Malawi police ordered to compensate rape survivors, victims of police avenging death of colleague

LILONGWE, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Malawi High Court ordered the police force to financially compensate 18 women and girls who were raped and assaulted by officers in the small town of Nsundwe on the outskirts of the capital Lilongwe. The Women Lawyers Association (WLA) instituted court action after the…

Ivory Coast protests: 5 killed, 100 injured, bus torched as election tensions run high

A man drives past a public transport bus which was burned during a protest ABIDJAN, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Five people have been killed and more than 100 wounded during demonstrations in recent days, official figures showed, as tensions ran high after President Alassane Ouattara announced last week he would…

Covid-19: Hard-hit countries step up virus measures as cases mount

LONDON, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Countries among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic unveiled further measures to battle risinginfections, as the number of cases worldwide passed 21 million. The US Department of Homeland Security said it was extending a ban on non-essential travel through border crossings with Canada and…

Covid-19: Russia produces first batch of vaccine – ministry

MOSCOW, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia said that it has producedthe first batch of its coronavirus vaccine, after President Vladimir Putinannounced it had been first in the world to approve a vaccine. Putin’s announcement on Tuesday about the vaccine was met with caution from scientists and the World Health Organization…

US Pres Trump targets TikTok again with new executive order

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump lashed out anew at ByteDance, issuing a fresh executive order stating the Chinese internet giant must sell its interest in the Musical.ly app it bought and merged with TikTok. The order builds on sweeping restrictions issued last week by Trump…

Israel-UAE deal a Trump coup, but his sights are set on Iran

WASHINGTON, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Israel-UAE agreement gives the United States a rare diplomatic success in the Middle East — but it is Iran which President Donald Trump has in his sights, with a strategy that has already hit roadblocks at the United Nations. The White House has lavished…

Covid-19: India reports record cases; priest who shared stage with PM Modi tests positive

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) performs a religious ritual during the groundbreaking ceremony of a grand Hindu temple in Ayodhya LUCKNOW (India), Aug 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — India reported another record jump in its surging coronavirus cases with nearly 67,000 new infections, among them a religious leader who shared a…

Southern California wildfire forces evacuation of hundreds of homes

The Lake Fire burns in mountains north of Los Angeles LOS ANGELES, Aug 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A California wildfire forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes as it raged largely unchecked through densely forested mountains north of Los Angeles that last burned some 50 to 100 years ago, fire officials…

North Korea lifts lockdown in border town after WHO said suspected COVID-19 case ‘inconclusive’

People wearing protective face masks walk amid concerns over the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Pyongyang PYONGYANG, Aug 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lifted a three week lockdown in the city of Kaesong and nearby areas, after a man who defected to the South returned to…

Covid-19: South Korean doctors strike over plan to train more medical students as cases surge

SEOUL, Aug 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — About a quarter of South Korea’s medical clinics closed on Friday for a one-day strike in protest at government plans to train new doctors, as the country reported the highest number of domestic COVID-19 cases since the end of March. The government plans to increase…