Moroccan king, French president discuss Libyan crisis in phone call

RABAT, Jan 19 (NNN-Xinhua) — Moroccan King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed on Saturday the Libyan crisis in a phone call, a government statement said. The important role of Morocco and its recognized efforts over many years to resolve the crisis in Libya were highlighted in the…

US imposes sanctions on Iran’s IRGC general

Iranian Brigadier General Hassan Shahvarpour WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (NNN-Xinhua) — The US State Department said that it had imposed sanctions on a brigadier general of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). The department said in a statement that it had blacklisted Brigadier General Hassan Shahvarpour, a commander in Khuzestan province,…

Pres Maduro says still in control, open to talks with US: Washington Post report

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he was still comfortably in charge and open to direct negotiations with the US, in an interview published Saturday by The Washington Post. The interview was Maduro’s first with a major US outlet since February of last year, when he…

Chileans march against police repression of social unrest

SANTIAGO, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Hundreds of Chileans rallied to protest what they call police repression during three months of the worst social unrest since democracy replaced the country’s military dictatorship in 1990. More than 1,000 people, many wearing black, marched in silence from Plaza Italia, ground zero of all…

US: Pres Trump lawyers present defense for ‘dangerous’ impeachment

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump’s legal team presented Saturday its line of defense for his upcoming impeachment trial, a process they dismissed as unconstitutional and “dangerous.” It was the first time the team presented its arguments, modeled on those put forward since December by Trump and his…

Flooding, landslides kill six in Brazil

BRASILIA, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Flooding and landslides triggered by torrential rains have claimed six lives in southeast Brazil, firefighters said.Footage on social media showed streets in Espirito Santo state turned into rivers and cars being swept away by raging, muddy water.In one clip, the water almost reaches the roof…

Women march against Trump in Washington as election looms

Women march in Washington against Donald Trump WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of women marched through Washington on Saturday at a now-annual event opposing US President Donald Trump, striking a defiant note despite falling attendance numbers.Many protesters said they were horrified at the prospect of Trump’s winning four more…

Brief scuffles at Guatemala-Mexico border as migrants try to cross

Guatemalan authorities say around 4,000 people have arrived in the country in the last few days. GUATEMALA CITY, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Scuffles briefly broke out on the Guatemala-Mexico border as a group of several hundred mostly Honduran migrants pressed forward to cross, only to be pushed back by Mexican…

Tunisia condemns eight to death for presidential guard attack

TUNIS, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Tunisian court sentenced eight people to death in a trial for a 2015 attack on a presidential guard bus that killed 12. The Nov 24, 2015 suicide bombing in the capital Tunis claimed by the Daesh killed a dozen presidential guards and wounded 20…

Trump allies draw up plan to limit damage from impeachment trial

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — U.S. President Donald Trump and his Republican allies plan to launch a massive effort to limit damage to his chances of re-election as the Senate trial to determine whether to remove him from office gets under way in earnest next week. After an internal White…