The United Nations says no fewer than 70,000 workers are believed to have been rendered unemployed by the recent devastating explosions in Beirut, Lebanon. A spokesperson for the organisation, Mr Stéphane Dujarric, who stated this during his daily news briefing on Monday, said many households were directly affected as a result. Dujarric said the latest figure was besides 220,000 workers estimated to have lost their jobs due to the country’s financial crisis that began in October,...
Turkey on Friday said history will not forget and never forgive the “hypocritical behaviour” of the United Arab Emirates in agreeing to a deal with Israel to normalise relations. The Foreign Ministry said the Palestinian people and administration were right to react strongly against the agreement, which recasts the order of Middle East politics from the Palestinian issue to the fight against Iran. “History and the conscience of the region’s peoples will not forget and...
India on Friday overtook Britain as the country with the fourth-highest number of deaths linked to COVID-19 in the world, according to data released by the Ministry of Health. On Thursday a total of 1,007 deaths were reported, taking the countrywide death toll to 48,040. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the development places it behind the U.S., Brazil and Mexico. India, a country of 1.3 billion people, also reported 64,553 new infections on...
The COVID-19 death toll worldwide has surpassed 700,000, reaching 701,754 as of Thursday, according to the latest number from the World Health Organisation (WHO). Globally, 18,575,326 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported to the WHO. The United States and Brazil remain the top two in both confirmed cases and deaths, with 4,728,239 cases and 156,050 deaths reported from the United States, and 2,801,921 cases and 95,819 deaths from Brazil. Following the top two in confirmed cases are...
The Beirut city’s Governor, Marwan Abboud, on Wednesday said more than 200,000 people had been rendered homeless after a massive blast at Beirut port which destroyed several buildings. Abboud told MTV News that between 200,000 and 250,000 people had lost their homes and authorities were working on providing them with food, water and shelter. Abboud had revealed that a security report from 2014 warned of the possibility of an explosion in Lebanon’s capital as highly explosive materials had not been stored...
Andrew Mlangeni’s death last week represents something of a passing of the guard for South Africa’s liberation struggle. Andrew was the last living defendant of the 1963 Rivonia trial, which resulted in the sentencing of Andrew and ten others, among them, Ahmed Kathrada, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and, most famously, Nelson Mandela. In a highly publicized trial, the defendants were found guilty of sedition and conspiracy. The Rivonia trial and the Sharpeville massacre, which occurred three years...
An independent panel backed an African Development Bank probe that found no evidence of wrongdoing by its president, Akinwumi Adesina. The finding enables Adesina, 60, to seek re-election next month as head of the continent’s biggest multilateral lender for another five years. It’s also a rebuff to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, whose rejection of the AfDB ethics committee’s original report led to the review. The independent panel, led by former Irish President Mary Robinson, said it...
Brazil has recorded over 50,000 new cases of the novel coronavirus in a 24-hour period for the third day in a row, the Health Ministry said in the capital Brasilia late Friday. An increase of 55,891 cases was announced, as well as 1,156 more deaths from the virus. In total, more than 2.3 million infections have been registered in the largest and most populous country in Latin America. At least 85,238 people have died in...
The Cold War-style diplomacy between the United States and China have grown furious this week as China ordered the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu to close. This is in retaliation for one of its missions in the United States being shuttered. The announcement of the closure came after a stern warning from top American officials about the “tyranny” of China, and Chinese nationals being indicted in the United States on various charges....
Malaysia is considering making face masks compulsory in public following the emergence of 13 new coronavirus clusters since the government relaxed broad curbs on movement and businesses in June, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Monday. Malaysian health authorities recorded 21 new coronavirus cases on Monday, lifting the total since the outbreak began to 8,800 cases and 123 deaths. Monday’s was the second straight daily double-digit rise in infections, after Malaysia managed to broadly hold...
