Brazil’s Lula keeps wide lead over incumbent Bolsonaro: poll

 BRASILIA, July 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva maintains a wide lead over incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro ahead of the presidential election in October, according to a poll published Thursday. Forty-seven percent of those polled by Datafolha said they intend to support Lula, 76, in…

Top Argentina lawmaker named economy ‘super minister’ as crisis drags on

 BUENOS AIRES, July 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Argentina’s government appointed the head of the country’s lower house of Congress, Sergio Massa, as the new economy “super minister,” as Buenos Aires attempts to surmount an economic crisis marked by soaring inflation. Massa’s appointment brings together three ministries under his supervision: economy, development…

Parliamentary elections: ‘Vote bribes’ leave Kenyan banks short of small notes – Interior Minister

NAIROBI, July 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Kenyan banks are running out of small banknotes because politicians are bribing people to try to win their support for next month’s election, a government minister charged. Politicians have been handing out small amounts of cash or other freebies to people who turn up to their campaign rallies ahead of the Aug…

Cuba says 3 defected during athletics world champs

           HAVANA, July 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Three members of Cuba’s athletics delegation at the World Championships in the United States, including former discus world champion Yaime Perez absconded, the country’s sports institute said. Defections by Cuban sports people while on international duty are commonplace as the communist…

DR Congo launches controversial auction for oil and gas blocks

KINSHASA, July 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Democratic Republic of Congo launched a controversial auction of 30 oil and gas blocks, despite warnings that drilling in the country’s rainforests and peatlands could be environmentally catastrophic. Of the 27 oil blocks put up for auction in the capital Kinshasa, nine are in…

Nigeria’s abducted Chibok girls: Two victims found eight years on

ABUJA, July 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Nigerian army says it has found two more of the female students abducted by Boko Haram militants from a secondary school more than eight years ago. There was global outrage when the militants seized nearly 300 girls in Nigeria’s north-eastern town of Chibok in…

Russia-Ukraine conflict: Deadly Russian strikes target military bases in central Ukraine

KYIV, July  29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian strikes on military facilities and residential buildings across war-scarred Ukraine Thursday left several dead in attacks President Volodymyr Zelensky described as “missile terrorism”. The deadliest attacks, which struck the central Kyrovograd region, came as the country was marking its first Day Of Ukraine Statehood…

Zimbabwe to host high-level forum on debt resolution

Mthuli Ncube, Zimbabwe’s finance minister HARARE, July 29 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Zimbabwean government said it will soon host a high-level debt resolution forum with development partners and other stakeholders aimed at building consensus among stakeholders on resolving the country’s external debt. Presenting the 2022 mid-term budget review and supplementary budget…

Covid-19: Peru extends state of emergency due to fourth wave

COVID-19 vaccination in Lima  LIMA, July 29 (NNN-Xinhua) — Peru extended a state of emergency on Thursday over the COVID-19 pandemic amid a fourth wave. The decision extends emergency conditions for another 28 days as of Aug 1. “The national state of emergency will be extended due to the serious…

Mai-Mai militia members reportedly join eastern DRC demonstrations: UN

UNITED NATIONS, July 29 (NNN-Xinhua) — Armed Mai-Mai combatants reportedly joined anti-UN demonstrators in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a UN spokesman said. Despite members of the community-based militia participating in the demonstrations in North Kivu, the protests were not as violent as earlier in…