US oil company charged in October California spill

Workers in protective suits clean the contaminated beach in Corona Del Mar after an oil spill off the southern California coast in October LOS ANGELES, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A United States oil company and two subsidiaries have been charged for a crude oil spill that wrought environmental havoc in southern Californian…

Remaining US and Canadian missionaries kidnapped in Haiti released

Kidnapped missionaries affiliated with US-based group Christian Aid Ministries were freed following weeks of negotiations with 400 Mawozo, one of Haiti’s most powerful gangs PORT-AU-PRINCE, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A group of Canadian and US missionaries kidnapped in October by a gang in Haiti has been released, local police said, after weeks…

Rwanda: French court jails ex-driver Muhayimana for 14 years over genocide

PARIS, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A French court on Thursday sentenced a former hotel driver to 14 years in jail over complicity in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide for involvement in transporting Hutu militiamen who massacred hundreds of Tutsis. French-Rwandan Claude Muhayimana, 60, was found guilty of complicity in genocide and in crimes against…

Former Bolivian Foreign Ministry official arrested over 2019 uprising against Evo

LA PAZ, Dec 17 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — A former top-ranking official from Bolivia’s Foreign Ministry has been placed under arrest for his alleged involvement in the reception from Argentina of tear gas and other military supplies in the events surrounding the resignation of former President Evo Morales and the accession to…

Venezuelan exports grow 30% compared to 2020

CARACAS, Dec 17 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The president of the Venezuelan Association of Exporters (AVEX) Ramón Goyo announced a 30% increase in sales abroad compared to 2020 figures, which has allowed producers to make up for a sharp decrease in domestic consumption. Goyo also explained that products currently are those from…

28 UN peacekeepers killed, 165 wounded in Mali in 2021

BAMAKO, Dec 17 (NNN-Xinhua) — Twenty-eight peacekeepers were killed and 165 wounded in Mali in 2021, according to the United Nations. During a video conference here on Thursday, El-Ghassim Wane, head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, said that “50 percent of all incidents” behind these…

Fallen Afghan government’s UN envoy leaves post

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Afghan ambassador appointed by the country’s overthrown government has left his post at the United Nations, the UN said. Ghulam Isaczai “relinquished his position as of Dec 15”, according to a letter received Thursday, assistant UN spokesman Farhan Haq said. With Afghanistan in…

UK PM Johnson suffers by-election disaster

 LONDON, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday suffered a crushing by-election defeat in a constituency never previously lost by his Conservative Party, a result which raises serious questions about his leadership.   His party won the seat in North Shropshire, central England, by a massive…

US ends talks on compensation with families separated at Mexico border

Children line up to enter a tent at the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children in Florida WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US government has abandoned negotiations to financially compensate migrant families separated at the southern border with Mexico during the “zero tolerance” policy of former president Donald Trump,…

Britain and Australia conclude free trade deal

LONDON, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain and Australia finalised in a virtual ceremony on Thursday a free trade deal that is expected to unlock more than 10 billion pound in trade annually.    The deal, which was agreed in principle in June, is the first free trade deal that Britain negotiated…