South Africa’s top court rejects Zuma’s bid to overturn sentence

Former President Jacob zuma PRETORIA, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — South Africa’s top court has ruled that former President Jacob Zuma had failed in his bid to have his 15-month jail sentence for failing to attend a corruption inquiry overturned.The sentence was handed down in June after Zuma failed to testify…

Ethiopia crisis: Hundreds of aid trucks have failed to return from Tigray, UN says

The UN estimated that about 350,000 people face famine-like conditions in Ethiopia ADDIS ABABA, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Hundreds of aid trucks have not returned from Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region, and their disappearance is “the primary impediment” to ramping up the humanitarian response, the United Nations has said.The disclosure on…

Venezuela’s Pres Maduro in Mexico on first foreign trip since US accusations

  MEXICO CITY, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrived in Mexico on Friday to participate in a gathering of leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean, a rare trip abroad and his first since theUnited States accused him of drug trafficking.   Maduro was received by Mexican…

France recalls envoys in US, Australia over submarine deal

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian PARIS, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France plunged into an unprecedented diplomatic crisis with the United States and Australia on Friday after it recalled its ambassadors from both countries over a trilateral security deal which sank a US$40 billion French-designed submarine contract. Foreign minister Jean-Yves…

Brazil renews protection of little-seen Amazon tribe for six months

BRASILIA, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The only two known male members of the Piripkura tribe in Brazil live in isolation on ancestral lands the size of Luxembourg in the Amazon rainforest, resisting decades of invasion by loggers and cattle ranchers. Brazil’s indigenous affairs agency Funai renewed a protection order on…

Covid-19: India breaks its vaccination record in ‘birthday gift’ to PM Modi

Health workers administers the Covishield vaccine for COVID-19 during a special vaccination drive in Hyderabad NEW DELHI, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — India gave a record 22.6 million vaccinations on Friday, three times the average daily total during the past month, as some states organised special innoculation drives on Prime Minister…

Covid-19: Australia reports 1,882 new cases as police quell protests

Police use pepper spray on protesters during an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne. Protesters have been rallying against restrictions aimed at controlling the latest COVID-19 outbreak MELBOURNE, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Australia recorded 1,882 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, as thousands of police officers in Sydney and Melbourne were deployed to…

1,400 arrests in Asia, Europe in Interpol-led operation against illegal football gambling; 72 nabbed in Singapore

Photo illustration of a man using a mobile app for live betting while watching a sports match SINGAPORE, Sept 18 (NNN-CNA) — Nearly 1,400 people across Asia and Europe have been arrested in an Interpol-led operation targeting illegal football gambling during the Euro 2020 tournament held earlier this year. The Singapore Police…

Covid-19: Vietnam approves Cuba’s Abdala vaccine

Only 6.3% of Vietnam’s 98 million people have received at least two shots HANOI, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Vietnam has approved Cuba’s Abdala vaccine for use against the coronavirus, the government said on Saturday, as the Southeast Asian country is battling its worst outbreak. Abdala becomes the eighth COVID-19 vaccine…

Covid-19: England eases rules for international travellers

A worker sanitises a sign at the International arrivals area of Terminal 5 in London’s Heathrow Airport LONDON, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — England set out measures to boost international travel on Friday, abandoning expensive COVID-19 testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers, scrapping its traffic light system and adding eight countries…