Covid-19: US government appealling against court ruling lifting mask mandate

Masked and unmasked travelers ride escalators at Ronald Reagan Washington national airport in Arlington, Virginia WASHINGTON, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States government is appealing a court ruling that controversially lifted a federal mask mandate on US public transport earlier this week, the Justice Department said. After the US…

US spring snow storm leaves 300,000 in the dark

A plane on a tarmac in Albany, New York, where residents saw ‘thundersnow’ storms  NEW YORK, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A spring storm has caused power outages across states in the north-eastern US, with over a foot of snow falling in some places. Some 300,000 customers lost electricity, 200,000 of…

Covid-19: Chile recovers jobs lost during pandemic – Survey

SANTIAGO, April 21 (NNN-XINHUA) — Chile recovered all the jobs it lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, after registering 9.16 million employed people in the first week of April, according to a survey. The projected number of employed people in April has surpassed the pre-pandemic level of 9.06 million in March…

European countries call for end to Jerusalem unrest at UN Security Council

UNITED NATIONS, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Five European countries called for an end to clashes in Jerusalem following a weekend of violence surrounding a holy site, in a joint statement issued after an emergency closed-door UN Security Council session.   The United Arab Emirates and China did not join the…

Russia-Ukraine conflict: Russia orders 31 more European diplomats to leave in tit-for-tat move

MOSCOW, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia said it was expelling 31 diplomats from three European countries in a tit-for-tat move sparked by its military operation in Ukraine. The Russian foreign ministry declared 15 diplomats from the Netherlands “persona non grata” and gave them two weeks to leave. Moscow gave the…

Russian military ‘advisor’ in Mali killed by road bomb

     DAKAR, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Russian national operating alongside Malian soldiers was killed by a roadside bomb in the centre of the conflict-torn Sahel state, an army document and officials said. A Malian army unit accompanied by a “Russian advisor” struck an improvised explosive device near the town…

Russia-Ukraine conflict: More than five million Ukrainians flee war, says UN

  GENEVA, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than five million Ukrainians have now fled their country following the Russian invasion, the United Nations said, in Europe’s fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said 5,034,439 Ukrainians had left since Russia invaded on Feb 24 — an increase of 53,850…

Covid-19: Brazil to lift public health emergency ‘in coming days’

Brazil’s Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga BRASILIA, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil announced it will “in the coming days” lift public health emergency measures in place for over two years, citing a drop in the number of deaths and infections. More than 660,000 people died of the virus in Brazil, one…

Russia-Ukraine conflict: One-fifth of humanity could face poverty, hunger, says UN Sec-Gen Guterres

UNITED NATIONS, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Ukraine crisis could plunge more than one fifth of humanity, or up to 1.7 billion people, into poverty and hunger, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “We all see the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine. But beyond its borders, the war has launched a…

UN says nine million in need of aid in South Sudan

People gather in a classroom at the Dibba Busin camp for South Sudanese refugees in Sudan’s White Nile state JUBA, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN’s envoy to South Sudan warned that almost nine million people will be in need of aid this year as the fragile country grapples with…