Algerian ex-diplomat eyed as next UN Libya envoy

Former Algerian foreign minister, Ramtane Lamamra UNITED NATIONS, March 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Former Algerian foreign minister Ramtane Lamamra is being considered as UN envoy to Libya, diplomatic sources said, after Ghassan Salame resigned from the post earlier this month. When asked Wednesday if UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had put forward…

Covid-19: US scales down military exercises in Africa due to Coronavirus

WASHINGTON, March 12 (NNN-ALLAFRICA) — One of the US military’s largest exercises in Africa has been significantly scaled down due to the threat of the coronavirus. The massive, US-led African Lion exercises in Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal were supposed to involve 9,300 troops from eight nations. The troops would use…

FBI in Sudan to help probe assassination attempt

KHARTOUM, March 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrived in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, to help with enquiries into a failed assassination attempt against the prime minister.Abdalla Hamdok’s convoy was attacked with explosives and gunfire on Monday.It is not yet clear who…

Ivory Coast confirms first positive case of COVID-19

ABIDJAN, March 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ivory Coast has recorded its first positive case of the flu-like Coronavirus (COVID-19).The case was reported in the capital Abidjan.The country becomes the eight in the region to record a case after Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo, Senegal, Cameroon, DR Congo and South Africa.The affected patient…

Fifa delays its Congress in Ethiopia because of coronavirus

Fifa’s Congress in Ethiopia has been delayed because of the coronavirus ZURICH, March 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Football’s world governing body Fifa has postponed its Congress in Ethiopia, scheduled to take place in June, by three months owing to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The Congress has been set to take…

Covid-19: Spain toll passes 2,000, with 47 deaths

MADRID, March 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Coronavirus infections in Spain have passed the 2,000 mark with 47 deaths, the health ministry announced, making it Europe’s second most severe outbreak after Italy. “By this (Wednesday) morning, we had 2,002 cases,” said health ministry emergencies coordinator Fernando Simon, up from 1,639 on Tuesday…

Covid-19: Indonesia reports its first death – a foreign woman

A motorcyclist wears a protective face mask while riding a motorcyle, in Banda Aceh JAKARTA, March 11 (NNN-CNA) –A foreign patient has become the first person with COVID-19 to die in Indonesia, a health ministry official said on Wednesday. The patient, Case 25, is a 53-year-old woman. Her nationality was not…

Brazil President Bolsonaro says COVID-19 threat is ‘overstated’

President Jair Bolsonaro leaves the Forum Of The Americas at the InterContinental Miami in Miami, Florida MIAMI (US), March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro minimized the threat of the new coronavirus – which has killed nearly 4,000 people in more than 60 countries and tanked global financial markets – saying…

Covid-19: Cyprus shutters schools, locks down hospitals

NICOSIA, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cyprus said it was closing schools in the capital, banning mass gatherings and locking down two major hospitals to combat novel coronavirus, after three people on the Mediterranean island tested positive for the illness. The Republic of Cyprus had on Monday reported its first two…

Venezuelan riot police break up opposition protest

Security forces stand guard during a protest in Caracas CARACAS, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuelan riot police fired tear gas to break up a demonstration in Caracas called by opposition leader Juan Guaido as he seeks to ramp up demands for elections to replace leftist President Nicolas Maduro. Riot police…