Weeks
Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia suspends UAE flights
Saudi Arabia has suspended flights to three countries, including the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, to protect against a coronavirus variant, the interior ministry said Saturday. The move comes seven weeks after the oil-rich kingdom permitted fully immunised citizens to travel abroad, after a ban on foreign trips that lasted more than a year. The UAE, and especially Dubai, is a key leisure destination for Saudis. Flights to and from the UAE, alongside those to Ethiopia and Vietnam, will be suspended from Sunday, an interior ministry official said, quoted by the state news agency SPA. Saudi citizens and residents returning from these countries will be required to quarantine for 14 days, it added. Citizens would be banned “from travelling directly or indirectly, without obtaining prior p...
Ethiopia says army can re-enter seized Tigray capital Mekelle in weeks
The Ethiopian army could re-enter the seized Tigray regional capital of Mekelle within weeks if needed, a spokesman for a government task force said on Wednesday, adding that government-allied Eritrean forces had withdrawn from the region. It was the first public statement by a federal government official since Mekelle was taken by Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces this week in a major turn of events after eight months of conflict in which thousands of people have been killed. read more People in Mekelle, where communications were down on Wednesday, said on Monday incoming Tigrayan fighters had been greeted with cheers. There were similar scenes in the northern town of Shire on Wednesday, where Eritrean forces had pulled out and Tigrayan forces had entered, residents said. Peo...
Imo: Army chief asks troops to redouble effort in fighting IPOB
The chief of army staff, Faruk Yahaya, has asked troops deployed in Imo to redouble their effort in the fight against the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The army chief who made the call while he visited the troops said he was in the state to have an assessment of the security situation. There has been a series of attacks in Imo in recent weeks. IPOB has been accused of perpetrating the attacks, but the group has continued to deny the allegation. In a statement on Wednesday, Onyema Nwachukwu, army spokesperson, said the army chief also hailed the troops for their resilience. “The Chief of Army Staff ( COAS) Maj Gen Faruk Yahaya has lauded the resilience and doggedness of troops of 34 Brigade and operatives of other security agencies in turning the tide of the recent spate of...
‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero never joined rebels – co-accused
Paul Rusesabagina, the ex-hotelier immortalised in the film “Hotel Rwanda”, never belonged to a rebel group that sought to overthrow President Paul Kagame, one of the former rebels accused with him of terrorism told a court on Wednesday. “Rusesabagina was never a member of the National Liberation Front (FLN), he was a civilian … He is not a soldier,” former FLN spokesman Callixte Sankara told the court in Kigali. He said the prosecution had presented no evidence to substantiate its claim that Rusesabagina had given orders to the FLN, which has claimed responsibility for attacks in past years that it said were aimed at ousting the president. Sankara is one of 20 Rwandans being tried alongside Rusesabagina, who is 67. Prosecutors describe them as fighters for the FLN. Most were captured in s...
APC group commends President Buhari, security agents for ‘decimating’ IPOB
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Legacy Awareness and Campaign has commended President Muhammadu Buhari and federal security agents for decimating separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The group, in a statement issued by the quartet of Barr Ismail Ahmed, Lanre Issa-Onilu, Tolu Ogunlesi and Salihu Moh Lukman, claimed that the country will in the next few months witness even more progress on all fronts. ‘On security, the fear that has gripped the nation in recent times is receding while confidence is being renewed as the security agencies are chasing down the criminals, taking the battle to the bandits, unknown gunmen, kidnappers, and other criminal elements who have been holding the country by the jugular and turning Nigeria to a killing field,’ the group stated. ‘From the...
Copa America: Lionel Messi equals record as Argentina progress
Lionel Messi earned a record-equalling 147th cap for Argentina as they progressed to the Copa America quarter-finals with victory over Paraguay. Papu Gomez scored the decisive goal early on, meeting a pass from Angel Di Maria before producing a fine finish. Messi, 34, equalled Javier Mascherano’s appearance record for the national team in the hard-fought win in Brasilia. Argentina top Group A ahead of Chile, who drew 1-1 with Uruguay to also advance to the knockout stage. The hastily-rearranged tournament in Brazil, which was moved from Argentina just two weeks before it was scheduled to start because of a surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, is Messi’s latest chance to win silverware with the senior team. The six-time Ballon d’Or winner was typically influential, playing a part in the ...
Italian premier calls for Euros final to be moved from Wembley
The prime minister of Italy has called for the Euro 2020 final to be moved from Wembley due to coronavirus concerns. Mario Draghi says the level of infection in the United Kingdom means alternative venues must be considered. “I will try to stop the final being held in a country where infections are rising quickly,” he said on Monday when asked if Rome could be considered a possible replacement. Wembley is due to host five knockout matches, including both semi-finals and then the final on July 11. Italy will also play their last-16 game in London against Austria on June 26. Cases of COVID-19 have been increasing in recent weeks in the UK, fuelled by the Delta variant first identified in India, with a further 10,633 confirmed on Monday. There are also still strict travel restrictions in plac...
Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda to be buried on July 7
Zambia’s founding president Kenneth Kaunda will be buried on 7 July, three weeks after he died aged 97, the presidency announced on Monday. The hero of the struggle against white rule in southern Africa “shall be put to rest… at a very private ceremony for family and selected invited mourners,” Vice President Inonge Wina said on state television. He will be buried at the country’s presidential burial site situated opposite the cabinet office in Lusaka, following a state memorial to be held at the city’s 60 000-seat National Heroes Stadium on 2 July. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, foreign leaders may be accompanied by just one official, she said. Ahead of the funeral, Kaunda’s remains will be transported to the country’s 10 provinces starting Wednesday for people to pay their last respe...
French far right irked by election results, southern region in play
France’s far right performed worse than predicted in Sunday’s regional elections, exit polls showed, leaving victory in the southern battleground of Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur and a platform for the 2022 presidential election in the balance. Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National expressed frustration at a record low turnout,as the centre right made its first comeback at the ballot box since a disastrous showing in the 2017 presidential election and President Emmanuel Macron’s party finished fifth. The high abstention rate in Sunday’s first-round vote, projected at 68.5% by pollster Elabe, coincided with a sunny Sunday and emergence from months of tough COVID-19 curbs. “This evening the government won because for the last few weeks it has been in search of a massive abstention rate,” said ...
Troops launch major rescue operation for kidnapped Kebbi students
A major rescue operation is ongoing for the kidnapped students and teachers of the Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State. Over 100 people, the majority of them girls, and five teachers, were kidnapped last week after bandits stormed the school. Top security sources told newsmen that some of the students had been rescued by troops. The remaining abducted students, the source said, had been split into five groups by the bandits, who had now been surrounded by troops. The troops have however not stormed the locations so that the girls will not be caught in the crossfire or killed by the bandits. “They have been surrounded by troops but they are negotiating so that the girls would not be killed,” the source said. Meanwhile, about 15 people recently kidnapped by bandits in Tegin...
Malawi runs out of coronavirus vaccines as second jabs due
Delays in coronavirus vaccine shipments to Malawi have caused health facilities to run out of doses as hundreds are due to receive a second shot, the health minister said Saturday. The southern African country has so far received 300 000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the United Nations, 102 000 from the African Union and 50 000 donated by India. Inoculations started in April and the country was expecting a second UN shipment of 900 000 by the end of May, four weeks before the first vaccinated Malawians would be due a second dose. But Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo said that batch had been delayed by a recent surge in coronavirus cases in India, the world’s main AstraZeneca supplier, which forced the country to temporarily halt major vaccine exports to meet local demand. “The situ...
Ivory Coast says chocolate traders failing to pay farmers living wage premium
Major chocolate traders in Ivory Coast are failing to pay a $400-per-tonne premium on beans aimed at curbing farmer poverty, the country’s cocoa regulator said in a draft letter seen by Reuters on Friday. The Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) said companies including Mondelēz International Inc(MDLZ.O) were offsetting the Living Income Differential (LID) by offering a negative country differential – normally a premium of 70 to 150 pounds ($99-$212) per tonne to reflect the quality of Ivory Coast’s beans. Mondelēz said it was paying the full LID. “(Mondelēz) does not offer or have any influence over negative country differentials,” the company said in a statement to Reuters. Buyers have been pressing for the country differential to be turned into a country discount, so farmers receive the extra...
