Covid-19: US services sector ends decade of growth, contracts in April – survey

WASHINGTON, May 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The coronavirus pandemic slammed the US service sector in April, sending it contracting for the first time in nearly 11 years, according to an industry survey. The drop in the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) non-manufacturing index — to 41.8 percent from 52.5 percent in…

Burundi vote campaigns marred by clashes

BUJUMBURA, May 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Burundi’s Attorney-General Sylvestre Nyandwi has urged politicians not to incite violence following several clashes, some involving machetes, between governing party supporters and those backing the opposition. There have been attacks in various parts of the country ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections due to be…

Sudan appoints first US ambassador in decades

The US shut its embassy in Khartoum between 1996 and 2002 KHARTOUM, May 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Veteran diplomat Noureldin Sati has been appointed Sudan’s ambassador to the US. “The approval comes as part of normalising US and Sudanese diplomatic relations after being at the level of chargé d’affaires for over…

Covid-19: Indian scientists work on 30 vaccines in different states of development

A person gets injected with a coronavirus vaccine NEW DELHI, May 6 (NNN-Xinhua) — A group of medical researchers and scientists that interacted with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday is learnt to have told him that “over 30 Indian vaccines were in different stages of Corona vaccine development”, with…

Several injured as fire breaks out at UAE residential tower

Videos on social media showed burning debris falling from a tower engulfed in flames SHARJAH, May 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Firefighters have brought under control a fire that broke out at a residential tower in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday night, Sharjah’s government media office said. Seven…

ICC prosecutor deplores non-execution of arrest warrants for Libyan fugitives

UNITED NATIONS, May 6 (NNN-Xinhua) — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, on Tuesday deplored the non-execution of arrest warrants for Libyan fugitives wanted by the court. In her briefing to the Security Council, Bensouda called out Egypt and Gen. Khalifa Haftar, commander-in-chief of the…

Thousands of Libyans to return home from abroad after closure of borders: official

A road sign shows the direction of Libya near the border crossing at Dhiba, Tunisia  TRIPOLI, May 6 (NNN-Xinhua) — Thousands of Libyans will start returning home from abroad after the UN-backed Libyan government closed the borders in March to prevent COVID-19 spread, an official said. “The return of the…

Daesh militants step up attacks on Iraqi security forces

An attack last Friday killed 10 members of the paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Force BAGHDAD, May 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Daesh militants have stepped up their attacks on security forces in north-eastern Iraq, reportedly killing at least 18 people since the weekend. Four tribal militia fighters and three soldiers died in three incidents in Salahuddin,…

Israeli army strikes Hamas sites in Gaza Strip

An Iron Dome battery in southern Israel near the border with Gaza Strip GAZA, May 6 (NNN-XINHUA) — The Israeli army attacked monitoring military sites belonging to the Islamic Hamas movement on Wednesday “in response to a rocket” fired earlier from the Palestinian enclave. “Israeli artillery targeted monitoring sites of al-Qassam brigades, the military wing…

Covid-19: Jakarta to revoke business licenses of 200 companies that flouted PSBB

JAKARTA, May 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) —The Jakarta administration will revoke the business licenses of at least 200 companies that have flouted the implementation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in the capital. Jakarta Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) head Arifin said his agency was currently preparing the dossiers on the companies, which would be submitted to…