US: Pres Biden to declare major disaster for Texas hit by snow storms

WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Joe Biden is set to declare a major disaster for Texas, clearing the way for more federal funds to be spent on relief efforts. Power is returning in the state and temperatures are set to rise but some 13 million people are still…

Update: Students abducted in Nigeria’s Niger State released – Local media reported

ABUJA, Feb 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The 27 Nigerian students of Government Science College, in Kagara, Niger State that were kidnapped within the school premises by gunmen suspected to be armed bandits in the early hours of Wednesday, have been released.Local media outlets report claimed that the release took place late…

Covid-19: eSwatini king says Taiwanese medication cured him

eSwatini is Taiwan’s only remaining diplomatic ally on the continent MBABANE, Feb 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — eSwatini’s King Mswati III said he had recovered from COVID-19 after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen sent antiviral medication to help him.The small southern African country, an absolute monarchy formerly known as Swaziland, is Taiwan’s only remaining diplomatic…

Covid-19: Two killed as Gabon citizens protest coronavirus restrictions

Prime Minster Ossouka Raponda LIBREVILLE, Feb 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two people have died after demonstrations in Gabon’s two major cities as anger over restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 spilled over into street stand-offs.On Thursday night security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades in some neighbourhoods in the capital…

Sahara dust chokes Senegal’s capital, disrupts fishing

DAKAR, Feb 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A cloud of dust brought by dry winds from the Sahara has settled over much of West and Central Africa, reducing visibility, choking residents, and disrupting fishing in the Senegal’s capital Dakar. Each year, dry, dusty winds sweep in from the Sahara and cover much…

Covid-19: Russia approves its third vaccine, CoviVac

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin MOSCOW, Feb 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia on Saturday approved a third coronavirus vaccine for domestic use, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on state TV, though large-scale clinical trials of the shot, labelled CoviVac and produced by the Chumakov Centre, have yet to begin. Russia has…

US: 2 air force pilots killed in military jet crash

First responders at the scene of a military plane crash outside Montgomery, Alabama on Friday MONTGOMERY (Alabama, US), Feb 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two people were killed when a military plane crashed on Friday near the Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama, according to the facility’s executive director Marshall Taggart, Jr. The…

Covid-19: US storms delay vaccines in all 50 states – White House

WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States has a backlog of six million COVID-19 vaccine doses due to winter storms and power outages weather, White House officials said at a media briefing, adding that the federal government expects to catch up with vaccine distribution by next week. All 50…

WHO has 20 experts working to stop Ebola outbreak in DR Congo

KINSHASA, Feb 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Organization already has 20 experts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) working with the country’s health authorities to stop the current Ebola outbreak, WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said. The new outbreak of Ebola started in DR…

Update: Asylum seekers begin entering US under Pres Biden reforms

TIJUANA (Mexico), Feb 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A first group of 25 asylumseekers crossed the US border Friday under President Joe Biden’s sweepingimmigration reforms, while thousands more waited in Mexico hoping that they, too, would be allowed in. Under former president Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program, tens of thousands of…