Covid-19: Nigeria’s ‘Kannywood’ films soar online thanks to virus

KANO (Nigeria), Sept 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At a time when the coronavirus is wreaking havoc on businesses around the world, the film industry in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north is going from strength to strength. The region’s movie machine — dubbed Kannywood after its largest city Kano — has become the…

Nigeria: 23,000, mostly children, reported missing in Nigeria in eight years – Red Cross

Destroyed homes in Kajuru, Kaduna MAIDUGURI (Nigeria), Aug 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Not less than 23,000 persons, mostly children were reported missing in eight years in Nigeria, a new report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has stated. According to the report, which was released to mark the…

Kenya: Panic as desert locusts start maturing

A motorist drives within desert locusts near a grazing land on the outskirt of Dusamareb in Galmudug region, Somalia NAIROBI, Aug 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The government’s war to contain desert locusts in northern Kenya could take longer as some of the adult swarms in Samburu and Turkana counties have started…

Covid-19: Africa records 331 more deaths and 8,477 new infections

Rwandan health workers test government officials and executives from the private sector for coronavirus ADDIS ABABA, Aug 31 (NNN-ALLAFRICA) — As of Aug 30, the confirmed cases of COVID-19 from 55 African countries have reached 1,236,983. Reported deaths in Africa have reached 29,423 and recoveries 969,039. South Africa has the…

Boat carrying nearly 370 migrants reaches Italy’s Lampedusa

ROME, Aug 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A fishing boat carrying nearly 370 migrants landed overnight on the Italian island of Lampedusa, where the main holding centre is already overcrowded, prompting the local mayor to call for a general strike to push the government take action. Italy has been struggling in recent…

Greece: Fire near archaeological site of Mycenae dies down

A wildfire raged near the ruins of the Bronze Age site of Mycenae in Greece ATHENS, Aug 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A wildfire near the ruins of the Bronze Age site of Mycenae in Greece that prompted the evacuation of visitors to the archeological site was contained on Sunday, firefighters said. The…

US: Firefighters make headway against lightning-sparked California wildfires

A helicopter releases water to extinguish a section of the LNU Lightning Complex Fire near Middletown, California LOS ANGELES, Aug 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — California fire officials reported significant headway battling the two largest of dozens of lighting-sparked blazes raging in and around the greater San Francisco Bay area since mid-August,…

Zimbabwe probes deaths of 12 elephants near Hwange park

HARARE, Aug 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Zimbabwean wildlife authorities are investigating the deaths of 12 elephants last week in a forest north of the country’s famed Hwange National Park. Eleven carcasses were discovered on Friday and another on Saturday in the Pandamasuwe forest tucked between Hwange and Victoria Falls town. “We…

Covid-19: US nears 6 million cases as world continues to see increase in coronavirus infections

WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States neared six million coronavirus cases on Sunday, nearly a quarter of the planet’s total, as nations around the world battle to contain the raging pandemic. Global coronavirus infections soared past 25 million, as countries tightened restrictions to halt the health crisis that…

Senior French officer detained over suspected espionage for Russia: judicial source

PARIS, Aug 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A senior French military officer has been indicted and jailed on charges involving “intelligence with a foreign power that undermines the fundamental interests of the nation”, a judicial source said. The French army officer was stationed abroad, said the source confirming details in a report…