20 killed in Congo-Brazzaville as lightning triggers electrocution on first day of lockdown

BRAZZAVILLE, April 3 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Twenty people were killed when a lightning strike damaged a high-voltage power line in a suburb of the Congolese capital Brazzaville, the local mayor and witnesses said.The mayor of Kintele, Stella Mensah Sassou Nguesso, told state radio that seven bodies had been sent to a…

Covid-19: Iran’s official death toll passes 3,000

Iran is the worst-hit country in the Middle East TEHRAN, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Iran’s official death toll from the coronavirus disease has passed 3,000. Health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpour reported 138 fatalities in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 3,036. The number of confirmed cases also rose by…

Covid-19 threatens Myanmar’s most vulnerable n displacement camps

Displaced communities in Myanmar are especially vulnerable to the virus  YANGON, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) —An estimated 350,000 displaced people across Myanmar are “sitting in the path of a public health catastrophe”, says rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW). Overcrowding, movement restrictions and poor sanitation have left these groups especially vulnerable to the…

Covid-19: WHO reiterates warning that kids are hit by virus too

COPENHAGEN, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Organisation reiterated its warning that children can also be affected by the new coronavirus, which has claimed the lives of several young people. “The very notion that ‘COVID-19 only affects older people’ is factually wrong,” the head of the WHO’s European branch,…

At least 20 killed in Somali clan violence: official

MOGADISHU, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 20 people have been killed in southern Somalia in clashes between militia from rival clans fighting over land, officials said. Tensions between fighters from the Owrmale and Majerten clans some 30 kilometres outside the southern port city of Kismayo, have been rising in…

Update Covid-19: Global cases top a million, deaths surpass 50,000

WASHINGTON, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The number of confirmed coronavirus cases around the world soared past one million and deaths topped 50,000 as Europe reeled from the pandemic and the United States reported the highest daily death toll so far of any country. Despite more than half the planet imposing…

UK warns of EU settlement scheme delays

EU citizens applying to settle permanently in the UK LONDON, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The British Government is warning of delays to the EU settlement scheme because of the coronavirus outbreak. More than 3 million people have already been granted the right to live and work in the UK after…

Covid-19: Global tally of recoveries tops 200,000

WASHINGTON, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The global tally of people who made recoveries from deadly Coronavirus topped 200,000 on Thursday, four times the worldwide death toll. According to the running data of U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University, a total of 202,541 recoveries have been recorded across the globe, while more than 48,300 people…

Covid-19: Red Cross to deliver supplies for patients in separatist eastern Ukraine

KIEV/GENEVA, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A planeload of medical supplies for COVID-19 patients and other relief goods has arrived in Ukraine to help people enduring a six-year-old conflict in the country’s east, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. Eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists emerged in 2014, reported its…

Covid-19: Pakistan to resume some flights

A Pakistan International Airlines ISLAMABAD, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — While most airlines are grounding planes, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been given permission to run several routes. PIA will run a total of 17 international flights on April 4-11. They will mainly be going between Islamabad and London, Manchester, Birmingham…