Fires near Chernobyl make Kiev air most polluted in world

Haze from nearby wildfires shrouds buildings in Kiev KIEV, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Fires around the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant and elsewhere pushed pollution levels in Ukraine’s capital Kiev to the worst in the world on Friday, giving inhabitants another reason to stay indoors on top of the coronavirus lockdown.…

Covid-19: US Pres Trump announces $19 bn relief for farmers amid epidemic

WASHINGTON, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump announced a $19 billion financial rescue package to help the US agriculture industry weather the staggering economic downturn sparked by measures to defeat the coronavirus. Trump told a press conference the government “will be implementing a $19 billion relief program for our…

Covid-19: WHO says others will revise virus death tolls like China

GENEVA, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Organization said that many countries would likely follow China in revising up their death tolls once they start getting the coronavirus crisis under control. Wuhan, the COVID-19 epicentre, admitted missteps in tallying its death toll, abruptly raising the city’s count by 50…

Covid-19: The powerful chief of staff to Nigeria’s president Buhari died of virus

Abba Kyari (right) with Pres Buhari ABUJA, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Abba Kyari, one of the closest advisers to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, died Friday after contracting the novel coronavirus, becoming the highest-profile casualty of the virus in Africa’s biggest economy. Buhari named Kyari, a former chief executive officer of…

Covid-19: Most sailors on US carrier with coronavirus are asymptomatic

WASHINGTON, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tests on the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, which was struck by an outbreak of COVID-19, found that two-thirds of sailors who tested positive were asymptomatic, a top military official said. Nearly the entire crew was tested after the coronavirus outbreak forced…

Covid-19: US surpasses 700,000 cases; 36,000 deaths – tracker

WASHINGTON, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States on Friday passed 700,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University. With the highest number of cases and deaths of any country in the world, the US had recorded 700,282 cases of COVID-19 and 36,773 deaths as…

Covid-19: Europe’s death toll passes 80,000

PARIS, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Coronavirus pandemic keeps taking its toll across Europe, one of the worst-hit regions in the world, as the total number of lives lost has crossed the grim threshold of 80,000. Although Italy and Spain have suffered the most, a slowing of new cases and deaths brings…

Covid-19: ‘Liberate’ states protesting against lockdown – US Pres Trump

Protesters took to the streets in Michigan to protest the ‘excessive quarantine’ WASHINGTON, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump has appeared to endorse protests against stringent lockdown measures in several US states.In a series of tweets, he said: “LIBERATE MINNESOTA”, “LIBERATE MICHIGAN” and then “LIBERATE VIRGINIA”.Protesters say the severe…

Covid-19: Air hub Senegal extends flight ban until May 31; Burundi cancels diaspora voting for May elections

Senegalese authorities and airport staff unload cargo DAKAR, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Senegal, an important air hub in West Africa, has extended a suspension on all flights to and from its soil until May 31 as part of measures to contain coronavirus, Transport Minister Alioune Sarr announced.The announcement, made on…

Covid-19: A million test kits to meet Africa’s ‘big gap’

ABUJA, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has announced that it will roll out one million coronavirus testing kits to meet the continent’s “big gap”. The organisation’s director John Nkengasong says testing rates on the continent are low. He said the Africa…