Covid-19: Uruguay and Argentina to allow crowds back at stadiums for football World Cup qualifiers

MONTEVIDEO, Sept 4 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) has agreed to allow the return of La Celeste fans for the next home football World Cup qualifying game, but with capacity restrictions and only for vaccinated fans. Meanwhile, its Argentine counterpart has set a 30% cap and instead of…

Covid-19: UK panel against giving jabs to healthy young teens

LONDON, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UK government’s independent advisory body on vaccines said it would not recommend jabbing all 12- to 15-year-olds against coronavirus, arguing the benefits were “too small”.    The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), a panel of experts which advises ministers, has been weighing…

UN chief to host Afghanistan aid meeting in Geneva on Sept 13: spokesman

 UNITED NATIONS, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres will travel to Geneva to convene a high-level conference on aid for Afghanistan on Sept 13, his spokesman said. The country, now under the control of the Taliban after 20 years of war, is facing a “looming humanitarian…

Covid-19: Cuba starts vaccinating children in order to re-open schools amid Covid surge

 HAVANA, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cuban authorities on Friday launched a national campaign to vaccinate children aged two to 18 against Covid-19, a condition set by the Communist government in order to reopen schools for in-person instruction amid a spike in infections. Children aged 12 and older will be the…

Covid-19: Canada sees urgent need to get more young people vaccinated

OTTAWA, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — New modeling shows an “urgent need” to get more young adults in Canada vaccinated as the country fights a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections driven by the Delta variant, the public health agency said. At the current rate of vaccination, new COVID-19 cases could surge…

Covid-19: More Florida school districts revolt against governor’s mask ban as cases surge

TAVARES (Florida, US), Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — In a scene replayed across the United States, angry parents and activists streamed into a meeting of the Florida’s Lake County school board on Thursday where it considered whether to mandate mask-wearing for students and staff due to COVID. Some opponents of the…

US sanctions 4 Iranians over alleged plot to kidnap NY-based journalist

WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States has sanctioned four Iranian intelligence operatives behind a failed plot to kidnap a US journalist and human rights activist, the US Treasury Department said. The sanctions come after US prosecutors in July charged the four with plotting to kidnap the New York-based journalist who was…

Amazon fires surge anew in Brazil as cleared forest burns

BRASILIA, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thick smoke billowed above Brazil’s Amazon jungle as fire tore through butchered rainforest and discarded trees littered the scorched earth like dead matchsticks, burnt and black. Vast burned and clear cut areas could be seen, as the arc of deforestation advanced deeper into the jungle…

Sec-Gen Guterres thanks member states for keeping UN operations in Afghanistan going

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres thanked several member states for helping keep UN operations in Afghanistan going as the country is facing a food insecurity and malnutrition crisis. “I can tell you that the secretary-general is indeed very grateful for the generosity of member states,…

Venezuelan gov’t, opposition talks show sovereignty, independence: electoral council

CARACAS, Sept 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — Ongoing talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition group are an expression of the country’s sovereignty and independence, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) said as negotiations resumed in Mexico. “Dialogue, political understanding, peace, diversity and pluralism define these negotiations,” the CNE said in a…