Near Bajagar, Gambie (AFP) Feb 14, 2022 Separatist rebels from Senegal’s southern Casamance region on Monday handed over seven Senegalese soldiers whom they had captured three weeks ago, AFP reporters saw, demanding nothing in return. The soldiers were taken across the border to an area near the Gambian village of Bajagar and delivered to officials from the Gambian government and the West African regional bloc … Continue reading Seven Senegalese soldiers freed in The Gambia

Yangon (AFP) Feb 14, 2022 Myanmar’s junta on Monday said it would not attend an upcoming ASEAN summit after the bloc’s “regrettable” exclusion of its top diplomat over a lack of progress in defusing post-coup violence. ASEAN invited Myanmar to send a “non-political representative” to this week’s foreign ministers’ meeting, citing a lack of progress on a consensus agreed last year to facilitate dialogue with … Continue reading Myanmar junta says won’t attend ASEAN summit after ‘regrettable’ snub

Vilnius (AFP) Feb 10, 2022 Lithuania on Thursday downplayed China’s decision to suspend imports of its beef, saying exporters have already secured other markets, as tensions rise over the Baltic nation’s ties with Taiwan. The small EU remember enraged China last year when it allowed Taipei to open a representative office in Vilnius under the name of Taiwan – a significant diplomatic departure that defied … Continue reading Lithuania downplays Chinese suspension of its beef imports

Dakar (AFP) Feb 12, 2022 Separatist rebels in Casamance, a region of southern Senegal afflicted by a longstanding separatist conflict, are to free seven Senegalese soldiers taken prisoner in late January, a spokesman said Saturday. The seven soldiers are members of the West African mission in Gambia (Ecomig). They will be handed over Monday in The Gambia to the representative of the Community of West … Continue reading Rebels promise to free seven Senegalese soldiers

Pampilhosa Da Serra, Portugal (AFP) Feb 12, 2022 In central Portugal, a sustained drought has revealed the ruins of a village that was totally submerged underwater when a large reservoir was created nearly 70 years ago. “I have never seen that!” says Carlos Perdigao, 76, as he gazes at the ruined stone houses of Vilar which were swallowed up by the Zezere river when a … Continue reading Spain, Portugal hit by winter drought

Beijing (AFP) Feb 12, 2022 China on Saturday said it had given “conditional” approval for Pfizer’s Covid-19 drug Paxlovid to treat adults with mild to moderate illness and a high risk of developing severe disease. The drug has so far been authorised in about 40 countries including the United States and Israel, while the European Union has permitted member states to use it ahead of … Continue reading China gives conditional approval for Pfizer Covid pill: drug regulator

Yangon (AFP) Feb 12, 2022 Myanmar’s junta on Saturday announced an amnesty for more than 800 prisoners to mark the country’s Union Day, as it held a parade and show of force in the capital. The country has been in turmoil since last year’s coup, with mass protests and a subsequent military crackdown that has killed more than 1,500 civilians, according to the UN’s human … Continue reading Myanmar junta announces Union Day prisoner amnesty

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories (AFP) Feb 10, 2022 The road meandering towards Gaza Valley is notorious for the stench of pollution choking the plant and animal life that once flourished in the Palestinian enclave’s biggest wetland. That is expected to change after the sullied habitat was declared Gaza’s first nature reserve, set for a UN-backed, decade long clean-up effort under the territory’s Hamas Islamist rulers. … Continue reading Pollution clean-up aims to create Gaza’s first nature reserve

Brasilia (AFP) Feb 10, 2022 Brazil’s lower house of Congress has passed a controversial bill overhauling regulations on pesticide use, dubbed the “poison package” by critics but defended by backers as necessary to protect the country’s vital agribusiness sector. The legislation, which has been in the works since 2002, passed the Chamber of Deputies late Wednesday by a vote of 301 to 150, with two … Continue reading Brazil Chamber passes controversial pesticide bill

Paris (AFP) Feb 10, 2022 French scientist Luc Montagnier, who won the Nobel prize for medicine for his co-discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS, has died aged 89, the mayor of the Paris suburb where he was hospitalised said Thursday. Montagnier died on Tuesday in the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine northwest of the centre of Paris, its mayor Jean-Christophe Fromantin told AFP. Fromantin … Continue reading France’s Nobel winner for co-discovery of HIV virus dies