WHO: Togo, the first country African to deploy the R21 malaria vaccine nationally

Togo takes a historic step by becoming the 22nd African country to introduce, as of September 1, 2025, the vaccine antimalarial drug R21/Matrix-M. The country is the first on the continent to do so directly at the national level, covering the entire territory from launch. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this turning point strategic was made possible “by a strong political will”, the Togolese government that participated in the co-financing of the doses.

The R21/Matrix-M vaccine, prequalified by WHO, will be administered in four doses: at five months, six months, seven months and fifteen months. Around 269,000 children are affected from the first phase, which will cover simultaneously the country's 39 health districts.

Automobiles: Japan and United States close to an agreement to reduce tariffs

Japan and the United States are in the final stages of discussions in order to implement a reduction in customs duties on imports of Japanese cars, within 10 to 14 days The publication of an American presidential decree, told Reuters on Thursday a Japanese government source.

This means that a reduced rate of customs duty on Japanese cars, rising from 27.5% currently to 15%, should enter into force by the end of the month, said this source, who wanted maintain anonymity due to the confidentiality of the file.

The exact date that will be stipulated in the decree The presidential election is still under discussion, the source added, specifying that the final decision would be up to Donald Trump, President of the United States.

The United States Embassy in Tokyo did not immediately responded to a request for comment.

Russia -Ukraine: Trump reaffirms his commitment to peace

US President Donald Trump said that he remained determined to pursue a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, despite the uncertainty that hangs over the prospect of face-to-face discussions between Vladimir Putin, Russian President, and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, President Ukrainian, reports CBS News in an article published on Thursday.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump announced his intention to address the issue of the war in Ukraine in the coming days, after that his summit in Alaska with Putin in August did not unblock the situation. A White House official said Trump should speak by phone with Zelenskiy on Thursday.

Putin also said on Wednesday that he was ready to meet Zelenskiy if the Ukrainian president went to Moscow, everything insisting that such a meeting should be carefully prepared and achieve concrete results. The Ukrainian minister of Foreign Affairs rejected the idea of Moscow as the location for this possible encounter.

Activism in Morocco: the feminist Ibtissame Lachgar sentenced to thirty months in prison for “attacking Islam”

A court in Rabat has convicted one of the figures of Moroccan feminism, Ibtissame Lachgar, for publishing a photo of her dressed of a T-shirt where the word “Allah” was followed by “is lesbian.”

A Moroccan court condemned, on Wednesday 3 September, at thirty months in prison, closes the activist Ibtissame Lachgar, a well-known activist for his commitment to individual freedoms. She was being chased for publishing a photo of her wearing her clothes on social networks at the end of July of a T-shirt with the word Allah (“God”) followed by “is lesbian” (” is a lesbian”), deemed “offensive to God.”

IN SHORT

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that his country would provide “total support” to the Russian army by “fraternal duty”, while Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the ties between the two countries as “special”, reported Thursday the official KCNA news agency. Kim and Putin met Wednesday on the sidelines of the celebrations organized in China to commemorate the Official surrender of Japan during the Second World War in Beijing.

In Madagascar, the three Sakalava skulls returned by France, including that presumed of King Toera, joined, Wednesday 4 September, Menabe. 128 years later, thousands of people gathered massed along the Menabe roads to welcome the three returning skulls on their native land.