Update: Sirens alert more rain in Brazilian city where 117 have died in flooding

PETROPOLIS (Brazil), Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ahead of more heavy rain, residents of several neighborhoods in the devastated Brazilian city of Petropolis were called to evacuate Thursday, just two days after flash floods and landslides killed 117 people.   Sirens warned neighborhoods in the hillside tourist town to leave, with…

Canada: Police arrest anti-vaccine mandate protest leaders

OTTAWA, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canadian police began arresting leaders of the trucker-led protest that has choked the capital’s streets for three weeks and provoked the government into calling on rarely used emergency powers. A video posted to the Twitter account for the so-called “Freedom Convoy” showed Tamara Lich, one…

Malawi declares polio outbreak

The Malawian health authorities have declared an outbreak of wild poliovirus type 1 after a case was detected in the capital Lilongwe GENEVA, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The first wild poliovirus case in Africa in more than five years has been detected in a young child in Malawi, the World…

Covid-19: Zanzibar receives Africa’s first EDE scanners from UAE

ZANZIBAR, Feb 18 (NNN-KBC) — The Government of Zanzibar received EDE Covid scanners from Abu Dhabi, Dubai on Wednesday at the Abeid Amani Kurume International Airport, Terminal 3. The EDE scanners employ a technology that can detect a possible COVID-19 infection by measuring electromagnetic waves which change when the RNA…

A Chilean indigenous language vanishes as last native speaker dies

SANTIAGO, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An indigenous language from South America’s extreme south has all but vanished after the death of its last living speaker and guardian of its ancestral culture. Cristina Calderon died on Wednesday, aged 93. She had mastered the Yamana language of the Yagan community and after…

Ecuador legislature approves rules for abortion in cases of rape

Anti-abortion activists demonstrate outside parliament house QUITO, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ecuadorian legislators approved a measure Thursday setting regulations for terminating pregnancies resulting from rape, following a Constitutional Court ruling that decriminalized such abortions. Previously, Ecuador allowed abortions only when a woman’s life was endangered by pregnancy. Passed on a…

Covid-19: Dominican Republic ends mask mandate, all other rules

Municipal workers gather fresh produce that is being discarded as fewer people are shopping at the market SANTO DOMINGO, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Dominican Republic ended all COVID-19 public health restrictions on Thursday, including a mask mandate and vaccine checks in public spaces, despite not yet reaching the government’s…

Haitian garment workers protest to demand higher wages

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of Haitian garment workers protested in Port-au-Prince on Thursday to demand higher wages following weeks of similar demonstrations over pay and working conditions at firms that export to US clothing retailers. For decades, Haiti has promoted itself as a centre for clothing manufacturing thanks to low…

Humanitarian situation in northern Ethiopia continues to deteriorate: UN

Food is distributed in Zelazle in northern Ethiopia UNITED NATIONS, Feb 18 (NNN-Xinhua) — The humanitarian situation in the northern Ethiopian region of Afar continues to deteriorate due to the ongoing conflict, with large-scale displacement driving increasing needs, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Due…

Algerian president appoints 2 new ministers

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ALGIERS, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Algeria’s president has appointed Abderrahmane Raouya as the new finance minister, choosing a veteran politician who has held the post twice before over the past five years. He is well versed in the functioning of the ministry and the taxation department…