Fire hits overcrowded Greek refugee camp

Refugees and migrants flee from a fire burning at the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece LESBOS (Greece), Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Fire broke out at Greece’s overcrowded migrant camp of Moria on the island of Lesbos in early hours of Wednesday, fire brigade officials said. The cause…

EU demands release of Belarus political prisoners and warns of sanctions

 BRUSSELS, Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) —The EU has demanded the Belarus authorities release “all detained on political grounds before and after” the disputed presidential elections. It is planning sanctions for those responsible for “violence, repression and falsification of election results”. Key opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova went missing on Monday after she was seen…

South Africa: More protests planned over hair advert, deemed racist

Members of the EFF party demonstrated on Monday PRETORIA, Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — South Africa’s opposition figure Julius Malema has called for more protests to demand that beauty company Clicks closes all outlets for five days over a racist advert.Protests led by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party leader led…

Covid-19: Ethiopia to make, export test kits with China’s help

Doctors in personal protective equipment (PPE) check the status of a patient infected with Covid-19 ADDIS ABABA, Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — As COVID-19 cases continued to climb sharply, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health announced that the country will start manufacturing its own test kits with China’s help. The announcement came as the Horn…

Sudan floods pose threat to archaeological sites

Nearly 100 people have died after torrential rains KHARTOUM, Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES0 — High levels of annual floodwater on the Nile River have threatened to engulf important archaeological sites north of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. The World Heritage-listed ruins at Al- Bajrawiya – which feature pyramids built by the ancient Meroe…

WFP: 50 million people at risk of hunger in southern Africa

The Coronavirus pandemic has worsened the plight of many people in Southern Africa region ROME, Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN’s World Food Programme has said that millions of people in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe face imminent hunger. These countries were hit by a devastating drought in 2019 and…

Nigerian Pres Buhari condemns third-term bids by West African leaders

ECOWAS leaders NIAMEY (Niger), Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has called on West African leaders to stick to their constitutional term limits. “It is important that as leaders of our individual member-states of Ecowas, we need to adhere to the constitutional provisions of our countries, particularly on…

Covid-19: China celebrates virus success as Europe suffers

PARIS, Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — China’s leaders held a triumphantceremony to celebrate beating the coronavirus on Tuesday, as billions ofpeople around the world still suffer the fallout from the pandemic and theglobal death toll nears 900,000. The upbeat mood in Beijing comes as concerns grow about a resurgence ofCovid-19 across…

Covid-19: Kenya set to relax burial rules

NAIROBI, Sept 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Strict rules for the burial of Covid-19 victims will be relaxed to allow families accord their loved ones decent send-off, the Health ministry has announced. Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Rashid Aman acknowledged that the ministry may have deployed extreme measures in the burial of…

Ecuadorean court upholds sentence against ex president Correa and bans him from 2021 election

QUITO, Sept 8 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — An Ecuadorian court upheld an eight-year prison sentence against former President Rafael Correa for breaking campaign finance laws, blocking him from participating as a vice-presidential candidate in the 2021 election. Correa, who was in power for a decade until 2017 and currently lives in Belgium,…