Covid-19: Lockdown rules eased slightly in Australia’s New South Wales as vaccine rates climb

Mounted police patrol Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia SYDNEY, Sept 18 (NNN-XINHUA) — As Sydney, the capital city of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), entered the 12th week of its COVID-19 lockdown, there are a few small indications that life is gradually returning to normal for its…

Work-related accidents, illnesses kill nearly 2 mn each year: UN

   GENEVA, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Work-related illnesses and injuries kill nearly two million people annually, largely because of long working hours, the UN said, warning the pandemic would surely worsen the situation.    The first-ever joint assessment by the UN’s health and labour agencies of the global disease and…

Covid-19: Brazil installs sanitary control facilities near Paraguayan border

BRASILIA, Sept 17 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazil health authorities set up a huge awning about 50 meters from the International Friendship Bridge crossing into Paraguay to carry out quick COVID-19 tests. The campaign will span for two weeks and will not be mandatory. The test was developed by the leading Rio…

Haiti PM Henry replaces justice minister after sacking prosecutor

Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry PORT-AU-PRINCE, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry has replaced the country’s justice minister, days after firing a chief public prosecutor who had called for Henry to be charged in connection with the July assassination of President Jovenel Moise. The latest fractures in a deepening…

Polls open in Russia’s three-day parliamentary election

Voters will be able to cast ballots through to Sunday MOSCOW, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russians in the Far East have begun voting in a three-day parliamentary election in which most vocal Kremlin critics have been barred from running following a historic crackdown on the opposition. Parliamentary and local polls…

Bahamas PM concedes defeat in polls overshadowed by COVID-19

Prime Minister Hubert Minnis (centre) conceded to his challenger, opposition leader Philip Davis (left) following the elections on Thursday. They were seen here following Hurricane Dorian in 2019 17 Sep 2021 NASSAU, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis has conceded defeat in the general elections on the Atlantic…

Egypt’s el-Sisi backs December elections in Libya

President Sisi meets with Prime Minister Dbeibah in Cairo CAIRO, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has pledged support for elections in Libya in talks with the North African country’s interim prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.Sisi “stressed the importance of the upcoming Libyan elections in respecting and…

Cape to Cairo: Africa’s skyline undergoes major face-lift worth billions

The tallest building in Africa, Iconic Tower, in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital (2) CAIRO, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Africa’s skyline is undergoing a major makeover, with billions of US dollars earmarked for the construction of ambitious new developments, including some of the continent’s most iconic skyscrapers.Recently, Tanzania’s AICL Group and…

Covid-19: Brazil turns the tide – now one of the fastest-paced and far-reaching in the world

A health worker administers a dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine to a man at a drive-thru vaccination post in Brasilia BRASILIA, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Despite a slow start plagued by much controversy that still haunts President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s coronavirus vaccination campaign is now one of the fastest-paced…

Armenia takes rival Azerbaijan to top UN court

Rescuers work among the debris of a destroyed house hit by a shelling during the military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan THE HAGUE, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Armenia dragged rival Azerbaijan to the UN’s top court on Thursday, accusing it of decades of rights abuses including last year’s war over…