Death toll from Malawi flooding rises to 28, almost 227,000 people affected

BLANTYRE, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The number of people killed in heavy rains and flooding in southern Malawi has risen to 28, an official said, while the estimated number of people affected has roughly doubled. Chipiliro Khamula, a spokesman for Malawi’s Department of Disaster Management in the Ministry of Homeland…

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika Returns To Algeria Amid Mass Protests

Algeria protesters chant: “Peaceful! Peaceful!”  ALGIERS, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A plane carrying Algeria’s ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has landed near Algiers, state media say. The 82-year-old leader spent two weeks in a hospital in Geneva. Since having a stroke in 2013 he has rarely been seen in public. The…

Governor election counting halted in southern Nigeria oil state

A man raises a ballot paper in Lagos as counting begins YENAGOA (Nigeria), March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Counting in the vote to elect the governor of the oil-rich southern Nigerian state of Rivers was suspended on Sunday, the electoral commission said, following violence at polling stations and collation centres. Voters…

Russia Internet Freedom: Thousands Protest Against Cyber-Security Bill

The government says the bill will reduce Russia’s reliance on foreign internet servers MOSCOW, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Thousands of people in Russia have protested against plans to introduce tighter restrictions on the internet. A mass rally in Moscow and similar demonstrations in two other cities were called after parliament backed the controversial…

Peru President: Cabinet to include more women in the future

LIMA, March 11 (NNN-ANDINA) — President Martin Vizcarra announced that more women would be part of the Peruvian Ministerial Cabinet until gender equality has been achieved. He said that currently five women work as Ministers of Environment, Women, Health, Labor, as well as Development and Social Inclusion. “(…) and there should be more,…

Seven soldiers, dozens of Boko Haram militants killed in Niger attack: ministry

NIAMEY, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Seven soldiers and 38 militants died in an assault by the Boko Haram militants in southeastern Niger, thedefence ministry said, the latest in a series of attacks that have shattered months of relative calm near the Lake Chad basin. “Armed forces… strongly repelled an attack…

London mayor in court to stop Heathrow expansion

LONDON, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) – London Mayor Sadiq Khan, along with environmentalists Greenpeace and local councils, heads to court Monday to try and prevent a UK government expansion of the capital’s Heathrow airport, Europe’s busiest. “Lawyers representing a coalition of local authorities opposed to Heathrowexpansion will make the case in…

UN chief proposes cutting DR Congo peace force

UNITED NATIONS, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) – UN chief Antonio Guterres has proposed shrinking the large peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo. After presidential elections in December that ended Joseph Kabila’s ruleand improved security, the 16,000-strong mission known as MONUSCO now can be reconfigured, UN officials have said. Guterres…

Engine failure forces Air France A380 back to Abidjan

ABIDJAN, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A mid-flight engine failure forced anAir France A380 jet with more than 500 passengers on board to turn back tothe Ivory Coast capital Abidjan where it landed without further incidentearly Sunday. “We were flying over Niger (to Paris)… I saw a ball of flame for…

Pilot of crashed plane reported ‘difficulties’, asked to return: Ethiopian Airlines

ADDIS ABABA, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The pilot of a Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 that crashed six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa on Sunday, had alerted controllers “he had difficulties” and wanted to turn back the plane carrying 157 people, the head of Ethiopian Airlines said. The pilot “was given…