Covid-19: Malawi President overrule court ban on lockdown as virus cases rise

LILONGWE, Jan 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Malawi rolled out a first set of anti-coronavirus restrictions this week after its president overruled a court ban on lockdown measures to tackle a surge in cases.Unlike the rest of the continent, daily life had been unfolding normally in the southern African country since its…

Swiss government outlines strategic foreign policy for Africa

ACCRA, Jan 20 (NNN-GNA) — The Government of Switzerland says it will prioritise and promote issues of peace, security and human rights as strategic foreign policy in Sub-Saharan Africa over the next four years (2021-2024).It has also identified the issues of migration, prosperity, sustainability and digitalization as core elements of the…

Covid-19: Africa’s cases surpass 3.2m – Africa CDC

ADDIS ABABA, Jan 20 (NNN-XINHUA) — COVID-19 cases in Africa have reached 3.26 million as of Jan 18, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.According to the continental disease control and prevention agency’s Africa Covid-19 dashboard, the death toll from the pandemic stood at 78,911 on Monday,…

Covid-19: High demand for vaccines puts Africa on the back burner

East African countries are poised to get nearly 40 million Covid-19 vaccine doses ADDIS ABABA, Jan 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — As the African Union (AU) announced this past week that it had secured 270 million doses of Covid vaccines, East Africans will have to wait a bit longer to access the…

Nine African nations, Iran in debt to UN lose voting rights

U.N Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres UNITED NATIONS, Jan 20 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres said nine African nations and Iran should lose their voting rights as required under the UN Charter after defaulting on payment of their dues to the United Nations’ operating budget.Guterres listed the minimum amount that the…

Russia dismisses calls to free opposition leader Navalny, warns against protests

MOSCOW, Jan 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Kremlin dismissed Westerndemands to release Russia’s most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny, saying his calls for mass protests over his arrest were “troubling”. Legal pressure is ramping up against President Vladimir Putin’s best-knowndomestic critic, who is due in court on defamation charges on Wednesday,…

US Pres Trump decorates Bahrain king on last full day in office

DUBAI, Jan 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump bestowed a rare award on King Hamad of Bahrain on Tuesday, acknowledging the Gulf state’s normalisation of ties with Israel on his last full day in office. Trump, who sees Arab recognition of Israel as a key overseas achievementof his presidency,…

Heavy rains trigger floods and infrastructure damage in Bolivia; 4 dead

LA PAZ, Jan 19 (NNN-TELESUR) — Bolivia’s Civil Defense Deputy Minister Juan Calvimontes reported that torrential rains unleashed flooding and infrastructure disasters in several urban and rural regions across the country. “We have approximately 13,000 families affected by the flooding, four people dead, three of whom in Sucre and one in Cochabamba.…

Bolivia stands with Palestinian people, Choquehuanca says

LA PAZ, Jan 19 (NNN-TELESUR) — Bolivia reaffirmed that Israel should be judged for its crimes against Palestinians as the world’s peoples stand in support of illegally occupied Palestine. During a virtual press conference by parliamentarians supporting the Palestinian cause, Bolivia’s Vice-President David Choquehuanca stated that “the crimes committed by the Zionist regime, especially against civilians, especially women…

Mexico urges US to make major immigration reforms

The caravan of migrants blocked a key road after being halted by police in Guatemala at the weekend MEXICO CITY,Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has urged the US to make major reforms to its immigration policy as thousands of migrants were blocked by police in…