Covid-19: France reports new variant detected – named IHU

PARIS, Jan 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — French scientists have warned the world about yet another variant of SARS-Cov-2 after spotting it in a vaccinated patient who had just returned from Cameroon, it was reported in a medical journal last week. The new strain, B.1.640.2 -also referred to as “IHU”-, was detected…

Update: US charges Colombian suspect over Haiti president’s murder

Mario Antonio Palacios, 43, a Colombian national who was arrested and charged in the United States in connection with the plot to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moise, appears in court in Miami, Florida, in this courtroom sketch MIAMI, Jan 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US authorities have charged a retired Colombian soldier…

Venezuela calls on Colombia to respect peace agreements

CARACAS, Jan 5 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — The Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Félix Plasencia, called on the President of Colombia, Iván Duque, to respect the 2016 Peace Accords in order to advance in the solution of the conflict and the humanitarian crisis in that country. Through his account on the social…

Covid-19: Canada asks regulator to probe maskless party on airline as cases soar

MONTREAL, Jan 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada’s minister of transport called for an investigation into reports of maskless revelers on a recent airline flight, as the country battles soaring cases of COVID-19. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said on Twitter he had asked regulator Transport Canada to investigate media reports of passengers…

Tunisia’s powerful union criticises president’s roadmap out of political crisis

President Kais Saied TUNIS, Jan 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tunisia’s powerful UGTT union criticised the president’s roadmap out of political crisis saying it does not break with individual rule and exclusion, in its first comment on the president’s plan. President Kais Saied said last month he would call a constitutional referendum…

Paraguayan soldier killed by deer in presidential garden

An axis deer from India, donated to the presidential palace, gored a military officer ASUNCION, Jan 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A sergeant in the Paraguayan presidential guard died after he was gored by a deer roaming the grounds of the presidential palace, a military spokesman said. Victor Isasi “died from a…

Covid-19: French Pres Macron says he wants to ‘piss off’ the non-vaccinated

PARIS, Jan 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — French President Emmanuel Macron said he wanted to “piss off” the non-vaccinated, in a slangy, cutting remark that prompted howls of condemnation from opposition rivals less than four months before the next presidential election. “The unvaccinated, I really want to piss them off. And so,…

Doctors rule out surgery for hospitalised Brazilian president

SAO PAULO, Jan 5 (NNN-Xinhua) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is progressing satisfactorily after being hospitalized Monday with a partial intestinal obstruction, so he will not have to undergo surgery, according to Tuesday’s medical report from the Vila Nova Star Hospital in Sao Paulo. “The intestinal sub-occlusion was resolved ……

Sudan’s sovereign council chairman says open to dialogue to end political crisis

Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan  KHARTOUM, Jan 5 (NNN-Xinhua) — Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan said the doors of dialogue are open to all political forces to end the ongoing political crisis in the country. Al-Burhan made the remarks when he…

Covid-19: Congolese president calls for local manufacturing of vaccines in Africa

BRAZZAVILLE, Jan 5 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Republic of the Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso on Tuesday called for the international community to support Africa for local manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines. “For the well-being of all humanity, the international community should accompany Africa, not only in the acquisition of vaccines, but…