President Cyril Ramaphosa will launch South Africa's Cabinet-approved Revised White Paper on Local Government on Oct. 22 in Ekurhuleni, replacing the 1998 framework for its 257 municipalities 13 days before the Nov. 4 local elections.
South Africa's annual consumer inflation rose to 4.5% in September from 4.4% in August, Stats SA said Oct. 21, driven by transport prices up 10.8%. The Reserve Bank, which targets 3%, next decides rates on Nov. 19.
The African Union says its new Africa Credit Rating Agency cannot by itself fix the costs of investing in Africa, and has begun designing a De-risking Africa Programme with the APRM, Afreximbank, the AfDB and U.N. agencies.
Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The Daily Letter ·
Appeals Court Sends Four Indiana Hospitals' Meta Pixel Privacy Suits Back to State Court, Rejecting Their Claim to Be Acting for the Government
The Seventh Circuit ruled Oct. 20 that four Indiana health systems sued over the Meta Pixel on their websites were not "acting under" HHS when they built patient portals, so the privacy suits go back to state court.
The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights entered into force 40 years ago today. The African Commission marks it in Dakar with a forum meant to produce a 10-year roadmap, as its 89th session closes.
Support Forces of Ukraine Command / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
The Daily Letter ·
Four Senators Give SpaceX Until Nov. 2 to Explain Who Restricted Ukraine's Starshield Access and When
Four Senate Democrats asked SpaceX to say by Nov. 2 who decided the Starshield and Starlink limits Ukraine reported on Oct. 14, how SpaceX was told, and whether it can refuse such orders.
Benue's House of Assembly passed the constitutional amendment that would let Nigeria's states create their own police on Oct. 20. It needs 24 of 36 state assemblies; the presidency counted about six on Oct. 15.
Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno Files Bill to Tax State Data Center Incentives at 100% and Bar Federal Aid to Big AI Data Centers
Sen. Bernie Moreno's S. 5689, the RECLAIM Act, would impose a 100% federal excise tax on state and local incentives for AI data centers of 100 megawatts or more and bar them from federal grants, loans and tax breaks. "Taxpayers will not subsidize data centers, period," he said.
Los Angeles County Tells a Federal Judge Its Sample of the Justice Department's 20,000 Name Voter List Was 42.9% Canceled Registrations and 25.8% U.S.-Born
Los Angeles County filed a 36-page opposition Oct. 20 to the Justice Department's bid to hold back 20,000 California mail ballots, telling Judge John W. Holcomb its sample of the list was 42.9% canceled registrations and 25.8% U.S.-born voters.
Five Senate Democrats Give CENTCOM Until Nov. 2 to Make Public What Iran's Strikes on U.S. Bases Have Cost
Five Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee asked CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper to publicly disclose, by Nov. 2, the cost of Iranian damage to U.S. bases and facilities since the war began on Feb. 28.
Judge Quashes DHS Subpoena for 17 Million Truck and Bus Drivers' Records, Calling It "a Textbook Example" of an Improper Fishing Expedition
A federal judge in Virginia quashed a Homeland Security subpoena for the records of about 17 million commercial drivers, siding with 21 states and D.C. and finding the demand exceeded DHS's authority and would violate federal privacy law.
The Gambia has adopted a National Dementia Plan for 2027 to 2031, the first in the WHO African Region, as the number of Gambians living with dementia is projected to rise from about 4,000 to nearly 13,000 by 2050.