Covid-19: Hundreds of flu patients to be tested by UK hospitals and GPs

LONDON, Feb 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tests for coronavirus are being increased to include people displaying flu-like symptoms at 100 GP surgeries and eight hospitals across the UK.The tests will provide an “early warning” if the virus is spreading, Public Health England’s Prof Paul Cosford said.It comes as oil firm Chevron…

Covid-19: Germany is at start of coronavirus epidemic – Health minister

German Health Minister Jens Spahn BERLIN, Feb 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Germany is at the beginning of a coronavirus epidemic after new cases sprung up that can no longer be traced to the virus’s original source in China, Health Minister Jens Spahn said. A total of five new cases of coronavirus…

US Supreme Court open to more damages against Sudan over 1998 embassy bombings

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The U.S. Supreme Court appeared open to reinstating $4.3 billion in punitive damages against Sudan in lawsuits accusing it of complicity in the 1998 al Qaeda bombings of two U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. Eight justices heard about an hour…

Cameroon: Results of elections in restive Anglophone regions partially annulled

YAOUNDE, Feb 27 (NNN-Xinhua) — Cameroon’s Constitutional Council said that the results of the Feb 9 legislative elections in 11 constituencies of the troubled Anglophone region have been nullified, citing irregularities during polling. According to the ruling, voting in the constituencies was not free and fair because of clashes between…

Burundi: Government says it kills at least 22 people in pre-election violence

Burundi’s ruling party, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD)’s presidential candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye and his wife Angeline Ndayubaha BUJUMBURA, Feb 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Burundi government said it had killed at least 22 “wrongdoers” in the hills overlooking the main city Bujumbura…

Libya conflict: Turkey confirms first soldiers killed

Pro-government fighters in Tripoli are supported by Turkey and Qatar TRIPOLI, Feb 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Two Turkish soldiers have been killed in Libya, the first casualties the nation has confirmed since it sent troops to the oil-rich state. “We have two martyrs in Libya,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, without giving further…

Covid-19: Coronavirus outbreak spreads in Europe from Italy

Cases have emerged for the first time in countries such as Austria following the Italian outbreak ROME, Feb 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Several European countries have announced their first coronavirus cases, with all appearing to be linked to the growing outbreak in Italy. Austria, Croatia and Switzerland said the cases involved people who had…

Covid-19: Pres Trump defends US administration’s coronavirus response

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump defended his administration’s response to the novel coronavirus, lashing the media for spreading panic as he announced a Wednesday evening news conference on the epidemic. It comes after a senior health official warned on Tuesday that, despite containment efforts, it was…

Covid-19: Brazil confirms Latin America’s first coronavirus case

SAO PAULO, Feb 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil’s health ministry said a Sao Paulo resident has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, the first such case recorded in Latin America. The 61-year-old patient had returned on Feb 21 from the Lombardy region of Italy, the epicenter of an outbreak in the…

East Timor PM resigns after political coalition collapses

East Timorese Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak DILI, Feb 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The prime minister of East Timor has sent a letter of resignation to the president, he said on Tuesday, as the tiny Southeast Asian nation faces new political instability after the collapse of a coalition supporting him in parliament.…