WHO says virulent variant of Covid killed 10,000 people in 50 countries fuelled by December holidays
While bouts of coughs, sniffling, fever and fatigue in the winter are nothing new, Van Kerkhove said this year in particular, “we are seeing co-circulation of many different types of pathogens.”
UN helicopter carrying ‘several’ foreigners captured by al Shabaab in Somalia
Two UN sources familiar with the matter said the aircraft carried nine passengers. The identities or nationalities of the foreigners captured could not be independently verified.
Finland to extend Russia border closing after 900 asylum seekers entered the Nordic country
Some 900 asylum seekers from nations such as Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen entered Finland from Russia in November, an increase from less than one per day previously.
German software firm fined $222m for bribery schemes in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Ghana
The Walldorf, Germany-based company said it “separated from all responsible parties” more than five years ago, and that the accords end all compliance-related investigations in the United States and South Africa.
US consumers group sues Starbucks over human rights abuses on tea and coffee farms in Kenya, Brazil
US National Consumers League said in its lawsuit Starbucks has continued using suppliers after abuses were uncovered, and even certified them as ethical according to purported standards it developed itself.
Federal judge in Alabama, US, allows first nitrogen gas execution for murder convict to go on
United Nations experts warned last week that what would be the first instance anywhere in the world of an execution using inert-gas asphyxiation would likely violate an international treaty against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
US, UK forces repel ‘largest attack’ by Houthis as German and Holland skip Red Sea shipping channel
US Central Command said no injuries nor damage were reported, adding that this was the 26th Houthi attack on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea since November 19.
130 staff in five Ecuadorian prisons held hostage by inmates protesting president’s plan to build high security prisons
Authorities have said little about the prison hostages, although the SNAI prisons agency has said guards account for 125 of the hostages, while 14 are administrative staff. Eleven people were freed on Tuesday, it said.
Globalisation: Why Non-Aligned Movement is a contradiction in a world interlinked by Internet
Political powers are resisting Internet and trying to role back into the 20th century when the World Wide Web was emerging. Despite the increasingly intricate interconnections and interdependences, some countries are stuck with the idea of nonalignment.
Sub-Saharan Africa was most conflict-affected region globally in 2023 with six regions at war
Central Africa Republic military. The region continued this unfortunate status with conflict concentrated in four adjacent theatres – the Sahel, the Lake Chad Basin, the Great Lakes Region and East Africa, the respected think tank reported. Other conflict areas are the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mozambique. “Most conflicts, the survey has it, “have internal, regional and international elements” contributing to “their intractability”.
