Brazil raises US$620 million in huge concession auction

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro  BRASILIA, April 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil wrapped up a massive auction Friday for concessions to operate 22 airports, a rail line and five ports with a total take of US$620 million and planned investments of US$1.75 billion in all. The three-day auction was seen as a…

Covid-19: Europe’s vaccine drive set to pick up as 100 millionth dose delivered

BERLIN, April 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Europe has taken delivery of more than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that should help the region’s initially sluggish inoculation drive finally gather momentum, according to a weekly monitoring report. A total of 104 million doses have been sent to countries in the European…

Covid-19: No ‘causal’ link found yet between J&J vaccine and blood clots, says US health authorities

WASHINGTON, April 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Top US health authorities said they have not yet found a “causal” link between Johnson & Johnson’s Covid shot and blood clots, as the EU drug regulator probed possible instances among those who have received the vaccine. “At this time, we have not found a…

Kenya court halts move by government to close refugee camps

The Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya NAIROBI, April 10 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Kenya’s High Court has temporarily halted a move by the government to close the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps housing nearly 500,000 people.The court issued a stay order on Thursday following a petition filed to the high court that challenged…

Spain’s Prime Minister Sanchez on charm offensive in Africa

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (L) and Angola President João Lourenço (R) LUANDA, April 10 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrapped up business in Angola with the signing of agreements on fishing, agriculture and industry as bilateral cooperations between the countries intensify.It comes as Spain’s economy has been…

Covid-19: Infections in Canada edge closer to US rate

Vaccine is being administered at a hockey arena in Toronto  OTTAWA, April 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) —The rate of Covid infections in Canada is edging close to – and may overtake – US levels for the first time. It comes as Canada struggles to contain new Covid-19 variants and to ramp up its…

Ukraine conflict: Moscow could ‘defend’ Russia-backed rebels

Ukraine’s President Zelensky has been visiting troops in the region  MOSCOW, April 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A top Russian official has warned that Moscow could intervene to help Russian-speaking residents in eastern Ukraine if Ukraine launches an all-out assault on separatists there. Russian-backed separatist rebels and Ukrainian troops have been clashing…

Covid-19: EU agency reviewing blood clots with Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 1 fatality

THE HAGUE, April 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The EU’s drug regulator said it had launched a review of possible links between the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine and blood clots after reports of four cases, one of them fatal. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said its safety committee “has started a…

Shock as Greek journalist is shot dead outside his home

ATHENS, April 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A veteran Greek crime reporter wasgunned down outside his Athens home on Friday, police said, sendingshockwaves in a country unaccustomed to media killings. “The murder has shocked us all,” government spokeswoman AristoteliaPeloni said in a statement. “The authorities are already investigating the case,” she added.…

Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip dead age 99

LONDON, April 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain’s Prince Philip, a constant presence at Queen Elizabeth II’s side for decades, died Friday at age 99, Buckingham Palace announced. The death of the Duke of Edinburgh is a profound loss for the 94-year-old monarch, who once described him as her “strength and stay…