UN: High seas treaty moves closer to reality with first signatures

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nearly 70 countries at the United Nations signed a first-ever treaty on protecting the international high seas, raising hopes that it will come into force soon and protect threatened ecosystems vital to the planet. Sixty-seven countries signed the treaty on the first day, including…

AGOA Forum to bring US, sub-Saharan African countries together

WASHINGTON/PRETORIA, Sept 21 (NNN-SANEWS) — United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, says she is looking forward to visiting South Africa in November to reaffirm the US’s commitment to the African continent and discuss opportunities to make the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) more transformative. South Africa will host the 20th…

Venezuela seizes control of gang-run prison with pool, disco

MARACAY (Venezuela), Sept 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela said it had seized control of a prison from the hands of a powerful gang with international reach, in a major operation involving 11,000 members of its security forces. The Tocoron prison had served as the Tren de Aragua gang’s headquarters, where it…

Cuba praises cooperation with U.S. to fight cancer

HAVANA, Sept 21 (NNN-ACN) — Cuba’s Minister of Public Health José Ángel Portal highlighted the cooperation and solidarity that unite Cuban and US scientists for the benefit of human life.Portal referred to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Cuban Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology and the Massey…

DR Congo calls for swift withdrawal of UN peacekeepers

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo called for a speedy withdrawal of a key UN peacekeeping mission that has been in the nation for nearly 25 years. “It is time for our country to take full control of its destiny and become…

Italian PM urges UN to wage ‘war without mercy’ on migrant trafficking

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Italy’s prime minister urged the United Nations to launch a “global war without mercy” against migrant smugglers, after a surge of arrivals on the island of Lampedusa. Addressing the UN General Assembly, right-wing prime minister Giorgia Meloni said that Italy, which next year heads…

Three South African navy divers die off Cape Town after being swept away by strong waves

CAPE TOWN, Sept 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Three South African navy divers died after being swept away from their submarine in choppy waters near Cape Town on Wednesday, the country’s military said. The incident occurred off the coast of the town of Kommetjie, as an army submarine en route to Cape…

Ruto signs $59m deal with US aid agency to acquire electric buses

(L-R: MCC Chief Executive Officer Alice Albright, President William Ruto and National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u after signing of the threshold programme agreement between MCC and Kenya in New York NEW YORK, Sept 21 (NNN-KBC) — Kenya’s President William Ruto has signed a Ksh8.7 billion ($59.2 million) deal with…

Ousted Niger president sues military junta in ECOWAS court demanding freedom

Mohamed Bazoum NIAMEY, Sept 21 (NNN-GNA) — Mohamed Bazoum, the ousted Nigerien president has applied to the West African regional court seeking his liberation from house arrest.Bazoum is also appealing to the court to order a return to constitutional order which was disrupted on July 26 when he was removed…

Women engineers break barriers in Somalia’s male-dominated industry

Civil engineers Faduma Mohamed Ali (L) and Fathi Mohamed Abdi MOGADISHU, Sept 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — As Somalia’s capital witnesses a construction boom following improvements in security, civil engineer Faduma Mohamed Ali is hard at work, supervising male labourers twice her age and breaking barriers in the conservative country.The 22-year-old has…