Train Accident Leaves Two Dead, 50 Others Injured In Portugal

LISBON, Aug 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A high-speed train with 212 passengers that left Lisbon for northern Portugal’s city of Braga, collided with a railroad maintenance vehicle yesterday, near Coimbra in central Portugal, killing two people and injuring 50 others, according to Coimbra District Operations Command (CDOS). The two fatal victims…

Many Parts Of France On “Orange Alert” As Mercury Soars

PARIS, Aug 1 (NNN-XINHUA) – French weather agency, Meteo France, yesterday put 29 regions, including Ile-de-France — the great Paris region, under orange alert on heatwave till this morning. “A very intense heat peak is currently affecting the country…Temperatures broke records yesterday notably in the south-west with up to 41.9…

Brazil Adds Over 1,200 Deaths From COVID-19

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 1 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil yesterday reported a daily increase of 1,212 COVID-19 deaths, taking the national death toll to 92,475. Health authorities also detected 52,383 new cases in the past 24 hours, raising the total caseload to 2,662,485. The state of Sao Paulo, the most populous…

Pompeo Widely Blasted By U.S. Media, Seen As “Worst Secretary Of State Ever”

WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has been widely denounced by domestic media for his egregious performance in office, with The New York Times calling him “the worst secretary of state in American history, without a single diplomatic achievement.” In an opinion piece published by…

Feature: Young Palestinians Launch Initiative To Reduce Plastic Use In Blockaded Gaza

by Sanaa Kamal GAZA, Aug 1 (NNN-XINHUA) – Baraa al-Madhoun and Ghadeer al-Saqa, two young Palestinian women from the blockaded Gaza Strip, spend long hours sewing fabric bags, dedicated to their initiative of reducing the use of plastic bags in the coastal enclave. Together with five other natives of Gaza,…

Iran’s Top Leader Slams U.S. Sanctions Against Iran

TEHRAN, Aug 1 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, yesterday strongly condemned U.S. sanctions on the Iranian nation as “a grave crime.” “The sanctions the Americans exerted against the Iranian nation are for sure a grave crime,” Khamenei said, in a televised speech on the occasion of the…

Obama Warns, Voting Rights Under Threat, At John Lewis’ Funeral

WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Former U.S. President, Barack Obama, delivered an eulogy for the late U.S. congressman, John Lewis’ funeral on Thursday, warning that the voting rights, the late civil rights icon championed, are threatened, heading into the 2020 election. “There are those in power doing their darnedest to…

Highest Single Day Spike Takes India’s COVID-19 Tally To Over 1.6 Million

NEW DELHI, Aug 1 (NNN-UNI) – India recorded the highest ever single-day spike of 55,078 of fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total tally to 1,638,870, according to the federal health ministry’s latest data. This is the second consecutive day when fresh COVID-19 cases have increased by more than…

Jordan To Hold Parliamentary Elections On Nov 10

AMMAN, July 30 (NNN-PETRA) – Jordan will hold its parliamentary elections on Nov 10, it was reported yesterday (Wednesday). The date was set hours after King Abdullah issued a royal decree, ordering the parliamentary elections to be held. Under the 2016 Elections Law, the Independent Election Commission will set the…

Assad, Special Russian Envoy To Syria Discuss Upcoming Meeting Of Constitutional Committee

DAMASCUS, July 30 (NNN-SANA) – Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, and the visiting Russian’s special envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, discussed the upcoming meeting of the Syrian constitutional committee. Assad and Lavrentiev agreed that the committee, which will hold its meeting next month, should carry out its work without any external…