WASHINGTON, DC — The Biden administration confirmed Thursday that it recognised Claude Joseph as acting prime minister of Haiti and it would help the Haitian National Police investigate the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Administration officials emphasised the need for democratic elections this year. It has become clear that a power struggle was shaping up between Joseph and Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon, appointed prime minister by Moïse the day before he was killed. Since the...
TOKYO — The 2020 Olympic Games’ torch relay reached the host city of Tokyo on Friday to a muted reception. The torch began its final phase ahead of the lighting of the Olympic cauldron at the July 23 opening ceremony. This was the day after Japan decided to ban all spectators from attending the Games in Tokyo and neighbouring areas owing to the coronavirus. The public was then on Friday also asked not to line...
Haiti President Jovenel Moise was assassinated at his home early Wednesday morning by a group of armed individuals, interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph announced. Joseph said he was now in charge of the country. Moise’s injured wife was in the hospital, according to Joseph, who urged the public to remain calm, and insisted the police and army would ensure the population’s safety. “The president was assassinated at his home by foreigners who spoke English and...
NEW YORK — UN says COVID-19 has magnified the challenges of making the world meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as between 119 to 124 million people have been pushed back into poverty and chronic hunger. SDGs Report 2021, launched on Tuesday at UN Headquarters in New York, showed the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic had taken on the 2030 Agenda. The UN correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the launch...
NEW YORK — United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says around 275 million people used drugs worldwide in the last year of unprecedented upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, up by 22 per cent from 2010. That is among the key findings of the latest annual report launched on Thursday by UNODC, which also provides an overview of global drug markets, as well as their impact on people’s health and livelihoods. The launch...
NEW YORK — The World Health Assembly, the main governing body of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has adopted a new resolution on malaria. WHO, in a statement on Friday, stated that the new resolution was aimed at revitalising and accelerating efforts to end malaria, a preventable and treatable disease that continues to claim more than 400 000 lives annually. The resolution is led by the USA and Zambia – and co-sponsored by Botswana, Canada,...
MOSCOW — Yemeni Foreign Minister, Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, has refuted claims about any agreements to establish foreign military bases in his country. Bin-Mubarak refuted knowledge of the base, specifically an airbase of the United Arab Emirates, in his interview with Sputnik. Associated Press recently reported that the UAE was building an airbase on Yemen’s Mayun Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that separates the Arabian Peninsula from Africa. Satellite images reportedly show a 1,850...
A joint World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO) report on Friday said long working hours led to 745,000 deaths from stroke and ischemic heart disease in 2016. According to the latest estimates by the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization, published in Environment International, this represents a 29 percent increase since 2000. In a first global analysis of the loss of life and health associated with working long hours, WHO...
The UN says vaccine inequality between countries and regions is posing a significant risk to an already uneven and fragile global economic recovery. The UN economic forecast, published on Tuesday, stated that while the outlook for global growth has improved, the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, as well as inadequate progress on vaccination in poorer countries, are putting the recovery at risk. The World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) mid-year report warned that widening inequality...
WARSAW — Poland will allow British football fans who want to support Manchester United at the upcoming 2020/2021 Europa League final match to avoid the mandatory coronavirus quarantine. This will be if they fulfill the condition of presenting a negative SARS-CoV-2 test. According to a government regulation that takes effect on Tuesday, fans with tickets to the May 26 game in Gdansk will need to present a negative test. But the test must not be...
