Covid-19: South Africa indicates interest to host FIFA club World Cup in December after Japan withdrew

South African Football Association president, Danny Jordaan PRETORIA, Sept 14 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — South Africa is interested in hosting FIFA’s Club World Cup in December after Japan withdrew because of COVID-19, South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan said.Jordaan said he would meet with FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura in Lagos, Nigeria…

Niger’s president pledges to tackle the ever-growing terror insecurity

President Mohamed Bazoum (C) greets supporters upon his arrival in Sara-Koira NIAMEY, Sept 14 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Niger’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, visited the inhabitants of the Anzourou area, which has been plagued by deadly jihadist attacks that have forced farmers to abandon their fields.He said that he wanted to combat “tackle…

Vital to engage with Taliban: UN Chief

  GENEVA, Sept 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — UN chief Antonio Guterres called for the international community to engage with the Taliban to avert a total collapse of Afghanistan’s economy.    “It is impossible to provide humanitarian assistance inside Afghanistan without engaging with the de facto authorities,” Guterres told journalists on the…

Covid-19: No need for a vaccine third jab booster – study

 PARIS, Sept 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Vaccines are effective enough at preventing severe cases of Covid-19 that there is no current need for the general population to be given third doses, according to a report in The Lancet published Monday.   Some countries have started offering extra doses over fears about…

Two Ukraine soldiers die in clashes with separatists

KIEV, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) –Two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 10 others wounded in the country’s war-torn east as clashes tick back up, the army said. Over the past 24 hours, pro-Russian separatists fired at Ukrainian positions using large-calibre artillery, grenade launchers and drones, the military said in a…

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo announces French presidential bid

Hidalgo is the first female mayor of Paris PARIS, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has announced she will run for president in next year’s election, joining a growing list of challengers to incumbent Emmanuel Macron. The 62-year-old daughter of Spanish immigrants who fled Francisco Franco’s dictatorship is the…

Covid-19: Gorillas at Atlanta zoo in US being treated after testing positive

Gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park that tested Positive for COVID-19 ATLANTA (Georgia, US), Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Several gorillas at Zoo Atlanta in the southern US state of Georgia have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the zoo said. The western lowland gorillas were tested after keepers…

Russia completes Nord Stream 2 construction, gas flows yet to start

MOSCOW, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Gazprom said it had finished construction of the Nord Stream 2 subsea pipeline to Germany, completing Moscow’s project to increase its gas export capability and bypass Ukraine, but flows have yet to be cleared by regulators.The much-politicized pipeline will double Russia’s gas exporting capacity to…

Regional Bloc asks South Sudan President to mediate in Ethiopia’s Tigray crisis

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir JUBA, Sept 13 (NNN-ALLAFRICA) — East African regional body, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), has asked South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir, to mediate the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia. South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei said: “The chair of IGAD [Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok]…

Covid-19: Brazilian carrier Azul returning to Uruguay in November from Porto Alegre

BRASILIA, Sept 13 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazilian carrier Azul will resume flights to Uruguay as of Nov 10 with the reopening of the Porto Alegre-Montevideo route four times a week. The company will also serve Punta del Este starting Dec 20 from Porto Alegre and Dec 23 from Campinas (Sao Paulo).…