The governor in Nigeria’s central Plateau state on Wednesday reinstated a 24-hour curfew in a local government area, as 36 people were killed in a fresh gunmen attack.

The attack took place in Jos North, where several houses were also set ablaze, Ubah Ogaba, a police spokesman in the region, told Anadolu Agency.

The curfew was first declared in the region on Aug. 15 after Muslim worshippers were attacked.

In a statement, Makut Macham, the governor’s spokesman, said a 24-hour curfew will come into force from 4.00 p.m. local time (1500GMT) on Wednesday.

“Plateau State Government has reinstated the 24-hour curfew earlier relaxed in Jos North Local Government Area following growing tensions arising from the attack on Yelwa Zangam village of the Local Government where people were killed and properties destroyed,” the statement said.

The governor has appealed to the citizens to cooperate with the government by abiding by the curfew as security agencies have been mandated to ensure that those who violate the curfew are arrested.​​​​​​​

“Also, the 6 pm to 6 am curfew in Jos South and Bassa LGAs still remains in place until further notice. Only people on essential duties such as health personnel, journalists, fire service and paramilitary and others, are to be exempted from the curfew but should carry means of identification with them at all times,” according to the statement./aa

East Africa’s tourism sector lost more than $4.8 billion and 2 million jobs in 2020 amid COVID-19 curbs, according to a report released Wednesday. 

The tourism sector contributes about 10% to East Africa Community (EAC) partner states’ gross domestic product (GDP) and accounts for 17% of export earnings and about 7% in terms of jobs, according to official data

The report by the East African Business Council (EABC), a bloc of private businesspeople in the region, showed that 4.2 million foreign tourists were not able to travel to their preferred East Africa Community destinations.

Ridded with uncertainty, the impact was felt across affiliated industries and other sectors of the economy.

“It is estimated that tourism jobs in the region dropped from about 4.1 million to 2.2 million,” said EABC chief executive officer John Bosco Kalisa.

“Visitors to national parks declined significantly by about 65% and, therefore, negatively affected wildlife conservation efforts in the region.”

The majority of the tourists originate from Europe, the US and parts of Asia.

The study also revealed that bed occupancy at hotels significantly dropped during the pandemic, with hotels in the region registering average occupancy rates of below 30

According to the report, 26.5% of businesses lost their entire projected revenues during the pandemic period and 44% lost 75%, while 17.6% lost 50% of their projected revenues.

The private sector has called on governments to create affordable loan schemes to support the tourism sector.

Roughly $57.8 million is needed to implement the sector’s recovery plan.

The EAC bloc last month approved a regional COVID-19 recovery plan for tourism that seeks to revive the sector by ensuring that the six member states -- Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and South Sudan -- adopt a collective and coordinated approach towards tourism recovery./aa

Britain on Wednesday warned its citizens in Afghanistan, asking them not to go to Kabul airport due to the “high threat” of a terrorist attack. 

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said in its updated travel advice to Afghanistan that the security situation in the country “remains volatile.”

“There is an ongoing and high threat of terrorist attack. Do not travel to Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport. If you are in the area of the airport, move away to a safe location and await further advice.”

The FCDO also asked citizens to leave the country immediately if this can be done safely by other means but added that “travel by road throughout the country is extremely dangerous.”

The UK has so far evacuated 11,000 people from Afghanistan, according to Ministry of Defense figures.

The government said in a statement that it aims to complete the operation before the Aug. 31 deadline.

The Taliban took control of the Afghan capital Kabul on Aug. 15, with President Ashraf Ghani and other top officials leaving the country. The group is now in consultations with other Afghan leaders to form a government.

The swift takeover triggered an exodus from the country, with thousands trying to leave from Kabul international airport – the only area of the country still under US control – with an Aug. 31 deadline looming for evacuations to finish./aa

Sixteen soldiers were killed and nine wounded when hundreds of Boko Haram terror group members attacked a military post in southern Niger overnight, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

The attack was in the commune of Bosso, the Diffa region bordering Nigeria, where Boko Haram is active along with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a branch of the Daesh terror group.

Niger’s Defense Ministry said government forces sustained substantial losses when the outpost was ambushed.

Government troops killed about 50 terrorists and several weapons were seized, it said.

Boko Haram and ISWAP have operated in the volatile region for years, carrying out attacks against civilians and the military.

The government has been battling a Boko Haram insurgency since 2009, which has spilled into neighboring countries.

The Diffa region has experienced several attacks since 2015.

An attack by suspected Boko Haram in Niger last year killed 28 people and burned 800 homes.

About 36,000 have died since the group launched its terror campaign, displacing 2 million in Nigeria, according to the UN./aa

Electric vehicles' share is expected to reach 80% in overall new vehicle registrations in Germany as of 2030, the German economic affairs and energy minister said on Wednesday.

While the previous expectation was to see 10 million electric vehicles, the forecast has now reached 14 million for the period until 2030, Peter Altmaier said during a press meeting.

Energy consumption is also expected to rise rapidly in the country with the increased use of electric vehicles./agencies

The international community should work to establish a new Myanmar, where Rohingya Muslims are “recognized” as equal citizens, a London-based human rights group said Wednesday.

“On the fourth anniversary of the Rohingya Genocide on 25 August the international community should not only reflect on the atrocities committed against the Rohingya but should actively work to establish a new Burma which will be inclusive to the Rohingya as citizens of recognized ethnicity with equal rights in the country,” the Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) said in a statement.

“While many see Burma’s 1st February Coup as an issue that side-lines the long-standing grievances of minorities in the country, we should instead consider this crisis as a chance to bring about meaningful change to the country,” Kyaw Win, the BHRN’s executive director said.

He said: “While there is no easy answer to dislodge the military from their illegitimate power, the movements to do so have involved tremendous unity among all the people of Burma.

“While taking measures to sanction and defang the Burmese military, the international community must also help the National Unity Government to become a viable, equitable, and human-rights-centered entity.

“The only way to make meaning of the suffering so many have endured is to use it to inform those in power on how to make a better country for all.”

The group also said that “since the Burmese military seized power of the country on 1st February, the Rohingya issue has been put on the backburner.”

Urging “all nations of the world to recognize the attacks on the Rohingya in 2017 as a 'genocide',” the BHRN also called on the US, EU, UK, UN, and ASEAN “to recognize the National Unity Government as the legitimate representatives of the Burmese people.”

The international community must “support the cases against the Burmese military at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice to ensure that the Rohingya may get justice for the crimes committed against them,” the rights group added.

The BHRN operates across Myanmar working for human rights, minority rights, and religious freedom in the country./agencies

The Russian foreign minister on Wednesday said the Afghan campaign should teach the US that democracy cannot be forced on others.

Speaking at a joint news conference after a meeting with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg in the capital Vienna, Sergey Lavrov said the main conclusion the US should draw from the Afghan war is that "it is useless to teach others how to live."

“We have observed in Libya, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan how the Americans wanted to force everyone to live as the Americans see fit. Everyone should deal with their own problems, there are enough of them in every country," he said.

"We should not interfere in someone else's business. We should not use force in a way that violates the UN Charter."

Schallenberg called the Afghan issue "the most serious topic on the international agenda."

He urged the international community to do everything possible to prevent Afghanistan from "becoming an incubator of international terrorism," and stop a new wave of migration from there.

Austria is making efforts to handle the Afghan crisis as it considers that the evacuation of Afghans cannot be the only response to the crisis, Schallenberg said.

As part of these efforts, Vienna will hold a conference with Afghanistan's neighbors Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan next week, he said.

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan after taking over the capital Kabul on Aug. 15, forcing the president and other top officials to leave the country./aa

The swift Taliban takeover triggered an exodus from the country, with thousands trying to leave from Kabul international airport – the only area of the country still under US control – with an Aug. 31 deadline looming for evacuations to finish.

The UK on Tuesday reported its highest total of weekly coronavirus deaths since this March when the government began lifting major lockdown restrictions.

According to the Office for National Statistics, 652 deaths were reported in the week ending on Aug. 13, up 6.7% from the previous week.

Of the four nations that make up the UK, England had the highest number of deaths with 550, followed by 41 in Scotland, 40 in Northern Ireland, and 19 in Wales.

The figures said deaths from COVID-19 are now averaging 100 a day across the UK, with scientists warning this figure could potentially rise when children return to school next week.

According to Public Health England, the seven-day average for deaths within 28 days of testing positive is 100, the first time since March when this average was last exceeded. Although the figures are still below the figures of last year when the UK was entering its second peak, they show a rise compared to this May and June when figures were in the single digits.

The rising number of deaths has been attributed to the spread of the now dominant Delta variant, which shows more resistance to vaccines than other variants. Scientists have also warned that with the resumption of school and the return of winter in the coming months, the government will have to reimpose some restrictions.

Speaking to The Guardian daily, Ravi Gupta, a professor at Cambridge University and a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said that there would be rising hospital admissions and continued disruptions once school resumes next month.

“There is nothing to stop it happening because there are still a lot of people who have not been infected with Delta and who will get infected, and some of them will become more ill than others. So, I think there is still a way to go with this. And yes, it is going to coincide with schools reopening, and of course, you have waning immunity as well,” he said.

On Tuesday, 30,838 people tested positive for the virus, and in the week beginning Aug. 18, 234,853 people had a confirmed positive test result – up 13.5% from the previous week.

The UK reported 174 deaths on Tuesday and on Aug. 18-24, there were 705 deaths – up 8.8% compared to the previous seven days.

The number of vaccinations continues to increase as young adults are now eligible for the jab. By the end of Aug. 23, over 47 million people had gotten their first dose of the vaccine and over 41 million people their second./agencies

The COVID-19 pandemic last year pushed as many as 75 to 80 million people in Asia into extreme poverty – defined as living on less than $1.90 a day – according to a report released Tuesday.

The global pandemic is threatening the Asia and Pacific region’s progress toward critical targets under the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) report.

“Inequality has risen sharply due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, progress has also stalled in several areas such as hunger, health, and education,” the bank wrote in their Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2021 report.

The bank said that as of 2017, around 203 million people, or 5.2% of Asia's population lived in extreme poverty.

“Without COVID-19, the number would have declined to an estimated 2.6% last year,” it reported.

Yasuyuki Sawada, the bank’s chief economist, said the progress in the Asia Pacific region is actually quite impressive. However, he added, the pandemic exposed social and economic fault lines that may weaken the region’s sustainable and inclusive development.

“To achieve the 2030 SDGs, decision-makers need to utilize high-quality and timely data to ensure that the recovery leaves no one behind, especially the poor and vulnerable,” he added.

According to the bank, the Asia Pacific region’s economy has grown at a rapid pace in recent years, and in 2019 contributed up to 35% of the global gross domestic product (GDP).

“Unfortunately, the pandemic took a toll on domestic investment and weakening global trade and economic activity," Sawada explained.

Based on bank data, only one in four countries posted GDP growth last year.

“The region lost about 8% of working hours due to mobility restrictions, which severely affected poorer households and workers in the informal economy,” said the report./agencies

The Turkish Coast Guard rescued 59 irregular migrants pushed back by Greece into Turkish territorial waters on Tuesday.

Coast guard teams spotted irregular migrants struggling on rubber boats off the coast of Ayvacik in Canakkale province in western Turkey.

Authorities rescued the group from two boats and they were then referred to the local migration office./agencies