Covid-19: African nations still encouraged to use AstraZeneca vaccine

Africa is only now beginning to see the large-scale arrival of COVID-19 vaccines ADDIS ABABA, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — African countries without the coronavirus variant dominant in South Africa should go ahead and use the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, while the World Health Organization…

Biden administration seeks pause in US WeChat ban litigation

NEW YORK, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Biden administration asked a UScourt to suspend litigation connected to former president DonaldTrump’s proposed ban on WeChat while it reviews the policy. The Justice Department filed a request with the US Court of Appeals seekinga suspension of the case. That follows action Wednesday…

ICC to elect new prosecutor to daunting job

THE HAGUE, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The International Criminal Court’smember countries are set to elect a new chief prosecutor for the war crimestribunal on Friday, a gruelling job whose current holder is under USsanctions. Four candidates from Britain, Ireland, Italy and Spain are vying to replaceoutgoing prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who…

US, Europe accuse Russia of blocking Ukraine war solutions

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US and Europe accused Russia of blocking any solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The remarks came during a UN Security Council video conference convened by Moscow to mark the sixth anniversary of the Minsk II accords, agreed in February 2015 to…

Migrant massacre puts focus on Mexican police corruption

MEXICO CITY, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The massacre of a group of migrants whose charred bodies were found in northern Mexico has shone a spotlight on the entrenched links between police and criminals in the violence-ridden country. A dozen elite police officers have been arrested for their allegedinvolvement in the…

Squeezed by sanctions, pandemic, Cuba finally opens up economy

HAVANA, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cuba is undergoing a paradigm shift: after decades of tight, centralized control, the communist government is opening up the bulk of its economy to the private sector. While economic decline and spiralling unemployment are the main drivers,analysts say the liberalization measures can also be seen…

Venezuela reports 2020 inflation of 3,000 percent

CARACAS, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela ended 2020 with inflation of nearly 3,000 percent, the central bank said. The oil-rich country is mired in the worst economic crisis of its modernhistory and struggling through its seventh straight year of recession. Venezuelans endure acute shortages of food and medicine and even…

Covid-19: US acquires 200 mn new doses as vaccine drive begins in pharmacies

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) – US President Joe Biden announced plans to vaccinate most Americans by the end of July with the help of 200 million newly acquired doses, as the country’s inoculation campaign kicked off a new phase in drugstores and supermarket pharmacies, some of which will offer shots…

House rests Trump impeachment case, defense begins Friday

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — House prosecutors wrapped up their impeachment case against Donald Trump on Thursday with an impassioned appeal to the Senate to convict the former president of inciting the deadly Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol and bar him from ever holding office again. “We humbly,…

Haiti judge accused of alleged coup plot released from prison: lawyer

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Haitian Supreme Court judge who was arrested on charges of taking part in an alleged coup plot has been released from prison, his attorney said. Judge Yvickel Dieujuste Dabresil “was just freed” and has returned home,his lawyer Marc-Antoine Maisonneuve said. With Haiti in another…