ICC rejects Uighur genocide complaint against China

According to reports and witness testimonies, there are more than a million Uighurs held against their will in different camps in Xinjiang THE HAGUE, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — International Criminal Court prosecutors have rejected calls by exiled Uighurs to investigate China for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity, the chief prosecutor’s…

Venezuelan migrant shipwreck dead rises to 20

CARACAS, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 20 Venezuelan migrants died when a ship heading for Trinidad and Tobago sank, the public prosecutor’s office said. Over the weekend the Venezuelan government said 14 bodies had been recovered either at sea or washed up on a beach. Attorney General Tarek William Saab…

Morocco’s police disperse protest against ties with Israel

A protester against the normalization deal between Morocco and Israel gestures, in Rabat RABAT, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Moroccan authorities dispersed a group of activists who tried to hold a protest outside the parliament building in the capital to denounce the country’s recent decision to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. Dozens…

Covid-19: US records deadliest week since pandemic started with 17,000 deaths

 US death toll from coronavirus topped 300,000 on Monday NEW YORK, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States lost more than 17,000 people to COVID-19 last week, the largest number since the beginning of the global pandemic, with North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa reporting the most deaths per capita…

Covid-19: Teachers should be among first for vaccination – UNESCO

PARIS, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Nations agency for education, UNESCO, called on governments to give teachers priority access to the new Covid-19 vaccines and be treated like “frontline” workers. The call came as the United States, the country worst hit by the virus, kickstarted the biggest vaccination drive…

Covid-19: Canada announces new aid package for developing nations, UN agencies

OTTAWA, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada announced a Can$458 million aid package to help developing countries fight the coronavirus pandemic. Of that amount, Can$230 million will go to the UN children’s agency UNICEF to buy approximately three million treatments based on new therapeutic antibodies, once clinical trials are complete and…

Solar eclipse plunges southern Chile, Argentina into darkness

PUCON (Chile), Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of people turned their heads to the sky to watch a solar eclipse that lasted around two minutes on Monday as southern Chile and Argentina were plunged into darkness. Heavy rain had threatened to prevent star gazers in Chile from seeing the eclipse…

Azerbaijan, Armenia begin swapping Karabakh prisoners

BAKU, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Azerbaijan and Armenia announced the start of a prisoner exchange, more than a month after a peace deal was signed ending weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Returns had already begun on Monday, Baku’s State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing…

Covid-19: Germany pressuring EU to speed up vaccine approval

BERLIN, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Germany is pressuring EU authorities to speed up the approval of a coronavirus vaccine as it battles a surge in infections and Britain and the US begin mass inoculations, reports said. Angela Merkel’s office and Germany’s health ministry want the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to…

Moscow condemns US sanctions on Turkey over Russian missile purchases

MOSCOW, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned US sanctions against Turkey over the purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defence missiles as “illegitimate”. “This is, of course, another manifestation of an arrogant attitude towards international law, a manifestation of illegitimate, unilateral coercive measures that the United States…