Covid-19: Republicans urge Pres Trump to withhold funds unless WHO chief quits

WASHINGTON, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Congressional Republicans urged President Donald Trump to condition US funding for the World Health Organization on the resignation of its chief over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Seventeen Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said they had “lost faith” in Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s…

Covid-19: Pres Putin postpones Russia’s WW2 victory parade

Russian President Vladimir Putin MOSCOW, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has postponed the 9 May Victory Day parade in Moscow’s Red Square because of the coronavirus pandemic. This year sees the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, and the annual military parade…

Covid-19 could cause upheaval across Middle East – ICRC

A health worker takes temperature of passengers of a van, amid fear of coronavirus disease GENEVA, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Coronavirus outbreaks across the Middle East threaten to shatter the lives of millions of already destitute people in conflict zones, and could fuel socio-economic upheaval, the International Committee of the…

Covid-19: Pres Trump says US will gradually reopen economy

WASHINGTON, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump said he is recommending a gradual reopening of the US economy from the catastrophic shutdown ordered to stop the spread of the coronavirus. “Based on the latest data, our team of experts now agree that we can begin the next front in…

Drug smugglers hide $1.3 million worth of cocaine in UK face mask consignment

LONDON, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British customs officers have seized 14 kg of cocaine worth more than 1 million pounds that smugglers had hidden in a consignment of face masks in the UK customs zone of the Channel Tunnel. The cocaine, wrapped in 15 packages, was found in boxes full…

Covid-19: Brazil’s Pres Bolsonaro fires health minister after dispute over coronavirus

Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro BRASILIA, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro fired his health minister on Thursday after a series of disagreements over government efforts to contain the new coronavirus. “I just heard from the President Jair Bolsonaro the news of my dismissal from the health ministry,” Luiz…

Covid-19: US police find 17 bodies at New Jersey nursing home after anonymous tip

Paramedics load a patient into an ambulance TRENTON (New Jersey, US), April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — New Jersey police found 17 bodies in one of the state’s largest nursing homes after an anonymous tip said a body was being stored in a shed. A total of 68 people associated with the…

Covid-19: Africa may see millions of cases, tentative WHO forecast shows

BRAZZAVILLE, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Coronavirus cases in Africa could shoot up from thousands now to 10 million within three to six months according to very provisional modelling, a regional World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Thursday. But Michel Yao, head of emergency operations for WHO Africa, said that…

Covid-19: Minister to be charged for buying alcohol during lockdown

MASERU, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police in Lesotho say they will charge a minister caught on CCTV allegedly buying alcoholic drinks during a nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. Lesotho – like its bigger neighbour South Africa – has banned the sale of alcohol during the lockdown.…

More than two dozen killed in DR Congo armed attack

KINSHASA, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than two dozen people were killed in two separate attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, a region in the grip of militia violence, officials said. “CODECO assailants attacked the people of the village of Koli while they were asleep, killing 22 civilians,”…