar, although surging COVID-19 cases capped gains.
The lira dropped as much as 2.3% to 8.3669 to the dollar, leading losses across emerging market (EM) currencies in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). It had tumbled nearly 1% on Wednesday after President Tayyip Erdogan defended a costly FX sales policy.
Erdogan&#8217;s unorthodox stance, that high interest rates cause inflation, has cast doubts over the country&#8217;s financial stability and spurred large losses in the lira.
&#8220;The new weakness of the lira is in line with broader EM FX trends in recent days – but, any depreciation of the lira is always significant because FX pass-through is such a crucial element of high inflation in Turkey; and any seemingly harmless move can kick-start a market spiral and complicate matters,&#8221; Tatha Ghose, FX and EM analyst at Commerzbank said.
Turkish sovereign dollar bonds were also sold off as reports suggested the United States was set to formally recognise the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War One as an act of genocide, which could strain ties between Ankara and Washington.
The MSCI&#8217;s index of emerging market currencies rose 0.1%, as continued weakness in the dollar benefited risk-driven assets. But a damaging new wave of COVID-19 infections held back major gains.
&#8220;The rise (in cases) has also been more geographically diverse than previously &#8230; This raises both the threat of renewed restrictions on mobility and the odds that vaccine-resistant strains will emerge,&#8221; said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management.
In EMEA, Russia&#8217;s rouble traded sideways, having gained 0.4% on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin set out social support measures and called for measures to restrain inflation.
His address came amid heightened tensions with the West over Russian troops near the Ukraine border and the treatment of a prominent Kremlin critic.
EM stocks rose 0.2%, after marking their worst day in nearly two weeks on Wednesday.
Central European currencies were flat ahead of a European Central Bank meeting, where the bank is widely expected to maintain policy.
In Asia, ratings agency S&amp;P upgraded Taiwan&#8217;s rating to &#8220;AA/A-1+&#8221;, citing a positive outlook, with external demand expected to keep supporting the economy.
For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2021, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2021, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets
For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see
For TURKISH market report, see
For RUSSIAN market report, see (Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru. Editing by Mark Potter)
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EMERGING MARKETS-Turkey’s lira leads EMEA FX losses as economic uncertainty mounts

LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) &#8211; As many as 350,000 Black and Asian service personnel who died fighting for Britain might not have been properly commemorated because of &#8220;pervasive racism&#8221;, a report concluded on Thursday.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) issued an apology after an inquiry it commissioned found hundreds of thousands of mostly African and Middle Eastern casualties from World War One were not commemorated by name, or at all.
&#8220;The events of a century ago were wrong then and are wrong now,&#8221; Claire Horton, director general of the CWGC, said. &#8220;We recognise the wrongs of the past and are deeply sorry and will be acting immediately to correct them.&#8221;
The CWGC works to commemorate those from Commonwealth forces who were killed in the two world wars and to ensure all those killed were remembered in the same way, with their name engraved either on a headstone over an identified grave or on a memorial to the missing.
But its inquiry found that between 45,000 and 54,000 casualties, predominantly Indian, Egyptian, Somali and from East and West Africa, were commemorated &#8220;unequally&#8221;.
&#8220;A further 116,000 casualties (predominantly, but not exclusively, East African and Egyptian personnel) but potentially as many as 350,000, were not commemorated by name or possibly not commemorated at all,&#8221; the report said.
The CWGC commissioned the report in December 2019 after a television documentary found it had not treated Africans killed in World War One equally.
The investigation found examples of a British governor saying &#8220;the average native of the Gold Coast would not understand or appreciate a headstone&#8221;.
Another officer, who later worked for the CWGC&#8217;s predecessor the Imperial War Graves Commission, wrote &#8220;most of the natives who died are of a semi-savage nature&#8221;, so erecting headstones would be a waste of public money.
It said the decisions which led to the failure to commemorate the dead properly or at all was the result of a lack of information, errors inherited from other organisations and the opinions of colonial administrators.
&#8220;Underpinning all these decisions, however, were the entrenched prejudices, preconceptions and pervasive racism of contemporary imperial attitudes,&#8221; the report concluded. (Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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‘Pervasive racism’ meant UK’s Black and Asian troops not commemorated-report

* Watergate is province&#8217;s first privately-funded, low-cost estate
* Solar panels to be installed through online leasing platform
* Project could save 3.3 million kg of carbon dioxide
By Kim Harrisberg
JOHANNESBURG, April 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; When property developer Anver Essop bought land in Cape Town&#8217;s gang-ridden Cape Flats area, people laughed at him for considering it an investment.
Now, 12 years later, the Watergate Estate is a sought-after refuge that will soon be donned with solar panels funded through an online leasing platform, making it, Essop hopes, a &#8220;blueprint&#8221; for green, safe and cheap homes across South Africa.
The marketplace, Sun Exchange, allows people to buy individual solar cells with cash or bitcoin and then lease them to power solar projects in emerging economies, resulting in lower electricity costs for residents.
&#8220;We thought, why don&#8217;t we give people the same product we build in wealthier areas and uplift them to improve their own lives,&#8221; Essop, 61, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Essop, who founded development company New Age Properties, said the Watergate estate seeks to solve two pressing issues in the country: the need for safe, affordable housing and reliable, clean energy.
Nearly three decades since the end of white minority rule under the apartheid regime, South Africa is battling high levels of inequality, crime and unemployment and a housing crisis linked to booming urbanisation.
The government has subsidised about 14% of South African homes since 1994 &#8211; or 2.3 million properties &#8211; according to official statistics, but housing rights groups say there is a major backlog in the roll-out.
There are more than 300,000 people registered and waiting for government-funded housing in Cape Town, said Malusi Booi, a member of the city&#8217;s Mayoral Committee for Human Settlements, in emailed comments.
Rights advocates noted that almost all of those waiting are Black or mixed-race.
&#8220;While this spatial inequality has its historical origin in the colonial and apartheid eras, a key contemporary driver is Cape Town&#8217;s acute housing affordability crisis,&#8221; said Michael Clark, head of advocacy at local housing rights group Ndifuna Ukwazi.
Cape Town is expected to have the highest year-on-year rise in property prices in the world this year, equal only to that of Shanghai, according to global property consultancy Knight Frank.
Booi said the city is currently ramping up its supply of affordable housing in and near urban centres across the metro.
Watergate is the first privately-funded, low-cost housing development in the Western Cape province, according to Essop, with more than 200 apartments, 24-hour security, electric fencing and a children&#8217;s play park.
Gated communities are popular across cities in South Africa, which had the world&#8217;s fifth highest murder rate in 2019, according to United Nations data.
But academics and rights groups have criticised protected complexes for further segregating already divided spaces, leaving people who cannot afford to live in them exposed to violent crime.

CROWDSOURCED SOLAR PANELS
Having grown up in the Cape Flats surrounded by gangs, gun violence and drug dealers, Watergate resident Samantha Wilson said she now feels secure enough to sometimes leave her door unlocked.
But keeping the lights on is a challenge.
South Africa has been dealing with scheduled electricity blackouts, known as &#8220;load-shedding&#8221;, where the state utility Eskom cuts power to protect the national grid from collapse as coal-fired plants struggle to meet demand.
&#8220;Load-shedding is a nightmare everywhere, it impacts my performance when I am working remotely,&#8221; said Wilson.
Watergate is due to receive its first solar panels in the coming weeks through Sun Exchange.
Cells can be bought with cash or bitcoin for 90 rand ($6) each and owners lease the electricity generated to Watergate at a pre-agreed price, saving them nearly 40% in electricity costs over 20 years.
After 20 years, the project will be decommissioned or Watergate will have the option to purchase the solar-power system outright, explained Sun Exchange founder Abe Cambridge.
&#8220;By combining cryptocurrency and energy, you end up with someone sitting in London getting an income from selling green energy where it is needed and offsetting their carbon footprint,&#8221; he said.
About 470 people across the world bought solar cells for Watergate, and of the 39 Sun Exchange projects launched so far, it is the first being used to power affordable housing, said Cambridge.
Watergate&#8217;s solar electricity system will save about 3.3 million kg of carbon dioxide over its lifetime, he added &#8211; equivalent to a year of emissions from 718 cars.
Although the energy produced by the cells will initially be linked to the national grid, Cambridge hopes to add a battery that can store solar power to protect residents from blackouts.
&#8220;If the (COVID-19) pandemic has shown us anything, it is the need to build resilient finance and energy systems. We need foundations that can withstand shocks,&#8221; he said.

&#8216;HIGH WALLS&#8217;
Some like Ryan Fester, a project officer with housing and land non-profit Development Action Group (DAG), say gated communities are short-term solutions that create an &#8220;illusion&#8221; of safety.
&#8220;Crime can still take place inside gated communities, we need to tackle long-term issues like unemployment, trauma, abuse, lack of education &#8230; building high walls won&#8217;t create vibrant communities,&#8221; said Fester, who also lives in the Cape Flats area.
But Wilson said that &#8220;Watergate is affordable, it is not exclusionary,&#8221; adding that she is part of a community watch group that patrols both within and outside the estate.
Essop said that his company is in the process of building another 100 units in Watergate and negotiating an additional 45 hectares (110 acres) of land in the area for more affordable housing projects.
Sun Exchange also plans to expand into other parts of southern Africa through a partnership announced last year with one of Zimbabwe&#8217;s biggest fruit and tobacco producers, Nhimbe Fresh.
&#8220;Long-term we want Sun Exchange to be a global platform in Latin America and southeast Asia, where there are similar energy challenges that can benefit from our model,&#8221; said Cambridge.
At the Watergate Estate, Wilson said that, for her, the biggest benefit is finally being able to sleep soundly at night.
&#8220;I feel proud to live here. I sleep through the night knowing my family is safe and I think people in other countries should feel like this, too,&#8221; she said.
($1 = 14.2346 rand) (Reporting by Kim Harrisberg @KimHarrisberg, Editing by Jumana Farouky and Zoe Tabary. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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FEATURE-Crypto power: Can solar panels boost cheap, green homes in S.Africa?

* More governments plan to end international coal financing
* Climate campaigners concerned about continued backing for gas
* Clean energy investment rising but far smaller than fossil fuels
By Megan Rowling
BARCELONA, April 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; Pressure on wealthy governments to stop financing polluting coal projects in developing nations is getting results, with more countries expected to announce this week and in coming months that they will no longer provide money for coal.
But the battle is far from won &#8211; and is now shifting to include oil and gas finance, climate change campaigners say.
Britain has led the way among major donors, saying it would provide no new government financing for fossil fuel projects overseas from this month, with &#8220;very limited&#8221; exceptions.
The United States is also preparing to announce restrictions, possibly at the Leaders Summit on Climate organised by U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday and Friday.
South Korea, Japan and Canada could soon join them, and a handful of European nations, in pledging to phase out overseas aid for coal, climate finance experts said ahead of Biden&#8217;s virtual gathering.
U.S. environmentalists, however, are less hopeful about U.S. action than in January when climate envoy John Kerry told the World Economic Forum the Biden administration would produce a plan to end international financing for fossil fuel projects.
Last week, 57 U.S. green groups wrote to Kerry urging him to &#8220;unequivocally declare that gas is not part of the solution&#8221; and to immediately end all fossil fuel support internationally as well as U.S. exports of fossil fuels &#8220;as science and justice require&#8221;.
The move came after Kerry told a discussion with the head of the International Monetary Fund this month that &#8220;gas, to some degree, will be a bridge fuel&#8221;, meaning it could smooth the transition from the dirtiest energy sources &#8211; coal and oil &#8211; to renewables.
Kate DeAngelis, international finance programme manager for Friends of the Earth, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation Kerry&#8217;s comments were &#8220;jarring&#8221; and suggested the United States planned to continue providing funding for gas projects in places like sub-Saharan Africa.
&#8220;I think they are taking a very conservative approach which is just 10 steps back from what they had &#8230; laid out in January,&#8221; she said.
She and other campaigners say the details are crucial on commitments on overseas fossil fuel funding and that donors must spell out clearly which fuels and state agencies are covered by their promises, as well as setting near-term deadlines.

MOZAMBICAN GAS
This month, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Britain agreed to harness public export finance as &#8220;a key driver in the fight against climate change&#8221;.
Governments in the new Export Finance for Future (E3F) coalition endorsed principles including ending trade and export support for coal power that does not have technology to lower its emissions, reviewing finance for fossil fuels more broadly and assessing how to best phase that finance out.
But, in a statement, about 20 environmental organisations said the coalition had made no new commitments.
&#8220;To make a real difference, (E3F) needs to take decisive action to end all export finance for fossil fuels, following at least the level of ambition shown by the UK, which put an end to virtually all new export finance for fossil fuels last month,&#8221; they said.
They also noted the Netherlands, France and Britain continued to provide support for gas extraction in violence-hit northern Mozambique, saying the investments had forced communities from their homes after losing their fishing areas and farmland.
On Wednesday, Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi told an energy conference the government foresees &#8220;direct benefits&#8221; of more than $100 billion from the gas projects, which are expected to generate 70,000 formal jobs over 20 years from 2022.
Clean energy advocates disagreed, saying such projects could result in &#8220;stranded&#8221; assets and job losses as the world moves away from fossil fuels to curb climate change.
In Britain, Friends of the Earth has applied for a judicial review of the UK decision to provide about $1 billion of taxpayer money to support development of the Temane LNG plant in Mozambique.
That decision was made on &#8220;the incorrect basis&#8221; that the project was consistent with commitments by Britain and Mozambique under the 2015 Paris Agreement to curb global warming, the green group said in a statement.
It added that construction of the project would increase the African nation&#8217;s greenhouse gas emissions by up to 10% by 2022, while annual emissions from using and burning the gas produced would equal the total from the EU aviation sector.
“This huge gas project will fuel the climate emergency and deal yet another devastating blow to the UK government’s credibility as it prepares to host this year’s crucial climate talks,&#8221; said Will Rundle, head of legal at Friends of the Earth.
While London&#8217;s new policy would prevent it from funding such projects on climate grounds in future, the British government confirmed to the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the policy would not apply retrospectively to the Mozambique financing.
According to a government source, Mozambique considers gas from the project an important part of its transition to cleaner energy in line with its national climate action plan and its Paris Agreement commitments.

BOOST FOR RENEWABLES
Export finance and development agencies on both sides of the Atlantic, meanwhile, are keen to stress their backing to expand renewable energy in poor countries.
UK Export Finance, the government&#8217;s export credit agency, said this week it provided over £2.4 billion ($3.3 billion) of financial support to &#8220;sustainable projects&#8221; in 2020, including hospitals, clean energy and critical infrastructure in developing nations.
And the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation recently invited private companies to apply for public financing to help them expand their businesses in small-scale renewable energy, with plans to invest $100 million in such firms in a year.
But campaigners say the amount of government money available for the fossil fuel industry still dwarfs that for clean energy.
According to Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth, which track such funding, G20 countries from 2016 to 2018 provided an average of $77 billion per year in public finance for fossil fuels through export credit agencies and development banks, compared with $24 billion a year for clean energy.
Laurie van der Burg, an Oil Change International campaigner, urged the G7 club of the richest nations to set an example and clearly state at their June summit they will no longer finance coal and will develop plans to shift away from oil and gas.
&#8220;I do think that 2021 has the potential to become the year in which, for the first time, we see the balance of public finance tip from fossil fuels to clean energy, because right now it&#8217;s still mostly fossil fuels,&#8221; she said.
($1 = 0.7193 pounds) (Reporting by Megan Rowling @meganrowling; editing by Laurie Goering. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)
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ANALYSIS-Rich nations under fire for funding ‘bridge fuel’ gas overseas

SOUTH AFRICA TO HOLD LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS ON 27 OCTOBER 2021 &#8211; PRESIDENCY
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SOUTH AFRICA TO HOLD LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS ON 27 OCTOBER 2021 – PRESIDENCY

JOHANNESBURG, April 21 (Reuters) &#8211; South African researchers hope to restart use of Johnson &amp; Johnson&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccine next week in an &#8220;implementation study&#8221; immunising healthcare workers, a top local scientist said on Wednesday.
South Africa suspended the study last week after U.S. federal health agencies recommended pausing use of J&amp;J&#8217;s vaccine because of rare cases of blood clots.
&#8220;We do hope to start again next week,&#8221; South African Medical Research Council President Glenda Gray said during a webinar.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning and Wendell Roelf; editing by Mfuneko Toyana)
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South African researchers hope to restart J&J vaccination next week

April 21 (Reuters) &#8211; In-form opener Mohammad Rizwan blazed an unbeaten half-century as Pakistan defeated hosts Zimbabwe by 11 runs in the first Twenty20 International at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday.
Rizwan played a lone hand for his team with 82 not out as they posted 149 for seven in their 20 overs.
The home side, who have not qualified for the T20 World Cup in India later this year, were always just behind the rate and could only manage 138 for seven in reply.
After being sent in to bat, the Pakistan innings was dominated by Rizwan, who’s unbeaten 82 came from 61 balls. No-one else scored more than 15, with off-spinner Wesley Madhevere the pick of the home bowling attack with 2-11 from two overs.
Craig Ervine top scored in the Zimbabwe reply with 34, but he was out to leg-spinner Usman Qadir (3-29), who also claimed the key wicket of home captain Sean Williams (9). Usman is the son of former Pakistan great Abdul Qadir and made his debut in the recent series in South Africa.
Zimbabwe were without their most experienced batsman Brendan Taylor, who pulled out of the game with a stomach bug.
The second match in the three-game series will be played at the same venue on Friday. The limited overs fixtures will be followed by two tests. (Reporting by Nick Said Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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Cricket-Rizwan shines for Pakistan in T20 victory over Zimbabwe

April 21 (Reuters) &#8211; The U.S. women&#8217;s national team will face Australia, Sweden and New Zealand at this summer&#8217;s Tokyo Olympics, while in the men&#8217;s competition 2016 winners Brazil will take on Germany following the group stage draw on Wednesday.
The American women&#8217;s team are the reigning world champions and four-time winners of the Olympic tournament and will start as favourites in Tokyo, with Rio 2016 winners Germany failing to qualify.
Team GB women have drawn 2016 bronze medallists Canada, Chile and hosts Japan. Making only their second Olympic tournament appearance, Team GB will be led by England&#8217;s interim coach Hege Riise.
On the men&#8217;s side, Brazil will take on Germany, Ivory Coast and Saudi Arabia.
Mexico, the 2012 gold medallists, were pitted against hosts Japan, South Africa and France.
The men&#8217;s team are usually restricted to selecting players under the age of 23, with just three overage players allowed.
However, the age bracket has been raised for the Tokyo Games in line with the one-year postponement of the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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Olympics-US women to face Australia in women’s football at Tokyo Games

By Emeline Wuilbercq
ADDIS ABABA, April 21 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; Gambia has eliminated trachoma, one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide, the government has announced, after almost four decades of work to counter the disease.
Trachoma, a bacterial eye infection that damages the eyelids and causes the eyelashes to turn inwards, is one of 20 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that the World Health Organization says disproportionately affect the world&#8217;s poorest people.
If not corrected with surgery, it can lead to irreversible vision loss and blindness.
&#8220;Eliminating a disease on this scale is a massive achievement,&#8221; said Simon Bush, director of NTDs at Sightsavers, an international charity working to prevent avoidable blindness, treat and eliminate neglected tropical diseases.
&#8220;The news provides hope for other countries still working towards elimination of the disease and, most importantly, shows the strategy we are using works,&#8221; he said.
The elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Gambia, a West African nation of some 2.2 million people, comes months after the WHO launched a roadmap of global targets to tackle 20 NTDs including trachoma by 2030.
The number of people at risk from trachoma globally has dropped by more than 90% since the early 2000s, but it still affects people in more than 40 countries, mostly in Africa.
It is responsible for the blindness or visual impairment of about 1.9 million people.
Gambia eliminated trachoma after almost four decades of work involving health workers, NGOs and local communities, the government said in its announcement late on Tuesday.
&#8220;Gambia&#8217;s success in trachoma elimination starts from the community,&#8221; Sarjo Kanyi, manager of the ministry&#8217;s National Eye Health Programme and coordinator of the trachoma initiative, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
A network of eye units was created across the country with the help of NGOs to help diagnose and treat people, with thousands of community health volunteers trained to go door-to-door to find people with the disease.
They also used a strategy endorsed by the WHO that combined surgery, antibiotics and facial hygiene practices and sanitation and water improvements to stop infection spreading. &#8220;Eliminating trachoma as a public health problem means that children in this country will now grow up not having to worry about trachoma,&#8221; said Balla Musa Joof, Sightsavers&#8217; country director in Gambia.
&#8220;And the government will be able to use resources previously spent on defeating trachoma on other public health problems.&#8221; (Reporting by Emeline Wuilbercq @emwuilbercq; Editing by Helen Popper and Claire Cozens. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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Gambia eliminates trachoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide

N&#8217;DJAMENA, April 21 (Reuters) &#8211; Rebel forces set their sights on Chad&#8217;s capital N&#8217;Djamena on Wednesday following the battlefield death of President Idriss Deby, threatening to bring more disruption to a country vital to international efforts to combat Islamist militants in Africa.
Schools and some businesses were open in N&#8217;Djamena on Wednesday but many people had opted to stay home and the streets were quiet, a Reuters witness said.
Authorities imposed a nightly curfew and closed land and air borders after Deby&#8217;s death was announced. A 14-day period of national mourning is being observed.
Deby, 68, died on Monday on the frontline in a battle against Libya-based fighters, shocking the nation and raising concerns among Western allies who had long seen him as an ally in their fight against Islamist groups.
He had been in power since 1990 and had just been announced winner of a presidential election that would have given him a sixth term in office. His son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, has been named interim president by a transitional council of military officers.
Deby, who often joined soldiers on the battlefront in his military fatigues, was visiting troops after rebel group Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) invaded from Libya and advanced hundreds of miles towards the capital.
FACT rejected the military&#8217;s transition plan and said they would press on with their offensive on the capital.
&#8220;Chad is not a monarchy. There can be no dynastic devolution of power in our country,&#8221; FACT said in a statement.
Opposition politicians also called for a move back to civilian rule.
Deby had won friends abroad by sending his well-trained army to fight jihadists including Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin and groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel.
His main ally, France, has about 5,100 troops based across the region as part of international efforts to fight the militants, including its main base in N&#8217;Djamena.
His death, which Paris described as the loss of a courageous friend, poses questions about stability in the region and inside Chad itself. As well as the rebel threat, the military is divided and the opposition to Deby&#8217;s authoritarian rule had been growing.
&#8220;The potentially explosive consequences of President Déby’s death cannot be underestimated – both for the future of Chad and across the region,&#8221; Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
The New York-based organisation said the military council must respect human rights and ensure that civilians were protected. It also called for a swift transition to democratic civilian rule, and free and fair elections.
&#8220;For years, international players have propped up Déby’s government for its support for counterterrorism operations&#8230; while largely turning a blind eye to his legacy of repression and violations of social and economic rights at home,&#8221; HRW said in a statement. (Reporting by Madjiasra Nako, Writing by Nellie Peyton, Editing by Edward McAllister and Angus MacSwan)
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Rebels threaten to march on capital as Chad reels from president’s battlefield death

April 21 (Reuters) &#8211; Draw for the men&#8217;s football competition at this year&#8217;s Tokyo Olympics:

Group A
Japan
South Africa
Mexico
France

Group B
New Zealand
Korea Republic
Honduras
Romania

Group C
Egypt
Spain
Argentina
Australia

Group D
Brazil
Germany
Ivory Coast
Saudi Arabia

The tournament is scheduled to run from July 21-Aug. 7.
The winners and runners-up from each group advance to the knockout stages. (Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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Olympics-Men’s football draw for Tokyo 2020

* The Turkish lira worst EMEA performer
* Putin speech awaited amid increased geopolitical tensions
* South African rand flat after inflation data
By Ambar Warrick
April 21 (Reuters) &#8211; Emerging market stocks tumbled on Wednesday as a second wave of COVID-19 infections threatened further disruption in major economies, while Russia&#8217;s rouble weakened ahead of a speech on economic growth by President Vladmir Putin.
The MSCI&#8217;s index of emerging market stocks fell 1.1% and was poised for its worst day since March 24, with bourses across Asia weighing the most. New COVID-19 related restrictions in India threatened to throw a wrench into an otherwise steady global economic recovery.
The EM space has been hit hard by a second wave of COVID-19 infections this year, with India and Brazil ranking among the worst hit. The prospect of more curbs has threatened to upset an already tenuous recovery in EM.
The dollar recovered from seven-week lows amid waning appetite for risk-driven assets, though the unit remained constrained by low U.S. Treasury yields.
&#8220;The recent vaccine setbacks caused some uncertainty and might therefore have increased demand for U.S. Treasuries as a hedge against a return of the crisis,&#8221; Thu Lan Nguyen, FX and EM analyst at Commerzbank said.
&#8220;That also means though, that sentiment could change again quickly once it becomes clear that the global vaccination campaigns continue to make progress, albeit more slowly, so that an end of the pandemic remains foreseeable.&#8221;
Russia&#8217;s rouble traded a touch lower as investors awaited a speech from Putin, amid elevated tensions with Ukraine and the West, which had resulted in U.S. sanctions on Russian debt markets last week.
Still, recent strength in oil markets has supported the rouble, while Russian stocks hit record highs as major oil exporters benefited from strong prices.
Turkey&#8217;s lira led losses across EM currencies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa on Wednesday, after President Tayyip Erdogan replaced the Turkish trade minister, increasing speculation over a broader cabinet shakeup.
The South African rand was flat as inflation accelerated, as expected, last month. Investors are wary of any surprise jumps in inflation putting pressure on the central bank to tighten policy.
The currency has raced past its EM peers this year, recently touching a 15-month high, due to a relatively higher yield, which has made it an attractive destination for carry trade. The Mexican peso, which was trading near three-month highs, has also benefited from a similar situation.

For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2021, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2021, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets
For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see
For TURKISH market report, see
For RUSSIAN market report, see (Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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EMERGING MARKETS-Stocks set for worst day in 1 month as virus fears resurface

BERLIN, April 21 (Reuters) &#8211; The German government on Wednesday approved plans to expand the country&#8217;s military training mission in Mali, a government source said.
Up to 600 troops will be deployed in Mali as part of the European Union&#8217;s training mission EUTM, 150 troops more than under the current mandate, government and defence sources said.
The mission is also about to build a new training base in Sevare in central Mali, a region which has been ravaged by Islamist and ethnic violence.
The cabinet also gave the green light for extending by one year Germany&#8217;s participation in the United Nations&#8217; peacekeeping force in Mali, upholding the current level of up to 1,100 troops which are mainly based in the northern town of Gao.
Both mandates still have to be approved by parliament.
The U.N. mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, has deployed more than 13,000 troops to contain violence by armed groups in the north and centre of the country. It has recorded about 230 fatalities since 2013, making it the deadliest of the United Nations&#8217; peacekeeping missions.
Mali has been in crisis since Islamist militants seized its desert north in 2012, forcing France to intervene the following year to push them back. But they have regrouped and extended their operations into central Mali and neighbouring countries in West Africa&#8217;s Sahel region. (Reporting by Sabine Siebold, editing by Kirsti Knolle and Angus MacSwan)
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South African researchers hope to restart J&J vaccination next week

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Gambia eliminates trachoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide

Rebels threaten to march on capital as Chad reels from president’s battlefield death

Olympics-Men’s football draw for Tokyo 2020

EMERGING MARKETS-Stocks set for worst day in 1 month as virus fears resurface

German government agrees to expand military mission in Mali

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African countries urged to use vaccines quickly after expiry confusion

France defends Chad military takeover as needed to ensure stability

GRAPHIC-Politics, inflation, new models: Five questions for Russia’s central bank

Nigerian teen climate activists create fashion from waste to fight pollution

EMERGING MARKETS-Turkey’s lira leads EMEA FX losses as economic uncertainty mounts

‘Pervasive racism’ meant UK’s Black and Asian troops not commemorated-report

FEATURE-Crypto power: Can solar panels boost cheap, green homes in S.Africa?

ANALYSIS-Rich nations under fire for funding ‘bridge fuel’ gas overseas

SOUTH AFRICA TO HOLD LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS ON 27 OCTOBER 2021 – PRESIDENCY

South African researchers hope to restart J&J vaccination next week

Cricket-Rizwan shines for Pakistan in T20 victory over Zimbabwe

Olympics-US women to face Australia in women’s football at Tokyo Games

Gambia eliminates trachoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide

Rebels threaten to march on capital as Chad reels from president’s battlefield death

Olympics-Men’s football draw for Tokyo 2020

EMERGING MARKETS-Stocks set for worst day in 1 month as virus fears resurface

German government agrees to expand military mission in Mali

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