US: Elsa strengthens into hurricane as it approaches Florida’s west coast

MIAMI, July 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Elsa was upgraded to a hurricane and is expected to make landfall Wednesday over the northern Florida Gulf Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane Elsa, which had been a tropical storm, is expected to move near or over parts of Florida’s western coast Tuesday night…

Covid-19: Flight in US delayed by high school students refusing to wear masks

 RALEIGH (North Carolina, US), July 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An American Airlines flight from North Carolina to the Bahamas was delayed by a day after around 30 teenagers refused to wear masks, local media said Tuesday. Flight 893 was scheduled for take-off from Charlotte Douglas airport late Monday but only left…

Covid-19: The American South – a weak link in the vaccination campaign

 BIRMINGHAM (Alabama, US), July 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — With a sizable Black minority traditionally mistrustful of vaccines and with many conservative rural whites convinced that the vaccine is more dangerous than Covid-19 itself, Southern US states like Alabama have some of the country’s lowest vaccination rates, leaving the disadvantaged region vulnerable…

Oil prices stagnate as OPEC+ plans to continue negotiations

LONDON, July 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Oil prices hardly moved at the start of the week, as a cautious market eyes stalling talks between the major oil-producing nations on future production policy.A barrel (159 litres) of North Sea Brent cost 76.18 dollars on Monday morning, about the same as on Friday.…

Covid-19: Luxembourg prime minister in ‘serious but stable’ condition in hospital

Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, Xavier Bettel LUXEMBOURG, July 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel remains in “serious but stable” in hospital after contracting Covid-19, his spokesperson said.Bettel, 48, is breathing on his own and is awake, his press attaché Liz Thielen said. The Prime Minister tested positive just over…

US shooting: 10-year-old Texas girl ‘plays dead’ after gunman entered her home and killed parents and sister – Cops

A quick thinking 10-year-old girl saved her own life by playing dead when a man killed her parents HOUSTON (Texas, US), July 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A 10-year-old girl is recovering after surviving a deadly shooting that claimed the lives of her parents and her little sister.  She pretended that she was…

Nine pirates jailed in first Togo piracy trial

Nigerian special forces sail to intercept pirates off the coast of Lagos LOME, July 7 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Nine pirates who attempted to hijack a ship in Togolese waters in May 2019 have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 12 to 20 years during a trial at a Lome court.It…

Nigeria: ‘Please find them’ – Parents of abducted Kaduna students plead for their return

Shoes of abducted students lie on the floor of Bethel Baptist School after kidnapping in Kaduna KADUNA (Nigeria), July 7 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Distraught parents protested outside the secondary school in northwestern Nigeria’s Kaduna state, as they demanded the return of several dozens of students seized in a kidnapping early Sunday.Gunmen…

Algeria: 150 beachgoers sick after possible sea pollution

A policeman, mask-clad due to COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, watches as people cool off in the water at el-Kettani beach in the Bab el-Oued suburb of Algeria’s capital Algiers  ALGIERS, July 7 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — At least 150 people were hospitalized after swimming in seawater suspected to have been polluted at Tenes…

20 die in Zimbabwe road crash

Three people survived the horrific crash, police said. HARARE, July 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Twenty people died on the spot when two vehicles collided on a highway in southern Zimbabwe. Three people survived the horrific crash that occurred between the cities of Masvingo and Bulawayo. Police say a Toyota Granvia burst…