Update: Cyclone Batsirai weakens after hitting Madagascar, floods feared

ANTANANARIVO, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cyclone Batsirai weakened overnight but floods were still expected due to heavy rain after it hit eastern Madagascar with strong winds, the island’s meteorological office said Sunday.   “Batsirai has weakened,” Meteo Madagascar said, adding that the cyclone’s average wind speed had almost halved to…

Tunisian president dissolves top judicial watchdog, accuses it of bias

TUNIS, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tunisian President Kais Saied said on Sunday he had dissolved a major independent judicial watchdog, accusing it of bias and working for special interests.   The Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) “is a thing of the past from this moment,” the president said in…

Cuba slaps new tax on food sales as economic woes hit hard

HAVANA, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cuba on Saturday announced a new 10 percent tax on retail food sales, as the country endures economic woes marked by rampant inflation.    The levy taking effect Monday will target self-employed people and small-and medium-sized companies in the retail food sector, said the decree…

Covid-19: Russia eases restrictions despite record daily cases; Italy sees drop in cases

A Russian woman wearing a protective face mask enters a metro station in Moscow MOSCOW, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia eases some of its COVID-19 restrictions from Sunday, despite reporting a record daily number of cases as the Omicron variant spreads across the country. The number of daily infections has…

Covid-19: More protesters against vaccine mandates enter Canada capital

Protesters release smoke flares in Ottawa OTTAWA, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Protesters again poured into Canada’s capital to join a convoy of truckers whose occupation of Ottawa to denounce COVID-19 vaccine mandates is now in its second week. Individuals and families huddled around campfires in bone-chilling weather and erected bouncy…

UN’s Sec-Gen Guterres says he expects China to let rights chief visit Xinjiang

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet UNITED NATIONS, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Chinese leaders in Beijing he expects them to allow UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet to make a “credible” visit to China including a stop in the troubled Xinjiang region, his spokesman said.…

Ecuador sees trade deal with China at end of year, debt talks to begin

Ecuador’s president, Guillermo Lasso QUITO, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ecuador expects to pull together a trade deal with China at the end of this year and will begin formal debt re-negotiations with the Asian country, Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso said on Saturday, after a Beijing visit with his counterpart Xi…

Missing tourist plane found at bottom of lake in Iceland, 4 on board

Reuters|Feb. 5, 2022, at 12:16 p.m.SaveMore Missing Tourist Plane Found at Bottom of Lake in IcelandMore A road near Thingvallavatn lake in southwestern Iceland REYKJAVIK, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Authorities in Iceland have found a small plane at the bottom of a lake two days after the aircraft went missing…

Elizabeth II says wants Camilla to be Queen Consort as Platinum Jubilee starts

LONDON, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday became the first British monarch to reign for seven decades, marking the landmark date with an announcement that she wants Camilla, the wife of her heir PrinceCharles, to ultimately be known as Queen Consort.    The 95-year-old monarch begins her…

Costa Ricans choose among 25 presidential candidates

SAN JOSE, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Costa Ricans head to the polls Sunday with a crowded presidential field and no clear favorite for tackling growing economic concerns in one of Latin America’s stablest democracies.      Often referred to as the region’s “happiest” country, Costa Rica is nonetheless grappling with a…