China and Russia on Thursday blocked a US push to impose United Nations sanctions on five North Koreans in response to recent missile launches by Pyongyang, diplomats told AFP. China’s block came before a new closed-door council meeting on North Korea, also requested by Washington, and was followed by Russia’s decision to similarly oppose the … Read more
Spain is spearheading calls for governments to start tackling Covid-19 as any other endemic respiratory virus like seasonal flu, despite WHO opposition and warnings that the approach is premature. With governments and populations worldwide desperate for an end to the pandemic, discussion about when the virus might be reclassified has intensified. READ ALSO; Eight-year-old girl … Read more
Telecom giants AT&T and Verizon began 5G service in the United States Wednesday without major disruptions to flights after the launch of the new wireless technology was scaled back. The firms spent tens of billions of dollars to obtain 5G licenses last year, but aviation industry groups have raised concerns about possible interference with airplanes’ … Read more
Russia’s sole active female cosmonaut, Anna Kikina, is due to travel to the International Space Station in September on a Soyuz rocket, the national space agency said Thursday. Kikina, a 37-year-old engineer, will be only the fifth professional woman cosmonaut from Russia or the Soviet Union to fly to space. READ ALSO; Russia Completes 10,000-Troop … Read more
German ex-chancellor Angela Merkel has said no thanks to an offer of a job with the United Nations, her office said Wednesday, as she settles into retirement after 16 years in power. UN sources confirmed that Secretary General Antonio Guterres had asked Merkel to lead an advisory panel on a “common agenda” for governance after … Read more
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday said most restrictions deployed to fight the latest wave of the Covid pandemic in England would be lifted from next week. People will no longer have to wear masks in closed spaces, work from home and prove vaccination to enter public spaces such as nightclubs, Johnson told parliament. … Read more
Kaycee Madu, Nigerian appointed justice minister in Alberta, a province in Canada Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has asked justice minister and solicitor general Kaycee Madu to step back from ministerial duties pending the completion of an investigation. Madu was appointed in August 2020. He is stepping aside following reports he was accused of calling Edmonton’s … Read more
A major winter storm blanketed a swath of North America in snow stretching up the east coast from Georgia to Canada, disrupting travel and cutting power to thousands of homes. The Canadian capital Ottawa, which was under a blizzard warning Monday, saw nearly 19 inches (48 centimeters) of snow, Environment Canada said. Ottawa paramedics thanked … Read more
Russian President Vladimir Putin will host his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow on Wednesday, the Kremlin said, amid talks aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal. The meeting will be Raisi’s most important official visit abroad since he took office in August and the first visit by an Iranian president to Russia since 2017. … Read more
Eleven people were killed in coalition air strikes on Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa, a witness and medical sources told AFP Tuesday, after the insurgents launched a rare and deadly attack on the United Arab Emirates. “Eleven people were killed. The search is still going on for survivors in the rubble,” said Akram al-Ahdal, a relative … Read more
Kenya’s highest court began Tuesday weighing a legal bid to revive government plans to shake up the country’s political system, just months ahead of crucial elections. The Supreme Court ruling on the proposed constitutional changes, expected after three days of hearings this week, may have major consequences for the August 9 presidential and parliamentary polls. … Read more
Israeli police were in a standoff Monday with a Palestinian man who carried a gas canister onto the roof of his home in a Jerusalem flashpoint district as his family faced eviction. Israeli media reported that Mohammed Salhiya had threatened to set himself on fire if the eviction order from Sheikh Jarrah area of Israeli-annexed … Read more
Dozens of freight cars are broken into every day on Los Angeles’s railways by thieves who take advantage of the trains’ stops to loot packages bought online, leaving thousands of gutted boxes and products that will never reach their destinations. According to the tags found Friday by an AFP team on a track near the city center … Read more
Sudanese doctors protested Sunday against violent attacks by security forces targeting medical personnel during pro-democracy rallies following last year’s military coup. “During every protest they fire tear gas inside the hospital where I work,” one doctor, Houda Ahmad, said at the rally in Khartoum. “They even attack us inside the intensive care unit,” she added … Read more
A strong 5.4-magnitude earthquake rocked northern Greece on Sunday near the country’s second city of Thessalonika, the National Observatory of Athens said. The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 1150 GMT, was 23 kilometres (14 miles) south west of Orthodox spiritual centre Mount Athos at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), the observatory … Read more
Mali’s former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who led the West African country from 2013 until he was ousted in a coup in 2020, died at the age of 76 in the capital Bamako on Sunday, his family said. “President IBK died this morning at 0900 GMT in his home” in Bamako, a family member told … Read more
A former Haitian lawmaker who is a suspect in the assassination of the country’s president has been arrested in Jamaica, Jamaican authorities said Saturday. Ex-senator Jean Joel Joseph, wanted in the July 7, 2021, killing of president Jovenel Moise, was arrested Friday evening, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) said in a statement. The JCF “can … Read more
The US special envoy for the Horn of Africa will visit Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Ethiopia next week amid ongoing crises in the two African nations, the State Department announced Friday. David Satterfield and Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee will travel to Riyadh, Khartoum and Addis Ababa from January 17-20. In Riyadh, the pair will meet … Read more
At least half a million chickens have been either killed by a bird flu outbreak in Burkina Faso or culled to prevent the virus from spreading, the West African country announced on Saturday. The outbreak of the highly pathogenic H1N1 strain of avian flu was detected late last year at 42 farms spread across seven … Read more
The leader of an indigenous South African group was released on bail on Thursday, one day after his dramatic arrest for growing marijuana outside the president’s office in a years-long protest. The activist, who calls himself King Khoisan South Africa, walked into court wearing only a traditional loincloth and a pelt headdress. He was granted … Read more