The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform today announced that it has lifted control measures imposed following an outbreak of Lungsickness in most parts of the Northern Communal Areas since February.

The Executive Director in the ministry, Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata, in a media statement said the disease has been confirmed in the Kavango West and East, Ohangwena, Omusati and Kunene regions.

“For the purpose of controlling this outbreak, control measures were instituted,” she said.

These included movement restrictions of live cattle, vaccination of cattle and disease surveillance in all affected regions.

Nghituwamata said to date, the mass vaccination of cattle in all affected regions has been completed, achieving a 94 per cent coverage.

(NAMPA)

SH/HP/AS

2 (WINDHOEK, 26 OCT, NAMPA) – The Namibian Cycling Federation will host its inaugural bicycle motocross (BMX) championships at its newly constructed track at Outapi in the Omusati Region next week.

The Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) Namibia and National BMX finals are slated for 04 and 05 November 2022.

In an interview with Nampa on Wednesday, Namibian Cycling Federation (NCF) president, Axel Theissen, said hosting the championship in Outapi is part of NCF’s grassroots development objectives.

“We received funding and support from the International Cycling Union (UCI) for the first time along with other sponsors RMB and LeMa Events from their 2019 Desert Dash sponsorship. We decided to construct a BMX track on a piece of land that was leased to us by the Outapi Town council,” he said.

The NCF president added that the town of Outapi has a ‘Kids on Bike’ centre where over 90 children ride their bikes, therefore it was best for the NCF to build a centre in that region.

(NAMPA)

HK/HP/AS

3 (PRETORIA, 26 OCT, AFP) – The first formal peace talks between the warring sides in the brutal two-year conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region entered day two in South Africa today.

Led by the African Union (AU), the negotiations in Pretoria follow a surge in fierce fighting in recent weeks that has alarmed the international community and triggered fears for civilians caught in the crossfire.

The talks are being held at South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry headquarters.

AU Horn of Africa envoy and Nigerian former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who is the talks’ chief facilitator, was filmed and photographed by AFP journalists entering the venue on Wednesday morning.

Kenya’s ex-president Uhuru Kenyatta who is part of the mediating team, was also seen going into the building so was South Africa’s ex-vice president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

US special envoy for the Horn of Africa Mike Hammer, is also participating in the talks.

The Pretoria dialogue – the first publicly announced talks between the rivals – opened on Monday and is due to run until Sunday, according the South African presidency.

But there has so far been a media blackout with journalists kept outside the venue’s perimeter fence, and no updates issued.

AFP

4 (BEIRUT, 26 OCT, AFP) – A United Nations agency warned today that more Palestinians living in crisis-torn Lebanon have fallen deeper into poverty, spelling a ‘dramatic humanitarian crisis’.

For three years Lebanon has been in the throes of one of the worst economic crises in recent history according to the World Bank – dealing an especially heavy blow to vulnerable communities including refugees.

Two thirds of Palestinian refugee families in Lebanon have cut down on the number of daily meals, Leni Stenseth, deputy commissioner general at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, told reporters in Beirut.

Days ago the UN body ‘urgently’ appealed for $13 million in funding for cash assistance to families, primary health care services and to keep the agency’s schools open until the end of this year.

The poverty level among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon has shot up from a little more than 70 per cent at the beginning of the year to 93 per cent, according to UNRWA.

Lebanon hosts about 210 000 Palestinian refugees, including 30 000 who fled Syria after war erupted there in 2011, according to the agency.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency