UN gives Uganda 2 days to hand in climate action plan

All parties are required to submit their climate change action plans to the UN by Oct 12 KAMPALA, Oct 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Uganda risks losing out on access to climate change interventions financing should it fail to submit its nationally determined climate change action plan to United Nations (UN) in…

UN chief urges Ethiopian authorities to let UN help millions in need

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres UNITED NATIONS, Oct 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed to the Ethiopian government to allow the world body help millions of people in need of humanitarian assistance.“The United Nations will continue to play its mandated role and work with the government…

Cameroonian PM urges peace in restive Anglophone region

The North and South West regions have been restive for the past few years BAMENDA (Cameroon), Oct 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cameroonian Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute, has called on Cameroonians in the restive Anglophone region of Northwest to embrace peace, saying that it’s the prerequisite for the development of the…

Ethiopia’s parliament approves new cabinet members

The Parliament approved all nominees put forward by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ADDIS ABABA, Oct 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ethiopia’s House People’s Representatives (HoPR) has approved the appointment of new cabinet members upon the endorsement of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.The newly-introduced cabinet has 22 members, including the reappointment of Demeke Mekonnen…

Sierra Leone officially becomes 23rd African country to ban death penalty

Sierra Leone president Maada Bio FREETOWN, Oct 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Sierra Leone has formally abolished the death penalty, becoming the 23rd African country to repeal capital punishment.President Julius Maada Bio signed the bill into law after legislators in the former British colony had voted unanimously in its favour on July…

Afghanistan: US and Taliban hold first face-to-face talks since withdrawal

Funerals were held for victims of a suicide attack  WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US officials have met Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban for their first face-to-face talks since Washington pulled its troops from the country in August. The talks in Qatar are focusing on issues including containing extremist groups, the evacuation…

Colombian nun kidnapped in Mali in 2017 is freed

BAMAKO, Oct 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Colombian nun kidnapped in Mali four years ago has been freed. Gloria Cecilia Narváez was taken hostage in 2017 while working as a missionary in Koutiala, about 400 kilometres east of the capital Bamako. It is not clear whether a ransom was paid to…

Brazil: Extreme drought in triggers fatal sand storms

 SAO PAULO, Oct 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Unusually powerful sandstorms have left at least six people dead in Sao Paulo in recent weeks, local media said, as southeastern Brazil grapples with severe drought.   Scenes of huge orange dust clouds rumbling across the countryside — with winds of up to 100…

Congo’s US$6 billion China mining deal ‘unconscionable’, says draft report

KINSHASA, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Democratic Republic of Congo should renegotiate its US$6 billion infrastructure-for-minerals deal with Chinese investors, according to the draft of a report commissioned by a global anti-corruption body of governments, companies and activists. The draft describes the deal that was first signed in 2008 as “unconscionable”…

Bootleg alcohol kills 17 in Russia

   MOSCOW, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Seventeen people in Russia have died after drinking surrogate alcohol containing highly toxic methanol, officials said Friday, with investigators launching criminal probes.   The deaths are the latest in Russia from the consumption of a cheap alcohol substitute, a persistent problem that authorities have…