Covid-19: EU and Astrazeneca reach deal to end vaccine row

BRUSSELS, Sept 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The EU and UK-Swedish drug-maker AstraZeneca have settled a row over a shortfall in coronavirus vaccines that affected the European rollout earlier this year. AstraZeneca has agreed to deliver 200 million doses of its vaccine, which had been promised under a contract, to the EU…

Covid-19: New Zealand lifts lockdown, barring virus-hit Auckland

  WELLINGTON, Sept 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — New Zealand will mostly lift its Covid-19 lockdown this week, with only the country’s infection epicentre Auckland to remain under strict stay-at-home orders, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday.   About three million New Zealanders will no loger be under stay-at-home orders as of…

Covid-19: Spain’s ‘Fallas’ festival returns after pandemic pause

VALENCIA (Spain), Sept 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Valencia’s “Fallas” festival wrapped up with fireworks and the burning of colourful sculptures on Sunday after returning to the eastern Spanish city following a pandemic-induced hiatus.   The five-day festival is traditionally held in March but was cancelled last year as the Covid-19 pandemic…

Update: Afghan resistance calls for ceasefire as Taliban tighten control

KABUL, Sept 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The last anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan have acknowledged suffering major battlefield losses and called for a ceasefire.    Following their lightning-fast rout of Afghanistan’s army last month — and celebrations Monday when the last US troops flew out after 20 years of war — the…

Crews work to contain oil spill in Gulf after Ida’s passage

   WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Workers have deployed containment booms and skimmer devices as they attempt to contain a sizable oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico discovered after Hurricane Ida roared through the area,the US Coast Guard said Sunday. The spill is in waters off Port Fourchon, Louisiana…

Son of Kadhafi freed from Libyan jail: ministry

 TRIPOLI, Sept 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Saadi Kadhafi, son of Libya’s late dictator Moamer Kadhafi, who was overthrown and killed in a 2011 uprising, has been freed from jail, a justice ministry source said. “Saadi Moamer Kadhafi has been freed from prison,” in accordance with a court ruling handed down several…

US Sec of State Blinken heads to Qatar on Afghan crisis mission

 WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to Qatar on his first trip since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan as he seeks a united front with allies shaken by the chaos. Qatar, a major US military base, has been the gateway for 55,000 people airlifted…

US shooting: Former army sniper kills 4, including infant, in Florida shooting spree

Polk County, Fla., Sheriff’s officials work the scene of a multiple fatality shooting Sunday, in Lakeland, Florida MIAMI, Sept 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A former sniper in the US military went on a shooting spree in central Florida, killing four people, including an infant boy in his mother’s arms, officials said.…

Update: Army seizes power in Guinea, holds president; UN, EU, AU, US condemn coup

  CONAKRY, Sept 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Guinean special forces seized power in a coup on Sunday, arresting the president and imposing an indefinite curfew in the west African country.   “We have decided, after having taken the president, to dissolve the constitution,” said a uniformed officer flanked by soldiers toting…

Covid-19: Germany surpasses 4 million cases since pandemic began

Germany is one of the most impacted nations globally BERLIN, Sept 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Germany has surpassed the 4-million mark for total coronavirus cases according to data released by the country’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) disease control body.Since the start of the pandemic, 4,005,641 infections have been reported, though the…