Nigerian abductors seize ransom envoy: headteacher on July 27, 2021An envoy who delivered a ransom payment for the release of more than 100 Nigerian children abducted in May has himself been kidnapped, the headteacher of their Islamic school said Monday. Northwest and central Nigeria are struggling with criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, who raid villages, killing and abducting residents after looting and burning […]
Clashes in Tunisia after president ousts PM amid Covid protests on July 27, 2021Street clashes erupted Monday outside Tunisia’s army-barricaded parliament, a day after President Kais Saied ousted the prime minister and suspended the legislature, plunging the young democracy into a constitutional crisis. Saied sacked Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and ordered parliament closed for 30 days, a move the biggest political party Ennahdha decried as a “coup”, following […]
NYC orders Covid-19 shots or weekly tests for all public workers on July 27, 2021New York City will require all municipal workers to get vaccinated against coronavirus or take a weekly test, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday as the Delta variant fuels an uptick in cases in the metropolis. The order will go into effect from September 13 and will apply to more than 300,000 city personnel, including […]
Yemen’s warring sides converge on strategic central district on July 27, 2021Yemen’s warring sides have deployed reinforcements to the outskirts of a strategic central district, a government military source said Monday, after Huthi rebels made significant gains in the nearby province of Al-Bayda. The possible fall to the rebels of the district of Bayhan, near the border with the government’s last northern stronghold of Marib, could […]
Ethiopia’s Amhara boss urges residents to fight Tigray rebels on July 26, 2021Ethiopia’s Amhara region on Sunday called on all armed residents to mobilise for battle against rebels from conflict-hit Tigray, calling it a “survival campaign”, state media reported. Amhara borders Tigray to the south, and the two regions are embroiled in a decades-old land dispute that has become central to the eight-month-old war in Tigray. Sunday’s […]
French lawmakers seek deal on vaccine passports after protests on July 26, 2021Lawmakers from France’s upper and lower houses of parliament were on Sunday seeking to agree a deal to allow the adoption of legislation making vaccine passports vital for French daily life in the battle against Covid-19. The talks between members of the National Assembly and Senate come a day after France was again shaken by […]
Pelosi to appoint new Republicans in showdown over US Capitol riot probe on July 26, 2021House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said she plans to appoint additional Republicans, including a staunch Trump critic, to the committee probing the January 6 US Capitol insurrection, amid a fierce partisan showdown over who will serve on the body. Asked whether she would appoint a new set of Republicans including lawmaker Adam Kinzinger, who […]
Iran hails Guards nurse’s golden shot in Tokyo on July 26, 2021Iran on Sunday celebrated 41-year-old Javad Foroughi, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hospital nurse, who won gold in the 10m air pistol to become the country’s oldest and newest Olympic champion. Foroughi, who survived Covid-19 in the Middle East’s worst-hit country, on Saturday became Iran’s first medal winner in any shooting event at the Olympics. […]
Israel launches direct flights to Morocco on July 26, 2021The first direct commercial flight between Israel and Morocco landed in Marrakesh on Sunday, AFP correspondents said, more than seven months after the countries normalised diplomatic relations in a US-brokered deal. About 100 passengers from Tel Aviv arrived on an Israir flight early on Sunday afternoon to be met with dates, cakes and mint tea […]
London roads flood as storms roll in on July 26, 2021Buses and cars were left stranded when roads across London flooded on Sunday, as repeated thunderstorms battered the British capital. Social media users posted videos of partially submerged vehicles in southwest London, with more heavy rain set to fall as a band of thunderstorms made its way across southeast England. The Met Office issued an […]