Angola: President Lourenco calls for joint action to tackle cholera outbreak in SADC

Presidente João Lourenço LUANDA, Feb 3 (NNN-ANGOP) — Angolan president João Lourenço said solidarity and joint action among the member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is essential to prevent and control the spread of the cholera outbreak in the region. The Angolan president and SADC chairperson, who…

Panamanians lost at sea count their lucky coconuts

BOGOTA, Feb 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Three Panamanians who drifted in the Pacific for 11 days, surviving on rainwater and coconuts that floated by, have been rescued, the Colombian navy said Friday. The trio traveled about 600 kilometers on what was supposed to be a routine run from Veracruz, about 25…

The fight over vaping: Lobbyists, campaigners clash before next week’s WHO tobacco summit in Panama

PARIS, Feb 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Does vaping offer an opportunity for smokers to kick their deadly tobacco habit, or pose a vast new health threat to the world’s young people? This long-smouldering question has again come to the forefront in the run-up to a tobacco summit being held by the…

Chile: 10 feared dead in forest fires, says officials

SANTIAGO, Feb 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chile declared a state of emergency on Friday as officials said 10 people were feared dead in forest fires in the central Valparaiso region, where blazes are threatening hundreds of homes. Officials there gave the “preliminary” toll as Chilean President Gabriel Boric decreed “a state…

Kenya: DP Gachagua wants end to FGM, early marriages for girls to study

NAIROBI, Feb 3 (NNN-KBC) — Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has asked National Administration Officers (NGAOs) to work with counties and the community in ending harmful practices that are denying girls access to education. Speaking at Isiolo Girls Hight School, when he presided over a fundsdrive for infrastructural development of…

Gas station explosion: Owner to face law for the deaths, injuries of residents, DP Gachagua says

NAIROBI, Feb 3 (NNN-KBC) — Firm action will be taken against the owner of the illegal LPG gas filling plant that exploded on Thursday night leading to the loss of three innocent lives and injuries to about 300 others at Mradi estate, Embakasi East in Nairobi, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua…

Namibia grapples with worsening food security amid drought, economic challenges

WINDHOEK, Feb 3 (NNN-XINHU) — Namibia is grappling with a deepening household food security crisis, as revealed by the latest Agricultural Inputs and Household Food Security Monitoring Report for December 2023. The report underscored the alarming situation in crop-producing regions, where households are increasingly reliant on the market and the…

Ethiopia reports 328,881 new malaria cases since Jan. 1: WHO

ADDIS ABABA, Feb 3 (NNN-XINHUA) — Malaria cases are surging in Ethiopia with 328,881 new cases reported since the beginning of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Between Jan. 1 and 28, 84 deaths were reported across the East African country, up by 16 percent month on month,…

Tunisian president meets visiting Algerian FM

Tunisian President Kais Saied (R) meets with visiting Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf in Tunis TUNIS, Feb 3 (NNN-XINHUA) — Tunisian President Kais Saied received on Friday visiting Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, the Tunisian presidency said in a statement. During the meeting, historical ties between Tunisia and Algeria as…

O’Neill to make history as N. Ireland’s first nationalist leader

BELFAST, Feb 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Michelle O’Neill on Saturday becomes the first nationalist leader of Northern Ireland’s government, when the assembly returns after the end of a two-year boycott by the biggest pro-UK party. The Sinn Fein politician’s nomination will be confirmed at a special sitting of the devolved legislature,…