WFP: Hunger stalks 20m in East Africa as 2030 nears

Internally-displaced people wait for food at a refugee camp near Mogadishu, Somalia ADDIS ABABA, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Food insecurity continues to stalk East Africa, with four countries counting 19.5 million people in its population among those feeling the severity of its bite.The situation is exacerbated by conflict and famine…

AU Summit: Palestinian PM urges African Union to withdraw Israel’s observer status

ADDIS ABABA, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh urged the African Union to withdraw Israel’s observer status as heads of state from the 55-member body met for a two-day summit. “Israel should never be rewarded for its violation and for the apartheid regime it does impose on…

Morocco boy found dead in tragic end to well ordeal

RABAT, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Moroccan emergency crews found a five-year-old boy dead at the bottom of a well late Saturday in a tragic end to a painstaking five-day rescue operation that gripped the nation and beyond. “Following the tragic accident which cost the life of the child Rayan Oram,…

Queen Elizabeth II set to be 1st British monarch to celebrate 70 years of reign

Queen Elizabeth II LONDON, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday become the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth. To celebrate the unprecedented anniversary of the 95-year-old the monarch,…

US racism: Mahatma Gandhi’s statue vandalised in New York

NEW YORK, Feb 6 (NNN-PTI) — A life-sized bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised in a New York City neighbourhood on Saturday, an act strongly condemned as ‘despicable’ by the Consulate General of India here.        The 8-foot-high statue, located in Manhattan’s Union Square, was defaced by some unknown…

Cyclone Batsirai destroys homes, knocks out power in Madagascar

A man secures his home during adverse weather in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on Saturday ANTANANARIVO, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cyclone Batsirai made landfall on Madagascar’s eastern coastline late on Saturday, with residents reporting strong winds, a power blackout and houses destroyed as the storm swept inland. There were fears that Batsirai…

10 killed by landmine in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Feb 5 (NNN-Xinhua) — A minivan was hit by a landmine on Friday in southern Somalia, killing 10 passengers, including five women and four children. Deqow Abdinur Aden, an army commander in Jubaland State in southern Somalia, said the passenger bus was heading to the southern port city of…

Morocco: Increasing urgency over fate of boy stuck days in well

 BAB BERRED (Morocco), Feb 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Moroccan rescuers worked through the night into Saturday, the fifth day of an increasingly urgent and nerve-wracking effort to rescue Rayan, a five-year-old boy trapped underground in a well.   The complex, slow and risky earth-moving operation has gripped residents of the North…

Africa: Let’s tackle coups before things get out of hand – ECOWAS Chairman

President Akufo-Addo is current Chairman of ECOWAS ACCRA, Feb 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said the recent trend of coup d’etats in the West African sub-region needs to be tackled before things become uncontrollable.The Ghanaian…

Covid-19: South Africa makes is own version of Moderna vaccine

Africa currently has the lowest uptake of Covid vaccines in the world  PRETORIA, Feb 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Scientists in South Africa have made a copy of the Moderna Covid vaccine, a move which they say could help boost vaccination rates across Africa. The continent currently has the lowest uptake of…