No African university listed for new UK visa scheme

 LONDON, June 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A new UK visa scheme that is designed to attract the “brightest and best” graduates from around the world does not include any African universities on its list of institutions where those degree-holders can come from. This has led to some complaints that African talent…

Handguns: Canada proposes complete freeze on ownership

Canada already has far stricter gun ownership laws than the United States  OTTAWA, June 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada should introduce a total ban on the buying and selling of all handguns, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said. His government is proposing a new law that would freeze private ownership of…

Many Canadians remain without power 9 days after deadly Derecho storms

OTTAWA, June 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Many residents in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, and some parts of Ontario and Quebec provinces remain without power nine days after a string of powerful late-spring storms swept through the region. On Sunday, Ottawa’s hydro utility said that as of Sunday, 9,000 homes…

Russia-Ukraine conflict: EU leaders downplay chances of Russian gas ban

 BRUSSELS, June 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — EU leaders on Tuesday played down the prospects of getting a ban on Russian gas in a next round of sanctions, after struggling to secure an already watered-down embargo on Moscow’s key oil exports. The 27-nation bloc agreed at a summit on Monday to a…

Brazil storm death toll rises to 100: officials

 RECIFE (Brazil), June 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The death toll from torrential rains that triggered floods and landslides in northeastern Brazil has risen to 100, officials said Tuesday, as emergency workers continued the search for more victims. At least 14 people remain missing after the storms, said disaster management officials for…

Chad: Around 100 dead, 40 wounded in clashes between artisanal gold miners

N’DJAMENA, May 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Around 100 people have died in clashes between gold miners in northern Chad, Defence Minister General Daoud Yaya Brahim said on Monday. Violence broke out on May 23 at Kouri Bougoudi near the Libyan border, sparked by a “mundane dispute between two people which degenerated”,…

Car bomb goes off in Ecuador – no victims this time around as drug gang targets police

QUITO, May 30 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Nobody was injured as a car bomb went off in front of a Guayaquil police precinct, it was reported Sunday. Police acting spokesman Maximiliano Maldonado added there were only small “small damages” to a patrol car parked adjacently, while one suspect has been arrested in…

More prosecutors killed in Latin America

TEGUCIGALPA, May 30 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Following the assassination of Paraguay’s Marcelo Pecci while honeymooning in Colombia, two other crimes have hit Latin American prosecutors in the last days of May. Honduran State Attorney’s Office has declared three days of mourning following Friday’s assassination of Special Environmental Prosecutor Karen Gabriela Almendarez…

‘Slavery, rape, torture’: Libya threatened by foreign fighters, says UN report

Fighters loyal to Libya’s Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah on guard in capital Tripol TRIPOLI, May 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Libya faces a serious security threat from foreign fighters and private military companies, especially Russia’s Wagner Group which has violated international law. In a United Nations report, experts also accused seven Libyan…

Russia-Ukraine conflict: Serbia ignores EU sanctions, secures gas deal with Russia

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic BELGRADE, May 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — As the war in Ukraine rages, Serbia’s president announced that he has secured an “extremely favorable” natural gas deal with Russia during a telephone conversation Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has refused to explicitly condemn Russia’s…