Sudan welcomes Algerian initiative to hold direct meeting on Nile dam

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam KHARTOUM, Aug 1 (NNN-Xinhua) — Sudan welcomed an Algerian initiative calling for holding a direct meeting between leaders of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to reach a solution for the differences over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan…

Covid-19: US reports highest daily cases since February

WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (NNN-Xinhua) — The United States registered over 100,000 daily COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest record since early February this year. A total of 101,171 new cases were reported across the country on Friday, according to the data updated Saturday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control…

Covid-19: Tanzania’s Zanzibar receives China-donated Sinovac vaccines

Zanzibar’s Minister of Trade and Industrial Development Omar Said Shaaban (L) and Chinese Consul General in Zanzibar Zhang Zhisheng ZANZIBAR, Aug 1 (NNN-Xinhua) — Tanzania’s Zanzibar on Saturday received a batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines and syringes donated by China. Zanzibar’s Minister of Trade and Industrial Development Omar Said Shaaban,…

Covid-19: Britain’s cases down by 33% over past week

LONDON, Aug 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain has reported 26,144 new cases of COVID-19, government data showed on Saturday, meaning the fall in cases between July 25 and July 31 stood at 33 per cent compared with the previous seven days. A further 71 people were reported as having died within 28 days…

Brazil: Pres Bolsonaro says oil company Petrobras will pay for free LPG to low-income group

BRASILIA, Aug 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that state-controlled company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras, has 3 billion reais to fund free LPG bottles to low-income people that cannot afford them. Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) bottles are used for cooking mainly by low-income Brazilians, and the…

Heatwave causes massive melt of Greenland ice sheet

The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second largest mass of freshwater ice on the planet, second only to Antarctica NUUK (Greenland), Aug 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Greenland’s ice sheet has experienced a “massive melting event” during a heatwave that has seen temperatures more than 10 degrees above seasonal norms, according to…

Covid-19: Thousands protest against health pass in France

PARIS, Aug 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of people protested in Paris and other French cities against a mandatory coronavirus health pass for entry to a wide array of public venues, introduced by the government as it battles a fourth wave of infections. Protesters injured three police officers in Paris, a…

US official visits restive Sudan, crisis-ridden Ethiopia to support democratic transition

Samantha Power KHARTOUM, Aug 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US official who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning book on genocide landed on Saturday in Sudan, aiming to support the country’s fragile transition to democracy before travelling to Ethiopia to press the government there to allow humanitarian aid to the war-torn Tigray region. Samantha…

Rhino killings on the rise in South Africa

South Africa is home to nearly 80 percent of the world’s rhinos but their horns are prized in traditional medicine in Asia  PRETORIA, Aug 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 249 rhinos were killed the first six months of this year in South Africa, the environment minister said, partly pushed by the…

US Secretary of State Blinken to court Southeast Asia in virtual meetings next week

WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet virtually with Southeast Asian officials every day next week, a senior state department official said, as Washington seeks to show the region it’s a US priority while also addressing the crisis in Myanmar. The top US diplomat will attend virtual meetings for…