Chile congress approves same-sex marriage bill

SANTIAGO, Dec 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chile’s congress approved a long-awaited bill to legalize same-sex marriage, joining just a handful of countries in majority Catholic Latin America with similar laws. The measure has the support of President Sebastian Pinera, who must sign it into law, and will also enable married same-sex…

Covid-19: France registers surge in hospitalisations

PARIS, Dec 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France on Tuesday registered a surge in COVID-19 hospitalisations as a rise in new infections in mid-November led to an increase in patient numbers. The health ministry reported that the number of COVID-19 patients in French hospitals rose by 618 to 12,714, the second-highest net…

Covid-19: Canada to expand mandates, targets banking, telecoms sectors

OTTAWA, Dec 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada will soon crack down on COVID-19 mandates, forcing banks, telecommunications companies and all other federally regulated workspaces to ensure their employees are inoculated, Labour Minister Seamus said. O’Regan made the announcement two months after the government said it would oblige the public sector and…

Britain to phase out 2G and 3G mobile networks by 2033

An engineer works on a mobile telephony mast in London LONDON, Dec 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain will phase out its 2G and 3G mobile networks by 2033 to free up radio waves for 5G and eventually 6G services that will power technologies such as driverless vehicles, drones and virtual reality,…

Covid-19: Up to 1 million vaccines wasted in Nigeria last month

ABUJA, Dec 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Up to one million COVID-19 vaccines are estimated to have expired in Nigeria last month without being used, one of the biggest single losses of doses that shows the difficulty African nations have getting shots in arms. Governments on the continent of over one billion…

Thirteen dead in Ukraine minibus accident

Emergency personnel work at the site of a deadly accident in which a passenger bus collided with a truck, in northern Ukraine KIEV, Dec 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thirteen people died and another seven were injured when a minibus collided with a lorry in northern Ukraine on Tuesday, officials said. The…

One dead, two missing after building collapses in France

One Dead, Two Missing After Building Collapses in France SANARY-SUR-MER (France), Dec 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — French rescue workers on Tuesday recovered a man’s body from the rubble of a residential building destroyed overnight in a suspected gas explosion, and were scrambling to find two other people still missing after extracting…

Burundi prison fire kills at least 38 in Gitega

GITEGA, Dec 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 38 people have died and scores more have been injured in a fire which tore through a prison in Burundi. Vice-President Prosper Bazombanza told reporters the blaze hit an overcrowded facility in the capital Gitega, with at least 69 people seriously injured. Images…

Mexico moves migrants from southern state; asylum seekers awaited at US border

Migrants hold hands to control other migrants who want to get on a bus, in Tapachula, Mexico MEXICO CITY, Dec 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexican officials have sped up the transfer of thousands of migrants from southern Mexico to other regions as northern border states prepare to receive asylum seekers sent back to…

Britain will consider diplomatic presence at Beijing Olympics – Raab

Britain’s Justice Secretary Dominic Raab LONDON, Dec 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain will in due course consider whether or not to impose a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said on Tuesday. U.S. government officials will boycott the Olympics in Beijing because of…