Morocco foils smuggling of about 9 tonnes of cannabis

RABAT, Dec 5 (NNN-Xinhua) — Moroccan police have foiled an attempt to smuggle 8.99 tonnes of cannabis near Casablanca, the police said Saturday in a statement. The drugs were carefully hidden in large blocks of marble of about 10 tons each, intended for export to an African country, it added.…

US violence: Police shoot and kill knife-wielding suspect at Florida university, authorities say

MELBOURNE (Florida, US), Dec 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police fatally shot a man wielding a knife inside a Florida university residence hall Friday night, authorities said. The man was killed when he lunged at a police officer and a Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) security officer and they discharged their weapons,…

Iran’s proposals lead to pause in Vienna nuke talks, mounting uncertainty

A meeting of the Joint Commission on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna, Austria VIENNA, Dec 5 (NNN-Xinhua) — The talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal adjourned in Austria’s capital Vienna on Friday, and diplomats returned to their capitals for consultations before they will…

Havana’s Film Festival opens amid Covid-19 pandemic

HAVANA, Dec 5 (NNN-XINHUA) — The second phase of the 42nd International Festival of New Latin American Cinema kicked off in the Cuban capital of Havana on Friday, after being postponed in March 2021 due to surging coronavirus infections. Without the traditional snaking lines outside movie theaters, the event runs…

Biden-Putin talks set for Tuesday amid Ukraine tension

MOSCOW, Dec 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden are scheduled to hold talks by video conference on Tuesday, the Kremlin said, as tensions rise over Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the conversation will take place in the evening Russia time and the…

At least 20 drown as bus carrying wedding guests swept into flooded river in Kenya; 12 rescued

NAIROBI, Dec 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than 20 people drowned on Saturday when a bus travelling to a wedding in Kenya was swept away by fast-flowing waters as it tried to cross a flooded river. Onlookers screamed as the yellow school bus hired to take a church choir and other…

Man flies from Barbados to Miami with loaded gun

Barbados officials investigating how a man managed to board a commercial flight from the island nation to the US city of Miami with a loaded gun in his possession MIAMI, Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Barbados officials were investigating how a man reportedly managed to board a commercial flight from the…

Update: Reward to find parents charged in school shooting

OXFORD (Michigan, US), Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Marshals are offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the parents of a teenager suspected of a deadly school shooting. James and Jennifer Crumbley are accused of ignoring warning signs before the rampage that left four students…

Gambians vote in first presidential election since Jammeh era

BANJUL, Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Gambians head to the polls Saturday to select their next president, in a highly anticipated vote seen as a test of the country’s democratic transition. President Adama Barrow faces five other candidates as he seeks re-election in what is expected to be a close race. Political veteran Ousainou…

UN chief urges Sudan to respect freedom of the press

   UNITED NATIONS, Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged authorities in Sudan to respect freedom of expression and the press, calling the coup-stricken country hostile to journalists in a report submitted Friday to the Security Council.    Hundreds of political activists, journalists, protesters and bystanders watching…