South America: One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought – study in 9 countries

 BRASILIA, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than one third of the Amazon rainforest may have been degraded by human activity and drought, researchers said, and action is needed to protect the critically important ecosystem. In a study published in the journal Science, the researchers said the damage done to the…

US violence: Pres Biden calls for calm over Black man’s death after police beating

 WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Joe Biden called for calm after five police officers were charged in the beating death of a Black man following a traffic stop and said he backed “peaceful protest.” “As Americans grieve, the Department of Justice conducts its investigation, and state authorities continue…

US Pres Biden names former covid aide as new White House Chief of Staff

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Joe Biden on Friday named his former top Covid-19 aide Jeff Zients to White House chief of staff, one of the most crucial positions in an administration gearing up for a possible re-election campaign. Zients replaces Ron Klain, who saw Biden through the first…

Czech presidential vote: Ex-paratrooper set to sweep against ex-PM

PRAGUE, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Polling stations opened Friday for the Czech presidential election run-off in which retired NATO general Petr Pavel is expected to beat billionaire former prime minister Andrej Babis. Despite the grim weather, analysts expected high turnout for the two-day vote, which follows an election campaign marked…

Greek government survives no-confidence vote over a long-running wiretap scandal

   ATHENS, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Greece’s government comfortably survived a no-confidence vote called by the opposition over a long-running wiretap scandal in which top officials were targeted by state intelligence for months.   The censure motion was defeated by 156 votes to 143, parliament vice chairman Haralambos Athanassiou told…

Covid-19: WHO panel in talks on Covid emergency status

  GENEVA, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Organization’s emergency committee on Covid-19 met Friday to discuss whether the pandemic still merits the highest level of global alert.    Before the meeting, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus suggested that the emergency phase of the pandemic is not over, pointing…

Toll from Madagascar storm rises to 18

   ANTANANARIVO, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The death toll from a tropical storm that lashed parts of northeastern Madagascar last week has climbed to 18, the government’s risk and disaster management office announced.    Another 19 people are missing after the storm flooded several districts and cut roads linking them…

Twenty killed in Chad bus crash

   N’DJAMENA, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Twenty people were killed and seven were injured, two critically, when their bus collided at high speed with a broken-down truck in central Chad, the transport ministry said.   The accident occurred shortly before midnight Thursday on a desert road at Oum-Hadjer, 500 kilometres…

Malawi asks WHO for 7.6 million doses of cholera vaccine

LILONGWE, Jan 25 (NNN-ALLAFRICA) — The Malawi government has asked for a donation of 7.6 million doses of cholera vaccine from the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Ministry of Health announced that it had used all the 2.9 million cholera vaccines it had in all health facilities in the country.…

Chilean President wants free elections in Venezuela next year

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 25 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font called for free elections in Venezuela and said he was willing to sponsor dialogue between the administration of President Nicolás Maduro and the opposition. He also said he hoped Venezuela would soon once again participate in multilateral forums. During…