ECOWAS members mull reopening land borders on Jan 1, 2022

ABUJA, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — ECOWAS Member States have proposed Jan 1, 2022, for the reopening of all land borders.ECOWAS Sectoral Ministers, in collaboration with the West African Health Organization (WAHO), took the decision at a virtual meeting coordinated from Abuja, Nigeria, on Dec 7, 2021.Among the factors informing the…

Covid-19: US Senate votes to block Biden vaccine mandate for large private companies

  WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US Senate on Wednesday voted to block President Joe Biden’s vaccine-or-test mandate for large private employers, in a symbolic win for conservatives that will have little tangible effect.   The measure passed 52-48 with the support of all 50 Republicans in the upper…

TASS becomes first global media network to open news office at International Space Station

 ISS, Dec 9 (NNN-TASS) — The TASS news agency became the first world media organization to operate aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by establishing a news office in orbit. The agency will report on thelife and work of the station. News, photos and videos will be available across TASS…

US wildfire: Father, son charged with starting huge California forest fire

   LOS ANGELES, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A father and son have been arrested on charges of starting a huge forest fire that burned more than 200,000 acres in northern California this summer, local officials said.    David Smith, 66, and Travis Smith, 32, were charged with starting a fire…

Covid-19: Denmark’s PM to be grilled over decision to cull minks

   COPENHAGEN, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A parliamentary commission is to grill Denmark’s prime minister over her government’s illegal decision last year to cull all farmed minks nationwide over fears of a new coronavirus strain.    Formerly the world’s leading exporter of mink fur, the Scandinavian country in November last…

South Sudan violence could amount to ‘war crimes’: Amnesty

  JUBA, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Fighting between armed groups aligned with government and opposition forces in South Sudan this year subjected civilians to “unimaginable violence” that could amount to war crimes, AmnestyInternational said Thursday.   The rights watchdog documented fighters on all sides indiscriminately murdering and mutilating civilians and…

Burkina Faso PM, govt resign over security crisis

  OUAGADOUGOU, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Burkina Faso’s premier and government resigned Wednesday as protests mounted against officials’ inability to combat a wave of jihadist attacks that have killed thousands.   President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who had already changed his military leadership over the security crisis, accepted Prime Minister…

UN halts aid handouts in Ethiopia town after mass looting

   UNITED NATIONS, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Food Program has suspended aid distribution in the northern Ethiopian town of Kombolcha after “mass looting” of its warehouses blamed on Tigrayan forces, a UN spokesman said Wednesday.    Stephane Dujarric told reporters there had been “mass looting of warehouses across…

French FM visits Algeria to mend ties after diplomatic row

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian ALGIERS, Dec 9 (NNN-Xinhua) — Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune met visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian here on Wednesday, where they discussed measures to improve strained bilateral relations as well as other issues of mutual concern, Algeria’s state-run television channel ENTV reported. In…

Covid-19: Zimbabwe temporarily shuts down courts due to cases among staff as Botswana reports 25 Omicron cases

HARARE, Dec 9 (NNN-Xinhua) — Courts across Zimbabwe have been ordered to close due to COVID-19 cases among staff members. In a statement, the Judicial Service Commission said the shutdown on Wednesday and Thursday of its head office in the capital Harare and courts across the country would allow for…