Essex lorry deaths: Four people jailed in Vietnam

The bodies of 29 Vietnamese nationals were discovered in a refrigerated trailer HANOI/LONDON, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Four people have been jailed in Vietnam for their roles in the death of 39 migrants found in a lorry in England’s Essex. The men, women and children were discovered in a refrigerated trailer in…

Covid-19: Pandemic cost global tourism $460 billion in January-June – UN

MADRID, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The coronavirus crisis cost the global tourism sector $460 billion in lost revenue during the first six months of 2020 as the number of people travelling plunged, the UN said Tuesday. Revenue lost between January and June amounted to “around five times the loss in…

US wildfires: New York sees smoke from West Coast fires

NEW YORK, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Smoke from the fires ravaging theAmerican West Coast traveled across the continent to reach the skies over New York on Tuesday, according to meteorological reports. The smoke was visible in the hazy New York sky, thought it remained wellabove the ground at 15,000 to…

Brazil’s wetlands burn, rain is ‘only hope’ – firefighters

PORTO JOFRE (Brazil), Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Lieutenant Silva’s face isgrim as he watches his firefighters try — and fail — to control one of thethousands of wildfires ravaging Brazil’s Pantanal, the world’s biggesttropical wetlands. “It needs to rain. We’ve got low moisture, intense heat. With thatcombination, rain is our…

US: Pres Trump says he wanted to kill Syrian Pres Assad, but then Defence Sec Mattis opposed

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump said he wanted to assassinate Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad in 2017, but that his then-secretary of defense Jim Mattis opposed the operation. “I would have rather taken him out. I had him all set,” Trump told the morning show Fox &…

Peru economy minister survives congress censure vote

Economy Minister Maria Antonieta Alva LIMA, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Peru’s economy minister survived a censure motion in Congress on Tuesday, easing some of the pressure on President Martin Vizcarra days ahead of an impeachment vote in the same chamber. Maria Antonieta Alva won a reprieve after lawmakers voted against…

Covid-19: US Pres Trump says coronavirus vaccine could be ready in a month

PHILADELPHIA, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump saidthat a coronavirus vaccine may be available within a month — an acceleration of even his own surprisingly optimistic predictions — but added that the pandemic could go away by itself. “We’re very close to having a vaccine,” he told a town…

Covid-19: UN could meet in-person on pandemic before year’s end

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — United Nationsofficials anticipate an in-person General Assembly meeting in New York todiscuss the Covid-19 pandemic before the end of the year, the body’spresident Volkan Bozkir said. The special session could be as soon as the first week of November, theformer Turkish minister said during…

Covid-19: Lufthansa Group pay €2.7billion in ticket refunds

BERLIN, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Airlines in the Lufthansa Group have so far reimbursed around 2.7 billion euros to a total of 6.3 million customers as of Sept 9. In arithmetical terms, around 1,800 refunds per hour were paid out last week. The justified claims received by Lufthansa in Germany…

Ex-President Laurent Gbagbo and ex-PM barred from Ivorian elections

Supporters of Laurent Gbagbo had filed his candidacy for the presidency ABIDJAN, Sept 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Constitutional Court in Ivory Coast has barred former president, Laurent Gbagbo, and former prime minister, Guillaume Soro, from running in the presidential election next month. The electoral commission had already said that anyone…