South Africa: 9 killed in traffic accident involving minibus and passenger car in Eastern Cape

CAPE TOWN, Jan 1 (NNN-XINHUA) — Nine people were killed and eight others injured in a traffic accident in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa on Wednesday morning, local media reported. According to media reports, the accident involving a minibus taxi and a passenger car occurred around 10:00 a.m.…

Brazil: 5 dead in shootings in southern Parana state

BRASILIA, Jan 1 (NNN-XINHUA) — Five people died early Wednesday morning, including one victim and four armed suspects, in two related shootings in southern Brazil’s Parana state, local media reported. The body of a man who had been shot dead was discovered in a neighborhood of Cornelio Procopio, a city…

UK: New Year’s Eve trains disrupted by cable theft

Trains run by Northern have been affected, alongside CrossCountry and TransPennine services LONDON, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rail passengers have been warned of delays and cancellations until the end of New Year’s Eve after signalling cables were stolen in South Yorkshire.National Rail said several routes had been affected following the…

Mali and Burkina Faso impose travel ban on US citizens

Captain Ibrahim Traore is the President of Burkina Faso BAMAKO, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mali and Burkina Faso say they will bar US citizens from entering their countries in response to a similar move by the Trump administration.The two West African states were recently placed under full entry restrictions under…

France plans social media ban for children under 15

PARIS, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France will make a fresh attempt to protect children from excessive screen time, proposing a ban on social media access for children under 15 by next September, according to a draft law. The initiative is backed by President Emmanuel Macron, who said earlier this month…

Eight dead in US strikes on alleged drug boats: US military

WASHINGTON, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US military said that eight people were killed in multiple new strikes on alleged drug boats, bringing the death toll in Washington’s campaign against what it says are narcotics traffickers to at least 115. US Southern Command, which is responsible for American forces operating…

Finland seizes vessel after new cable damage in Gulf of Finland

HELSINKI, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Finnish police said they had seized a vessel suspected of damaging a telecommunications cable that runs between Helsinki and Tallinn in the Gulf of Finland several hours earlier. The Finnish coast guard identified the vessel as the Fitburg, a 132-meter-long cargo ship bearing a flag…

Regional temperature records broken across the world in 2025

PARIS, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Central Asia, the Sahel region and northern Europe experienced their hottest year on record in 2025, according to data from the European Copernicus programme. Globally, the last 12 months are expected to be the third hottest ever recorded after 2024 and 2023, according to the…

128 journalists killed worldwide in 2025: press group

BRUSSELS, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A total of 128 journalists were killed around the world in 2025, more than half of them in the Middle East, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said Thursday. The grim toll, up from 2024, “is not just a statistic, it’s a global red alert…

FAO officially launches 2026 as the International Year of the Women Farmer

ROME, Dec 31 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) officially launched The International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, a global campaign aimed at recognizing women’s indispensable yet often overlooked contributions to global agri-food systems and to galvanize efforts to close persistent gender gaps.…