Nationalization of YPF oil giant: US judge orders Argentina to pay $16.1 bn for oil firm expropriation to 2 companies

NEW YORK, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A US judge ordered Argentina to pay nearly $16.1 billion to two companies that were not compensated as minority shareholders for the 2012 nationalization of the YPF oil giant. In a ruling that expanded on a prior judgment in favor of Petersen Energia and…

South Africa holds funeral for Zulu grandee Buthelezi

ULUNDI (South Africa), Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Zulu prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a powerful but divisive leader implicated in a wave of deadly violence that marked the birth of modern South Africa, will be laid to rest in a state funeral on Saturday. Thousands are expected to pay tribute to the…

Kim Jong Un meets Russia defence minister: TASS news agency

MOSCOW, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in Vladivostok on Saturday, according to state news agency TASS. “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived at the Knevichi airfield in Vladivostok,” the report said, adding that Kim was greeted by Shoigu…

US wildfires: Hawaii revises down death toll to 97 from 115

HONOLULU (Hawaii, US), Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The number of people thought to have died in the fast-moving wildfire that tore through part of Hawaii last month dropped Friday, as authorities revised their figures. The state’s governor, Josh Green, said scientists sorting through remains now believed that 97 people had…

Belgian court sentences 8 over Brussels terror attack

BRUSSELS, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Belgian court handed out sentences ranging up to life in prison to eight men for the 2016 jihadist bombings in Brussels, ending the country’s largest-ever criminal trial. The suicide bombings on March 22, 2016 at Brussels’ main airport and on the metro system killed…

Two Russians, American reach space station

BAIKONUR (Kazakhstan), Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut docked with the International Space Station on Friday after blasting off amid raging tensions between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine. Earlier Friday Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara lifted off from…

Sierra Leone president says US pressured him to interfere in vote

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The president of Sierra Leone accused the United States of pressuring him to interfere in his country’s June 24 election count, a statement in stark contrast to the concerns Washington has leveled regarding the fairness of the poll. “When the elections were at the height…

France says its ambassador to Niger ‘literally held hostage’

France is accusing Niger of blocking food deliveries to its embassy SEMUR-EN-AUXOIS (France), Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Emmanuel Macron said that France’s envoy to Niger is living like a hostage in the French embassy and accused military rulers of blocking food deliveries to the mission. The ambassador is living…

G77+China summit in Cuba calls for new global order

HAVANA, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The G77+China, a group of developing and emerging countries representing 80 per cent of the world’s population, kicked off a summit in Cuba with a call to “change the rules of the game” of the global order. The meeting comes at a time of growing…

Russia says ‘no agreements’ signed during North Korean leader Kim visit

MOSCOW, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Kremlin said no agreements have been signed during North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s ongoing visit to Russia. “No agreements were signed and there was no plan to sign any,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, amid concern in Washington that the two countries could be…