Huawei suppliers fall as U.S. Curbs access

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Twenty-six people died on Wednesday (February 2) after lightning struck a high-tension power cable on the outskirts of the Congolese capital Kinshasa, causing it to snap and fall on houses and a market, the authorities said. The victims included 24 women and two men, and another two people were seriously injured, Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde told reporters during a visit to the market.

Shunned in the Global North due to privacy and security issues, Huawei is a front-runner in Africa. But the Chinese giant's data collection methods may also appeal to authoritarian regimes as a way to cling to power.

Fears that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent have sent jitters across global stock markets. In Europe, Paris's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX both fell more than 3 percent at midday. Russia's main stock market also saw a sharp decline, adding to last week's sell-off. Plus, after two years grappling with changes to their careers, a growing number of people in France are turning to the real estate sector to start a completely new job.

On Wednesday, fire gutted shops situated under the Apongbon section of the Eko Bridge in Lagos. Now, victims of the inferno are calling on the government to offer any form of assistance to help ease the feeling of hopelessness.

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Africa's rapidly developing cannabis industry could soon supply the entire world. Uganda is already cultivating medical cannabis for the German pharmaceutical market.

World food commodity prices reached their highest levels ever in March, as war in #Ukraine spreads shocks through markets. The @FAO Food Price Index averaged 159.3 points in March, up 12.6% from Feb 2022 and was 33.6% higher than in March 2021.

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Wall Street had one of its worst days in recent weeks on Monday as a worse-than-expected US inflation figure last Friday fuelled concern about more aggressive rate hikes to come from the Federal Reserve. Cryptocurrencies also continued to tank after a lender froze withdrawals. Plus, as Europe looks to bolster the continent's energy security, France's TotalEnergies signs a deal with Qatar on a major gas field project.

Two studies indicate that COVID-19 emerged from an animal-to-human spillover at a market in China's city of Wuhan. Both papers bolster the theory that the virus emerged naturally, rather than escaping from a Chinese lab.

An explosion at a market in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, has killed at least one person and injured many more. The initial blast sparked a fire.