Kenya inks cooperation deal with Thailand to boost health coverage

NAIROBI, March 22 (NNN-Xinhua) — Kenya’s Health Ministry on Thursday signed a framework agreement on sharing expertise and technologies needed to achieve universal health coverage in the African country. Sicily Kariuki, cabinet secretary for health, said Kenya will draw on Thailand’s successes in areas such as health financing, innovation and…

Cameroon: 20 kidnapped students freed in restive Anglophone region

YAOUNDE, March 22 (NNN-Xinhua) — Twenty students from the University of Buea’s football team in western Cameroon who were kidnapped Wednesday were released Thursday night after “severe beatings”, according to university authorities. “There are 20 of them. They were set free just after 8:00 p.m. this Thursday evening, but they…

2 militants killed, 3 troopers wounded in Indian-controlled Kashmir gunfight

SRINAGAR (Kashmir), March 22 (NNN-Xinhua) — Two militants were killed and three troopers were wounded in a fierce gunfight between them in restive India-controlled Kashmir, police said on Friday. The gunfight broke out Thursday morning at village Kalantara Kandi in Baramulla district, about 47 km west of Srinagar city, the…

UN chief saddened by loss of lives in Iraq’s ferry accident

UNITED NATIONS, March 22 (NNN-Xinhua) — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was saddened by the tragic loss of lives after a passenger ferry capsized in the Tigris River near the Iraqi city of Mosul. “The secretary-general extends his condolences to the families of the victims, the government and…

Zimbabwe declares two days of national mourning as Cyclone Idai kills 139 people

HARARE, March 22 (NNN-Xinhua) — Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared two days of national mourning following the devastating Cyclone Idai which has killed 139 people and left a trail of destruction in the eastern and southern parts of the country. In an address to the nation, the president declared…

China, U.S. to hold new rounds of trade talks in Beijing, Washington

BEIJING, March 22 (NNN-Xinhua) — China and the United States will hold their eighth round of high-level economic and trade consultations in Beijing on March 28-29, the Ministry of Commerce (MOF) said. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were invited to visit China for the talks,…

Iran vows to defeat U.S. in “economic war”

TEHRAN, March 22 (NNN-Xinhua) — Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that his country will defeat the United States in the latter’s anti-Iran “economic war.” “The enemy has waged economic war on us. We must defeat the enemy in this war,” said Khamenei in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad.…

Explosions in Afghan capital kill six during Persian festival

KABUL, March 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Multiple explosions in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Thursday killed six people and wounded 23 in an attack during celebrations to mark the Persian new year, government spokesmen said.The attacks came on Nowruz, an ancient Persian festival to mark the start of spring that…

One more to go: AU celebrates Ethiopia’s ratification of AfCFTA

ADDIS ABABA, March 22 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Ethiopia’s parliament on Thursday approved the membership of the country into the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), bringing the number of ratifications across the continent to 21. The African Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry, Albert Muchanga took to Twitter to celebrate the…

France to return African treasures to Benin – Pres Macron

PARIS, March 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday agreed to return 26 cultural artefacts to Benin “without delay”, a move that could put pressure on other former colonial powers to return African artworks to their countries of origin.The decision — which Macron said should not be seen…