• Akon

The government of Senegal has cancelled Akon’s $6 billion plan to build a futuristic “Akon City” on the country’s Atlantic coast, after years of inaction and missed payments by the Senegalese-American singer.

Bloomberg reports that the project, first announced in 2020, was pitched as a tech-driven smart city inspired by Marvel’s Wakanda and promised to transform the quiet village of Mbodiène into a modern hub powered by solar energy and Akon’s own cryptocurrency.

But five years later, the Senegalese government has reclaimed most of the 136 acres of land initially allocated to the singer, after construction failed to begin and financial commitments were not met.

“That project no longer exists,” Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of Sapco-Senegal, the state agency responsible for developing coastal and tourism zones, told L’Agence de presse sénégalaise.”

Bloomberg reports on Wednesday that SAPCO said it would now pursue a scaled-down, state-backed tourism project in the same area, with a budget of 665 billion CFA francs (about $1.2 billion), largely sourced from private investors.

Akon will retain just 8 hectares of the original land allocation, which will be absorbed into the broader development.

Despite the setback, officials say the revised plan could generate up to 15,000 jobs in its first phase, offering long-awaited economic hope for Mbodiène residents.

Russia’s former transport minister Roman Starovoyt killed himself Monday, July 7, 2025, hours after being officially dismissed by President Vladimir Putin.

The country’s Investigative Committee confirmed the incident via a statement on Monday.

Authorities said Starovoyt’s body was found in a Moscow suburb after the firing was announced, with “suicide” being considered the most likely cause of death.

Starovoyt, 53, served as Russia’s transport minister since May 2024.

He was previously the governor of the Kursk region, where Russia had battled a Ukrainian incursion.

The Investigative Committee said: “Today, the body of former Transport Minister Roman Starovoyt was found in his private car with a gunshot wound in the Odintsovo district.

“The main version (considered) is suicide.”

Russian state media and news agencies said Starovoyt shot himself.

It was not clear exactly when Starovoyt died.

(The Star.ng)

US President Donald Trump has warned that countries which side with the policies of the Brics alliance that go against US interests will be hit with an extra 10% tariff.

Trump has long criticised Brics, an organisation whose members include China, Russia and India, which was designed to boost countries’ international standing and challenge the US and western Europe.

“Any country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% tariff.

There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump wrote on social media.

A deadline for countries to agree a tariff deal with the US had been set for 9 July but US officials now say they will begin on 1 August.

(BBC)