145 rights activists killed in Colombia in 2021: ombudsman

BOGOTA, Jan 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Colombia saw 145 community leaders and rights defenders killed in 2021, a year marked by anti-government protests that were brutally put down, the country’s human rights ombudsman said.   The toll was lower than in 2020, when 182 killings were registered, the offices of ombud…

Peru beaches suffer oil spill blamed on waves from Tonga volcanic eruption

LIMA, Jan 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Peruvian authorities sealed off three beaches after they were hit by an oil spill blamed on freak waves caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga.    The Pampilla Refinery, part of the Spanish company Repsol, said there had been a “limited spill” of oil off…

Travel woes as winter storm blankets eastern US and Canada

 MONTREAL, Jan 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A major winter storm blanketed a swathe of North America in snow Monday as it sliced up the US east coast into Canada, disrupting travel and cutting power to thousands of homes.    Many Americans who had been without electricity — about 120,000 of them…

UN chief calls for diplomatic talks toward denuclearization of Korean Peninsula

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 18 (NNN-Xinhua) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for diplomatic talks between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and all parties concerned toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, said his spokesman. The DPRK reportedly fired two short-range projectiles into eastern waters on Monday, the fourth…

Covid-19: Cases, deaths soar again at US nursing homes

Medical workers take nasal swab samples for COVID-19 testing in Washington WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (NNN-Xinhua) — COVID-19 cases at US nursing homes are rising to another peak amid the Omicron surge across the country, according to latest data of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nursing homes…

Covid-19: Number of cases across globe exceeds 325 million as UN says vaccinate whole world to end pandemic

GENEVA, Jan 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The overall number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide has exceeded 325 million and the number of fatalities has exceeded 5.53 million, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.    As on Monday Jan 17, as many as 326,279,424 novel coronavirus cases and 5,536,609 coronavirus-associated deaths were…

Covid-19: Global employment won’t recover before 2023 – UN labour body

The global unemployment rate is projected to reach 5.9 per cent in 2022 GENEVA, Jan 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Global employment will not recover to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2023, with a projected shortfall in hours worked this year equivalent to 52 million full-time jobs, according to a report by…

UN grants $150 million in aid for 13 underfunded crises – the largest ever so far

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Nations is allocating $150 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund to support seriously underfunded humanitarian operations in 13 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East.Topping the list of underfunded crises are Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,…

Somalia government spokesman wounded in suicide bomber attack in capital

Somali security look at the wreckage of a vehicle at the scene of an explosion Mogadishu MOGADISHU, Jan 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Somalia’s government spokesperson was wounded in an explosion in the capital in a suspected suicide bomber attack, state-run media reported.A photographer at the scene of the blast reported seeing…

Sudan pro-democracy faction agrees to UN-brokered talks

KHARTOUM, Jan 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A prominent Sudanese pro-democracy group has conditionally accepted the UN’s offer to broker an end to political deadlock following the October military coup.Jaafar Hassan, a spokesperson for the Central Council for the Forces of Freedom and Change (CCFFC), said in a press statement that the…