Ebola: Guinea, Ivory Coast scramble to vaccinate, isolate contacts

ADDIS ABABA, Aug 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Forty-nine cases of people having been in contact with a young Guinean woman who tested positive for the Ebola virus in Abidjan have been identified so far, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.The young Guinean woman had left the town of Labé in Guinea…

EU chiefs to visit Afghan evacuation centre in Spain

MADRID, Aug 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The EU’s two top officials will visit a reception centre in Spain on Saturday for Afghan refugees who worked for the bloc, Spain’s foreign minister said. Spain set up the centre at a military base at Torrejon de Ardoz to care for refugees who have…

Covid-19: North America surges as pandemic eases elsewhere

 PARIS, Aug 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Covid-19 pandemic continued to surge in North America this week even as it eased elsewhere. The average number of new daily cases stabilised globally at 643,100 although the pandemic has been gaining ground since mid-June largely due to the highly contagious Delta variant. The…

Grace to regain hurricane force after lashing Mexico’s Yucatan

CANCÚN (Mexico), Aug 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Hurricane Grace grounded flights and forced tourists to spend the night in shelters on Mexico’s white sand Caribbean coastline as it tore through the Yucatan Peninsula before barreling farther north. Grace made landfall before dawn Thursday as a Category One hurricane — the lowest…

Criminals in Italy and Germany increasingly using cryptocurrencies: Enforcement agencies

BONN (Germany), Aug 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Criminals in Italy and Germany are increasingly making use of cryptocurrencies, according to the customs directorate in Bonn.“The use of cryptocurrencies for online payment in the context of criminal offences is clearly on the rise,” the directorate said in a statement.According to investigators’ findings,…

Peru’s foreign minister quits after claiming CIA responsible for insurgency

after claiming CIA responsible for insurgency People hold signs that read ‘Béjar Out’ LIMA, Aug 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Peru’s Foreign Minister Hector Bejar has resigned after allegedly claiming earlier this year that the country’s Shining Path rebel movement was established with help from the US foreign intelligence service CIA.President Pedro…

Past disaster failures haunt quake-ravaged Haiti

The arrival of personnel, supplies and humanitarian aid continues to quake-ravaged Haiti PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Five days after a powerful earthquake killed nearly 2,200 people in Haiti, aid was arriving but officials were eager to not repeat the mistakes that followed a 2010 quake that devastated the Caribbean…

47 migrants found dead on Mauritanian coast: UN

NOUAKCHOTT, Aug 20 (NNN-Xinhua) — Forty-seven migrants were found drowned off the coast of Nouadhibou, northwest Mauritania, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced in a joint statement. According to a statement, a boat carrying the migrants left on Aug 3 from North…

South Africa’s National Assembly elects former defense minister as Speaker

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula PRETORIA, Aug 20 (NNN-Xinhua) — Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, who was recently replaced in the position of South Africa’s defense minister, was elected Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), where country leaders including President and Deputy President are elected or selected. The election, which was presided over by a high…

Mosquito-borne West Nile Fever case detected in southern Spain

Fumigation by the local council in a bid to stop the spread of the West Nile virus MADRID, Aug 20 (NNN-Xinhua) — An unidentified person from southern Spain has been admitted to hospital with a brain disease caused by the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, said local health authorities. The person,…