Covid-19: More Florida school districts revolt against governor’s mask ban as cases surge

TAVARES (Florida, US), Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — In a scene replayed across the United States, angry parents and activists streamed into a meeting of the Florida’s Lake County school board on Thursday where it considered whether to mandate mask-wearing for students and staff due to COVID. Some opponents of the…

US sanctions 4 Iranians over alleged plot to kidnap NY-based journalist

WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States has sanctioned four Iranian intelligence operatives behind a failed plot to kidnap a US journalist and human rights activist, the US Treasury Department said. The sanctions come after US prosecutors in July charged the four with plotting to kidnap the New York-based journalist who was…

Amazon fires surge anew in Brazil as cleared forest burns

BRASILIA, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thick smoke billowed above Brazil’s Amazon jungle as fire tore through butchered rainforest and discarded trees littered the scorched earth like dead matchsticks, burnt and black. Vast burned and clear cut areas could be seen, as the arc of deforestation advanced deeper into the jungle…

Sec-Gen Guterres thanks member states for keeping UN operations in Afghanistan going

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres thanked several member states for helping keep UN operations in Afghanistan going as the country is facing a food insecurity and malnutrition crisis. “I can tell you that the secretary-general is indeed very grateful for the generosity of member states,…

Venezuelan gov’t, opposition talks show sovereignty, independence: electoral council

CARACAS, Sept 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — Ongoing talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition group are an expression of the country’s sovereignty and independence, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) said as negotiations resumed in Mexico. “Dialogue, political understanding, peace, diversity and pluralism define these negotiations,” the CNE said in a…

Covid-19: Africa’s cases surpass 7.84 mln – Africa CDC

ADDIS ABABA, Sept 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa reached 7,844,232 as of Friday afternoon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union, said the death toll from the pandemic across…

Covid-19: US cases reach new daily high – CDC

WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — The current seven-day moving average of daily new cases in the United States was over 150,000, up 4.9 percent from the previous week, according to the latest weekly report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The current seven-day moving average was…

Kremlin slams Ukraine-US friendship as opposition to Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky MOSCOW, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Moscow has criticized the relationship between Ukraine and the United States after a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.“They are friends not because of each other, but against Russia,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to…

Date set for Bulgaria’s presidential vote despite government crisis

SOFIA, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Bulgarians are to vote for a new president on Nov 14, despite an ongoing government crisis, parliament said.The decision was backed by a majority of 152 lawmakers with no dissenting votes.President Rumen Radev’S five-year term expires on Jan 22.Radev, a former fighter jet pilot and…

DR Congo government says 12 people died after Angola mine tailings leak

Government banned people from drinking water and eating fish from the Tshikapa River KINSHASA, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Twelve people died and 4,400 fell sick in the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following a tailings leak from the Catoca diamond mine in Angola in July, the DRC’s environment…