Politics and society

New Zealand will gradually implement a near-total tobacco ban from 2023 by preventing anyone born after 2008 from buying cigarettes indefinitely, as well as reducing the amount of nicotine in products available to the sale. This is a radical way to fight against smoking in New Zealand. According to the …

Nigerian authorities announced that all passengers will no longer be required to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test on arrival or departure, regardless of their vaccination status. A memo addressed to all airline operators, among other stakeholders in the aviation industry by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) confirmed …

Amnesty criticizes Senegal for its failures in the fight against the abuse of students in Koranic schools and their financial exploitation, in a report published on Monday, calling on Dakar to “strong acts” to protect them. “Tens of thousands of talibé children (students in Koranic schools commonly known as daaras) …

South Africa’s passenger rail agency (Prasa) has banned preaching, gambling and informal trading in its new trains, local media outlets report. The move is among measures meant to ensure that “one particular behavioural system of any other group cannot be imposed on other commuters on board”, the agency’s spokesperson Lilian …

Nigerian lawmakers have summoned the country’s central bank governor over the implementation of a recently introduced policy that restricts cash withdrawals. The policy seeks to promote cashless transactions in Africa’s biggest economy after it launched new banknotes. Last week the bank limited weekly over-the-counter cash withdrawals at 100,000 naira ($225) …

The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a law protecting same-sex marriage across the United States, over fears of a backtracking by the Supreme Court on the matter. The text, which was approved by the Senate last week, must now be signed into law by President Biden. He pledged …

China announced on Wednesday a general relaxation of health rules against Covid, authorizing certain positive cases to quarantine at home and reducing its use of generalized PCR tests. The change comes days after historic angry protests across the country. According to the new instructions unveiled by the National Health Commission …

Humanity has become a “weapon of mass extinction” of nature that “we treat like a toilet”, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday at a ceremony in Montreal on the eve of of COP15 on biodiversity. “With our boundless appetite for uncontrolled and unequal economic growth, humanity has become …

Between 1,200 and 3,000 Moroccans demonstrated in Rabat on Sunday against “high cost of living and political repression”, at the call of left-wing organizations, against a backdrop of accelerating inflation and rising social discontent. This national march, one of the largest in recent months, brought together between 1,200 and 1,500 …

Churches and mosques in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, have been urged to be “considerate” and reduce high noise levels at their premises. In a tweet, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said he will be having a discussion with religious leaders on regulating noise levels. The city recently banned nightclubs from operating in …