Oil climbs as storm approaches Gulf of Mexico production hub

MEXICO CITY, Aug 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Oil prices rose on Friday, on track to post big gains for the week, on worries about near term supply disruptions as energy companies began shutting in production in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a potential hurricane forecast to hit on the weekend.…

Death toll rises to at least 20 in western Venezuela floods

Images shared on social media showed cars being swept down streets, buildings and businesses filled with mud and mudslides that left boulders strewn across roads CARACAS, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 20 people have died in the western Venezuelan state of Merida following intense rains that caused mudslides and…

Mexico shelters five women from Afghan robotics team

MEXICO CITY, Aug 26 (NNN-TELESUR) — The Mexican government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) received five Afghan women members of a robotics team and the partner of one of them. “We may be very far from what is happening in Afghanistan. However, the human cause, the protection of values, and the…

Cameroon says numbers of defecting Boko Haram members continue to increase

Houses destroyed during battles with Boko Haram in Kousseri, Cameroon on June 11, 2019 YAOUNDE, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cameroon has turned public buildings on its northern border with Nigeria into temporary housing for former Boko Haram militants. Hundreds of Boko Haram members have been defecting from the Islamist group,…

Covid-19: Zimbabwe schools, restaurants to reopen, intercity travel resumes

HARARE, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Zimbabwean government Wednesday approved the reopening of schools from Aug 30 while restaurants can, with immediate effect reopen, but only to fully vaccinated customers, Cabinet has announced. Inter-city travel has also resumed. Addressing journalists Wednesday, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said schools will reopen from…

Cape Verde presidential elections: Seven to compete for Presidency on Oct 17

The PAICV Party headquarters in São Filipe, Fogo, Cape Verde PRAIA, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cape Verde’s Constitutional Court has approved seven candidates for the Oct 17 presidential election, it said in a statement. Péricles Tavares was the only candidate rejected due to some irregularities, the court added. This is…

Nigeria: Delta State confirms outbreak of bird flu, 164,173 birds reported dead

ABUJA, Aug 26 (NNN-NAN) — Nigerian authorities in Delta have confirmed the outbreak of bird flu in the state, with 164,173 birds reported dead. Addressing newsmen in Asaba, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Julius Egbedi said: “Government has taken action to curtail the spread of the disease. “So far, some poultry…

Somalia: al-Shabaab militants recapture strategic town

MOGADISHU, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Islamist group, al-Shabaab, is reported to have seized a strategic town in central Somalia. Residents of Amara in the Galmudug region said the militants stormed an army base before over-running the town. The insurgents captured several armoured vehicles, burning some of them. Al Shabaab’s…

16 soldiers killed in insurgency-hit southeast ; 50 of the insurgents neutralised

NIAMEY, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An attack by hundreds of Boko Haram fighters on a town in Niger’s insurgency-plagued southeast killed 16 soldiers and wounded nine others, Defence Minister Alkassoum Indatou said. In the assault late on Tuesday “the positions of our defence and security forces in Baroua, in the…

Canada races to beat US deadline in Afghanistan

 OTTAWA, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada is racing to wind down its Afghanistan evacuation effort ahead of America’s Aug 31 deadline, as officials warn some may be left behind. As of Aug 24, Canada had airlifted more than 2,700 people out of Kabul, including Canadian citizens, Afghans and other foreign…