Covid-19: Africa begins collaboration for vaccine trial

ADDIS ABABA, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The African Union Commission has launched a consortium for Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials aimed at securing more than 10 trials as early as possible. The new consortium will be headed by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. It will bring together global…

Venice completes first test of all flood barriers

VENICE, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venice’s long awaited flood defence system designed to protect the lagoon city from damaging waters during high tides on Friday survived a first test of its 78 barriers. The massive infrastructure project known as MOSE, which relies on sluice gates that can be raised to…

Covid-19: Panama hospitals on verge of collapse as cases surge

PANAMA CITY, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Hospitals in Panama are on the brink of collapse as coronavirus cases spike in the Central American country worst hit by the pandemic, where doctors are already exhausted. With a population of four million, Panama has gone from 200 cases a day to 1,100…

Covid-19: Brazil surpasses 70,000 deaths

BRASILIA, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil surpassed 70,000 coronavirus deaths on Friday, the health ministry said, though the number of daily fatalities appears to be stabilizing. The ministry said there had been 45,000 new infections and 1,200 deaths over the last 24 hours, taking the totals to 1.8 million cases…

Brazil: Pres Bolsonaro names evangelical pastor as education minister

BRASÍLIA, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday named an evangelical pastor as his fourth education minister in 18 months. Milton Ribeiro, 62, replaces Carlos Alberto Decotelli, who resigned on July 1 after admitting to having lied on his CV. Bolsonaro announced the new appointment on his…

Covid-19: California to release 8,000 prisoners to slow pandemic

Two women hold up a banner urging Gavin Newsom to free prisoners LOS ANGELES, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — California will release up to 8,000 inmates early from state prisons to slow the spread of COVID-19 inside facilities, state authorities said. Several California prisons have suffered large coronavirus outbreaks and the…

Bosnia Muslims mourn their dead 25 years after Srebrenica massacre

Family members mourn at the mass funeral for newly-identified victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide SREBRENICA, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Bosnian Muslims on Saturday mark 25 years since the Srebrenica massacre, the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II, with the memorial ceremony sharply reduced as a result of…

Illegal ivory trade shrinks while pangolin trafficking booms, UN says

Angela Me, Director of Research at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime VIENNA, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The illegal global trade in ivory has shrunk while the trafficking of pangolins has soared, a UN report on wildlife crime based on four years’ data said. National bans on selling ivory,…

Mexican president thanks Trump for not mentioning border wall at summit

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and U.S. President Donald Trump MEXICO CITY, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expressed gratitude to Donald Trump for avoiding in public the thorny subject of the US president’s promised border wall during a summit in Washington earlier this week. Lopez…

Hundreds of French women protest against new interior minister

Feminist activists demonstrate against the appointments of French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti in the new French government PARIS, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Hundreds of women protested in central Paris against the appointment of Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who is under investigation for a rape allegation.…